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CNN Live Today
Appeal From Paul Johnson's Wife Being Seen Around World; Preparations for Transfer of Power in Iraq Taking Place, While Violence Escalates
Aired June 18, 2004 - 10:00 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We will get started here. Good morning everyone from CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Daryn Kagan. We always start with the headlines.
The wife of American hostage Paul Johnson, Jr., has issued a tearful plea to his captors, "release him unharmed." Johnson is a Lockheed-Martin employee, he was kidnapped Saturday in Saudi Arabia. The hostage takers have threatened to kill him if Saudis don't release imprisoned members of al Qaeda.
Iraq's interim interior minister says the new government will not hesitate to declare martial law, if the current wave of violence does not abate. Falah Hassan al Naqib's statement came after yesterday's horrific car bombing outside of an army recruitment center. It left 35 people dead, at least 145 people wounded.
Also this morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin says that Iraq was planning strikes against the U.S. and he passed the warning on the Washington after 9/11, but before the start of the war in Iraq. The Russian leader says his country's intelligent community found that Saddam Hussein's regime planned attacks on U.S. targets here and abroad. but there's no such evidence that any of these strikes took place.
President Bush appears, and he visits troops this morning at Fort Lewis in Washington State. It's a stop designed to both boost troop moral and the president's re-election bid. Fort Lewis is the largest Army's facility on the West Coast. He's the first president to visit since Franklin Roosevelt and that was 62 years ago.
An appeal from Paul Johnson's wife is being seen around the world. But whether Johnson's kidnappers will heed that is not known. Noom Johnson spoke with the Saudi owned television channel al Arabiya.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NOOM JOHNSON, HOSTAGE'S WIFE: When I saw his picture on TV, I really worried him so much. I don't know what I can do for him. I in stay in Riyadh right now by myself in house. I want him to come back because I no have nobody in here. I stay in here by myself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: And now it is a nervous, somewhat hopeful wait, a deadline for demands by Paul Johnson's kidnappers, presumably it will expire sometime today. Islamic militants kidnapped the American last Saturday and have threatened to kill him.
Our Deborah Feyerick reports on how the situation is affecting Johnson's hometown.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the deadline nears, neighbors and friends in Paul Johnson's hometown gather for a candlelight vigil at the local firehouse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God bless America...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God bless America...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God bless America...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God bless America...
FEYERICK: The mood in Eagleswood, New Jersey, anxious and tense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And something is happening to a person from our community that grew up here, on the other side of the world. And we're all hopeful that things will work out and he'll be released soon. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very sad right now that 72 hours is almost over. My grandma was crying before and everyone around us is just crying right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody is pretty down around the town. Everybody's trying to do what they can to help the family. And I wish them all the luck in the world.
FEYERICK: In Saudi Arabia, where Johnson lives around works, a friend posts a letter on an Arabic TV web site. He tells the kidnappers, as a Muslim he has bestowed his protection on Johnson. Quoting the Koran, he says, "Killing Johnson now would break Islamic law." He writes, "If you are true Muslims, you will let him go." This, as Saudi authorities scramble to find the American captive.
RICHARD BOUCHER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: There are a variety of options available to Saudi authority, who have the lead here, to try to locate him, free him, crack down on the network.
FEYERICK: American hostage rescuers sent to Riyadh to offer whatever help they can.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Saudi security forces have been searching in neighborhoods in the Riyadh area, thousands of officers going door to door, so far nothing. Meanwhile, many here praying that the kidnappers will show mercy -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And that wait goes on. Deborah Feyerick from New Jersey, thank you for that. Now on to Iraq. For the first time since the prison Abu Ghraib scandal surfaced in and Iraq and Afghanistan, charges have been brought against a U.S. civilian. A CIA contractor is being held for allegedly assaulting a prisoner who died in custody. David Passaro was indicted yesterday on four counts of assaulting Afghan prisoner Abdul Wali.
