Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Interview With Former Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose; Iraq Intelligence
Aired March 10, 2004 - 07:30 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also, while the CIA is defending its record on pre-war intelligence regarding Iraq, it's having big-time problems in the post-war as well. We'll hear about that from a "Washington Post" intelligence reporter in a moment here; also find out what progress the CIA has made. They have gone from about 60 agents in Iraq to over 300. Let's see if they're penetrating the insurgency, whether or not they're getting any help on the Iraqi side as well.
So, we'll get to all of that in a moment.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Before we get to any of that, thought, let's first get to our top stories.
Another four wins for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, the Massachusetts senator whose major rivals have all dropped out of the race. He easily won yesterday's primaries in Florida, Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. He is now more than 2,100 votes shy of officially securing his party's nomination.
Israeli and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart, Ahmed Qorei, are expected to meet face-to-face. Israeli sources said the summit could take place as soon as next week.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian woman killed during a raid yesterday in Jenin. Israeli defense forces say it is not clear if Israeli or Palestinian gunfire killer her. Three people were also wounded during that operation.
Haiti's Advisory Council has selected a new prime minister. Gerard Latortue, a former U.N. official, has been picked for the job, but he has yet to formally accept the offer.
Meanwhile, U.S. Marines will join Haitian police in disarming the public. Rounding up weapons is considered a key to restoring peace in that country.
In California, a restraining order has been issued against the willed body program at UCLA. The university says it will stop accepting donated bodies until the completion of an investigation, and it claims that body parts were illegally sold. Families of cadaver donors filed a class-action lawsuit earlier this week, claiming that the director of the program was selling body parts with the knowledge of university officials.
And a cup of coffee may help to protect you from diabetes. Researchers in Finland said women, who drank more than 10 cups a day -- wow, that's a lot -- lowered their risk of getting adult onset diabetes by 80 percent. Men lowered their risk by 55 percent. The reason for the apparent health benefit remains unclear.
HEMMER: See, I've been looking for my excuse for years now.
O'BRIEN: Ten cups a day. Because -- wow!
HEMMER: I can't survive.
O'BRIEN: That can't be good for you.
HEMMER: I can't get through a morning without having it.
O'BRIEN: Do you drink 10 cups a day, seriously?
HEMMER: No. No, not that much.
O'BRIEN: Six?
HEMMER: Eh.
O'BRIEN: Seven?
HEMMER: Four.
O'BRIEN: That's not good for you, either.
HEMMER: I get it in. Well, I've got to wake up at some point, you know.
O'BRIEN: Cry me a river.
HEMMER: Later.
(WEATHER BREAK)
HEMMER: One of the two men responsible for the deaths of 10 people in a sniper spree is now facing death himself. John Muhammad sentenced to die yesterday. The Virginia judge who made the ruling called the D.C.-area shootings -- quote -- "So vile they were almost beyond comprehension."
Muhammad's accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo is expected to be sentenced today.
Former Montgomery County police Chief Charles Moose led the investigation. He is our guest this morning live in D.C.
Chief, nice to see you again. Good morning to see you.
CHARLES MOOSE, FORMER MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE CHIEF: Good to see you, Bill.
HEMMER: Your reaction from yesterday and going forward today is what? MOOSE: You know, I'm very pleased, I think, for two reasons. One, I think the penalty matches the crime. And, two, it's always nice when a jury's decision is affirmed, because that's difficult work that Americans do sitting on a jury, and it's nice that the judge went with their recommendation.
HEMMER: Let just me make it clear for our audience here. You believe both should die, is that right?
MOOSE: That is correct. And certainly, I know that that's not the case at this point for Malvo, but that's the system that we have. But my personal feeling is that they both deserve the death penalty.
HEMMER: But there is a chance in other jurisdictions that Lee Boyd Malvo may face that possible punishment, correct?
MOOSE: That is correct. I certainly don't at this point have any information that they're moving forward with trials, but that remains a strong possibility.
HEMMER: I want to read you a statement that was given yesterday in court by John Muhammad for our audience. We'll put it on the screen. "Don't make a fool of the Constitution of the United States of America. Just like I said at the beginning, I had nothing to do with this, and I'll say again, I had nothing to do with this."
What do you believe is going through his mind at this time?
MOOSE: Well, you know, I really don't know, but I know that we have the ability as people to rationalize, and I think that sometimes we do that and do that incorrectly. You know, I'll just remind you that there are people that were involved in the situation in Nazi Germany. They claimed that they didn't do anything, either. So, it's amazing sometimes.
But I think the task force showed all of the evidence, a strong case, and very clearly we have the right people in jail.
HEMMER: Chief, listen, I want you to listen to some of the reaction from the family members. A number of them were in court yesterday. Then we'll get your reaction from this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SONIA MILLS, MOTHER OF SNIPER VICTIM CONRAD JOHNSON: Justice has been served today. I can go to my son's grave and wish him a happy birthday on Sunday. Conrad would have been 37 this Sunday.
KWANG IM SZUSZKA, SISTER OF SNIPER VICTIM HONG IM BALLENGER: Today's judge's decision, I'm glad, because what Muhammad did was inhuman. He deserves to die. He killed so many innocent people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Chief, does this allow the community to move forward? And have you been in touch with any of these family members regarding this?
