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American Morning
Condoleezza Rice May Appear Before 9/11 Commission Again; Discussion with DNC Chairman
Aired March 26, 2004 - 08:00 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The White House wants a rebuttal. What's behind the request to send National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice back to the 9/11 Commission.
The heavy hitters in the Democratic Party put on a show of unity for the new leader of the party.
And gun talk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD ERNST, BALLISTICS EXPERT: His shotgun was basically an accident waiting to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: The defense is setting its sights on the central piece of evidence in the Jayson Williams manslaughter trial. Williams' former attorney speaks to us on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
S. O'BRIEN: And good morning.
Welcome, everybody.
Bill Hemmer is off today.
Miles O'Brien is sitting in for him.
Nice to have you, as always.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's good to be here. Everybody else is off. Should I take that as a hint?
S. O'BRIEN: It's nothing personal.
M. O'BRIEN: OK.
S. O'BRIEN: I'm going to write that down -- take vacation when Hemmer does.
M. O'BRIEN: Other stories we're following this morning -- is there a danger now to Pakistan's president after that new audiotape is played? It's said to be the voice of al Qaeda's number two. We'll talk to a journalist who has interviewed Ayman al-Zawahiri and we'll look at what influence he still might wield in Pakistan.
S. O'BRIEN: Also this morning, a request from the mother of the woman who is accusing Kobe Bryant of sexual assault. She's asking for a speedy trial. Will it change the court's schedule? We take a look at that.
M. O'BRIEN: And without Jack here, let's get right to the headlines.
The FBI director, Robert Mueller, is reportedly saying terrorists could be planning to influence this year's presidential elections. Mueller told the Associated Press al Qaeda and other extremist groups could attack this summer during the presidential nominating conventions in New York and Boston. He also said that Islamic extremists could try to recruit local sympathizers who are less likely to arouse suspicion.
In Taiwan, a violent protest outside the country's election commission building. Demonstrators stormed the building as the commission certified incumbent President Chen Shui-bian as the winner of last weekend's political election. Some opposition supporters have been demanding a recount. Chen won the election by 30,000 votes. About 300,000 votes were declared involved.
Connecticut's governor says a fiery tanker crash could snarl traffic on a major highway for weeks. A tanker truck crashed and burned on Interstate 95 in Bridgeport, Connecticut last night. The mile long stretch of highway links New York and Boston. The fire was so intense that it melted a part of an overpass. Traffic is being detoured. A section of the highway could be closed for months.
A judge in the Tyco trial has denied a defense motion for a mistrial. Former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski and the company's former CFO accused of stealing $600 million from the company. Jurors raised the possibility yesterday they may not be able to reach a verdict. In a note, they said the atmosphere in the jury room has turned poisonous. Jury deliberations expected to resume today.
And in sports, the Crimson tide turning out to be the Cinderella team of March Madness. Alabama beat defending national champion, Syracuse, 80-71 in the Phoenix regional semifinals last night and that's just five days after stunning Stanford, the nation's number one ranked team and the region's top seed.
And Soledad is still trying to get over that.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: I'm so sorry.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you, whoever wrote that, for reminding me that I have not a chance now.
M. O'BRIEN: They kind of stuck it to you on that one, didn't they?
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, kind of.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes. That's all right. I'll get them back.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice may appear before the 9/11 Commission again. The White House Counsel's Office has now written to the Commission seeking to have Dr. Rice testify, but not in public.
Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us this morning with more -- hey, Suzanne, good morning again.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Well, Dr. Rice has offered up time before the 9/11 Commission to answer those questions privately, not to testify publicly, as the Commission would like. She did this back in February for more than about four and a half hours or so.
But the reason why this is so urgent for the White House is that she has come under particular criticism, scrutiny, by Richard Clarke, as you know, President Bush's former counter-terrorism chief. He essentially said that she was incompetent, that there were two 9/11 hijackers that were in the country. Had she been doing her job, perhaps they would have been apprehended before this plot unfolded. These are the type of statements the White House feels that it has to fight back and fight back furiously.
In that letter by White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, he says, "In light of yesterday's hearings, in which there was a number of mischaracterizations of Dr. Rice's statements and positions, Dr. Rice requests to meet again privately with the Commission."
But it is important to note, Soledad, of course the White House has not changed its position when it comes to testifying publicly. They say that will not happen. They don't believe that an adviser to the president who was not confirmed by the Senate should have to go before a legislatively created body and testify -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Suzanne, how do you think politics is affecting how the White House is responding to this whole controversy?
MALVEAUX: Well, as you can imagine, the pressure has been tremendous to try to get her out there publicly, this coming from Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, as well as other commissioners, who said outright that they did not understand why it was that she could call reporters back into her office, why it was that she was in front of television cameras giving interviews and was not going to testify publicly before the Commission. Even family members are saying the same thing, as well.
This shows -- and the White House certainly hopes to give the message -- that they are cooperating with the Commission. But they are going to do so on their own terms -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us this morning.
Suzanne, thanks.
