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Leader was a Captor?; Chopper Crash; Capitol Evacuation; African Aid; Summer Rentals

Aired June 30, 2005 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Take you through the next few hours here on CNN LIVE TODAY.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lady in red.

O'BRIEN: Looking good in red there.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you so much.

You guys have a great day in New York City.

We'll go ahead and get started. We'll do that by taking a look at what's happening "Now in the News."

The crash site of a military helicopter in the mountains of Afghanistan has now been secured. Seventeen people aboard the MH-47 are feared dead, although there's been no official word yet. It was believed to have been shot down by hostile fire.

The newly elected president of Iran may have had a pivotal role in the hostage crisis in 1979. Take a look at these pictures side by side. Several former hostages say they recognize Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as one of those involved in the takeover of the American embassy Tehran. Iranian officials deny that allegation. Much more on the story is just ahead.

President Bush is thinking ahead to next week's G8 Summit in Scotland. He's been speaking this morning about the trip. A live picture of the speech he's giving right now. Top agenda items include the removal of Jewish settlements in Gaza and Iran's nuclear ambitions.

And in corporate news, Bank of America has announced a $35 billion deal to acquire credit card giant MBNA. The deal, if it goes through, would make the Bank of America the largest issuer of credit cards in the U.S. Bank of America estimates about 6,000 people would lose their jobs in the merger.

And now cnn.com is offering a whole new way to get the headlines. Just log on to our Web site and click on "watch" to check out the most popular stories. There's everything from politics and sports to entertainment. And it's free. It's at cnn.com.

Good morning to you on this Thursday morning. I'm Daryn Kagan.

We're going to start this hour with some shocking accusations and 25-year-old memories that could impact already strained relations between the U.S. and Iran. We go back to January 1981 with 52 Americans who had been held hostage in Iran. That's when they were freed. Militant students had seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran, holding the hostages for 444 days.

Now fast forward to this month. Iranian voters elect a new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be their country's president. A few of those former U.S. hostages see his picture and they are convinced the new president was one of their captors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM DAUGHERTY, FMR. HOSTAGE HELD IN IRAN: I saw his picture in "The Washington Post" on Saturday morning, recognized it immediately and then sent an e-mail out to some of my former colleagues just asking them to -- you know, and telling them what I thought and seeing what kind of responses they might have to it.

DON SHARER, FMR. HOSTAGE HELD IN IRAN: Well, as soon as I saw the face, it rang a lot of bells to me. And it was a recent picture but he's still -- looked like a man -- take 20 years off of him. He was there. He was there in the background. More like an adviser. And one other incident he just called Colonel Scott and myself pigs and dogs and we deserved to be locked up forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Our State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel has been working this story this morning. She joins us now from Washington.

Good morning.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Well, for those who elected Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, what appealed to them, according to some of the polls that have been taken, is that he was viewed as someone who would stand up to the United States. This is a man who is described by all accounts as an ultra conservative, a second generation revolutionary guard.

Now, what is going to be of most interest to Washington and to its allies who have been working with the United States to try to convince Iran to give up its -- what's suspected to be its nuclear weapons program, is whether or not Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is somebody who would be willing to do that, open to do that. And the early word is that he is someone who believes that Iran's nuclear program is in its nation's interest. And while he'll continue with the negotiations, it's not promising that he would be willing to give up the program.

He was elected mayor of Tehran a couple of years ago and really before that wasn't known to many throughout the country. He holds a Ph.D in traffic and transport. He's highly educated. And is a former revolutionary guard. He's a relatively young president, born in 1956. The son of a blacksmith.

Now his political career actually began back in the 1970s as a young student. He joined what was considered a ultraconservative faction of a radical student group that was created out of the 1979 Islamic revolution. It was that group that helped to stage the capture of the U.S. embassy.

Then, in the 1980s, like many Iranians, he joined the armed forces during the Iran-Iraq War. And some reports claim that he served as a secret agent. Ahmadinejad denies these reports. He's also served as a governor in Iran's northwest where he reportedly developed a reputation for efficiency and incorruptibility. But he is widely viewed as a representative of Iran's ultra conservative and a follower of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. This represents a segment of Iran's conservative population.

The president-elect also has his own Web site which is known as martermayar (ph). It translates as the people's friend. And, in fact, Daryn, one report claims that he often takes home made meals to the office, that he lives in an average apartment. He's someone who dresses in very sort of, as you can see right there, somebody who's not a flashy dresser and that really appealed to a lot of Iranians who elected him just last week in a landslide. And really a huge surprise not just in Iran but to the international community.

Daryn.

KAGAN: And the surprises apparently continue. Andrea Koppel at the State Department.

Andrea, thank you.

Now we want to update you on a story we first told you about yesterday. U.S. forces have now secured the site of the helicopter crash in a remote area of Afghanistan. But there's no official word on the fate of the American military members on board the chopper. Our Barbara Starr has visited the region where the crash occurred and she joins us from the Pentagon.

Barbara, hello.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, hello to you.

We want to update everyone on a couple of key details this morning.