Attorney General John Ashcroft read from the indictment at a news conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: During these interrogations on June 19 and June 20, 2003, it is alleged that Passaro beat Wali repeatedly, using his hands and feet and a large flashlight. Wali died in a cell in Asadabad Base on June 21, 2003.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Steve Passaro says that he believes his brother, David, is innocent of the charges. and he questions whether anyone was killed during the interrogation. The suspect's brother says that he was warned some time ago to prepare for the worst.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE PASSARO, SUSPECTS BROTHER: David, he contacted me a few months ago. And he said, "Steven, please, I need you to pray. I need you to pray. And I need you to pray like you've never prayed before." Because there was something going on, it was very big. And he said that there was something that was being hung on him, that he was innocent. And that he was being -- prepare to take a fall for something that he had not done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has confirmed reports that he ordered a high value Iraqi prisoner to be held in a secret location. Pentagon officials say that the CIA asked that the man be held incognito. Rumsfeld says the prisoner wasn't lost in the system and that he received humane treatment.
There are new concerns of a nuclear cover-up by Iran. The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency adopted a resolution criticizing Iran's failure to fully cooperate with that organization. There was no mention of punishing Iran if it wasn't open with inspectors. But the agency's investigation of Iran's atomic program will continue. The U.S. believes that Iran has nuclear ambitions. Iranian officials insist they have nothing to hide.
Preparations for the transfer of power in Iraq are taking place, while violence there escalates.
Our Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf looked at the security challenges, while she traveled with the head of U.S. Central Command.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): The region's top military commander flew to Iraq's Sunni heartland. General John Abizaid, the head of U.S. Central Command and the 140,000 troops in Iraq, are bracing for more violence before the July 1 handover to Iraqi sovereignty and beyond. Strengthening the country's fledgling security forces is a main preoccupation.
GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, CMDR., CENTRAL COMMAND: How are the Iraqi security forces coming along?
ARRAF: In Saddam Hussein's hometown, Tikrit, commanders say most of the violence faced by the First Infantry Division are former regime loyalist. But there are also community leaders here willing to work with the United States.
"We want to cooperate more with you," Abizaid speaking in Arabic tells these tribal business and community figures. Abizaid's Arab origins help bridge the large culture gap. But their complaints are still heated, lack of jobs, services and security. Abizaid's hope is that, as the United States takes a less visible role, Iraqis will step forward.
ABIZAID: People are coming to the conclusion that they've got to fight for their country. And I think that, as they understand that there are Iraqis in charge and not Americans calling the shot. That they'll fight for their own country with more and more spirit. And that will move from a period of occupation to partnership.
ARRAF: At a stop in Ramadi west of Baghdad, where four Iraqi Civil Defense Corp members are being questioned by Iraqi authorities, in connection to a bomb attack this week, Abizaid met Marine commanders and some of the troops.
(on camera): It's two weeks to the handover to Iraqi sovereignty. More than a year after the end of major combat. But here in Ramadi and the Sunni Triangle, it's still unsettled enough that many in the military still think of this as the Wild West.
(voice-over): Persistent attacks on the military, bandits on the highway political assassinations. At this camp, home to the Second Battalion Fourth Marines, Abizaid visited troop who just responded to a mortar attack.
ABIZAID: I understand you just fired some rounds, huh?
ARRAF: On this day of another major attack in Baghdad, Abizaid acknowledges that rebuilding Iraq's security forces from scratch is a monumental task. But despite frantic efforts by insurgents to disrupt the handover, he believes it's a mission that will be accomplished.
Jane Arraf, CNN, in Ramadi, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: We are at nine minutes past the hour, on the heels of a scathing 9/11 report that found several communications failures.
The president meets troop in Fort Lewis in Washington State. A preview of his speech is coming up.
And the gay marriage fight in Massachusetts, out of state same- sex couples challenge existing law, as Senate Republicans discuss an upcoming vote on banning gay marriage.
And later...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VINCE VAUGHN, ACTOR: Alliteration is sad. I think I'll take my chances in the tournament.
BEN STILLER, ACTOR: Yes, you will take your chances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: It is a big screen sports moment, Vince Vaughn style. My interview with the star of the new movie "Dodgeball" is coming up.
This is CNN LIVE TODAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: There's always a factor you can't prepare for, the weather, a key at the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, that is where the U.S. Open is underway. Yesterday, rain caused one delay, fog later halted play and get this. That left the PGA players a buzz, marveling about how mild the conditions were. I think they're talking about -- I think they're talking about the wind. Tiger was talking about the wind, saying that if wind kicks about it is really going to be a bear out there.
