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American Morning

Bloodiest Month Yet Marks Anniversary of Bush's 'Mission Accomplished' Speech; Plan Suggested to Put Iraqis in Charge in Fallujah; Michael Jackson Indictment Today; Jayson Williams Jury Stuck on Two Charges; Google Stock Offering Set

Aired April 30, 2004 - 07:00   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.


BILL HEMMER, CO-HOST: Good morning. Marines in Fallujah on the move and making a giant leap of faith. Can the Iraqi generals deliver what they promised?
One year later the president's "Mission Accomplished" speech and the politics of then and now.

Fans in California lining up to support Michael Jackson at an arraignment today. Will it be anything like the last time?

And verdicts in the Jayson Williams trial. Is the jury's work anywhere near to being done?

This hour on AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Good morning. Welcome, everybody.

Also this morning, we're going to talk to a member of Iraq's new government about this proposed army of Fallujah. It's supposed to be run by generals who at one time may have been loyal to Saddam Hussein.

The question, of course: is that going to pose any problems for Iraq's new leaders?

HEMMER: Continuing pressure (ph) in Iraq. Countless ones, too.

Also, it does not exactly look like a lollypop, but it tastes like one and delivers a powerful narcotic said to be for cancer patients. Sanjay Gupta tells us today about these painkillers and why they've become the favorite for some kids abusing drugs. We'll get to that this morning, as well.

O'BRIEN: Jack Cafferty, good morning.

JACK CAFFERTY, CO-HOST: How you doing?

Special edition of "Nightline" on ABC television tonight. The entire program devoted to those killed in the war in Iraq.

Several television stations in major markets around the country have been ordered not to carry the show. It's a little bit of a storm brewing. We're going to take a look at it.

O'BRIEN: It is a great question of the day, I think.

HEMMER: Thanks. Top stories now as we start this morning.

Pop star Michael Jackson back in court for what's expected to be a media circus in California. The entertainer will learn what he's charged with in a felony indictment in connection with a child molestation matter.

About 100 fans from around the world, we're told, gathered at Jackson's Neverland ranch yesterday showing their support. Security officials are bracing for a crowd of thousands, maybe, outside the courthouse in Santa Maria. We'll go there live in a moment this morning.

The top civilian administrator in Iraq, Ambassador Paul Bremer, reportedly criticizing the Bush administration for not paying attention to terrorism months before the attacks of 9/11.

Speaking at a conference on terrorism in February of 2001, Bremer predicted that the administration would stagger until there was a major incident.

The White House would not comment directly on Bremer's remarks, but a spokesman says it is clear the terrorist threat was taken seriously.

NASA describing the landing of a Russian rocket in Kazakhstan as flawless today. The Russian Soyuz spacecraft bringing home crewmembers, a Russian and American who spent six months in space. A Dutchman also hitched a ride, following a nine-day stay, space mission.

In this country, back on Earth, in New Mexico, dust storms are to blame for forcing some roadways to shut down. Authorities say a patch of vacant land appears to be the source of the dust storms.

The poor visibility apparently led to two fatal pile-ups. Officials say they will not hesitate to close roads again if the spring winds continue there.

O'BRIEN: That picture looks unbelievable.

HEMMER: I guess, yes. We're off and running now on a Friday.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Tomorrow marks one year since President Bush declared major combat operations in Iraq over. His statement was made on board the aircraft carrier the Abraham Lincoln after a dramatic jet landing.

But the intervening year, we have seen, has been anything but peace.

White House correspondent Dana Bash joins us this morning with more.

Dana, good morning.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

And this is the last day of the bloodiest and deadliest month so far in Iraq. It is a distinction that few here could have imagined would help mark the year anniversary of what the White House saw as a day of triumph.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH (voice-over): One year ago, Democrats worried this made for TV image would end up in a Bush campaign ad, glorifying a swift win in Iraq. Instead, his opponent made the ad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who can take on George Bush and change the direction of the nation?

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Iraq is free.

BASH: May 1, aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln to declare major combat over in Iraq. But the war continued.

On that date, 139 troops had been killed. One year later, six times that, 736 casualties.

Since then, Karl Rove and other top advisers say they wished that banner wasn't overhead. Tough lesson in how images can quickly turn with events.

DAN BARTLETT, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNCIATIONS DIRECTOR: I won't call it a mistake, but I will call it, you know, hindsight is always perfect.

BASH: The White House now says focus on the words, not the pictures.

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What he said is still correct. That there are still certainly combat operations and dangers that remain in Iraq. And our troops are doing an outstanding job.

BASH: But for Democrats, "mission accomplished" is now a metaphor for Bush mistakes, he focus of a series of blistering speeches around the year anniversary.

SEN. ROBERT BYRD (D), WEST VIRGINIA: Mission accomplished? The mission in Iraq, as laid out by President Bush and Vice President Cheney, has failed.

SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Iraq is George Bush's Vietnam.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BASH: And while a year later polls show Americans believe and agree with the president, it's important to stay the course in Iraq, how he is handling the situation is now 48 percent, according to the latest CNN/"USA Today" poll. That's a 30-point drop from this time last year -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: And so then, Dana, the White House has to be concerned, especially when you consider that the president is running sort of as -- on his success as a war president.

BASH: That's right. That is exactly what he is running on. Of course, that's what we see in all the ads that the Bush campaign is running.

What they are saying, though, is look at the polls compared to how Senator John Kerry, the president's Democratic opponent, is doing. There you see pretty consistently, 15 to 20 percent difference in how the president is viewed in how he'd handle Iraq and how John Kerry is. That is why you see from the White House a continued attack on John Kerry on how he would handle national security in general.

So essentially they are relying on the fact they think Americans aren't so sure about how John Kerry is doing, and that's why they are trying to continue to stoke that, if you will -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Dana Bash at the White House for us this morning. Dana, thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: Soledad, the president and the vice president meeting yesterday with the 9/11 commission behind closed doors in the Oval Office, a session that many scholars call historical and unprecedented.

Officials say the president answered most of the questions and commission members giving him high marks for candor yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I'm glad I did it. I'm glad I took the time. This is an important commission, and it's important that they ask the questions they asked so that they could help make recommendations necessary to better protect our homeland. And -- But it was -- I enjoyed it.

TIM ROEMER (D), KILL COMMISSIONER: I personally felt very comfortable with a host of wide-ranging, tough questions that I asked of the president of the United States.

He answered them as directly as he could. He was cooperative. He was frank. He was gracious with his time.

A we will now move into the next set of hearings that are very important, very gut wrenching about heroes, about people that walked back into burning buildings that eventually collapsed.

Are we ready for the next emergency? What are we doing now about that? How do we prepare for the next set of attacks? How do we try to secure this country from al Qaeda coming at us?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: That last interview with Wolf Blitzer yesterday, by Tim Roemer, the only live TV interview after the meeting by a commission member.

Also were the two Democratic commissioners, Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton and former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey left that session about an hour early yesterday. They say they had prior commitments and were forced to leave then -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, there is word this morning that U.S. Marines plan to pullback from Fallujah as a result of talks that led to a tentative agreement to transfer power from Marines to Iraqi forces.

The so-called Fallujah protective army has been put forth by some of Saddam Hussein's former generals. But can it end the fighting?

Earlier we spoke with a member of Iraq's new government, Samir Sumaida'ie, originally from the al-Anbar province around Fallujah. First, his reaction to my question about the plan to hand over security in Fallujah to what reports are calling four Iraqi generals.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAMIR SUMAIDA'IE, IRAQI MINISTER: I wish you'd keep -- you'd stop calling these people Saddam Hussein former this and Saddam Hussein former that. The whole government of Iraq seems to be called now Saddam Hussein's former government.

These are people who used to...

O'BRIEN: They are not former generals under Saddam Hussein?

SUMAIDA'IE: They are former generals, but they were not -- they are former generals, but they are not Saddam Hussein former generals.

I mean, there were many officials in the government, and in the army. None of them were -- belonged to Saddam Hussein in any way. The fact -- the fact is that he used the army, yes, to suppress the people, but a lot of these people really were disloyal to Saddam Hussein, and they were very glad that he was deposed.

O'BRIEN: So then I'll re-ask that question? What do you make of this plan coming from these four generals to create this Fallujah brigade?

SUMAIDA'IE: It's one of a number of avenues that we are pursuing, and this looks promising. It's at least made up -- this force is going to be made up of Fallujans, mainly local people, will be put together along the same lines as the other Iraqi ICDC civil defense brigades, and I think it's promising.

There is a possibility here that they will help distance the coalition military from the local community and, thereby, bring together a solution. And at the same time, get to the terrorists.

O'BRIEN: Is there a possibility, though, that some of the people within that brigade could actually be the gunmen who have been fighting against the U.S. Marines at this time?

SUMAIDA'IE: Well, I certainly hope not. We'll make every effort that this should never happen. Remember, these people will be commanded by the American military, and the fact that they accept this position makes it unlikely that they are people who are fighting the American.

O'BRIEN: Here's what John Negroponte has told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He says that the postwar government is going to be a caretaker government, limited power, won't be allowed to pass laws.

Is that your understanding, and what do you make of that?

SUMAIDA'IE: I would not put it quite in these words. It is a caretaker government. It should not pass long-lasting laws, I mean, far-reaching laws, but this should be restraint and not a restriction.

I think we should not express it in the way that they will be restricted from passing laws. But I think they, as a government, should restrain themselves from passing these laws and defer or postpone major structural issues to an elected government after the election.