The U.S. military now correcting the number of people that it says were on board that helicopter. For the last couple of days they've been saying 17. Now they have looked again, apparently it is 16 service members that were on board that plane. They looked at the manifest. One person scheduled to be on that helicopter did not get on. Sixteen people all now presumed to have perished in the crash.

As you say, rescue forces have now reached this very remote scene in this rugged area that you see here of Eastern Afghanistan. They are attempting to recover all of the remains at the crash site and then, of course, the formal family notification process will take place. Although certainly all of the families have already been notified that their loved ones were on board that helicopter. Several members believed to be members of special forces, including U.S. Navy Seals.

But one indication of just how rough it is on the ground there, Daryn. The military, when it put out a statement this morning saying that rescue forces had reached the site and secured the site still said "that U.S. forces are also in position to impede any enemy movement into or away from the crash site," an indicator there is still a good deal of insurgent activity in that region.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Barbara Starr, we'll be talking with you throughout the morning.

Barbara, thank you.

To our "Security Watch" this hour.

It has happened again. A small plane drifting into restricted airspace around the nation's capital. The incident prompt a brief evacuation. Our Jeanne Meserve has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): When the order came to evacuate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The House will say in emergency recess subject to the call of the chair.

MESERVE: The Senate, too, was mid vote when members got word of the intrusion into Washington's airspace.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stand by for further instruction from the U.S. Capitol Police.

MESERVE: People in congressional office buildings also were told to get out and they did. The White House briefly went to red alert, it's highest level. President Bush was whisked from his residence to a safer location. And though the secret service says the incident never reached the threshold for evacuation, tourists were shooed away from the area.

Fighter jets and other aircraft were scrambled. They intercepted the King Air 300 and escorted it to a Winchester, Virginia, airport where the pilot was questioned by law enforcement. The Capitol was reopened 30 minutes after it was emptied.

The U.S. Capitol Police say this plane did not come as close as the one that triggered an evacuation on May 11th. In that instance, the president was bike riding 16 miles away and was not notified until after the incident was over. And D.C. officials were furious that they were not more promptly informed. The Capitol Police decision to evacuate in May was dissected. A spokesman defended Wednesday's evacuation saying, we have to act off the information we are getting at the time, which was that the aircraft was not deviating from course and was approaching downtown D.C. (END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: Has told authorities that he veered into the restricted airspace to avoid bad weather. And officials say he had turned away by the time fighter jets reached him. But the Federal Aviation Administration says after their investigation he could face fines or a temporary revocation of his pilot's license.

Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: Jeanne Meserve live from Washington, D.C.

Jeanne, thank you.

Security is a key issue as work resumes on Capitol Hill this morning. The Senate Armed Services Committee getting an update now on the war against terrorism. Actually those are live pictures from President Bush. There we go, back to Capitol Hill. The hearing is focused on efforts by the Army and Marine Corp. Joint Chief's Chairman General Richard Myers is among those who are scheduled to testify today.

Let's check out the House side of things. Lawmakers want to know, will America be ready if a flu pandemic hits. The Government Reform Committee is holding a hearing this hour. Last week a research group reported more than a half million people could die if a strain of avian flu would hit the U.S.

Be sure to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Eleven minutes past the hour. He professed to kidnapping and killing a nine-year-old girl, but will his confession have to be thrown out? Still to come, will a convicted child molester and an admitted killer be set free? A look at what went wrong in the John Couey interrogation.

Plus, an up close glimpse as tornado chasers ride the storm.

And later, it wasn't a good day on the job for Texas Ranger Kenny Rogers and a cameraman. The story and what went wrong there just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my God! That is gorgeous. Good thing it missed that house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: All right. Well, gorgeous, that's one way to look at a tornado. There were several of them sweeping through parts of Minnesota overnight, including the one we're looking at here captured on tape by storm chasers near St. James. Another twister damaged a farm while rain and hail knocked out power to about 14,000 customers. One person's disaster is another person's work of beauty.

Rob Marciano, you probably would like to look at something like that in person.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Let's talk more about the evacuation on Capitol Hill. During -- while that was happening, President Bush was briefly hustled to a secure location. But the president is back in the spotlight this morning. He is previewing next week's G8 Summit. Our Elaine Quijano is at the White House with more on that.

Elaine, good morning.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn.

That's right, President Bush does head to Scotland for the G8 Summit next week. And today, here in Washington, in a speech the president just wrapped up a short time ago focusing on Africa, we did get a little bit of a preview. Of course, one of the main focuses for the G8 Summit will indeed be Africa. And the president today unveiled three new initiatives in a number of areas.

Before he did so, President Bush made clear that any pledges of U.S. aid, he sees them as a two-way street with obligations for African nations, for the governments of African nations, as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our greatest challenge is to get beyond empty symbolism and discredited policies and match our good intentions with good results. First, overcoming extreme poverty requires partnership, not paternalism. Economic development is not something we do for countries, it is something they achieve with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, President Bush there essentially laying out that he sees certain requirements, an active role for African nations, in order to ensure that American aide dollars are indeed spent properly. And, of course, the president today outlining many of the difficulties facing the African continent.