Well, few people would go looking for a poet in a shopping mall, but you're going to find one selling Brooks Brothers suits in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Spencer Reese is the author of an acclaimed book of poetry. It is entitled "The Clerk's Tale," a work that has captured the attention of the U.S. poet laureate and "The New Yorker" magazine. I recently interviewed Reese about his two fascinating lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Spencer Reese, congratulations on being published.
SPENCER REESE, AUTHOR, "THE CLERK'S TALE": Well, thank you very much, Ms. Kagan. It's a pleasure to be here with you this morning.
KAGAN: Twenty-three years of not just writing but submitting your poetry; 23 years of rejection. For all the people out there, who have their own dream, their own thing they don't want to give up on, how can you encourage them not to give up on their dream?
REESE: Well, I persevered and I -- there's a quote that stayed with me overall these years from Winston Churchill. And the quote goes, "Never, never, never, never, never give in." And I've lived by that as years pass by and nothing happened.
KAGAN: So 23 years of writing and submitting poetry, and getting all those rejections. You come home one day from your job at Brooks Brothers and you listen to a message on your answering machine, and that's when things really changed?
REESE: That's correct. I came home and the message was from Louise Glick, who is the poet laureate of the United States right now. KAGAN: That's a bad message...
REESE: So I was shocked.
KAGAN: Not a bad message to have on your machine, Spencer.
REESE: I couldn't believe it. I thought they had made a mistake or lowered the standards in the middle of the night.
KAGAN: You like to focus on people who otherwise might get overlooked in everyday life. And as you've been doing this, as you've been pursuing your dream, you've been look working at Brooks Brothers. And as I understand it, even though you're now a published poet, you're going to keep your day job?
REESE: Oh, yes. I'm very proud of my work life. It's meant a great deal to me, and it's given me more probably than I realized.
KAGAN: Very good. Well, there are fans and new fans can look for that. And also look for you at Brooks Brothers in South Florida. Spencer Reese, congratulations on a long-term dream.
REESE: Well, bless your heart.
KAGAN: You give a lot of hope...
REESE: Thank you very much. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Twenty-three years before he was published. He said a friend of his gave him the advice you can't quit before the miracle.
Coming up on CNN LIVE TODAY, a little help from a friend. You're going to meet a monkey that is helping make life easier for one man.
And Gerri Willis joins us for some tips for turning your home into an even better investment.
Gerri, hello.
GERRI WILLIS, CNNFN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, Daryn. Good to see you. We're going to tell you how to analyze that home as an investment when we come back on CNN Live Today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAGAN: So trying to figure out how much your home is worth? And once you have that figured out, how can you make the most out of your investment?
Our answer woman, answer gal, Gerri Willis in New York with today's "Top Five Tips."
Gerri, good morning.
WILLIS: Hey, Daryn. Good to see you. Hey, my first tip today, you want to think total return. You know, we wanted to analyze the house like you analyze a stock. Right? Total return is capital gains and dividends, two very simple things. You know capital gains? This is how much your house appreciates over time.
If you don't know the numbers go to the Web site of the Office of the Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. I know it's a mouthful. You see the web address here. They can give you that number. Then look at the dividend. The dividend on your house is the money you save by not paying a landlord minus the expenses. Now, for most of us, Daryn, that's going to be a 12 to 13 percent return each and every year. It's a good investment.
KAGAN: What about the part where you get to use other people's money to make money for you.
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIS: Don't you like that?
KAGAN: I like that part.
WILLIS: It's called leverage. You buy a stock; you have to pay the whole price, put it down right away. But of course, with a house you only pay a small percentage. So, when you're trying to understand your return on your House, you want to compare how much you've put in, with what kind of price increases you're seeing. You're going to understand your house as an investment much better.
KAGAN: What about the transaction costs involved?