For the Democrats, it was a record setting night in Washington, D.C. Hand in hand, the party's big names stood as the torch of leadership was passed to presidential nominee in waiting, Senator John Kerry.
The fundraiser brought in some $11 million to the Democratic coffers. Senator Kerry looked forward, he said, to a successful campaign against President Bush.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Never has the Democratic Party been more united than it is today. Never have we been more poised to win a victory in November.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: Terry McCauliffe is the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, joining us from Washington this morning.
Nice to see you, Terry.
Thanks for being with us.
TERRY MCAULIFFE, DNC CHAIRMAN: Good to be back with you, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: You raised $11 million last night. That's the good news. Of course, the bad news is that you're still $100 million or so, roughly speaking, behind the GOP.
MCAULIFFE: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: What's your strategy for trying to catch up? Or do you think that you're just never going to make it?
MCAULIFFE: Well, they're always going to have more money than we have, Soledad. If we can keep the ratio to two to one, that's fine. I remind you, in the 2000 election, that the Bush campaign outspent the Gore campaign by $178 million and we did get 500,000 more votes. We're doing great. The DNC has had the biggest four months in the history of our party. Last night shattered the all time record by double. We have $25 million in the bank at the DNC, no debt for the first time in the history of our party.
So we're going to have enough, Soledad, to be competitive, to get our message out. I don't care how much money George Bush has. He can run all the ads he wants, he can't convince someone that they have a job when they don't. To the 48 1/2 million Americans with no health insurance, he can't convince them with ads that they have health insurance and that the education system is working in this country.
So we're very comfortable where we are today.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, but there might be lots of people on the fence who would be convinced by an ad.
MCAULIFFE: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: And they certainly have enough -- the GOP, that is, certainly has enough money to run lots of those.
MCAULIFFE: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: But I want to ask you a little bit about the love fest last night.
MCAULIFFE: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: You saw Senator Kerry surrounded by former Presidents Clinton and Carter. Senator Edwards was there. Howard Dean, as well, was there. He talked a little bit, joked, actually, about how he hopes that he could sort of utilize them over the next several months.
MCAULIFFE: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's listen to a little bit of what he said.
MCAULIFFE: Right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: I was going to ask -- missed President Clinton as he came out and I wanted to ask both President Clinton and President Carter what are you doing every night for the next eight months? I think everybody here would agree that tonight we were treated, and the country was treated -- and I hope they heard two extraordinary American leaders tell it like it is. And...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: He was joking, of course, when he wanted to see if they could free up their schedules for the next eight months to basically help support his campaign.
MCAULIFFE: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: But seriously, though, he certainly is going to try to leverage what they bring to the party.
What specifically do you think Senator Kerry is going to do?
MCAULIFFE: Well, first of all, he wants to use the former presidents. He wants to use everybody who can help us get our message out across the country. I spoke to Senator Kerry after the dinner. He was very excited. We had Al Gore there. We had everybody there last night. We'd never had a party event like that in the history of our party.
So he wants to utilize the former presidents. I mean clearly, if you go back and look at the Clinton-Gore administration, 22 million new jobs created, record surpluses. We now have deficits. We have three million jobs lost and millions of Americans with no health insurance.
So the more Democrats we have out there reminding them what we had with 1992 through 2000, the greatest economic expansion in the history of our country -- you look at Jimmy Carter, a Nobel Prize winner, served with distinction, brought countries together, worked with nations throughout the world. So you bring the foreign policy, you bring the domestic agenda together.
That's what you saw last night and that's what I think Americans are yearning to get back in the White House. And the failures of the Bush administration really were highlighted last night.
S. O'BRIEN: Many analysts say the focus of this election is going to be, as it often is, on the economy. And we heard Senator Kerry saying that he plans to create 10 million jobs over the four years if he were elected and was in office.
MCAULIFFE: That's right.
S. O'BRIEN: Easy to say, hard to do.
How is he going to do it?
MCAULIFFE: Well, listen, you know, when President Clinton came into office, he said the same thing. We saw 22 million new jobs created. What John Kerry is going to do is get the economic engine of this country again. First, we going to do tax cuts, tax cuts to small businesses, tax cuts to middle income individuals out there across this country, to get the economic engine, to get the money in the hands of the people, you know, who need that money desperately today.
Let's give someone a tax incentive to go out and hire someone. Let's do that for small businesses. He's got tax incentives for research and development. We can get this economy moving again.
But the top one percent tax cut that all George Bush has relied upon hasn't worked.
You just saw this week that Medicare now is in serious financial trouble. We saw two weeks ago Alan Greenspan say that Social Security is now in real financial trouble. He's created, George Bush has, a $520 billion deficit just this year. We've got to go back to surpluses. We've got to get the economic engine running.
Only three out of 10 college graduates got a job last year. We've got to get everybody. We've got to go back to the days of full employment in this country, where people are moving, they're out spending money, getting the economic engine moving. And that's what John Kerry is all about.
That's what this election is all going to be about -- jobs, education and health care.
S. O'BRIEN: DNC Chairman Terry McCauliffe joining us.
MCAULIFFE: Thanks.
