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Saddam in the Sun; Goodwill Hunting; Stem Cell Research
Aired May 20, 2005 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Who leaked photos of Saddam Hussein to the tabloids? Well, the U.S. military says it wasn't them. We're reporting from the Pentagon.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Goodwill ambassador-in-chief: First Lady Laura Bush on the road hoping to repair America's damaged image in the Middle East.
NGUYEN: Embryonic stem cell research: a breakthrough announced in Korea raises ethical issues right here in the U.S.
O'BRIEN: Perfect pitch: an 11-year-old girl does what most major league hurlers can only dream of. Give that girl a contract.
NGUYEN: Oh, yes.
O'BRIEN: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen in for Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
The British tabloid best known for its topless page three girls is turning heads like never before with a scantily-clad figure on page one. And it's the Pentagon that's red-faced while the brass tries to figure out who snapped Saddam Hussein in his skivvies.
CNN's Barbara Starr has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld now both informed about this situation, about photographs of Saddam Hussein while he was in prison being released to the "The Sun" newspaper. Now, the U.S. military says it has a very aggressive investigation under way, how all of this happened.
"The Sun" newspaper is saying that the military gave them the photographs to try and discredit the insurgency, but U.S. military officials say absolutely not the case. This is not an approved release of photographs, they say. They are trying to figure out who might have gotten a hold of these pictures and released them.
There is now some very initial reaction on the streets of Baghdad as the word of this begins to circulate. Let's listen to what one Iraqi person had to say. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The name of a former president should be respected regardless of whether he was a dictator or a tyrant. His name should be respected all over the world no matter who or how he was.
STARR: The U.S. military says, no matter what, it appears to be a breach of security. They believe these pictures were taken more than a year ago. They say that is their initial readout, more than a year ago, when the United States military had control of Saddam Hussein as an enemy prisoner of war.
That would mean possibly there is a violation of the Geneva Convention if it was a U.S. Military person who released the pictures. Not for the United States as a government, because it's not a sanctioned government release, but for whoever might be responsible.
And the military put out a very strongly-worded statement about all of this overnight from Iraq, saying, in part -- quoting -- "These photos were taken in clear violation of DOD directives and possibly Geneva Convention guidelines for the humane treatment of detained individuals."
The issue at hand, of course, is that under the Geneva Convention, U.S. military personnel, the United States government, cannot release pictures of detainees or prisoners of war that would hold them up to essentially public ridicule. It's not the taking of the picture, but it is the release of the picture, officials tell us, and that is what is being investigated, who is responsible for this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
The Saddam shots, on top of the Quran controversy, on the heels of Abu Ghraib, they don't necessarily make for a pretty picture of America and Americans in the Muslim world. But Laura Bush hopes to change that. She is in Jordan today on the first leg of a trip that will also take her to Israel, the West Bank and Egypt.
CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is traveling with her.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The first lady travels to the Middle East to promote democracy, women's rights and education reform. But as the U.S.'s ambassador of goodwill, she acknowledged en route in the Arab world she's got a tough message to sell.
LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: We've had terrible happenings that have really, really hurt our image in the United States. And they're not -- they were very atypical.
MALVEAUX: Mrs. Bush singled out the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal and more recently, the deadly riots of the erroneous "Newsweek" report that U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay Prison had flushed the Quran down the toilet to rattle detainees. The first lady said "Newsweek," which has since retracted the story, was only partly to blame.
L. BUSH: In the United States, if there's a terrible report, people don't riot, kill other people. And, you know, you can't excuse what they did because of a mistake -- you know, you can't blame it all on "Newsweek." But at the same time, it was irresponsible. And that's -- it's too bad.
MALVEAUX: Despite the first lady's itinerary to hotspots in Jerusalem and the West Bank, Mrs. Bush dismissed any security concerns...
L. BUSH: I think we'll be -- all be safe.
MALVEAUX: ... and downplayed the report of a grenade discovered at the site where her husband spoke recently in Tbilisi, Georgia.