O'BRIEN: The U.N. Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi says he'd like to see a timeline really moved up to some degree by a month. He'd like to see the new Iraqi government in place one month from today, four weeks. Can that actually happen, do you think?

SUMAIDA'IE: It could, yes. It could. We have been talking about it. Before I became foreign minister, I was a member of the governing counsel, and during the discussions at that time we had already resolved that we should put the government in place by the end of May.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: That's Samir Sumaida'ie, who spoke with us a little bit earlier this morning from Baghdad.

HEMMER: Still to come here on a Friday morning: will it be a likely frenzy today among fans and the media? Michael Jackson is back in court today. We are live in California in a moment on what to expect there.

O'BRIEN: And the Jayson Williams jurors back at work this morning. Can they break a deadlock on two of the charges? We're going to hear from a former attorney from Williams' camp next.

HEMMER: Also, the Kentucky derby. Filled with tradition, but tomorrow they will break part of that tradition. We'll explain in a moment here as AMERICAN MORNING continues, right after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Fans from several nations were among those gathered outside Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch last night to show their support for the embattled pop star.

Jackson goes back to court this morning, where he will formally hear grand jury charges relating to the child molestation case against him. And if today's appearance is anything like his previous visit to Santa Barbara County Superior Court, it will be quite a spectacle.

Miguel Marquez in Santa Maria, California, for us this morning.

Miguel, good morning.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How are you?

I don't know if we're going to quite get to spectacle status on this one this time. I can tell you, compared to January, when he was here last, it's already a much more subdued scene out here, only a small amount of fans.

You can see they've added a lot more barricades out here. Santa Barbara County officials hoping to avoid what happened last time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ (voice-over): They are lessons officials in Santa Maria, California, learned the last time Michael Jackson was in court. Fans pushed down makeshift barricades, media outnumbered uniformed officers, and crowds shut down traffic after an impromptu show.

DARREL PARKER, SANTA BARBARA SUPERIOR COURT: The last time, the crowds were pressing in against the fence. And what you saw was deputy sheriffs holding the fence up.

MARQUEZ: This time around, Santa Maria has fortified the fencing by sinking it into the asphalt. Brand new interlocking barricades surround the court complex, and the streets around it look more like they're prepared for a military onslaught than an arraignment.

PARKER: There's worldwide media attention here. So every precaution that you would assume you should take I believe has been taken.

MARQUEZ: Jackson will be arraigned on charges handed out by a grand jury. Whatever the charges are, they will supersede an earlier criminal complaint in which Jackson was charged with lewd and lascivious acts on a minor under 14 and two counts of serving alcohol to a minor to assist in the acts.

By Jackson's side will be new counsel, Los Angeles attorney Thomas Mesereau.

THOMAS MESEREAU, MICHAEL JACKSON'S ATTORNEY: I'm not going to talk about it. MARQUEZ: Mesereau, who recently parted ways with actor Robert Blake, took over Jackson's defense after the pop star broke with his high-profile bicoastal legal team of Mark Geragos and Benjamin Brafman.

Another change, the Nation of Islam will not provide security for the King of Pop. Instead, says a defense source, a security company with a low-key appearance will be on hand.

One thing not changing: Jackson supporters will be bused in to show their love for the King of Pop.

NAJEE ALI, MICHAEL JACKSON SUPPORTER: But we have buses leaving from Orange County. We have buses leaving from Nevada, and we have other buses that are leaving throughout southern California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Now Michael Jackson has said that he is not guilty of any charges so far. He is expected to plead again not guilty today.

On his web site, we'll give you a little idea of how he is planning to spend this day. They sort of warn their fans, honor Michael by showing nothing less than your best behavior in a press release on their web site.

Of course, all of that depends on what the King of Pop does today -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: No question about that. Miguel Marquez for us this morning. Miguel, thanks -- Bill

HEMMER: Soledad, about 18 minutes past the hour.

The Jayson Williams jury returns to work today deadlocked on two of the charges in that manslaughter trial. Jurors say they have agreed on six of the eight counts against the former NBA star, and the judge yesterday instructed them to keep deliberating.

Defense attorney Brian Neary represented Williams on a gun charge about 10 years ago. Back with us here to talk about the case to this point.

Good morning to you.

BRIAN NEARY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: The two counts they're stuck on, what do you believe they are?

NEARY: Clearly, it's aggravated manslaughter, the most serious charge, and reckless manslaughter, still involved with the killing, but slightly less serious than the first.

HEMMER: Why do you get the indication it's that? NEARY: Those, of course, are always the most complicated charges, the most serious charges, obvious to everybody, plus the fact there was the greatest discrepancies and strongest argument.

Also, five minutes after the deadlock question comes out, the jury asks for read backs of three witnesses. Each of those three witnesses asked information about what Williams was doing just prior to the shooting.