S. O'BRIEN: Thanks.
MCAULIFFE: Thanks. Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, an audiotape calls for the death of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. It's believed to be the voice of al Qaeda's number two leader. We'll have more on that and reaction in Pakistan, coming up.
S. O'BRIEN: In the Jayson Williams trial, the defense officers a contradictory theory on a crucial piece of evidence. A look at that is up next.
M. O'BRIEN: And a harrowing ordeal for one California family and their son. We'll tell you how it all turned out. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: After six weeks of prosecution testimony, the defense at the manslaughter trial of Jayson Williams is taking its turn. Yesterday, jurors heard a defense expert's theory on how a crucial piece of evidence may have malfunctioned.
Here's CNN's Deborah Feyerick.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Again all eyes were on the shotgun. The jury's gaze focused inside the trigger mechanism and what one specialist found there.
ERNST: These are various wood chips and other debris that has fallen out of the mechanism.
FEYERICK: A gun expert called by Jayson Williams' defense team testified wood chips and other fragments inside the trigger area could have caused the .12 gauge shotgun to malfunction.
ERNST: It's my opinion that this shotgun was basically an accident waiting to happen.
FEYERICK: Prosecutors charge the shooting was no accident, that the former NBA star recklessly pulled the trigger, killing limo driver Guy Christofi. But Williams says the gun accidentally fired when he snapped it shut, a claim supported by his defense expert.
ERNST: This particular shotgun is capable of discharging in several ways other than by a conscious or volitional pull of the trigger.
FEYERICK: Ernst testified he was able to get the gun to misfire when he placed a wood chip in a certain position in the trigger mechanism. He admitted, however, he found no wood in that exact position when he originally opened the gun.
Last week, a prosecution expert testified he found nothing wrong with the .12 gauge shotgun and was not able to get it to misfire, though he tried several times.
(on camera): The big question -- whose gun expert will the jury believe?
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: All right, that's the question.
New Jersey criminal defense attorney Brian Neary has been following the Jayson Williams trial with us.
He represented Williams about 10 years ago on a previous gun charge.
Good to have you with us.
BRIAN NEARY, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hi, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, which expert will carry the day?
NEARY: Well, the jury is going to decide between two very different views. These two experts are not friendly, unlike Dr. Lee and Dr. Baden, who seemed to have great respect for each other. I think that we're going to see a diverse view. The state's expert, who was a sergeant with the state police, is going to be challenged as to his, maybe he has a bias or the ways that he touched, handled the gun. Mr. Ernst, who is a former employee of a gun manufacturer, has a completely different view, that, A, that the state's expert really didn't know how to handle the gun and that their examination was inadequate, they didn't look through it in a way that led to the possible conclusion that there was debris in that gun.
M. O'BRIEN: So it's possible they could cancel each other out.
NEARY: I don't know if they're going to cancel each other out. I'll tell you what. Because you've really, you have to either accept the fact that Williams had the gun and actually pulled it and used the mechanism with his own finger that made it get off or, as Ernst said yesterday, he said this was an accident ready to happen.
Now, the jury will not -- that portion of the testimony was stricken, because that's the jury's conclusion. But there's two diametrically opposed views of the mechanisms of this gun.
M. O'BRIEN: But as the jury gets deep into the technicalities on all of this and looks at the possibility that there might have been wood chips that caused the gun to jam, they're left with, well, did it jam or did it misfire.
NEARY: Well, they'll look at the science and they're going to go back to the eyewitnesses as to what they say. Once again, the defense even used this as an opportunity to criticize the testimony of Benjamin Benoit. Benoit said he could see the shotgun -- the bullet or the shell in the barrel. And the expert testified, he said you couldn't see it. The only person who could see it was the one who actually held the gun.
M. O'BRIEN: Right, because of the angle, I suppose, of the way when you close that.
NEARY: Right. Right.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, so, where does it go from here, then? We get more expert testimony and the jury just has to sort this out?
NEARY: Well, Mr. Ernst will continue to testify. He'll testify to certain other examinations. Now he's going to be subject to cross- examination. Expect his cross-examination to include a challenge to him as a disgruntled member of the -- former member of the gun industry. Also expect that they're going to challenge his methodology, the ways that he tested. And his was -- they're going to say he used just speculation.
He's going to say they didn't do a good enough job of examining the gun. They're going to say he's only guessing at this.
M. O'BRIEN: How will the jury weigh all of this testimony against the allegations that there was an attempt at a cover-up here, to claim that he shot himself?
NEARY: Well, I think that the testimony concerning the gun doesn't deal with the cover-up in the same way. This is clearly centering on volition, pulling the trigger versus accident. I think that that theme may return upon if Jayson Williams himself testifies. I think this is specifically dealing with the issue of what caused, you know, how the death was caused -- accidental or was it some reckless act?
M. O'BRIEN: Brian Neary is a criminal defense attorney who formerly represented Jason Williams.
Thanks for being with us.