L. BUSH: Thank God no one was hurt from that.
MALVEAUX: But the first lady did express misgivings that Mr. Bush wasn't interrupted while taking a leisurely bike ride in suburban Maryland when massive evacuations were taking place in Washington. Last week, the White House went to red alert and Mrs. Bush to an emergency bunker when a small prop plane came within three miles of the grounds.
L. BUSH: Well, sure -- I mean, he should have been interrupted. But I'm not going to second guess the Secret Service that were with him.
MALVEAUX: The White House says the president was satisfied Secret Service protocols were followed, despite the fact he wasn't notified about the emergency until after it was all over.
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, traveling with the First Lady.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: News "Across America" now.
The missing Idaho kids may have been spotted. Officials say they've received a tip from the owner of an Idaho store who says he may have seen the two children. Authorities launched a massive search for them after their mother, her boyfriend and their older brother were found murdered in their home.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez announces a national sex offender registry that will be going online. It will allow people to access public sex offender info beyond their own neighborhoods or state registry in just one search.
And in Oklahoma City, five middle school students were hurt when a ledge they were sitting on collapsed. The school superintendent says the boys, aged 11 to 14, were on the structure when an eight to 10-foot section of the wall fell forward. One of the students may have suffered a broken bone.
O'BRIEN: Scientists in South Korea crossed a new medical frontier. The lab that created the first clone of a human embryo now has managed for the first time to grow stem cell lines that are an exact match of sick or injured patients. Tim McGinty looks at the groundbreaking science and its potential impact.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE MCGINTY, ITV NEWS (voice-over): In the lab they're taking giant strides. Last year they cloned human embryos for the first time. Now they've cloned embryos designed to genetically match particular individuals. Why? Because they could use cells from the clones to treat those people.
PROF. GERALD SCHATTEN, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: Kidney disorders, heart disease, lung disease, skin disease, muscle diseases, perhaps strokes, perhaps Alzheimer's, theoretically, this will be bigger than discoveries of vaccines or antibiotics.
PROF. WOO SUK HWANG, SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY: This report brings the science a giant step forward.
MCGINTY: Professor Woo Suk Hwang is the man who did the research. His laboratory in Seoul is now the world leader in cloning human embryos. What they did this time is being called very significant.
First, they remove the genetic material from a fertilized egg, replacing it with genes from the donor. Then they shock the egg to stimulate it into developing. The hope is cells from the early embryo that results can be used to treat the donor because they're genetically identical.
Theoretically, you could have taken skin cells from Christopher Reeve, who suffered terrible spinal damage, cloned them into embryos and used the cells to repair his spinal cord.
All that is in the future, and it's controversial. The scientists here at Newcastle University will find out after they announce they've become the second laboratory in the world to clone human embryos.
Lawrence McGinty, ITV News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: As exciting as that may be for some, President Bush not impressed. The White House says he will veto a bill expanding public funding for embryonic stem cell research.
CNN's Ed Henry at the White House with more on this -- Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Miles. That's right, the political stakes are rising as President Bush declares that he will issue a veto if, in fact, both House of Congress pass legislation easing restrictions he put into place four years ago on embryonic stem cell research. This is a clear sign the White House is fretting that, in fact, this legislation is picking up steam on Capitol Hill, and, in fact, White House officials believe that issuing a veto threat is the best way to stop that momentum, which is why the president did just that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: First, I'm very concerned about cloning. I worry about a world in which cloning becomes acceptable.
Secondly, I made my position very clear on embryonic stem cells. I'm a strong supporter of adult stem cell research, of course. But I have made it very clear to the Congress that the use of federal money, taxpayers' money, to promote science which destroys life in order to save life is -- I'm against that, and, therefore, if the bill does that, I will veto it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: Earlier, the president spoke at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast about the culture of life. Stem cell falls into that category because the president joins the Catholic Church and others in opposing the destruction of human embryos for this research.
That's why the current president's policy limits federal funding for this research to cell lines already in existence, but some scientists say many of these lines were contaminated. So these scientists, along with powerful allies like Nancy Reagan, have been lobbying to increase the cell lines, pushing for more cell lines to battle diseases like Alzheimer's.