HEMMER: So what you're saying, then, is the jurors have already concluded guilt or innocence on the events that happened after Gus Christofi was shot, the cover-up essentially?

NEARY: That seems very likely. And it makes a little bit of sense, too, because really, neither side argued very vehemently with regard to that. The defense argued that Williams panicked. The prosecution really didn't even touch on that. They focused on what the shooting really was.

HEMMER: Also what you're saying is that the most serious charges, that could land him in jail for the longest period of time, have not yet been decided by these jurors?

NEARY: I think that that's true. Whether the jury decided to move through the easiest first, the cover up, first to get to the hardest or have just, in speaking about all eight charges, just can't come to a conclusion on this.

HEMMER: Does it surprise you -- I mean, listen, this case started back in January. Jurors come out after about, what, a couple of days of deliberations and say, "Hey, we're deadlocked, judge. We can't do this."

NEARY: Well, I think that they may say they're deadlocked because what might have been easy in the first series of charges now has become a lot harder, and they might not know the language of the nomenclature. Deadlock to them, you know, stuck might be a better word.

The judge then yesterday afternoon and maybe again, will remind them, go back in there, respect each other's opinions and try to come to a conclusion.

HEMMER: You've been in a courtroom. When a judge tells jurors to do that, when he says keep trying, keep deliberating, do they listen?

NEARY: In a situation like this, I think so. Three or four days -- The fourth day of deliberation is not extraordinary. And also, it doesn't seem, we've had no real report of any acrimony. There's no noises; there's no real dissent.

And the questions seemingly have been pretty thoughtful, asking for direct pieces of information, as opposed to theories that may seem to be far-fetched. HEMMER: How about this scenario? If they still are hung up on these two counts and cannot reach a unanimous decision on these two remaining counts, what happens?

NEARY: New Jersey law says you can't -- you should not take partial verdicts in the middle of deliberations. But at the end, if the jury after trying several times still comes back with the deadlock, the judge will take a partial verdict.

He'll take the six counts on which they've decided and declare mistrials, do-overs on the other two charges.

HEMMER: And again, we're all guessing at this point. Perhaps we'll know later today.

Brian Neary, thanks.

NEARY: Thanks, Bill.

HEMMER: Good to see you here -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, a live report from Fallujah. Can a tentative deal hold up?

And Google's big deal. Wall Street's buzz about the hottest IPO in years. Can you get in on the action? We'll explain, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. The big business story this morning, Google mania on Wall Street. And we'll see what happens now. Plus a market preview. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." Checking in right now. We're going to Google this guy a little later here.

Good morning, Drew.

ANDREW SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning. How would you like to be a billionaire at age 30? How would you like to be a billionaire at any age?

Not bad.

Google finally did file that plan to raise money, $2.7 billion, in an IPO. It's going to happen sometime over the next couple of months. Very unusual. A lot of unusual parts of this deal here.

First of all, it's profitable. Made $100 million off $900 million. That's for one. They're going to have two classes of stock, meaning these couple young guys here, 30-year-old Larry Page and Sergey Brin, he's 31 -- there they are. These guys are going to be billionaires if the stock goes over $25, and it will.

Now, the most unusual thing about the deal, the stock is going to be sold at what's called a Dutch auction. It's an auction-type of situation that's been used in smaller deals, never on one this big.

And it means that you don't have to be connected to get stock. You just have to be smart. You have to open up an account at the underwriters, at CSFB or Morgan Stanley. You get your prospectus. You basically just sign up.

And then you place your bid at where you think the stock is going to trade to get the stock. You can't highball it. You can't put in $300 and get the stock.

Then we'll see what happens here. The IPO price is set after the auction. So let's say 100 billion shares are bid, 100 million -- or 1 billion shares are bid, and they're only going to sell 150 million shares.

They would take the bids on the 150 million shares bid the highest. The highest bids, OK? Throwing out those top outlier bids. And then the price is set at the low point of the 150.

So if you're a high bidder, if you think the thing's going to go out at $50 and you're one of the higher bidders, you would get stock, as opposed to being someone who's just connected.

HEMMER: That's going to generate more money for the company, also.

SERWER: Right. It's more fair. It means people won't be flipping stock.

CAFFERTY: But if you bid $50 and it goes out at $35, you still have to pay 50...

SERWER: Right.

CAFFERTY: ... is the way I understand it.

SERWER: Right. That's correct. So, you know, there's a lot of mechanisms here that are uncertain. And it will be interesting to see how it goes.

Wall Street not going to like this one.

HEMMER: Google is writing its own rules on this.

SERWER: That's right.

HEMMER: Does Wall Street not like this one?

SERWER: Wall Street probably will not like it, because it means less fees. It means less insiders get the stocks. So controversial plan. But they do things their way.

HEMMER: Yes, they do.

SERWER: These guys, yes.