NEARY: You're welcome, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: A 3-year-old California boy has been reunited with his family after a night alone in the wilderness.
CNN's Rusty Dornin has the story of little Aidan Burke and the 20 hour long search to find him. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See, there's a track of his right here.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He disappeared after hunting for banana slugs with his brother and sister behind his rural home near Santa Cruz, California. They searched all night for 3-year-old Aidan Burke in the heavily wooded mountains, fearing mountain lions and even possible abduction. Then on Thursday afternoon, searchers found the boy within a mile of his house. They brought him in an ambulance to his mother.
MARK TRACEY, SEARCHER: He's OK. He's got some minor scratches. He was found by one of our search groups down near Highway 9.
DORNIN: Bill Chesnut was with another searcher when he heard the magic words -- we found him.
BILL CHESNUT, SEARCHER: We just ran up there. He had him in his arms. He seemed relieved. He was just, it was just a glorious thing. He smelled like dirty diapers, man, but we were just happy to see him.
DORNIN: As were Aidan Burke's neighbors.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, thank you.
DORNIN (on camera): The little boy was taken to a nearby hospital. Searchers say they found him in the nick of time, considering the change in weather. Aidan Burke will be four years old next month.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Boulder Creek, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: The latest on Aidan now. He is recovering at the hospital with his family by his side. Aidan told the nurses that he wanted a cheeseburger, potato chips and not one, but two scoops of ice cream.
M. O'BRIEN: And there...
S. O'BRIEN: I mean, you know, they were like OK, whatever you want, Aidan.
M. O'BRIEN: Condition just improved to very good.
All right...
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's nice to see, isn't it? It's nice when these stories have a nice ending. So many -- so often they don't.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. It makes a big difference.
All right, still to come on the program, is al Qaeda's number two man calling for a rebellion in Pakistan? We'll speak to a journalist who has interview al-Zawahiri and we'll try to get some perspective on all this.
Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: A new audiotape calls on Pakistani Muslims to overthrow President Pervez Musharraf for siding with the U.S. in the war on terror. The voice is said to be that of al Qaeda's number two leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
And earlier, I talked to Hamid Mir.
He's a Pakistani journalist who has interview al-Zawahiri and also written a bin Laden biography.
And I asked him just how much influence this tape might have on the people of Pakistan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMID MIR, PAKISTANI JOURNALIST: Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri repeated a lot of things in the latest tape. He said the same things in September last year. And I think the latest tape contains 70 percent old material. Only 30 percent of the material is new. So if in September of last year, the people of Pakistan were not influenced by the appeal of Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, so this time it is also very difficult that he can convince people of Pakistan, because most of the people are of the view that if they are going to rise against their own army, that India will get benefit.
S. O'BRIEN: What's been the response from Musharraf? I mean certainly there are others who have complained about these military operations and I'd be curious to know if you think he can fend off any more of the protests that are already happening?
MIR: Yes, the president, Pervez Musharraf, have not reacted himself on this tape. But definitely some oppression was going on in that area. It's still going on. They tried to engage the tribal leaders in negotiations, but negotiations were not fruitful because still, 14 Pakistani soldiers are missed. They were kidnapped by the militants. And today in some places, in some cities of Pakistan, thousands of protesters came out on the roads and they were condemning the oppression going on in the tribal area.
And in the parliament of Pakistan, this one operation is also discussed and most of the members of the opposition, they are also criticizing the operation. But yesterday the interior minister, Faisal Syed, defended the operation and he said that operation will be lasted only and only after the elimination of the terrorists from the Wana area.
S. O'BRIEN: There are certainly still questions about the voracity of this tape, in fact, is it really al-Zawahiri on this tape.
You've interviewed him. You're obviously very knowledgeable about him and his opinions. Do you think that this is, this really is al-Zawahiri on this tape?
MIR: Yes, I have no doubt it is al-Zawahiri and he is trying to use that occasion he has selected, a day just, Thursday, one day before the Friday. He is trying to exploit the situation. He was aware that the next day the people of Pakistan are going to offer their Friday prayers in the afternoon and he is trying his best to urge them to come out on the roads and start an agitation against President Pervez Musharraf. And he's definitely trying to exploit the political situation in Pakistan, because the government is under a lot of criticism over this operation.
S. O'BRIEN: The last that you and I spoke, you were talking about this stand-off that's going on in Waziristan. And I'm curious to know the status of that.
Is there active fighting? Is it a stand-off? What's exactly happening there right now?
MIR: They have not shown any flexibility and they are ready to die. They are ready to fight against the Pakistani military. And that's why we don't see any hope that this operation will end in next 36 or 48 hours. And I think if the Americans are not going to start an operation in Afghanistan, if they are not going to send some fresh troops in Afghanistan, these militants will at large and nobody will net them in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is still a safe haven for them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Hamid Mir is a Pakistani journalist, joining us a little bit earlier this morning.
The CIA is now analyzing that tape to determine if, in fact, it is from al-Zawahiri.