The White House respects Nancy Reagan's view but also feels they have a powerful lobbyist in first lady Laura Bush, daughter of an Alzheimer's patient, who has already pointed out during the last campaign, and may do it again now during this legislative fight, that, in fact, the president supports stem cell research but just does not want the federal government to increase funding for it, especially when it involves the destruction of human embryos. In fact, White House spokesman Trent Duffy saying today that the White House is looking favorably on a separate piece of legislation that would take stem cells from umbilical cord blood. And, in fact, the White House is saying that perhaps that kind of research, it could provide the same results without destroying human life -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Ed, how much research would exist without federal funding? How much does exist without federal help? Is there -- are there -- is there enough profit motive out there to sustain the research?
HENRY: That's one of the concerns that scientists raise. In fact, they believe that it's critical to have the federal backing, and that's why they want to increase it -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Ed Henry at the White House. Thanks.
NGUYEN: Developments today in the Michael Jackson case.
O'BRIEN: Ahead on LIVE FROM, what can the king of pop -- or as he once was, I suppose -- what can his former attorney, Mark Geragos, talk about on the stand? We'll talk about that a little later on LIVE FROM.
NGUYEN: And forget the sith. The pirates -- yes, those pirates -- they are getting the revenge on "Star Wars." That's after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: It's a war of words in the battle over judges in the Senate. Want to give you a live picture right now from the floor of the Senate.
Senators are still talking about a possible Republican move to ban filibusters which are being used to block the president's judicial nominees. The GOP could announce today whether a test vote will be taken on nominee Priscilla Owen next week.
Meanwhile, Republican Senator Rick Santorum says he made a mistake by referring to Adolph Hitler. He says he didn't mean to compare Democrats to Hitler during the debate yesterday.
O'BRIEN: Now to another battle in a galaxy far, far away. The latest "Star Wars" movie is drawing comparisons to the war in Iraq and President Bush to Darth Vader.
CNN's Judy Woodruff explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A few days ago, in a land not so far away, the Cannes crowd looked at Darth Vader and saw George Bush.
HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN, ANAKIN SKYWALKER, "STAR WARS: EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH": This is where the fun begins.
WOODRUFF: When Anakin Skywalker, the young Vader, said, "If you're not with me, you're my enemy," some moviegoers heard this...
G. BUSH: Either you're with us or you are with the terrorists.
WOODRUFF: And in the epic clash of galactic powers, they saw the war in Iraq. Were they right?
George Lucas says the original "Star Wars" movie sprung from the ashes of Vietnam, making Vader a little less Bush and a little more Nixon. Though Lucas is quick to draw connections.
GEORGE LUCAS, "STAR WARS" CREATOR: The parallels between what we did in Vietnam and what we're doing in Iraq now are unbelievable.
WOODRUFF: At its heart, "Star Wars" has always been a political parable. Why do you think Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union...
RONALD REAGAN, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNTIED STATES: ... an evil empire.
WOODRUFF: The language of Lucas spoken across the political galaxy.
WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I favor cuts in the defense budget in carrier groups and troops in Europe, in Star Wars and any number of other areas.
WOODRUFF: Even in these dark days with an earthly Senate torn asunder...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One senator seduced by a dark vision of absolute power seeks to destroy this fabled order, replacing fair judges with far right clones. To do this, he's ready to use a nightmare weapon known as the nuclear option.
WOODRUFF: Yes, that's Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. The liberal group moveon.org is spending $150,000 to run that ad.
JAMES EARL JONES, VOICE, DARTH VADER, "STAR WARS": Don't make me destroy you.
WOODRUFF: "Revenge of the Sith" will surely make 10 times that sum by next week with or without the force.
FRANK OZ, VOICE OF YODA, "STAR WARS: EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH": I hope right you are.
WOODRUFF: Judy Woodruff, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: And, of course, the dark side is taking over some computer users. A purported "Star Wars" movie or movies is circulating over the Internet. A little subterfuge out there. Perhaps a few people bringing the handycams into those midnight showings buried underneath their Wookie suits.