O'BRIEN: "Question of the Day" from Jack.

CAFFERTY: And it's working.

O'BRIEN: Yes, apparently.

CAFFERTY: "Question of the Day." Interesting story. ABC's NIGHTLINE will be in the dark tonight. Ted Koppel is going to read the names of all the U.S. troops who have died in the war in Iraq.

One media company is ordering the preemption of the show on seven stations. Sinclair Broadcast Group says the "Nightline" show is, quote, "motivated by a political agenda."

It's interesting to note that four of Sinclair's top executives each gave the maximum campaign contribution to President Bush's re- election campaign. Coincidence? I think not.

ABC says the program, quote, "seeks to honor those who have laid down their lives for this country."

"Nightline" says they were inspired for the show by this famous 1969 "Life" magazine issue. It included photos of 200 U.S. troops who died in Vietnam that week. And this issue helped to crystallize the anti-war movement in this country.

Here's the question: "Is the 'Nightline' special a tribute or a political statement or both?" AM@CNN.com. Your thoughts, please.

HEMMER: We'll get them all. Thanks.

CAFFERTY: And that judge in that Jayson Williams thing ought to tell those jurors, "We've been messing around here for four months. Get back in the room and figure this stuff out. Don't give me any of this deadlock nonsense."

HEMMER: Judge Jack is back.

CAFFERTY: This guy is entirely too nice.

HEMMER: But the judge has given so much leeway throughout this case going back to January.

We'll talk about that during the commercial.

CAFFERTY: Reminds me of the guy who botched that O.J. Simpson trial. What was his name? Judge.

HEMMER: Ito.

CAFFERTY: Yes. Yes.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

HEMMER: Ito. Rhymes with Cafferty.

The 9/11 commission's historic Oval Office session. Both -- just kidding, friend -- both sides say it was cordial yesterday. But what was revealed behind closed doors? And how much will we find out eventually?

Back in a moment, after this.

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Aired April 30, 2004 - 07:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CO-HOST: Good morning. Marines in Fallujah on the move and making a giant leap of faith. Can the Iraqi generals deliver what they promised?
One year later the president's "Mission Accomplished" speech and the politics of then and now.

Fans in California lining up to support Michael Jackson at an arraignment today. Will it be anything like the last time?

And verdicts in the Jayson Williams trial. Is the jury's work anywhere near to being done?

This hour on AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Good morning. Welcome, everybody.

Also this morning, we're going to talk to a member of Iraq's new government about this proposed army of Fallujah. It's supposed to be run by generals who at one time may have been loyal to Saddam Hussein.

The question, of course: is that going to pose any problems for Iraq's new leaders?

HEMMER: Continuing pressure (ph) in Iraq. Countless ones, too.

Also, it does not exactly look like a lollypop, but it tastes like one and delivers a powerful narcotic said to be for cancer patients. Sanjay Gupta tells us today about these painkillers and why they've become the favorite for some kids abusing drugs. We'll get to that this morning, as well.

O'BRIEN: Jack Cafferty, good morning.

JACK CAFFERTY, CO-HOST: How you doing?

Special edition of "Nightline" on ABC television tonight. The entire program devoted to those killed in the war in Iraq.

Several television stations in major markets around the country have been ordered not to carry the show. It's a little bit of a storm brewing. We're going to take a look at it.

O'BRIEN: It is a great question of the day, I think.

HEMMER: Thanks. Top stories now as we start this morning.

Pop star Michael Jackson back in court for what's expected to be a media circus in California. The entertainer will learn what he's charged with in a felony indictment in connection with a child molestation matter.

About 100 fans from around the world, we're told, gathered at Jackson's Neverland ranch yesterday showing their support. Security officials are bracing for a crowd of thousands, maybe, outside the courthouse in Santa Maria. We'll go there live in a moment this morning.

The top civilian administrator in Iraq, Ambassador Paul Bremer, reportedly criticizing the Bush administration for not paying attention to terrorism months before the attacks of 9/11.

Speaking at a conference on terrorism in February of 2001, Bremer predicted that the administration would stagger until there was a major incident.

The White House would not comment directly on Bremer's remarks, but a spokesman says it is clear the terrorist threat was taken seriously.

NASA describing the landing of a Russian rocket in Kazakhstan as flawless today. The Russian Soyuz spacecraft bringing home crewmembers, a Russian and American who spent six months in space. A Dutchman also hitched a ride, following a nine-day stay, space mission.

In this country, back on Earth, in New Mexico, dust storms are to blame for forcing some roadways to shut down. Authorities say a patch of vacant land appears to be the source of the dust storms.

The poor visibility apparently led to two fatal pile-ups. Officials say they will not hesitate to close roads again if the spring winds continue there.

O'BRIEN: That picture looks unbelievable.