MOOSE: You know, I think it does help the community move forward, but when you talk about the actual families and their loved ones, you know, their lives, unfortunately, have been changed forever. And I think, you know, my thoughts and prayers will forever be with them. And I hope that their neighbors, their friends, other people throughout the country, certainly in the Washington area, continue to support them.
HEMMER: Charles Moose, thanks. Appreciate your thoughts this morning. Nice to see you again.
MOOSE: Thank you, Bill.
HEMMER: All right -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Let's turn to the Scott Peterson murder trial. It might be moving again. Peterson's attorney, Mark Geragos, has asked for another change of venue. He says a large percentage of prospective jurors in Redwood City, California, already believe Peterson is guilty of killing his wife.
The trial had already been moved from -- to Redwood City, rather, from Peterson's hometown of Modesto. The judge is delaying jury selection in order to consider this new motion.
HEMMER: Next hour, we'll talk to Jeff Toobin about this, whether or not there's a fighting chance or not.
O'BRIEN: All right, we'll see.
HEMMER: A break here in a moment. President Bush gets ready to defend his economic policy in a place hit hard by unemployment. A major speech today. We'll get a live report on what's happening there.
O'BRIEN: Also ahead, did the CIA let overstatements about Iraq slide? We'll take a look at the agency's defense and whether intelligence has gotten any better.
HEMMER: Also, are you getting the most out of your own tax return? We'll show you how some deductions are often overlooked. Good advice, too.
Back in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: The CIA director, George Tenet, is defending his agency's credibility, denying that the White House hyped intelligence to justify war in Iraq. During a Senate hearing yesterday, Tenet was grilled oftentimes by Democratic senators about the apparent contradictions in pre-war intelligence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. TED KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: You can't have it both ways, can you, Mr. Tenet? You can't, on the one hand just say, look, we never said that war was imminent, and then have the super heated dialogue and rhetoric, which was semantically the same as imminent, and tell us here before the committee that you have no obligation to correct it, or didn't even try?
GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: Senator, I can tell you that I'm not going to sit here today and tell you what my interaction was and what I did or what I didn't do, except that you have to have the confidence to know that when I believed that somebody was misconstruing intelligence, I said something about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Dana Priest is a reporter for "The Washington Post." Her book is titled, "The Mission," now in paperback version with a post-script about the Iraq war. And Dana Priest is our guest now here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Nice to see you. Good morning to you.
DANA PRIEST, REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Nice to see you.
HEMMER: Just so I get this right, a couple of things from George Tenet yesterday. He does not believe anyone misrepresented intelligence, but he admits to speaking with some administration officials for misconstruing the facts. You have a byline today in your own paper.
PRIEST: Right.
HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for us.
PRIEST: Well, the bottom line is, the Democrats want to know: Did the administration exaggerate? And overall, his response is, no, they did not. It's really the first time that he's answered that question directly.
However, pushed by Senator Kennedy and Levin, don't you have a responsibility to stand up when something is wrong? In other words, when some detail is wrong or overall exaggerated. He says, yes, and I did that. I'm not going to tell you what I said, but on particular instances. He named just a couple.
HEMMER: Which instances?
PRIEST: Well, he named the one we know about -- the uranium from Africa in the State of the Union. He also talked about the mobile bioweapons labs, which Secretary Powell talked about and Dick Cheney talked about.
HEMMER: Which were discovered toward the end of the war in Iraq, early April.
PRIEST: Right. And the fact was that the agency and the community -- the intelligence community were split about what they were, and were siding to the side to say, well, we don't know for sure if this was primarily their purpose. But administration officials came out and said with certainty -- as they did, by the way, with a lot of things -- they said we know for certain this and that. He's saying when that happened he stepped in and corrected that.
HEMMER: Now, when he says, "corrected," did he speak with them directly? And with whom did h speak?
PRIEST: Well, wouldn't that be nice to know? He won't say, and neither will the administration.
HEMMER: Well, there is an inference, though, in some pieces out today, including your own, that the vice president may have been one.
PRIEST: Well, you know, there's this thing called executive privilege. They are all hiding behind it. It is going to be the subject for the commission that looks at this and for the Senate Intelligence Committee that's been looking at this issue for eight months. They cannot get to the issue of: What did Tenet tell the president? What did the president, did he get any other source of intelligence which has come up in these hearings?
And the White House says we're not going there. This is privileged information. We have to have a free flow of ideas. We're not going to tell you anything in detail. We're not going to show you documents that will prove our point, which is we didn't exaggerate. We just said what the agency and the intelligence community told us.
HEMMER: If I could quickly move away from the testimony from yesterday. Intel in Iraq. You report in your book, "The Mission," the CIA has gone from 85 to 300 agents. Are they getting any better at penetrating the insurgency?
PRIEST: Well, I think they're the first to admit that this is as hard in hindsight as knowing whether there are weapons of mass destruction for the same reason. They didn't have people on the ground. Now, they have the country occupied, but they can't penetrate very easily these tribes that they only know little about, or the bad guys, the Baath Party loyalists. And so, they are having a tremendous problem.
On top of that, there's the question of security. Case officers complain there's a directive from the agency they have to go out with bodyguards. Well, how do you think that plays if you want to have a discreet meeting with somebody?
HEMMER: Not easy to have covert coverage.
PRIEST: Exactly.
HEMMER: Very quickly here, do you think the CIA is better today than it was a year ago or even six months ago?