Well, here's the real thing, by the way. Online users tried to obtain free illegal copies of "Episode III" yesterday, the same day the film opened. There was so much congestion, the downloads were taking 40 hours -- 40 hours -- even with a high-speed connection.
"Star Wars" is doing big business, notwithstanding. There are people actually who just pay the money and go. I think they did $16 million just on the midnight overnight showing.
NGUYEN: That midnight showing, yes.
O'BRIEN: $16 million. NGUYEN: $16 million.
O'BRIEN: So Laura (ph) and I will be there tonight, and we're going to pay. We're not going to...
NGUYEN: Are you going to have your Wookie outfit on?
O'BRIEN: I'm going to be wearing my Wookie outfit.
NGUYEN: Can you do the Wookie sound?
O'BRIEN: That way they won't know when I'm asleep if I'm wearing the Wookie outfit.
NGUYEN: It's all a disguise.
O'BRIEN: Snoring. It will be Wookie snores. All right.
NGUYEN: No, it'll be fun. You'll like it.
O'BRIEN: No, I'm sure it will be, yes.
NGUYEN: All right. Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, the most famous set of "Jaws" in Hollywood are on the loose once again. We will seek our teeth into that later on LIVE FROM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: That's frivolity, yes.
NGUYEN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Frivolity is the word of the day today, folks. All right. Kathleen Hays...
NGUYEN: This is the word of the day.
O'BRIEN: Kathleen Hays, get in here right now.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: In Washington, the Senate has ceased debating the nomination of Priscilla Owen for a federal judiciary slot. This is, of course, at the center of the whole filibuster debate which we have been telling you so much about.
There will be -- in fact, on Tuesday, having I guess adjourned for the weekend, on Tuesday a vote for cloture which would begin the process of forcing a vote on this particular nomination. A vote for cloture would, in fact, create an additional period of time for debate. But what appears to be happening is the Senate is headed down the tracks toward a complete confrontation over this whole issue of filibustering and whether, in fact, the rules will have to be changed to, in fact, force that vote.
So the Senate has ceased debating for today. The cloture vote, which is the next step down this process toward this debate over these judicial nominees, will occur on Tuesday.
END
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 20, 2005 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Who leaked photos of Saddam Hussein to the tabloids? Well, the U.S. military says it wasn't them. We're reporting from the Pentagon.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Goodwill ambassador-in-chief: First Lady Laura Bush on the road hoping to repair America's damaged image in the Middle East.
NGUYEN: Embryonic stem cell research: a breakthrough announced in Korea raises ethical issues right here in the U.S.
O'BRIEN: Perfect pitch: an 11-year-old girl does what most major league hurlers can only dream of. Give that girl a contract.
NGUYEN: Oh, yes.
O'BRIEN: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen in for Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
The British tabloid best known for its topless page three girls is turning heads like never before with a scantily-clad figure on page one. And it's the Pentagon that's red-faced while the brass tries to figure out who snapped Saddam Hussein in his skivvies.
CNN's Barbara Starr has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld now both informed about this situation, about photographs of Saddam Hussein while he was in prison being released to the "The Sun" newspaper. Now, the U.S. military says it has a very aggressive investigation under way, how all of this happened.
"The Sun" newspaper is saying that the military gave them the photographs to try and discredit the insurgency, but U.S. military officials say absolutely not the case. This is not an approved release of photographs, they say. They are trying to figure out who might have gotten a hold of these pictures and released them.
There is now some very initial reaction on the streets of Baghdad as the word of this begins to circulate. Let's listen to what one Iraqi person had to say. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The name of a former president should be respected regardless of whether he was a dictator or a tyrant. His name should be respected all over the world no matter who or how he was.
STARR: The U.S. military says, no matter what, it appears to be a breach of security. They believe these pictures were taken more than a year ago. They say that is their initial readout, more than a year ago, when the United States military had control of Saddam Hussein as an enemy prisoner of war.
That would mean possibly there is a violation of the Geneva Convention if it was a U.S. Military person who released the pictures. Not for the United States as a government, because it's not a sanctioned government release, but for whoever might be responsible.