HEMMER: I guess, yes. We're off and running now on a Friday.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Tomorrow marks one year since President Bush declared major combat operations in Iraq over. His statement was made on board the aircraft carrier the Abraham Lincoln after a dramatic jet landing.

But the intervening year, we have seen, has been anything but peace.

White House correspondent Dana Bash joins us this morning with more.

Dana, good morning.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

And this is the last day of the bloodiest and deadliest month so far in Iraq. It is a distinction that few here could have imagined would help mark the year anniversary of what the White House saw as a day of triumph.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH (voice-over): One year ago, Democrats worried this made for TV image would end up in a Bush campaign ad, glorifying a swift win in Iraq. Instead, his opponent made the ad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who can take on George Bush and change the direction of the nation?

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Iraq is free.

BASH: May 1, aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln to declare major combat over in Iraq. But the war continued.

On that date, 139 troops had been killed. One year later, six times that, 736 casualties.

Since then, Karl Rove and other top advisers say they wished that banner wasn't overhead. Tough lesson in how images can quickly turn with events.

DAN BARTLETT, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNCIATIONS DIRECTOR: I won't call it a mistake, but I will call it, you know, hindsight is always perfect.

BASH: The White House now says focus on the words, not the pictures.

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What he said is still correct. That there are still certainly combat operations and dangers that remain in Iraq. And our troops are doing an outstanding job.

BASH: But for Democrats, "mission accomplished" is now a metaphor for Bush mistakes, he focus of a series of blistering speeches around the year anniversary.

SEN. ROBERT BYRD (D), WEST VIRGINIA: Mission accomplished? The mission in Iraq, as laid out by President Bush and Vice President Cheney, has failed.

SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Iraq is George Bush's Vietnam.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BASH: And while a year later polls show Americans believe and agree with the president, it's important to stay the course in Iraq, how he is handling the situation is now 48 percent, according to the latest CNN/"USA Today" poll. That's a 30-point drop from this time last year -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: And so then, Dana, the White House has to be concerned, especially when you consider that the president is running sort of as -- on his success as a war president.

BASH: That's right. That is exactly what he is running on. Of course, that's what we see in all the ads that the Bush campaign is running.

What they are saying, though, is look at the polls compared to how Senator John Kerry, the president's Democratic opponent, is doing. There you see pretty consistently, 15 to 20 percent difference in how the president is viewed in how he'd handle Iraq and how John Kerry is. That is why you see from the White House a continued attack on John Kerry on how he would handle national security in general.

So essentially they are relying on the fact they think Americans aren't so sure about how John Kerry is doing, and that's why they are trying to continue to stoke that, if you will -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Dana Bash at the White House for us this morning. Dana, thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: Soledad, the president and the vice president meeting yesterday with the 9/11 commission behind closed doors in the Oval Office, a session that many scholars call historical and unprecedented.

Officials say the president answered most of the questions and commission members giving him high marks for candor yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I'm glad I did it. I'm glad I took the time. This is an important commission, and it's important that they ask the questions they asked so that they could help make recommendations necessary to better protect our homeland. And -- But it was -- I enjoyed it.

TIM ROEMER (D), KILL COMMISSIONER: I personally felt very comfortable with a host of wide-ranging, tough questions that I asked of the president of the United States.

He answered them as directly as he could. He was cooperative. He was frank. He was gracious with his time.

A we will now move into the next set of hearings that are very important, very gut wrenching about heroes, about people that walked back into burning buildings that eventually collapsed.

Are we ready for the next emergency? What are we doing now about that? How do we prepare for the next set of attacks? How do we try to secure this country from al Qaeda coming at us?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: That last interview with Wolf Blitzer yesterday, by Tim Roemer, the only live TV interview after the meeting by a commission member.

Also were the two Democratic commissioners, Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton and former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey left that session about an hour early yesterday. They say they had prior commitments and were forced to leave then -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, there is word this morning that U.S. Marines plan to pullback from Fallujah as a result of talks that led to a tentative agreement to transfer power from Marines to Iraqi forces.

The so-called Fallujah protective army has been put forth by some of Saddam Hussein's former generals. But can it end the fighting?

Earlier we spoke with a member of Iraq's new government, Samir Sumaida'ie, originally from the al-Anbar province around Fallujah. First, his reaction to my question about the plan to hand over security in Fallujah to what reports are calling four Iraqi generals.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAMIR SUMAIDA'IE, IRAQI MINISTER: I wish you'd keep -- you'd stop calling these people Saddam Hussein former this and Saddam Hussein former that. The whole government of Iraq seems to be called now Saddam Hussein's former government.

These are people who used to...

O'BRIEN: They are not former generals under Saddam Hussein?

SUMAIDA'IE: They are former generals, but they were not -- they are former generals, but they are not Saddam Hussein former generals.