CNN analyst Ken Robinson is going to update us on that, coming up in our next hour -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come, Soledad, the woman accusing Kobe Bryant of sexual assault asks the judge for some help. Her request, coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired March 26, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The White House wants a rebuttal. What's behind the request to send National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice back to the 9/11 Commission.
The heavy hitters in the Democratic Party put on a show of unity for the new leader of the party.
And gun talk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD ERNST, BALLISTICS EXPERT: His shotgun was basically an accident waiting to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: The defense is setting its sights on the central piece of evidence in the Jayson Williams manslaughter trial. Williams' former attorney speaks to us on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
S. O'BRIEN: And good morning.
Welcome, everybody.
Bill Hemmer is off today.
Miles O'Brien is sitting in for him.
Nice to have you, as always.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's good to be here. Everybody else is off. Should I take that as a hint?
S. O'BRIEN: It's nothing personal.
M. O'BRIEN: OK.
S. O'BRIEN: I'm going to write that down -- take vacation when Hemmer does.
M. O'BRIEN: Other stories we're following this morning -- is there a danger now to Pakistan's president after that new audiotape is played? It's said to be the voice of al Qaeda's number two. We'll talk to a journalist who has interviewed Ayman al-Zawahiri and we'll look at what influence he still might wield in Pakistan.
S. O'BRIEN: Also this morning, a request from the mother of the woman who is accusing Kobe Bryant of sexual assault. She's asking for a speedy trial. Will it change the court's schedule? We take a look at that.
M. O'BRIEN: And without Jack here, let's get right to the headlines.
The FBI director, Robert Mueller, is reportedly saying terrorists could be planning to influence this year's presidential elections. Mueller told the Associated Press al Qaeda and other extremist groups could attack this summer during the presidential nominating conventions in New York and Boston. He also said that Islamic extremists could try to recruit local sympathizers who are less likely to arouse suspicion.
In Taiwan, a violent protest outside the country's election commission building. Demonstrators stormed the building as the commission certified incumbent President Chen Shui-bian as the winner of last weekend's political election. Some opposition supporters have been demanding a recount. Chen won the election by 30,000 votes. About 300,000 votes were declared involved.
Connecticut's governor says a fiery tanker crash could snarl traffic on a major highway for weeks. A tanker truck crashed and burned on Interstate 95 in Bridgeport, Connecticut last night. The mile long stretch of highway links New York and Boston. The fire was so intense that it melted a part of an overpass. Traffic is being detoured. A section of the highway could be closed for months.
A judge in the Tyco trial has denied a defense motion for a mistrial. Former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski and the company's former CFO accused of stealing $600 million from the company. Jurors raised the possibility yesterday they may not be able to reach a verdict. In a note, they said the atmosphere in the jury room has turned poisonous. Jury deliberations expected to resume today.
And in sports, the Crimson tide turning out to be the Cinderella team of March Madness. Alabama beat defending national champion, Syracuse, 80-71 in the Phoenix regional semifinals last night and that's just five days after stunning Stanford, the nation's number one ranked team and the region's top seed.
And Soledad is still trying to get over that.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: I'm so sorry.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you, whoever wrote that, for reminding me that I have not a chance now.
M. O'BRIEN: They kind of stuck it to you on that one, didn't they?
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, kind of.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes. That's all right. I'll get them back.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice may appear before the 9/11 Commission again. The White House Counsel's Office has now written to the Commission seeking to have Dr. Rice testify, but not in public.
Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us this morning with more -- hey, Suzanne, good morning again.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Well, Dr. Rice has offered up time before the 9/11 Commission to answer those questions privately, not to testify publicly, as the Commission would like. She did this back in February for more than about four and a half hours or so.
But the reason why this is so urgent for the White House is that she has come under particular criticism, scrutiny, by Richard Clarke, as you know, President Bush's former counter-terrorism chief. He essentially said that she was incompetent, that there were two 9/11 hijackers that were in the country. Had she been doing her job, perhaps they would have been apprehended before this plot unfolded. These are the type of statements the White House feels that it has to fight back and fight back furiously.
In that letter by White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, he says, "In light of yesterday's hearings, in which there was a number of mischaracterizations of Dr. Rice's statements and positions, Dr. Rice requests to meet again privately with the Commission."
But it is important to note, Soledad, of course the White House has not changed its position when it comes to testifying publicly. They say that will not happen. They don't believe that an adviser to the president who was not confirmed by the Senate should have to go before a legislatively created body and testify -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Suzanne, how do you think politics is affecting how the White House is responding to this whole controversy?
MALVEAUX: Well, as you can imagine, the pressure has been tremendous to try to get her out there publicly, this coming from Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, as well as other commissioners, who said outright that they did not understand why it was that she could call reporters back into her office, why it was that she was in front of television cameras giving interviews and was not going to testify publicly before the Commission. Even family members are saying the same thing, as well.
This shows -- and the White House certainly hopes to give the message -- that they are cooperating with the Commission. But they are going to do so on their own terms -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us this morning.
Suzanne, thanks.
For the Democrats, it was a record setting night in Washington, D.C. Hand in hand, the party's big names stood as the torch of leadership was passed to presidential nominee in waiting, Senator John Kerry.