PRIEST: Well, absolutely. If for no other reason is the focus that everyone has put on getting more linguists, on trying to understand Iraq better and recognizing their own faults. Also, the weapons of mass destruction is causing them to re-look at how they analyze, the methods that they're using. They are really being criticized up and down for that. And they are taking many internal looks, not just from the president's commission, but also their own internal people who are doing that.
HEMMER: Nice to talk to you. The book is called "The Mission." Dana Priest from "The Washington Post". Great to speak with you.
PRIEST: You, too.
HEMMER: All right -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: It's time to check in with Jack and the question of the day on a much different topic, obviously.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, scary stuff. I didn't realize this either until it came in this morning. Obesity could overtake smoking as this country's No. 1 preventable killer as soon as next year. A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that diet and physical inactivity caused 400,000 deaths in the year 2000, and that compares to 435,000 tobacco-related deaths, just 85,000 from alcohol.
To battle the issue, the government began a new ad campaign, which adds a touch of humor. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Check it out, man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like someone's belly. Probably lost it walking around the beach.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man, just leave it. Let's go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAFFERTY: That's pretty funny for government work.
The question is: Who is responsible for fixing America's weight problem? Is it the government? Is it the food industry? Or is it us, you and me?
Here's some of what you're writing this morning.
Debra (ph) in Smyrna, Georgia: "I am 40 pounds overweight, and I don't think that that should be made America's problem or McDonald's problem or my neighbor next door, who makes wonderful brownies. It's my problem, and I need to assume responsibility for it."
Bob from Allentown, Pennsylvania: "Considering the taxes smokers are now paying, it won't be long before we'll have to step on the scale when we file our taxes. If one's overweight, one will be taxed accordingly. Based on the tobacco philosophy, I guess that would be fitting."
Walt writes: "I am fat. I eat at McDonald's fairly frequently. But I was the guy behind the steering wheel when my car ended up there. The lawsuits are nonsense."
Liz in Buffalo, New York: "Like sex education, the government is on the hook to some degree. The problem begins at a young age, and kids should be targeted. I can remember my school lunches being comprised of pizza, cheeseburgers and a Friday surprise, which was probably some combination of the leftovers of the two."
And some yo-yo named Rich says: "Does this mean I should take up smoking in order to lose weight?"
O'BRIEN: No.
CAFFERTY: Well, whatever, Rich, knock yourself out. Whatever gets it done for you.
O'BRIEN: Interesting responses. You know, actually I agree with the person who -- you know, not that you need me to weigh in on this. But I agree with the person who says that the government should be telling kids about nutrition, because the truth is, none of us were ever taught about nutrition as children.
CAFFERTY: And we've got soda machines in the school. We've got fast food machines in the schools. And if go outside the schools, there are little snack shops all around the neighborhood and places where they can buy, you know, donuts and all kinds of stuff.
O'BRIEN: We have a 12-year-old in today, a colleague's daughter, and she said to me if something has 18 grams of fat, she said, "Is that a lot or is that a little?"
CAFFERTY: Yes.
O'BRIEN: You know, what's 18 grams of fat?
CAFFERTY: See, I'm 61, and I don't know the answer to that.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jack, thanks. Looking forward to those e- mails. They're interesting.
Still to come this morning, the government gets hundreds of millions of dollars that should be actually in taxpayers' pockets. We're going to tell you about some deduction that could pay off for you when AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: With the mother of all deadlines, April 15, a little more than a month away, many taxpayers are feeling a little tense. Well, this morning in our weekly "90-Second Tips" series, we're going to try to relieve some of that tension, and also ease your tax burden at the same time.
David Bach is our personal finance contributor, also our tax masseuse.
(CROSSTALK)
DAVID BACH, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE CONTRIBUTOR: Tax masseuse, I like that.
O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on this whole relief. Now you're stressed here. We're going to talk about some deductions that are often overlooked.
BACH: Yes.
O'BRIEN: I guess the General Accounting Office says something like $950 million overpaid by American taxpayers.
BACH: Incredible.
O'BRIEN: Is it because people are having too much money withheld or why?
BACH: The government is actually telling Americans that they should be itemizing their tax deductions. Many Americans don't itemize their tax deductions. And what that means is you're losing out on free money.
An example would be this: If you earned $50,000 a year, and you had $10,000 in itemized deductions, that could put potentially $3,000 or $4,000 back in your pocket, and that's more money than most Americans save. So, again, these tax deductions at the end of the year are just critical.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about what exactly a deduction is (UNINTELLIGIBLE) deduction. Well, what sorts of things are deductible? And what sorts of things are completely not deductible, speaking generally?
BACH: It is unbelievable how much is deductible. And we're going to show this book here in a second. Almost -- I don't want to say everything is deductible -- but a lot of things are deductible. And, I mean, we're going beyond things like, for instance, giving money to charity. I mean, let's go through the five right now.
O'BRIEN: Right.
BACH: We've got five simple things that most people would never think about that are itemized deductions that, again, can put thousands of dollars back in your pocket right now.
O'BRIEN: All right, then let's go through them. The first thing you say is the points that you pay to refinance your home are deductible.
BACH: Yes, this is something that people don't realize. When you buy a home, you pay a point. Let's use an example. A $300,000 home, you pay one point for that loan, that's $3,000. Now, you usually are going to have to take that deduction over the life of the mortgage.