I mean, there were many officials in the government, and in the army. None of them were -- belonged to Saddam Hussein in any way. The fact -- the fact is that he used the army, yes, to suppress the people, but a lot of these people really were disloyal to Saddam Hussein, and they were very glad that he was deposed.

O'BRIEN: So then I'll re-ask that question? What do you make of this plan coming from these four generals to create this Fallujah brigade?

SUMAIDA'IE: It's one of a number of avenues that we are pursuing, and this looks promising. It's at least made up -- this force is going to be made up of Fallujans, mainly local people, will be put together along the same lines as the other Iraqi ICDC civil defense brigades, and I think it's promising.

There is a possibility here that they will help distance the coalition military from the local community and, thereby, bring together a solution. And at the same time, get to the terrorists.

O'BRIEN: Is there a possibility, though, that some of the people within that brigade could actually be the gunmen who have been fighting against the U.S. Marines at this time?

SUMAIDA'IE: Well, I certainly hope not. We'll make every effort that this should never happen. Remember, these people will be commanded by the American military, and the fact that they accept this position makes it unlikely that they are people who are fighting the American.

O'BRIEN: Here's what John Negroponte has told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He says that the postwar government is going to be a caretaker government, limited power, won't be allowed to pass laws.

Is that your understanding, and what do you make of that?

SUMAIDA'IE: I would not put it quite in these words. It is a caretaker government. It should not pass long-lasting laws, I mean, far-reaching laws, but this should be restraint and not a restriction.

I think we should not express it in the way that they will be restricted from passing laws. But I think they, as a government, should restrain themselves from passing these laws and defer or postpone major structural issues to an elected government after the election.

O'BRIEN: The U.N. Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi says he'd like to see a timeline really moved up to some degree by a month. He'd like to see the new Iraqi government in place one month from today, four weeks. Can that actually happen, do you think?

SUMAIDA'IE: It could, yes. It could. We have been talking about it. Before I became foreign minister, I was a member of the governing counsel, and during the discussions at that time we had already resolved that we should put the government in place by the end of May.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: That's Samir Sumaida'ie, who spoke with us a little bit earlier this morning from Baghdad.

HEMMER: Still to come here on a Friday morning: will it be a likely frenzy today among fans and the media? Michael Jackson is back in court today. We are live in California in a moment on what to expect there.

O'BRIEN: And the Jayson Williams jurors back at work this morning. Can they break a deadlock on two of the charges? We're going to hear from a former attorney from Williams' camp next.

HEMMER: Also, the Kentucky derby. Filled with tradition, but tomorrow they will break part of that tradition. We'll explain in a moment here as AMERICAN MORNING continues, right after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Fans from several nations were among those gathered outside Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch last night to show their support for the embattled pop star.

Jackson goes back to court this morning, where he will formally hear grand jury charges relating to the child molestation case against him. And if today's appearance is anything like his previous visit to Santa Barbara County Superior Court, it will be quite a spectacle.

Miguel Marquez in Santa Maria, California, for us this morning.

Miguel, good morning.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How are you?

I don't know if we're going to quite get to spectacle status on this one this time. I can tell you, compared to January, when he was here last, it's already a much more subdued scene out here, only a small amount of fans.

You can see they've added a lot more barricades out here. Santa Barbara County officials hoping to avoid what happened last time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ (voice-over): They are lessons officials in Santa Maria, California, learned the last time Michael Jackson was in court. Fans pushed down makeshift barricades, media outnumbered uniformed officers, and crowds shut down traffic after an impromptu show.

DARREL PARKER, SANTA BARBARA SUPERIOR COURT: The last time, the crowds were pressing in against the fence. And what you saw was deputy sheriffs holding the fence up.

MARQUEZ: This time around, Santa Maria has fortified the fencing by sinking it into the asphalt. Brand new interlocking barricades surround the court complex, and the streets around it look more like they're prepared for a military onslaught than an arraignment.

PARKER: There's worldwide media attention here. So every precaution that you would assume you should take I believe has been taken.

MARQUEZ: Jackson will be arraigned on charges handed out by a grand jury. Whatever the charges are, they will supersede an earlier criminal complaint in which Jackson was charged with lewd and lascivious acts on a minor under 14 and two counts of serving alcohol to a minor to assist in the acts.

By Jackson's side will be new counsel, Los Angeles attorney Thomas Mesereau.

THOMAS MESEREAU, MICHAEL JACKSON'S ATTORNEY: I'm not going to talk about it. MARQUEZ: Mesereau, who recently parted ways with actor Robert Blake, took over Jackson's defense after the pop star broke with his high-profile bicoastal legal team of Mark Geragos and Benjamin Brafman.

Another change, the Nation of Islam will not provide security for the King of Pop. Instead, says a defense source, a security company with a low-key appearance will be on hand.

One thing not changing: Jackson supporters will be bused in to show their love for the King of Pop.