WILLIS: Yes. You know, any time you're buying any kind of investment at all, you want to consider transaction costs. It is a critical part of the equation. Listen to this expert.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER COY, "BUSINESSWEEK": You don't want to be turning over your house every couple years. To sell $500,000 of stock might cost you around 300 bucks if you got a good discount broker. To sell a $500,000 house could cost you $40,000 after you pay the broker and every other lawyer fee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIS: So net-net, you don't want to be trading in and out of houses all the time. Now also, another thing to think about. Tip No. 4, think liquidity. You know, conventional wisdom is that homes can't be traded very quickly. But you can take equity out of your House. And you can do it very easily with a number of new products coming out from bankers all the time. Home Equity loan line of credit, you know all about those, but there's also the cash-out-refi, Daryn.
KAGAN: And when you're trying to do all these formulas, how do you factor in inflation into all this?
WILLIS: Yes. There are differences with stocks. Stocks get hurt by inflation because, at the end of the day, companies lose pricing control. Bonds are hurt by inflation. But housing prices just keep going up and up and up, Daryn.
KAGAN: Thanks for the tip. Hope you have a good weekend in your home.
WILLIS: Thank you, Daryn.
KAGAN: Gerri Willis, we'll see you next week.
Fighting for same-sex marriage. Couples and clerks take on Massachusetts's law for out of state couples who want the chance to say I do.
And having a ball and trying to dodge one, a preview of the new film "Dodgeball." Straight ahead with one of the stars, I talk with actor Vince Vaughn.
This is CNN LIVE TODAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: I'm Daryn Kagan. Let's check the headlines at the bottom of the hour.
Vice President Dick Cheney calls the media, "irresponsible" for reporting suggestions that the 9/11 Commission found no link between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. Cheney says the evidence is overwhelming the terror group had a relationship with the former Iraqi dictator's regime.
At least three suspects are being questioned in the killing of three Birmingham, Alabama police officers. Authorities aren't saying much about the suspects. The officers were serving a misdemeanor warrant yesterday when they were fired on.
The funeral for Ray Charles begins in Los Angeles about two and a half hours from now. Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, Willie Nelson will all be among those attending the invitation-only service. More than 5,000 people paid their respects to the legendary singer at a public viewing yesterday.
And John Kerry wants minimum wage workers to earn more pay. Kerry is speaking about the issue this morning at a community college in Virginia. Kerry is calling for increase from the current $5.15 an hour to $7 by the year 2007.
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 June 18, 2004 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We will get started here. Good morning everyone from CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Daryn Kagan. We always start with the headlines.
The wife of American hostage Paul Johnson, Jr., has issued a tearful plea to his captors, "release him unharmed." Johnson is a Lockheed-Martin employee, he was kidnapped Saturday in Saudi Arabia. The hostage takers have threatened to kill him if Saudis don't release imprisoned members of al Qaeda.
Iraq's interim interior minister says the new government will not hesitate to declare martial law, if the current wave of violence does not abate. Falah Hassan al Naqib's statement came after yesterday's horrific car bombing outside of an army recruitment center. It left 35 people dead, at least 145 people wounded.
Also this morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin says that Iraq was planning strikes against the U.S. and he passed the warning on the Washington after 9/11, but before the start of the war in Iraq. The Russian leader says his country's intelligent community found that Saddam Hussein's regime planned attacks on U.S. targets here and abroad. but there's no such evidence that any of these strikes took place.
President Bush appears, and he visits troops this morning at Fort Lewis in Washington State. It's a stop designed to both boost troop moral and the president's re-election bid. Fort Lewis is the largest Army's facility on the West Coast. He's the first president to visit since Franklin Roosevelt and that was 62 years ago.
An appeal from Paul Johnson's wife is being seen around the world. But whether Johnson's kidnappers will heed that is not known. Noom Johnson spoke with the Saudi owned television channel al Arabiya.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NOOM JOHNSON, HOSTAGE'S WIFE: When I saw his picture on TV, I really worried him so much. I don't know what I can do for him. I in stay in Riyadh right now by myself in house. I want him to come back because I no have nobody in here. I stay in here by myself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: And now it is a nervous, somewhat hopeful wait, a deadline for demands by Paul Johnson's kidnappers, presumably it will expire sometime today. Islamic militants kidnapped the American last Saturday and have threatened to kill him.