O'BRIEN: Right.
BACH: But when you refinance, you're able to take all of that deduction that you haven't yet used and take it that year. So, if you refinance this year, you may be able to go back and get the full credit for that one point, which could, again, be thousands of dollars back in your pocket.
O'BRIEN: I was surprised to read that moving expenses. Really any move? I mean, are there any kind of limitations on that?
BACH: There is. If you move over 50 miles for a job...
O'BRIEN: It would have to be for a job.
BACH: Over 50 miles for a job, you can write that off. Well, guess what? One in five Americans apparently move every year. So, a lot of people who move this year for a job can write that off.
O'BRIEN: What qualifies as a moving expense?
BACH: That would be the people who show up with the truck and put your stuff in a truck, for example, and move that for you.
O'BRIEN: So, all of that goes...
BACH: Yes, and that could be over $1,000.
O'BRIEN: Wow! (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I paid more than that when I moved from California out to New York.
Penalty fees on investments. What specifically are you talking about?
BACH: I really like this one. Let's say you go and you buy a CD at a bank. Well, most certificates of deposits -- if you buy a five- year CD and you sell that CD early, there's a penalty fee. That penalty fee is actually an itemized deduction, provided you take it.
So, again, if you buy an investment, and there's a cost to sell that investment, you can actually take that as an itemized deduction against your taxes, putting, potentially again, at least hundreds of dollars back in your pocket, but maybe thousands if you had a big CD.
O'BRIEN: Weight loss programs are deductible. Are these any weight -- like Atkins, Jenny Craig, all of those?
BACH: It depends. If a doctor says that you need to lose weight, puts that in writing, recommends that you go on an Atkins program or a Weight Watcher's program, guess what? That's an itemized deduction.
O'BRIEN: So, everything you spend in that program -- the food, the meetings, all of that stuff? BACH: Yes. Now, that's the thing that surprised me is that the foods, the -- you know, I don't want to call it lotions and potions -- but all of that shakes that people are running around making now and the vitamins, provided a doctor recommended you go off and lose weight for health reasons, the government says yes, that is an itemized deduction, because they actually want Americans to be healthier.
O'BRIEN: This one: Deductions for having a baby. What actually is covered? Because I think...
BACH: You'll like this one, all right?
O'BRIEN: Well, maybe, because it looks like if you're taking birth and child prep courses...
BACH: Right.
O'BRIEN: ... which I'm not going to do...
BACH: You're not going to take another one of those classes?
O'BRIEN: ... this time around.
BACH: Because I just took this class.
O'BRIEN: Right, you have a 6-month-old now.
BACH: You know, we have a 6-month-old, so I had to learn how to, you know, diaper a doll, right? So, I mean, we went and took one of these classes. That class cost, like, $700 to for a whole day to learn...
O'BRIEN: You were ripped off! I would have taught you that for, like, 20 bucks.
BACH: Well, you know, but they teach you a lot in these child birth classes, and I think it's mostly for the fathers, quite frankly. But that is an itemized deduction. I found that fascinating.
O'BRIEN: Wow! Anything else when you have a child outside of the classes?
BACH: Again...
O'BRIEN: It's not that I'm asking all about me, but (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
BACH: You know, again, it goes back to medical things. You know, if a doctor tells you that you need certain things, because, for instance, I know you're having twins. You know, maybe you need to get certain things because of those medical issues, that can be an itemized deduction.
O'BRIEN: Interesting. You brought this big book here. What's this? And also, let's talk a little bit about if you think...
BACH: Well, this is just -- you know, people say, where do I learn these things? You know...
O'BRIEN: Right, because (UNINTELLIGIBLE) let me hold it up. It's really heavy.
BACH: Show this guide. Now, most people would look at a guide, this is the Ernst & Young Tax Guide for 2004. I have to tell you something. I think this is a fantastic guide. I read through it over the weekend.
O'BRIEN: It cost 17 bucks, though.
BACH: Seventeen bucks. There are 50 of the most commonly missed deductions. Just that alone, quite frankly, is the worth the price of admission on this book. And here's the key thing: Even if you hire an accountant, you have to know what questions to ask, because a lot of accountants would not say to you, oh, did you have a baby this year? Did you take a birth class?
O'BRIEN: That's what I was going to ask you. So, do you think people should hire an accountant, or do you think people should buy just do themselves, buy a book and follow through it themselves?
BACH: Honestly, I think most should hire an accountant, a CPA, and H&R Block. Because I'll tell you what, in most cases, if you spend $500 on having your taxes done, you'll probably save thousands of dollars in itemized deductions that you wouldn't have found. But there are great software programs out there also. There is Tax Cut. There is Termo (ph) Cut. Or buy a book like this. It can really help you.
O'BRIEN: All right. It looks like it's pretty easy to read, too. David Bach, as always, nice to see you. Thank you so much.
BACH: Soledad, good to see you. Thank you.
O'BRIEN: David Bach, of course, is America Online's money coach. The AOL keyword is David Bach.
And you can get more information at FinishRich.com as well. David is going to join us every Wednesday right here on AMERICAN MORNING with some tips on how to improve your financial life -- Bill.
HEMMER: Soledad, thanks.