The fundraiser brought in some $11 million to the Democratic coffers. Senator Kerry looked forward, he said, to a successful campaign against President Bush.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Never has the Democratic Party been more united than it is today. Never have we been more poised to win a victory in November.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: Terry McCauliffe is the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, joining us from Washington this morning.
Nice to see you, Terry.
Thanks for being with us.
TERRY MCAULIFFE, DNC CHAIRMAN: Good to be back with you, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: You raised $11 million last night. That's the good news. Of course, the bad news is that you're still $100 million or so, roughly speaking, behind the GOP.
MCAULIFFE: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: What's your strategy for trying to catch up? Or do you think that you're just never going to make it?
MCAULIFFE: Well, they're always going to have more money than we have, Soledad. If we can keep the ratio to two to one, that's fine. I remind you, in the 2000 election, that the Bush campaign outspent the Gore campaign by $178 million and we did get 500,000 more votes. We're doing great. The DNC has had the biggest four months in the history of our party. Last night shattered the all time record by double. We have $25 million in the bank at the DNC, no debt for the first time in the history of our party.
So we're going to have enough, Soledad, to be competitive, to get our message out. I don't care how much money George Bush has. He can run all the ads he wants, he can't convince someone that they have a job when they don't. To the 48 1/2 million Americans with no health insurance, he can't convince them with ads that they have health insurance and that the education system is working in this country.
So we're very comfortable where we are today.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, but there might be lots of people on the fence who would be convinced by an ad.
MCAULIFFE: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: And they certainly have enough -- the GOP, that is, certainly has enough money to run lots of those.
MCAULIFFE: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: But I want to ask you a little bit about the love fest last night.
MCAULIFFE: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: You saw Senator Kerry surrounded by former Presidents Clinton and Carter. Senator Edwards was there. Howard Dean, as well, was there. He talked a little bit, joked, actually, about how he hopes that he could sort of utilize them over the next several months.
MCAULIFFE: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's listen to a little bit of what he said.
MCAULIFFE: Right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: I was going to ask -- missed President Clinton as he came out and I wanted to ask both President Clinton and President Carter what are you doing every night for the next eight months? I think everybody here would agree that tonight we were treated, and the country was treated -- and I hope they heard two extraordinary American leaders tell it like it is. And...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: He was joking, of course, when he wanted to see if they could free up their schedules for the next eight months to basically help support his campaign.
MCAULIFFE: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: But seriously, though, he certainly is going to try to leverage what they bring to the party.
What specifically do you think Senator Kerry is going to do?
MCAULIFFE: Well, first of all, he wants to use the former presidents. He wants to use everybody who can help us get our message out across the country. I spoke to Senator Kerry after the dinner. He was very excited. We had Al Gore there. We had everybody there last night. We'd never had a party event like that in the history of our party.
So he wants to utilize the former presidents. I mean clearly, if you go back and look at the Clinton-Gore administration, 22 million new jobs created, record surpluses. We now have deficits. We have three million jobs lost and millions of Americans with no health insurance.
So the more Democrats we have out there reminding them what we had with 1992 through 2000, the greatest economic expansion in the history of our country -- you look at Jimmy Carter, a Nobel Prize winner, served with distinction, brought countries together, worked with nations throughout the world. So you bring the foreign policy, you bring the domestic agenda together.
That's what you saw last night and that's what I think Americans are yearning to get back in the White House. And the failures of the Bush administration really were highlighted last night.
S. O'BRIEN: Many analysts say the focus of this election is going to be, as it often is, on the economy. And we heard Senator Kerry saying that he plans to create 10 million jobs over the four years if he were elected and was in office.
MCAULIFFE: That's right.
S. O'BRIEN: Easy to say, hard to do.
How is he going to do it?
MCAULIFFE: Well, listen, you know, when President Clinton came into office, he said the same thing. We saw 22 million new jobs created. What John Kerry is going to do is get the economic engine of this country again. First, we going to do tax cuts, tax cuts to small businesses, tax cuts to middle income individuals out there across this country, to get the economic engine, to get the money in the hands of the people, you know, who need that money desperately today.
Let's give someone a tax incentive to go out and hire someone. Let's do that for small businesses. He's got tax incentives for research and development. We can get this economy moving again.
But the top one percent tax cut that all George Bush has relied upon hasn't worked.
You just saw this week that Medicare now is in serious financial trouble. We saw two weeks ago Alan Greenspan say that Social Security is now in real financial trouble. He's created, George Bush has, a $520 billion deficit just this year. We've got to go back to surpluses. We've got to get the economic engine running.
Only three out of 10 college graduates got a job last year. We've got to get everybody. We've got to go back to the days of full employment in this country, where people are moving, they're out spending money, getting the economic engine moving. And that's what John Kerry is all about.
That's what this election is all going to be about -- jobs, education and health care.
S. O'BRIEN: DNC Chairman Terry McCauliffe joining us.
MCAULIFFE: Thanks.