Our Deborah Feyerick reports on how the situation is affecting Johnson's hometown.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the deadline nears, neighbors and friends in Paul Johnson's hometown gather for a candlelight vigil at the local firehouse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God bless America...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God bless America...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God bless America...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God bless America...
FEYERICK: The mood in Eagleswood, New Jersey, anxious and tense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And something is happening to a person from our community that grew up here, on the other side of the world. And we're all hopeful that things will work out and he'll be released soon. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very sad right now that 72 hours is almost over. My grandma was crying before and everyone around us is just crying right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody is pretty down around the town. Everybody's trying to do what they can to help the family. And I wish them all the luck in the world.
FEYERICK: In Saudi Arabia, where Johnson lives around works, a friend posts a letter on an Arabic TV web site. He tells the kidnappers, as a Muslim he has bestowed his protection on Johnson. Quoting the Koran, he says, "Killing Johnson now would break Islamic law." He writes, "If you are true Muslims, you will let him go." This, as Saudi authorities scramble to find the American captive.
RICHARD BOUCHER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: There are a variety of options available to Saudi authority, who have the lead here, to try to locate him, free him, crack down on the network.
FEYERICK: American hostage rescuers sent to Riyadh to offer whatever help they can.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Saudi security forces have been searching in neighborhoods in the Riyadh area, thousands of officers going door to door, so far nothing. Meanwhile, many here praying that the kidnappers will show mercy -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And that wait goes on. Deborah Feyerick from New Jersey, thank you for that. Now on to Iraq. For the first time since the prison Abu Ghraib scandal surfaced in and Iraq and Afghanistan, charges have been brought against a U.S. civilian. A CIA contractor is being held for allegedly assaulting a prisoner who died in custody. David Passaro was indicted yesterday on four counts of assaulting Afghan prisoner Abdul Wali.
Attorney General John Ashcroft read from the indictment at a news conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: During these interrogations on June 19 and June 20, 2003, it is alleged that Passaro beat Wali repeatedly, using his hands and feet and a large flashlight. Wali died in a cell in Asadabad Base on June 21, 2003.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Steve Passaro says that he believes his brother, David, is innocent of the charges. and he questions whether anyone was killed during the interrogation. The suspect's brother says that he was warned some time ago to prepare for the worst.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE PASSARO, SUSPECTS BROTHER: David, he contacted me a few months ago. And he said, "Steven, please, I need you to pray. I need you to pray. And I need you to pray like you've never prayed before." Because there was something going on, it was very big. And he said that there was something that was being hung on him, that he was innocent. And that he was being -- prepare to take a fall for something that he had not done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has confirmed reports that he ordered a high value Iraqi prisoner to be held in a secret location. Pentagon officials say that the CIA asked that the man be held incognito. Rumsfeld says the prisoner wasn't lost in the system and that he received humane treatment.
There are new concerns of a nuclear cover-up by Iran. The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency adopted a resolution criticizing Iran's failure to fully cooperate with that organization. There was no mention of punishing Iran if it wasn't open with inspectors. But the agency's investigation of Iran's atomic program will continue. The U.S. believes that Iran has nuclear ambitions. Iranian officials insist they have nothing to hide.
Preparations for the transfer of power in Iraq are taking place, while violence there escalates.
Our Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf looked at the security challenges, while she traveled with the head of U.S. Central Command.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): The region's top military commander flew to Iraq's Sunni heartland. General John Abizaid, the head of U.S. Central Command and the 140,000 troops in Iraq, are bracing for more violence before the July 1 handover to Iraqi sovereignty and beyond. Strengthening the country's fledgling security forces is a main preoccupation.
GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, CMDR., CENTRAL COMMAND: How are the Iraqi security forces coming along?
ARRAF: In Saddam Hussein's hometown, Tikrit, commanders say most of the violence faced by the First Infantry Division are former regime loyalist. But there are also community leaders here willing to work with the United States.
"We want to cooperate more with you," Abizaid speaking in Arabic tells these tribal business and community figures. Abizaid's Arab origins help bridge the large culture gap. But their complaints are still heated, lack of jobs, services and security. Abizaid's hope is that, as the United States takes a less visible role, Iraqis will step forward.