And the military put out a very strongly-worded statement about all of this overnight from Iraq, saying, in part -- quoting -- "These photos were taken in clear violation of DOD directives and possibly Geneva Convention guidelines for the humane treatment of detained individuals."
The issue at hand, of course, is that under the Geneva Convention, U.S. military personnel, the United States government, cannot release pictures of detainees or prisoners of war that would hold them up to essentially public ridicule. It's not the taking of the picture, but it is the release of the picture, officials tell us, and that is what is being investigated, who is responsible for this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
The Saddam shots, on top of the Quran controversy, on the heels of Abu Ghraib, they don't necessarily make for a pretty picture of America and Americans in the Muslim world. But Laura Bush hopes to change that. She is in Jordan today on the first leg of a trip that will also take her to Israel, the West Bank and Egypt.
CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is traveling with her.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The first lady travels to the Middle East to promote democracy, women's rights and education reform. But as the U.S.'s ambassador of goodwill, she acknowledged en route in the Arab world she's got a tough message to sell.
LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: We've had terrible happenings that have really, really hurt our image in the United States. And they're not -- they were very atypical.
MALVEAUX: Mrs. Bush singled out the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal and more recently, the deadly riots of the erroneous "Newsweek" report that U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay Prison had flushed the Quran down the toilet to rattle detainees. The first lady said "Newsweek," which has since retracted the story, was only partly to blame.
L. BUSH: In the United States, if there's a terrible report, people don't riot, kill other people. And, you know, you can't excuse what they did because of a mistake -- you know, you can't blame it all on "Newsweek." But at the same time, it was irresponsible. And that's -- it's too bad.
MALVEAUX: Despite the first lady's itinerary to hotspots in Jerusalem and the West Bank, Mrs. Bush dismissed any security concerns...
L. BUSH: I think we'll be -- all be safe.
MALVEAUX: ... and downplayed the report of a grenade discovered at the site where her husband spoke recently in Tbilisi, Georgia.
L. BUSH: Thank God no one was hurt from that.
MALVEAUX: But the first lady did express misgivings that Mr. Bush wasn't interrupted while taking a leisurely bike ride in suburban Maryland when massive evacuations were taking place in Washington. Last week, the White House went to red alert and Mrs. Bush to an emergency bunker when a small prop plane came within three miles of the grounds.
L. BUSH: Well, sure -- I mean, he should have been interrupted. But I'm not going to second guess the Secret Service that were with him.
MALVEAUX: The White House says the president was satisfied Secret Service protocols were followed, despite the fact he wasn't notified about the emergency until after it was all over.
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, traveling with the First Lady.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: News "Across America" now.
The missing Idaho kids may have been spotted. Officials say they've received a tip from the owner of an Idaho store who says he may have seen the two children. Authorities launched a massive search for them after their mother, her boyfriend and their older brother were found murdered in their home.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez announces a national sex offender registry that will be going online. It will allow people to access public sex offender info beyond their own neighborhoods or state registry in just one search.
And in Oklahoma City, five middle school students were hurt when a ledge they were sitting on collapsed. The school superintendent says the boys, aged 11 to 14, were on the structure when an eight to 10-foot section of the wall fell forward. One of the students may have suffered a broken bone.
O'BRIEN: Scientists in South Korea crossed a new medical frontier. The lab that created the first clone of a human embryo now has managed for the first time to grow stem cell lines that are an exact match of sick or injured patients. Tim McGinty looks at the groundbreaking science and its potential impact.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE MCGINTY, ITV NEWS (voice-over): In the lab they're taking giant strides. Last year they cloned human embryos for the first time. Now they've cloned embryos designed to genetically match particular individuals. Why? Because they could use cells from the clones to treat those people.
PROF. GERALD SCHATTEN, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: Kidney disorders, heart disease, lung disease, skin disease, muscle diseases, perhaps strokes, perhaps Alzheimer's, theoretically, this will be bigger than discoveries of vaccines or antibiotics.
PROF. WOO SUK HWANG, SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY: This report brings the science a giant step forward.
MCGINTY: Professor Woo Suk Hwang is the man who did the research. His laboratory in Seoul is now the world leader in cloning human embryos. What they did this time is being called very significant.