S. O'BRIEN: Thanks.
MCAULIFFE: Thanks. Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, an audiotape calls for the death of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. It's believed to be the voice of al Qaeda's number two leader. We'll have more on that and reaction in Pakistan, coming up.
S. O'BRIEN: In the Jayson Williams trial, the defense officers a contradictory theory on a crucial piece of evidence. A look at that is up next.
M. O'BRIEN: And a harrowing ordeal for one California family and their son. We'll tell you how it all turned out. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: After six weeks of prosecution testimony, the defense at the manslaughter trial of Jayson Williams is taking its turn. Yesterday, jurors heard a defense expert's theory on how a crucial piece of evidence may have malfunctioned.
Here's CNN's Deborah Feyerick.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Again all eyes were on the shotgun. The jury's gaze focused inside the trigger mechanism and what one specialist found there.
ERNST: These are various wood chips and other debris that has fallen out of the mechanism.
FEYERICK: A gun expert called by Jayson Williams' defense team testified wood chips and other fragments inside the trigger area could have caused the .12 gauge shotgun to malfunction.
ERNST: It's my opinion that this shotgun was basically an accident waiting to happen.
FEYERICK: Prosecutors charge the shooting was no accident, that the former NBA star recklessly pulled the trigger, killing limo driver Guy Christofi. But Williams says the gun accidentally fired when he snapped it shut, a claim supported by his defense expert.
ERNST: This particular shotgun is capable of discharging in several ways other than by a conscious or volitional pull of the trigger.
FEYERICK: Ernst testified he was able to get the gun to misfire when he placed a wood chip in a certain position in the trigger mechanism. He admitted, however, he found no wood in that exact position when he originally opened the gun.
Last week, a prosecution expert testified he found nothing wrong with the .12 gauge shotgun and was not able to get it to misfire, though he tried several times.
(on camera): The big question -- whose gun expert will the jury believe?
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: All right, that's the question.
New Jersey criminal defense attorney Brian Neary has been following the Jayson Williams trial with us.
He represented Williams about 10 years ago on a previous gun charge.
Good to have you with us.
BRIAN NEARY, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hi, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, which expert will carry the day?
NEARY: Well, the jury is going to decide between two very different views. These two experts are not friendly, unlike Dr. Lee and Dr. Baden, who seemed to have great respect for each other. I think that we're going to see a diverse view. The state's expert, who was a sergeant with the state police, is going to be challenged as to his, maybe he has a bias or the ways that he touched, handled the gun. Mr. Ernst, who is a former employee of a gun manufacturer, has a completely different view, that, A, that the state's expert really didn't know how to handle the gun and that their examination was inadequate, they didn't look through it in a way that led to the possible conclusion that there was debris in that gun.
M. O'BRIEN: So it's possible they could cancel each other out.
NEARY: I don't know if they're going to cancel each other out. I'll tell you what. Because you've really, you have to either accept the fact that Williams had the gun and actually pulled it and used the mechanism with his own finger that made it get off or, as Ernst said yesterday, he said this was an accident ready to happen.
Now, the jury will not -- that portion of the testimony was stricken, because that's the jury's conclusion. But there's two diametrically opposed views of the mechanisms of this gun.
M. O'BRIEN: But as the jury gets deep into the technicalities on all of this and looks at the possibility that there might have been wood chips that caused the gun to jam, they're left with, well, did it jam or did it misfire.
NEARY: Well, they'll look at the science and they're going to go back to the eyewitnesses as to what they say. Once again, the defense even used this as an opportunity to criticize the testimony of Benjamin Benoit. Benoit said he could see the shotgun -- the bullet or the shell in the barrel. And the expert testified, he said you couldn't see it. The only person who could see it was the one who actually held the gun.
M. O'BRIEN: Right, because of the angle, I suppose, of the way when you close that.
NEARY: Right. Right.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, so, where does it go from here, then? We get more expert testimony and the jury just has to sort this out?
NEARY: Well, Mr. Ernst will continue to testify. He'll testify to certain other examinations. Now he's going to be subject to cross- examination. Expect his cross-examination to include a challenge to him as a disgruntled member of the -- former member of the gun industry. Also expect that they're going to challenge his methodology, the ways that he tested. And his was -- they're going to say he used just speculation.
He's going to say they didn't do a good enough job of examining the gun. They're going to say he's only guessing at this.
M. O'BRIEN: How will the jury weigh all of this testimony against the allegations that there was an attempt at a cover-up here, to claim that he shot himself?
NEARY: Well, I think that the testimony concerning the gun doesn't deal with the cover-up in the same way. This is clearly centering on volition, pulling the trigger versus accident. I think that that theme may return upon if Jayson Williams himself testifies. I think this is specifically dealing with the issue of what caused, you know, how the death was caused -- accidental or was it some reckless act?
M. O'BRIEN: Brian Neary is a criminal defense attorney who formerly represented Jason Williams.
Thanks for being with us.
NEARY: You're welcome, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: A 3-year-old California boy has been reunited with his family after a night alone in the wilderness.