ABIZAID: People are coming to the conclusion that they've got to fight for their country. And I think that, as they understand that there are Iraqis in charge and not Americans calling the shot. That they'll fight for their own country with more and more spirit. And that will move from a period of occupation to partnership.
ARRAF: At a stop in Ramadi west of Baghdad, where four Iraqi Civil Defense Corp members are being questioned by Iraqi authorities, in connection to a bomb attack this week, Abizaid met Marine commanders and some of the troops.
(on camera): It's two weeks to the handover to Iraqi sovereignty. More than a year after the end of major combat. But here in Ramadi and the Sunni Triangle, it's still unsettled enough that many in the military still think of this as the Wild West.
(voice-over): Persistent attacks on the military, bandits on the highway political assassinations. At this camp, home to the Second Battalion Fourth Marines, Abizaid visited troop who just responded to a mortar attack.
ABIZAID: I understand you just fired some rounds, huh?
ARRAF: On this day of another major attack in Baghdad, Abizaid acknowledges that rebuilding Iraq's security forces from scratch is a monumental task. But despite frantic efforts by insurgents to disrupt the handover, he believes it's a mission that will be accomplished.
Jane Arraf, CNN, in Ramadi, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: We are at nine minutes past the hour, on the heels of a scathing 9/11 report that found several communications failures.
The president meets troop in Fort Lewis in Washington State. A preview of his speech is coming up.
And the gay marriage fight in Massachusetts, out of state same- sex couples challenge existing law, as Senate Republicans discuss an upcoming vote on banning gay marriage.
And later...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VINCE VAUGHN, ACTOR: Alliteration is sad. I think I'll take my chances in the tournament.
BEN STILLER, ACTOR: Yes, you will take your chances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: It is a big screen sports moment, Vince Vaughn style. My interview with the star of the new movie "Dodgeball" is coming up.
This is CNN LIVE TODAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: There's always a factor you can't prepare for, the weather, a key at the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, that is where the U.S. Open is underway. Yesterday, rain caused one delay, fog later halted play and get this. That left the PGA players a buzz, marveling about how mild the conditions were. I think they're talking about -- I think they're talking about the wind. Tiger was talking about the wind, saying that if wind kicks about it is really going to be a bear out there.
Well, few people would go looking for a poet in a shopping mall, but you're going to find one selling Brooks Brothers suits in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Spencer Reese is the author of an acclaimed book of poetry. It is entitled "The Clerk's Tale," a work that has captured the attention of the U.S. poet laureate and "The New Yorker" magazine. I recently interviewed Reese about his two fascinating lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Spencer Reese, congratulations on being published.
SPENCER REESE, AUTHOR, "THE CLERK'S TALE": Well, thank you very much, Ms. Kagan. It's a pleasure to be here with you this morning.
KAGAN: Twenty-three years of not just writing but submitting your poetry; 23 years of rejection. For all the people out there, who have their own dream, their own thing they don't want to give up on, how can you encourage them not to give up on their dream?
REESE: Well, I persevered and I -- there's a quote that stayed with me overall these years from Winston Churchill. And the quote goes, "Never, never, never, never, never give in." And I've lived by that as years pass by and nothing happened.
KAGAN: So 23 years of writing and submitting poetry, and getting all those rejections. You come home one day from your job at Brooks Brothers and you listen to a message on your answering machine, and that's when things really changed?
REESE: That's correct. I came home and the message was from Louise Glick, who is the poet laureate of the United States right now. KAGAN: That's a bad message...
REESE: So I was shocked.
KAGAN: Not a bad message to have on your machine, Spencer.
REESE: I couldn't believe it. I thought they had made a mistake or lowered the standards in the middle of the night.
KAGAN: You like to focus on people who otherwise might get overlooked in everyday life. And as you've been doing this, as you've been pursuing your dream, you've been look working at Brooks Brothers. And as I understand it, even though you're now a published poet, you're going to keep your day job?
REESE: Oh, yes. I'm very proud of my work life. It's meant a great deal to me, and it's given me more probably than I realized.
KAGAN: Very good. Well, there are fans and new fans can look for that. And also look for you at Brooks Brothers in South Florida. Spencer Reese, congratulations on a long-term dream.
REESE: Well, bless your heart.
KAGAN: You give a lot of hope...