In a moment, a missing girl and a missing hard drive. The girl's father says there's a connection. He's here live to tell us why in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Charles Moose; Iraq Intelligence>
Aired March 10, 2004 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also, while the CIA is defending its record on pre-war intelligence regarding Iraq, it's having big-time problems in the post-war as well. We'll hear about that from a "Washington Post" intelligence reporter in a moment here; also find out what progress the CIA has made. They have gone from about 60 agents in Iraq to over 300. Let's see if they're penetrating the insurgency, whether or not they're getting any help on the Iraqi side as well.
So, we'll get to all of that in a moment.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Before we get to any of that, thought, let's first get to our top stories.
Another four wins for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, the Massachusetts senator whose major rivals have all dropped out of the race. He easily won yesterday's primaries in Florida, Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. He is now more than 2,100 votes shy of officially securing his party's nomination.
Israeli and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart, Ahmed Qorei, are expected to meet face-to-face. Israeli sources said the summit could take place as soon as next week.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian woman killed during a raid yesterday in Jenin. Israeli defense forces say it is not clear if Israeli or Palestinian gunfire killer her. Three people were also wounded during that operation.
Haiti's Advisory Council has selected a new prime minister. Gerard Latortue, a former U.N. official, has been picked for the job, but he has yet to formally accept the offer.
Meanwhile, U.S. Marines will join Haitian police in disarming the public. Rounding up weapons is considered a key to restoring peace in that country.
In California, a restraining order has been issued against the willed body program at UCLA. The university says it will stop accepting donated bodies until the completion of an investigation, and it claims that body parts were illegally sold. Families of cadaver donors filed a class-action lawsuit earlier this week, claiming that the director of the program was selling body parts with the knowledge of university officials.
And a cup of coffee may help to protect you from diabetes. Researchers in Finland said women, who drank more than 10 cups a day -- wow, that's a lot -- lowered their risk of getting adult onset diabetes by 80 percent. Men lowered their risk by 55 percent. The reason for the apparent health benefit remains unclear.
HEMMER: See, I've been looking for my excuse for years now.
O'BRIEN: Ten cups a day. Because -- wow!
HEMMER: I can't survive.
O'BRIEN: That can't be good for you.
HEMMER: I can't get through a morning without having it.
O'BRIEN: Do you drink 10 cups a day, seriously?
HEMMER: No. No, not that much.
O'BRIEN: Six?
HEMMER: Eh.
O'BRIEN: Seven?
HEMMER: Four.
O'BRIEN: That's not good for you, either.
HEMMER: I get it in. Well, I've got to wake up at some point, you know.
O'BRIEN: Cry me a river.
HEMMER: Later.
(WEATHER BREAK)
HEMMER: One of the two men responsible for the deaths of 10 people in a sniper spree is now facing death himself. John Muhammad sentenced to die yesterday. The Virginia judge who made the ruling called the D.C.-area shootings -- quote -- "So vile they were almost beyond comprehension."
Muhammad's accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo is expected to be sentenced today.
Former Montgomery County police Chief Charles Moose led the investigation. He is our guest this morning live in D.C.
Chief, nice to see you again. Good morning to see you.
CHARLES MOOSE, FORMER MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE CHIEF: Good to see you, Bill.
HEMMER: Your reaction from yesterday and going forward today is what? MOOSE: You know, I'm very pleased, I think, for two reasons. One, I think the penalty matches the crime. And, two, it's always nice when a jury's decision is affirmed, because that's difficult work that Americans do sitting on a jury, and it's nice that the judge went with their recommendation.
HEMMER: Let just me make it clear for our audience here. You believe both should die, is that right?
MOOSE: That is correct. And certainly, I know that that's not the case at this point for Malvo, but that's the system that we have. But my personal feeling is that they both deserve the death penalty.
HEMMER: But there is a chance in other jurisdictions that Lee Boyd Malvo may face that possible punishment, correct?
MOOSE: That is correct. I certainly don't at this point have any information that they're moving forward with trials, but that remains a strong possibility.
HEMMER: I want to read you a statement that was given yesterday in court by John Muhammad for our audience. We'll put it on the screen. "Don't make a fool of the Constitution of the United States of America. Just like I said at the beginning, I had nothing to do with this, and I'll say again, I had nothing to do with this."
What do you believe is going through his mind at this time?
MOOSE: Well, you know, I really don't know, but I know that we have the ability as people to rationalize, and I think that sometimes we do that and do that incorrectly. You know, I'll just remind you that there are people that were involved in the situation in Nazi Germany. They claimed that they didn't do anything, either. So, it's amazing sometimes.
But I think the task force showed all of the evidence, a strong case, and very clearly we have the right people in jail.
HEMMER: Chief, listen, I want you to listen to some of the reaction from the family members. A number of them were in court yesterday. Then we'll get your reaction from this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SONIA MILLS, MOTHER OF SNIPER VICTIM CONRAD JOHNSON: Justice has been served today. I can go to my son's grave and wish him a happy birthday on Sunday. Conrad would have been 37 this Sunday.
KWANG IM SZUSZKA, SISTER OF SNIPER VICTIM HONG IM BALLENGER: Today's judge's decision, I'm glad, because what Muhammad did was inhuman. He deserves to die. He killed so many innocent people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Chief, does this allow the community to move forward? And have you been in touch with any of these family members regarding this?