First, they remove the genetic material from a fertilized egg, replacing it with genes from the donor. Then they shock the egg to stimulate it into developing. The hope is cells from the early embryo that results can be used to treat the donor because they're genetically identical.
Theoretically, you could have taken skin cells from Christopher Reeve, who suffered terrible spinal damage, cloned them into embryos and used the cells to repair his spinal cord.
All that is in the future, and it's controversial. The scientists here at Newcastle University will find out after they announce they've become the second laboratory in the world to clone human embryos.
Lawrence McGinty, ITV News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: As exciting as that may be for some, President Bush not impressed. The White House says he will veto a bill expanding public funding for embryonic stem cell research.
CNN's Ed Henry at the White House with more on this -- Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Miles. That's right, the political stakes are rising as President Bush declares that he will issue a veto if, in fact, both House of Congress pass legislation easing restrictions he put into place four years ago on embryonic stem cell research. This is a clear sign the White House is fretting that, in fact, this legislation is picking up steam on Capitol Hill, and, in fact, White House officials believe that issuing a veto threat is the best way to stop that momentum, which is why the president did just that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: First, I'm very concerned about cloning. I worry about a world in which cloning becomes acceptable.
Secondly, I made my position very clear on embryonic stem cells. I'm a strong supporter of adult stem cell research, of course. But I have made it very clear to the Congress that the use of federal money, taxpayers' money, to promote science which destroys life in order to save life is -- I'm against that, and, therefore, if the bill does that, I will veto it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: Earlier, the president spoke at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast about the culture of life. Stem cell falls into that category because the president joins the Catholic Church and others in opposing the destruction of human embryos for this research.
That's why the current president's policy limits federal funding for this research to cell lines already in existence, but some scientists say many of these lines were contaminated. So these scientists, along with powerful allies like Nancy Reagan, have been lobbying to increase the cell lines, pushing for more cell lines to battle diseases like Alzheimer's.
The White House respects Nancy Reagan's view but also feels they have a powerful lobbyist in first lady Laura Bush, daughter of an Alzheimer's patient, who has already pointed out during the last campaign, and may do it again now during this legislative fight, that, in fact, the president supports stem cell research but just does not want the federal government to increase funding for it, especially when it involves the destruction of human embryos. In fact, White House spokesman Trent Duffy saying today that the White House is looking favorably on a separate piece of legislation that would take stem cells from umbilical cord blood. And, in fact, the White House is saying that perhaps that kind of research, it could provide the same results without destroying human life -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Ed, how much research would exist without federal funding? How much does exist without federal help? Is there -- are there -- is there enough profit motive out there to sustain the research?
HENRY: That's one of the concerns that scientists raise. In fact, they believe that it's critical to have the federal backing, and that's why they want to increase it -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Ed Henry at the White House. Thanks.
NGUYEN: Developments today in the Michael Jackson case.
O'BRIEN: Ahead on LIVE FROM, what can the king of pop -- or as he once was, I suppose -- what can his former attorney, Mark Geragos, talk about on the stand? We'll talk about that a little later on LIVE FROM.
NGUYEN: And forget the sith. The pirates -- yes, those pirates -- they are getting the revenge on "Star Wars." That's after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: It's a war of words in the battle over judges in the Senate. Want to give you a live picture right now from the floor of the Senate.
Senators are still talking about a possible Republican move to ban filibusters which are being used to block the president's judicial nominees. The GOP could announce today whether a test vote will be taken on nominee Priscilla Owen next week.
Meanwhile, Republican Senator Rick Santorum says he made a mistake by referring to Adolph Hitler. He says he didn't mean to compare Democrats to Hitler during the debate yesterday.
O'BRIEN: Now to another battle in a galaxy far, far away. The latest "Star Wars" movie is drawing comparisons to the war in Iraq and President Bush to Darth Vader.
CNN's Judy Woodruff explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A few days ago, in a land not so far away, the Cannes crowd looked at Darth Vader and saw George Bush.
HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN, ANAKIN SKYWALKER, "STAR WARS: EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH": This is where the fun begins.