CNN's Rusty Dornin has the story of little Aidan Burke and the 20 hour long search to find him. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See, there's a track of his right here.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He disappeared after hunting for banana slugs with his brother and sister behind his rural home near Santa Cruz, California. They searched all night for 3-year-old Aidan Burke in the heavily wooded mountains, fearing mountain lions and even possible abduction. Then on Thursday afternoon, searchers found the boy within a mile of his house. They brought him in an ambulance to his mother.
MARK TRACEY, SEARCHER: He's OK. He's got some minor scratches. He was found by one of our search groups down near Highway 9.
DORNIN: Bill Chesnut was with another searcher when he heard the magic words -- we found him.
BILL CHESNUT, SEARCHER: We just ran up there. He had him in his arms. He seemed relieved. He was just, it was just a glorious thing. He smelled like dirty diapers, man, but we were just happy to see him.
DORNIN: As were Aidan Burke's neighbors.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, thank you.
DORNIN (on camera): The little boy was taken to a nearby hospital. Searchers say they found him in the nick of time, considering the change in weather. Aidan Burke will be four years old next month.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Boulder Creek, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: The latest on Aidan now. He is recovering at the hospital with his family by his side. Aidan told the nurses that he wanted a cheeseburger, potato chips and not one, but two scoops of ice cream.
M. O'BRIEN: And there...
S. O'BRIEN: I mean, you know, they were like OK, whatever you want, Aidan.
M. O'BRIEN: Condition just improved to very good.
All right...
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's nice to see, isn't it? It's nice when these stories have a nice ending. So many -- so often they don't.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. It makes a big difference.
All right, still to come on the program, is al Qaeda's number two man calling for a rebellion in Pakistan? We'll speak to a journalist who has interview al-Zawahiri and we'll try to get some perspective on all this.
Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: A new audiotape calls on Pakistani Muslims to overthrow President Pervez Musharraf for siding with the U.S. in the war on terror. The voice is said to be that of al Qaeda's number two leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
And earlier, I talked to Hamid Mir.
He's a Pakistani journalist who has interview al-Zawahiri and also written a bin Laden biography.
And I asked him just how much influence this tape might have on the people of Pakistan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMID MIR, PAKISTANI JOURNALIST: Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri repeated a lot of things in the latest tape. He said the same things in September last year. And I think the latest tape contains 70 percent old material. Only 30 percent of the material is new. So if in September of last year, the people of Pakistan were not influenced by the appeal of Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, so this time it is also very difficult that he can convince people of Pakistan, because most of the people are of the view that if they are going to rise against their own army, that India will get benefit.
S. O'BRIEN: What's been the response from Musharraf? I mean certainly there are others who have complained about these military operations and I'd be curious to know if you think he can fend off any more of the protests that are already happening?
MIR: Yes, the president, Pervez Musharraf, have not reacted himself on this tape. But definitely some oppression was going on in that area. It's still going on. They tried to engage the tribal leaders in negotiations, but negotiations were not fruitful because still, 14 Pakistani soldiers are missed. They were kidnapped by the militants. And today in some places, in some cities of Pakistan, thousands of protesters came out on the roads and they were condemning the oppression going on in the tribal area.
And in the parliament of Pakistan, this one operation is also discussed and most of the members of the opposition, they are also criticizing the operation. But yesterday the interior minister, Faisal Syed, defended the operation and he said that operation will be lasted only and only after the elimination of the terrorists from the Wana area.
S. O'BRIEN: There are certainly still questions about the voracity of this tape, in fact, is it really al-Zawahiri on this tape.
You've interviewed him. You're obviously very knowledgeable about him and his opinions. Do you think that this is, this really is al-Zawahiri on this tape?
MIR: Yes, I have no doubt it is al-Zawahiri and he is trying to use that occasion he has selected, a day just, Thursday, one day before the Friday. He is trying to exploit the situation. He was aware that the next day the people of Pakistan are going to offer their Friday prayers in the afternoon and he is trying his best to urge them to come out on the roads and start an agitation against President Pervez Musharraf. And he's definitely trying to exploit the political situation in Pakistan, because the government is under a lot of criticism over this operation.
S. O'BRIEN: The last that you and I spoke, you were talking about this stand-off that's going on in Waziristan. And I'm curious to know the status of that.
Is there active fighting? Is it a stand-off? What's exactly happening there right now?
MIR: They have not shown any flexibility and they are ready to die. They are ready to fight against the Pakistani military. And that's why we don't see any hope that this operation will end in next 36 or 48 hours. And I think if the Americans are not going to start an operation in Afghanistan, if they are not going to send some fresh troops in Afghanistan, these militants will at large and nobody will net them in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is still a safe haven for them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Hamid Mir is a Pakistani journalist, joining us a little bit earlier this morning.
The CIA is now analyzing that tape to determine if, in fact, it is from al-Zawahiri.
CNN analyst Ken Robinson is going to update us on that, coming up in our next hour -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come, Soledad, the woman accusing Kobe Bryant of sexual assault asks the judge for some help. Her request, coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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