MOOSE: You know, I think it does help the community move forward, but when you talk about the actual families and their loved ones, you know, their lives, unfortunately, have been changed forever. And I think, you know, my thoughts and prayers will forever be with them. And I hope that their neighbors, their friends, other people throughout the country, certainly in the Washington area, continue to support them.
HEMMER: Charles Moose, thanks. Appreciate your thoughts this morning. Nice to see you again.
MOOSE: Thank you, Bill.
HEMMER: All right -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Let's turn to the Scott Peterson murder trial. It might be moving again. Peterson's attorney, Mark Geragos, has asked for another change of venue. He says a large percentage of prospective jurors in Redwood City, California, already believe Peterson is guilty of killing his wife.
The trial had already been moved from -- to Redwood City, rather, from Peterson's hometown of Modesto. The judge is delaying jury selection in order to consider this new motion.
HEMMER: Next hour, we'll talk to Jeff Toobin about this, whether or not there's a fighting chance or not.
O'BRIEN: All right, we'll see.
HEMMER: A break here in a moment. President Bush gets ready to defend his economic policy in a place hit hard by unemployment. A major speech today. We'll get a live report on what's happening there.
O'BRIEN: Also ahead, did the CIA let overstatements about Iraq slide? We'll take a look at the agency's defense and whether intelligence has gotten any better.
HEMMER: Also, are you getting the most out of your own tax return? We'll show you how some deductions are often overlooked. Good advice, too.
Back in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: The CIA director, George Tenet, is defending his agency's credibility, denying that the White House hyped intelligence to justify war in Iraq. During a Senate hearing yesterday, Tenet was grilled oftentimes by Democratic senators about the apparent contradictions in pre-war intelligence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. TED KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: You can't have it both ways, can you, Mr. Tenet? You can't, on the one hand just say, look, we never said that war was imminent, and then have the super heated dialogue and rhetoric, which was semantically the same as imminent, and tell us here before the committee that you have no obligation to correct it, or didn't even try?
GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: Senator, I can tell you that I'm not going to sit here today and tell you what my interaction was and what I did or what I didn't do, except that you have to have the confidence to know that when I believed that somebody was misconstruing intelligence, I said something about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Dana Priest is a reporter for "The Washington Post." Her book is titled, "The Mission," now in paperback version with a post-script about the Iraq war. And Dana Priest is our guest now here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Nice to see you. Good morning to you.
DANA PRIEST, REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Nice to see you.
HEMMER: Just so I get this right, a couple of things from George Tenet yesterday. He does not believe anyone misrepresented intelligence, but he admits to speaking with some administration officials for misconstruing the facts. You have a byline today in your own paper.
PRIEST: Right.
HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for us.
PRIEST: Well, the bottom line is, the Democrats want to know: Did the administration exaggerate? And overall, his response is, no, they did not. It's really the first time that he's answered that question directly.
However, pushed by Senator Kennedy and Levin, don't you have a responsibility to stand up when something is wrong? In other words, when some detail is wrong or overall exaggerated. He says, yes, and I did that. I'm not going to tell you what I said, but on particular instances. He named just a couple.
HEMMER: Which instances?
PRIEST: Well, he named the one we know about -- the uranium from Africa in the State of the Union. He also talked about the mobile bioweapons labs, which Secretary Powell talked about and Dick Cheney talked about.
HEMMER: Which were discovered toward the end of the war in Iraq, early April.
PRIEST: Right. And the fact was that the agency and the community -- the intelligence community were split about what they were, and were siding to the side to say, well, we don't know for sure if this was primarily their purpose. But administration officials came out and said with certainty -- as they did, by the way, with a lot of things -- they said we know for certain this and that. He's saying when that happened he stepped in and corrected that.
HEMMER: Now, when he says, "corrected," did he speak with them directly? And with whom did h speak?
PRIEST: Well, wouldn't that be nice to know? He won't say, and neither will the administration.
HEMMER: Well, there is an inference, though, in some pieces out today, including your own, that the vice president may have been one.
PRIEST: Well, you know, there's this thing called executive privilege. They are all hiding behind it. It is going to be the subject for the commission that looks at this and for the Senate Intelligence Committee that's been looking at this issue for eight months. They cannot get to the issue of: What did Tenet tell the president? What did the president, did he get any other source of intelligence which has come up in these hearings?
And the White House says we're not going there. This is privileged information. We have to have a free flow of ideas. We're not going to tell you anything in detail. We're not going to show you documents that will prove our point, which is we didn't exaggerate. We just said what the agency and the intelligence community told us.
HEMMER: If I could quickly move away from the testimony from yesterday. Intel in Iraq. You report in your book, "The Mission," the CIA has gone from 85 to 300 agents. Are they getting any better at penetrating the insurgency?
PRIEST: Well, I think they're the first to admit that this is as hard in hindsight as knowing whether there are weapons of mass destruction for the same reason. They didn't have people on the ground. Now, they have the country occupied, but they can't penetrate very easily these tribes that they only know little about, or the bad guys, the Baath Party loyalists. And so, they are having a tremendous problem.
On top of that, there's the question of security. Case officers complain there's a directive from the agency they have to go out with bodyguards. Well, how do you think that plays if you want to have a discreet meeting with somebody?
HEMMER: Not easy to have covert coverage.
PRIEST: Exactly.
HEMMER: Very quickly here, do you think the CIA is better today than it was a year ago or even six months ago?