WOODRUFF: When Anakin Skywalker, the young Vader, said, "If you're not with me, you're my enemy," some moviegoers heard this...
G. BUSH: Either you're with us or you are with the terrorists.
WOODRUFF: And in the epic clash of galactic powers, they saw the war in Iraq. Were they right?
George Lucas says the original "Star Wars" movie sprung from the ashes of Vietnam, making Vader a little less Bush and a little more Nixon. Though Lucas is quick to draw connections.
GEORGE LUCAS, "STAR WARS" CREATOR: The parallels between what we did in Vietnam and what we're doing in Iraq now are unbelievable.
WOODRUFF: At its heart, "Star Wars" has always been a political parable. Why do you think Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union...
RONALD REAGAN, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNTIED STATES: ... an evil empire.
WOODRUFF: The language of Lucas spoken across the political galaxy.
WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I favor cuts in the defense budget in carrier groups and troops in Europe, in Star Wars and any number of other areas.
WOODRUFF: Even in these dark days with an earthly Senate torn asunder...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One senator seduced by a dark vision of absolute power seeks to destroy this fabled order, replacing fair judges with far right clones. To do this, he's ready to use a nightmare weapon known as the nuclear option.
WOODRUFF: Yes, that's Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. The liberal group moveon.org is spending $150,000 to run that ad.
JAMES EARL JONES, VOICE, DARTH VADER, "STAR WARS": Don't make me destroy you.
WOODRUFF: "Revenge of the Sith" will surely make 10 times that sum by next week with or without the force.
FRANK OZ, VOICE OF YODA, "STAR WARS: EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH": I hope right you are.
WOODRUFF: Judy Woodruff, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: And, of course, the dark side is taking over some computer users. A purported "Star Wars" movie or movies is circulating over the Internet. A little subterfuge out there. Perhaps a few people bringing the handycams into those midnight showings buried underneath their Wookie suits.
Well, here's the real thing, by the way. Online users tried to obtain free illegal copies of "Episode III" yesterday, the same day the film opened. There was so much congestion, the downloads were taking 40 hours -- 40 hours -- even with a high-speed connection.
"Star Wars" is doing big business, notwithstanding. There are people actually who just pay the money and go. I think they did $16 million just on the midnight overnight showing.
NGUYEN: That midnight showing, yes.
O'BRIEN: $16 million. NGUYEN: $16 million.
O'BRIEN: So Laura (ph) and I will be there tonight, and we're going to pay. We're not going to...
NGUYEN: Are you going to have your Wookie outfit on?
O'BRIEN: I'm going to be wearing my Wookie outfit.
NGUYEN: Can you do the Wookie sound?
O'BRIEN: That way they won't know when I'm asleep if I'm wearing the Wookie outfit.
NGUYEN: It's all a disguise.
O'BRIEN: Snoring. It will be Wookie snores. All right.
NGUYEN: No, it'll be fun. You'll like it.
O'BRIEN: No, I'm sure it will be, yes.
NGUYEN: All right. Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, the most famous set of "Jaws" in Hollywood are on the loose once again. We will seek our teeth into that later on LIVE FROM.
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O'BRIEN: That's frivolity, yes.
NGUYEN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Frivolity is the word of the day today, folks. All right. Kathleen Hays...
NGUYEN: This is the word of the day.
O'BRIEN: Kathleen Hays, get in here right now.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
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O'BRIEN: In Washington, the Senate has ceased debating the nomination of Priscilla Owen for a federal judiciary slot. This is, of course, at the center of the whole filibuster debate which we have been telling you so much about.
There will be -- in fact, on Tuesday, having I guess adjourned for the weekend, on Tuesday a vote for cloture which would begin the process of forcing a vote on this particular nomination. A vote for cloture would, in fact, create an additional period of time for debate. But what appears to be happening is the Senate is headed down the tracks toward a complete confrontation over this whole issue of filibustering and whether, in fact, the rules will have to be changed to, in fact, force that vote.
So the Senate has ceased debating for today. The cloture vote, which is the next step down this process toward this debate over these judicial nominees, will occur on Tuesday.
END
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