The president, though, announcing several new initiatives. One dealing with African education. Another dealing with the legal protection of women and children against violence and abuse. And finally, the president also announcing a major boost in aid to help might malaria. The president saying that approximately 1 million people last year alone died in Africa as a result of malaria.

And he says that next week he will urge G8 countries to try to cut the mortality rate of malaria in half. He also announced that over the next few years more than $1.2 billion he is pledging on this campaign with the approval, of course, of Congress. But the president making that announcement ahead of that G8 Summit next week.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Elaine Quijano at the White house.

Elaine, thank you.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is hosting next week's G8 Summit. He is calling for a type of marshal plan for aid to Africa. Our Christiane Amanpour sat down with Mr. Blair for an exclusive interview today and she asked the prime minister how he will approach President Bush on the subject of aid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: What I would ask him to do and hope that he will be able to do is increase significantly the amount of aid that's going to Africa. I mean he's traveled it already. I would like to see effectively a doubling of the amount of money that America is paying because I think that tied to the proper ways of using that money to things like education and dealing with the killer diseases, to water sanitation and infrastructure, the proof is there it can make a real difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Mr. Blair says there are two main factors that motivate his push for African aid. First, he says, it's the moral issue of thousands of children dying every day. But Mr. Blair also suggests that global security concerns are a secondary reason.

Well, have you seen the pictures? A much lighter note here. A cameraman is attacked by a Major League Baseball player. What could now happen to the Texas Rangers pitcher who provoked the incident?

Plus, still haven't rented that summer home by the shore? Gerri Willis is here with her tips of getting a vacation place.

Hello.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Daryn.

There are still deals to be held out there. If you want to find them, we'll help you. Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's go ahead and talk about today's "Top Five Tips."

It's vacation time. And, believe it or not, procrastination can actually pay off when it comes to booking a summer rental. That seasonal advice is the subject of today's "Top Five Tips." Our Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis joins us with the details.

Good to hear that somewhere it pays off to put things off. WILLIS: Yes. That's definitely my favorite habit is waiting to do things. And it can help if you're trying to book a summer rental because there's a lot of supply out there, Daryn. And what's happening is that people are waiting until the last minute and they're getting good deals because now these homeowners are willing to negotiate.

KAGAN: But you're not saying go for the big weekend like 4th of July weekend?

WILLIS: Yes, it's really tough to get the house that you absolutely want right on the water for the 4th of July at this point because the big weekends are tough to get. They book first. But if you're willing to take one of the off weekends or even book in the middle of the week, you can still find deals for the summer.

KAGAN: And then also maybe stay shorter?

WILLIS: Yes, there's so much supply out there in the market place right now that a lot of these people who are renting homes, they can't require that you stay two weeks or even a full week. So if you're willing to stay just three days, four days in the middle of the week, you're more likely to find what you want.

KAGAN: And flexibility is going to pay off as well?

WILLIS: Yes. You know, maybe the kids can double up. Maybe you don't get the house on the ocean but you get the house a couple of blocks away from the ocean. If you're flexible about your dates, you're more likely to get what you need.

KAGAN: How do you find -- if you pick an area, how do you find the company that rents out houses?

WILLIS: Well, one place to go is on the web. It's called the Vacation Rental Managers Association. And they have a little tool on their Web site that allows you to find property managers in the areas that you want to rent. So you can go to vrma.com and find property owners, property managers in areas you might want to rent out a house.

And, Daryn.

KAGAN: Yes.

WILLIS: This weekend on "Open House," we're going to talk more about this topic, and we're also heading out to the Hampton designer show house. We're going to check out some amazing designers and plan the perfect 4th of July party. From fireworks safety, to the best backyard bash. It's this Saturday, 9:30 a.m. Eastern on "Open House."

KAGAN: I will be watching so I get tips for my 4th of July bash at my house.

WILLIS: There you go.

KAGAN: Thank you. WILLIS: Thank you.

KAGAN: Speaking of vacation, one Major League Baseball player might be getting one soon. Not by choice. A day at the ballpark turns violence. What made this Texas Ranger pitcher lash out and send a television cameraman to the hospital?

Plus, a legal loophole. Will it throw a wrench into a once solid case against John Couey?

CNN LIVE TODAY is back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We're coming up on the half hour. I'm Daryn Kagan. Here's a look at what's happening "Now in the News."

Four former U.S. hostages in Iran claim that Iran's president- elect was one of their captors a quarter century ago. Aides to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad deny the link. They say he was a member of the student group that planned the U.S. embassy takeover. But they say he actually opposed the takeover.

"Time" magazine says it will hand over subpoenaed notes from White House Correspondent Matt Cooper. Cooper faced jail time for shielding sources on a story about the leak of a CIA operative's name. On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal. Time Incorporated, which is the parent company of CNN, says it strongly disagrees with the court order but it will comply.

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Ahmadinejad, may have played a role in the hostage crisis in 1979. Several former hostages say they recognize him. Iranian officials deny that allegation.>