PRIEST: Well, absolutely. If for no other reason is the focus that everyone has put on getting more linguists, on trying to understand Iraq better and recognizing their own faults. Also, the weapons of mass destruction is causing them to re-look at how they analyze, the methods that they're using. They are really being criticized up and down for that. And they are taking many internal looks, not just from the president's commission, but also their own internal people who are doing that.
HEMMER: Nice to talk to you. The book is called "The Mission." Dana Priest from "The Washington Post". Great to speak with you.
PRIEST: You, too.
HEMMER: All right -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: It's time to check in with Jack and the question of the day on a much different topic, obviously.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, scary stuff. I didn't realize this either until it came in this morning. Obesity could overtake smoking as this country's No. 1 preventable killer as soon as next year. A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that diet and physical inactivity caused 400,000 deaths in the year 2000, and that compares to 435,000 tobacco-related deaths, just 85,000 from alcohol.
To battle the issue, the government began a new ad campaign, which adds a touch of humor. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Check it out, man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like someone's belly. Probably lost it walking around the beach.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man, just leave it. Let's go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAFFERTY: That's pretty funny for government work.
The question is: Who is responsible for fixing America's weight problem? Is it the government? Is it the food industry? Or is it us, you and me?
Here's some of what you're writing this morning.
Debra (ph) in Smyrna, Georgia: "I am 40 pounds overweight, and I don't think that that should be made America's problem or McDonald's problem or my neighbor next door, who makes wonderful brownies. It's my problem, and I need to assume responsibility for it."
Bob from Allentown, Pennsylvania: "Considering the taxes smokers are now paying, it won't be long before we'll have to step on the scale when we file our taxes. If one's overweight, one will be taxed accordingly. Based on the tobacco philosophy, I guess that would be fitting."
Walt writes: "I am fat. I eat at McDonald's fairly frequently. But I was the guy behind the steering wheel when my car ended up there. The lawsuits are nonsense."
Liz in Buffalo, New York: "Like sex education, the government is on the hook to some degree. The problem begins at a young age, and kids should be targeted. I can remember my school lunches being comprised of pizza, cheeseburgers and a Friday surprise, which was probably some combination of the leftovers of the two."
And some yo-yo named Rich says: "Does this mean I should take up smoking in order to lose weight?"
O'BRIEN: No.
CAFFERTY: Well, whatever, Rich, knock yourself out. Whatever gets it done for you.
O'BRIEN: Interesting responses. You know, actually I agree with the person who -- you know, not that you need me to weigh in on this. But I agree with the person who says that the government should be telling kids about nutrition, because the truth is, none of us were ever taught about nutrition as children.
CAFFERTY: And we've got soda machines in the school. We've got fast food machines in the schools. And if go outside the schools, there are little snack shops all around the neighborhood and places where they can buy, you know, donuts and all kinds of stuff.
O'BRIEN: We have a 12-year-old in today, a colleague's daughter, and she said to me if something has 18 grams of fat, she said, "Is that a lot or is that a little?"
CAFFERTY: Yes.
O'BRIEN: You know, what's 18 grams of fat?
CAFFERTY: See, I'm 61, and I don't know the answer to that.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jack, thanks. Looking forward to those e- mails. They're interesting.
Still to come this morning, the government gets hundreds of millions of dollars that should be actually in taxpayers' pockets. We're going to tell you about some deduction that could pay off for you when AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: With the mother of all deadlines, April 15, a little more than a month away, many taxpayers are feeling a little tense. Well, this morning in our weekly "90-Second Tips" series, we're going to try to relieve some of that tension, and also ease your tax burden at the same time.
David Bach is our personal finance contributor, also our tax masseuse.
(CROSSTALK)
DAVID BACH, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE CONTRIBUTOR: Tax masseuse, I like that.
O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on this whole relief. Now you're stressed here. We're going to talk about some deductions that are often overlooked.
BACH: Yes.
O'BRIEN: I guess the General Accounting Office says something like $950 million overpaid by American taxpayers.
BACH: Incredible.
O'BRIEN: Is it because people are having too much money withheld or why?
BACH: The government is actually telling Americans that they should be itemizing their tax deductions. Many Americans don't itemize their tax deductions. And what that means is you're losing out on free money.
An example would be this: If you earned $50,000 a year, and you had $10,000 in itemized deductions, that could put potentially $3,000 or $4,000 back in your pocket, and that's more money than most Americans save. So, again, these tax deductions at the end of the year are just critical.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about what exactly a deduction is (UNINTELLIGIBLE) deduction. Well, what sorts of things are deductible? And what sorts of things are completely not deductible, speaking generally?
BACH: It is unbelievable how much is deductible. And we're going to show this book here in a second. Almost -- I don't want to say everything is deductible -- but a lot of things are deductible. And, I mean, we're going beyond things like, for instance, giving money to charity. I mean, let's go through the five right now.
O'BRIEN: Right.
BACH: We've got five simple things that most people would never think about that are itemized deductions that, again, can put thousands of dollars back in your pocket right now.
O'BRIEN: All right, then let's go through them. The first thing you say is the points that you pay to refinance your home are deductible.
BACH: Yes, this is something that people don't realize. When you buy a home, you pay a point. Let's use an example. A $300,000 home, you pay one point for that loan, that's $3,000. Now, you usually are going to have to take that deduction over the life of the mortgage.