REESE: Thank you very much. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Twenty-three years before he was published. He said a friend of his gave him the advice you can't quit before the miracle.
Coming up on CNN LIVE TODAY, a little help from a friend. You're going to meet a monkey that is helping make life easier for one man.
And Gerri Willis joins us for some tips for turning your home into an even better investment.
Gerri, hello.
GERRI WILLIS, CNNFN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, Daryn. Good to see you. We're going to tell you how to analyze that home as an investment when we come back on CNN Live Today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAGAN: So trying to figure out how much your home is worth? And once you have that figured out, how can you make the most out of your investment?
Our answer woman, answer gal, Gerri Willis in New York with today's "Top Five Tips."
Gerri, good morning.
WILLIS: Hey, Daryn. Good to see you. Hey, my first tip today, you want to think total return. You know, we wanted to analyze the house like you analyze a stock. Right? Total return is capital gains and dividends, two very simple things. You know capital gains? This is how much your house appreciates over time.
If you don't know the numbers go to the Web site of the Office of the Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. I know it's a mouthful. You see the web address here. They can give you that number. Then look at the dividend. The dividend on your house is the money you save by not paying a landlord minus the expenses. Now, for most of us, Daryn, that's going to be a 12 to 13 percent return each and every year. It's a good investment.
KAGAN: What about the part where you get to use other people's money to make money for you.
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIS: Don't you like that?
KAGAN: I like that part.
WILLIS: It's called leverage. You buy a stock; you have to pay the whole price, put it down right away. But of course, with a house you only pay a small percentage. So, when you're trying to understand your return on your House, you want to compare how much you've put in, with what kind of price increases you're seeing. You're going to understand your house as an investment much better.
KAGAN: What about the transaction costs involved?
WILLIS: Yes. You know, any time you're buying any kind of investment at all, you want to consider transaction costs. It is a critical part of the equation. Listen to this expert.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER COY, "BUSINESSWEEK": You don't want to be turning over your house every couple years. To sell $500,000 of stock might cost you around 300 bucks if you got a good discount broker. To sell a $500,000 house could cost you $40,000 after you pay the broker and every other lawyer fee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIS: So net-net, you don't want to be trading in and out of houses all the time. Now also, another thing to think about. Tip No. 4, think liquidity. You know, conventional wisdom is that homes can't be traded very quickly. But you can take equity out of your House. And you can do it very easily with a number of new products coming out from bankers all the time. Home Equity loan line of credit, you know all about those, but there's also the cash-out-refi, Daryn.
KAGAN: And when you're trying to do all these formulas, how do you factor in inflation into all this?
WILLIS: Yes. There are differences with stocks. Stocks get hurt by inflation because, at the end of the day, companies lose pricing control. Bonds are hurt by inflation. But housing prices just keep going up and up and up, Daryn.
KAGAN: Thanks for the tip. Hope you have a good weekend in your home.
WILLIS: Thank you, Daryn.
KAGAN: Gerri Willis, we'll see you next week.
Fighting for same-sex marriage. Couples and clerks take on Massachusetts's law for out of state couples who want the chance to say I do.
And having a ball and trying to dodge one, a preview of the new film "Dodgeball." Straight ahead with one of the stars, I talk with actor Vince Vaughn.
This is CNN LIVE TODAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: I'm Daryn Kagan. Let's check the headlines at the bottom of the hour.
Vice President Dick Cheney calls the media, "irresponsible" for reporting suggestions that the 9/11 Commission found no link between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. Cheney says the evidence is overwhelming the terror group had a relationship with the former Iraqi dictator's regime.
At least three suspects are being questioned in the killing of three Birmingham, Alabama police officers. Authorities aren't saying much about the suspects. The officers were serving a misdemeanor warrant yesterday when they were fired on.
The funeral for Ray Charles begins in Los Angeles about two and a half hours from now. Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, Willie Nelson will all be among those attending the invitation-only service. More than 5,000 people paid their respects to the legendary singer at a public viewing yesterday.
And John Kerry wants minimum wage workers to earn more pay. Kerry is speaking about the issue this morning at a community college in Virginia. Kerry is calling for increase from the current $5.15 an hour to $7 by the year 2007.
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