O'BRIEN: Right.
BACH: But when you refinance, you're able to take all of that deduction that you haven't yet used and take it that year. So, if you refinance this year, you may be able to go back and get the full credit for that one point, which could, again, be thousands of dollars back in your pocket.
O'BRIEN: I was surprised to read that moving expenses. Really any move? I mean, are there any kind of limitations on that?
BACH: There is. If you move over 50 miles for a job...
O'BRIEN: It would have to be for a job.
BACH: Over 50 miles for a job, you can write that off. Well, guess what? One in five Americans apparently move every year. So, a lot of people who move this year for a job can write that off.
O'BRIEN: What qualifies as a moving expense?
BACH: That would be the people who show up with the truck and put your stuff in a truck, for example, and move that for you.
O'BRIEN: So, all of that goes...
BACH: Yes, and that could be over $1,000.
O'BRIEN: Wow! (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I paid more than that when I moved from California out to New York.
Penalty fees on investments. What specifically are you talking about?
BACH: I really like this one. Let's say you go and you buy a CD at a bank. Well, most certificates of deposits -- if you buy a five- year CD and you sell that CD early, there's a penalty fee. That penalty fee is actually an itemized deduction, provided you take it.
So, again, if you buy an investment, and there's a cost to sell that investment, you can actually take that as an itemized deduction against your taxes, putting, potentially again, at least hundreds of dollars back in your pocket, but maybe thousands if you had a big CD.
O'BRIEN: Weight loss programs are deductible. Are these any weight -- like Atkins, Jenny Craig, all of those?
BACH: It depends. If a doctor says that you need to lose weight, puts that in writing, recommends that you go on an Atkins program or a Weight Watcher's program, guess what? That's an itemized deduction.
O'BRIEN: So, everything you spend in that program -- the food, the meetings, all of that stuff? BACH: Yes. Now, that's the thing that surprised me is that the foods, the -- you know, I don't want to call it lotions and potions -- but all of that shakes that people are running around making now and the vitamins, provided a doctor recommended you go off and lose weight for health reasons, the government says yes, that is an itemized deduction, because they actually want Americans to be healthier.
O'BRIEN: This one: Deductions for having a baby. What actually is covered? Because I think...
BACH: You'll like this one, all right?
O'BRIEN: Well, maybe, because it looks like if you're taking birth and child prep courses...
BACH: Right.
O'BRIEN: ... which I'm not going to do...
BACH: You're not going to take another one of those classes?
O'BRIEN: ... this time around.
BACH: Because I just took this class.
O'BRIEN: Right, you have a 6-month-old now.
BACH: You know, we have a 6-month-old, so I had to learn how to, you know, diaper a doll, right? So, I mean, we went and took one of these classes. That class cost, like, $700 to for a whole day to learn...
O'BRIEN: You were ripped off! I would have taught you that for, like, 20 bucks.
BACH: Well, you know, but they teach you a lot in these child birth classes, and I think it's mostly for the fathers, quite frankly. But that is an itemized deduction. I found that fascinating.
O'BRIEN: Wow! Anything else when you have a child outside of the classes?
BACH: Again...
O'BRIEN: It's not that I'm asking all about me, but (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
BACH: You know, again, it goes back to medical things. You know, if a doctor tells you that you need certain things, because, for instance, I know you're having twins. You know, maybe you need to get certain things because of those medical issues, that can be an itemized deduction.
O'BRIEN: Interesting. You brought this big book here. What's this? And also, let's talk a little bit about if you think...
BACH: Well, this is just -- you know, people say, where do I learn these things? You know...
O'BRIEN: Right, because (UNINTELLIGIBLE) let me hold it up. It's really heavy.
BACH: Show this guide. Now, most people would look at a guide, this is the Ernst & Young Tax Guide for 2004. I have to tell you something. I think this is a fantastic guide. I read through it over the weekend.
O'BRIEN: It cost 17 bucks, though.
BACH: Seventeen bucks. There are 50 of the most commonly missed deductions. Just that alone, quite frankly, is the worth the price of admission on this book. And here's the key thing: Even if you hire an accountant, you have to know what questions to ask, because a lot of accountants would not say to you, oh, did you have a baby this year? Did you take a birth class?
O'BRIEN: That's what I was going to ask you. So, do you think people should hire an accountant, or do you think people should buy just do themselves, buy a book and follow through it themselves?
BACH: Honestly, I think most should hire an accountant, a CPA, and H&R Block. Because I'll tell you what, in most cases, if you spend $500 on having your taxes done, you'll probably save thousands of dollars in itemized deductions that you wouldn't have found. But there are great software programs out there also. There is Tax Cut. There is Termo (ph) Cut. Or buy a book like this. It can really help you.
O'BRIEN: All right. It looks like it's pretty easy to read, too. David Bach, as always, nice to see you. Thank you so much.
BACH: Soledad, good to see you. Thank you.
O'BRIEN: David Bach, of course, is America Online's money coach. The AOL keyword is David Bach.
And you can get more information at FinishRich.com as well. David is going to join us every Wednesday right here on AMERICAN MORNING with some tips on how to improve your financial life -- Bill.
HEMMER: Soledad, thanks.
In a moment, a missing girl and a missing hard drive. The girl's father says there's a connection. He's here live to tell us why in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Charles Moose; Iraq Intelligence>