NAJEE ALI, MICHAEL JACKSON SUPPORTER: But we have buses leaving from Orange County. We have buses leaving from Nevada, and we have other buses that are leaving throughout southern California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Now Michael Jackson has said that he is not guilty of any charges so far. He is expected to plead again not guilty today.

On his web site, we'll give you a little idea of how he is planning to spend this day. They sort of warn their fans, honor Michael by showing nothing less than your best behavior in a press release on their web site.

Of course, all of that depends on what the King of Pop does today -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: No question about that. Miguel Marquez for us this morning. Miguel, thanks -- Bill

HEMMER: Soledad, about 18 minutes past the hour.

The Jayson Williams jury returns to work today deadlocked on two of the charges in that manslaughter trial. Jurors say they have agreed on six of the eight counts against the former NBA star, and the judge yesterday instructed them to keep deliberating.

Defense attorney Brian Neary represented Williams on a gun charge about 10 years ago. Back with us here to talk about the case to this point.

Good morning to you.

BRIAN NEARY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: The two counts they're stuck on, what do you believe they are?

NEARY: Clearly, it's aggravated manslaughter, the most serious charge, and reckless manslaughter, still involved with the killing, but slightly less serious than the first.

HEMMER: Why do you get the indication it's that? NEARY: Those, of course, are always the most complicated charges, the most serious charges, obvious to everybody, plus the fact there was the greatest discrepancies and strongest argument.

Also, five minutes after the deadlock question comes out, the jury asks for read backs of three witnesses. Each of those three witnesses asked information about what Williams was doing just prior to the shooting.

HEMMER: So what you're saying, then, is the jurors have already concluded guilt or innocence on the events that happened after Gus Christofi was shot, the cover-up essentially?

NEARY: That seems very likely. And it makes a little bit of sense, too, because really, neither side argued very vehemently with regard to that. The defense argued that Williams panicked. The prosecution really didn't even touch on that. They focused on what the shooting really was.

HEMMER: Also what you're saying is that the most serious charges, that could land him in jail for the longest period of time, have not yet been decided by these jurors?

NEARY: I think that that's true. Whether the jury decided to move through the easiest first, the cover up, first to get to the hardest or have just, in speaking about all eight charges, just can't come to a conclusion on this.

HEMMER: Does it surprise you -- I mean, listen, this case started back in January. Jurors come out after about, what, a couple of days of deliberations and say, "Hey, we're deadlocked, judge. We can't do this."

NEARY: Well, I think that they may say they're deadlocked because what might have been easy in the first series of charges now has become a lot harder, and they might not know the language of the nomenclature. Deadlock to them, you know, stuck might be a better word.

The judge then yesterday afternoon and maybe again, will remind them, go back in there, respect each other's opinions and try to come to a conclusion.

HEMMER: You've been in a courtroom. When a judge tells jurors to do that, when he says keep trying, keep deliberating, do they listen?

NEARY: In a situation like this, I think so. Three or four days -- The fourth day of deliberation is not extraordinary. And also, it doesn't seem, we've had no real report of any acrimony. There's no noises; there's no real dissent.

And the questions seemingly have been pretty thoughtful, asking for direct pieces of information, as opposed to theories that may seem to be far-fetched. HEMMER: How about this scenario? If they still are hung up on these two counts and cannot reach a unanimous decision on these two remaining counts, what happens?

NEARY: New Jersey law says you can't -- you should not take partial verdicts in the middle of deliberations. But at the end, if the jury after trying several times still comes back with the deadlock, the judge will take a partial verdict.

He'll take the six counts on which they've decided and declare mistrials, do-overs on the other two charges.

HEMMER: And again, we're all guessing at this point. Perhaps we'll know later today.

Brian Neary, thanks.

NEARY: Thanks, Bill.

HEMMER: Good to see you here -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, a live report from Fallujah. Can a tentative deal hold up?

And Google's big deal. Wall Street's buzz about the hottest IPO in years. Can you get in on the action? We'll explain, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. The big business story this morning, Google mania on Wall Street. And we'll see what happens now. Plus a market preview. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." Checking in right now. We're going to Google this guy a little later here.

Good morning, Drew.

ANDREW SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning. How would you like to be a billionaire at age 30? How would you like to be a billionaire at any age?

Not bad.

Google finally did file that plan to raise money, $2.7 billion, in an IPO. It's going to happen sometime over the next couple of months. Very unusual. A lot of unusual parts of this deal here.

First of all, it's profitable. Made $100 million off $900 million. That's for one. They're going to have two classes of stock, meaning these couple young guys here, 30-year-old Larry Page and Sergey Brin, he's 31 -- there they are. These guys are going to be billionaires if the stock goes over $25, and it will.

Now, the most unusual thing about the deal, the stock is going to be sold at what's called a Dutch auction. It's an auction-type of situation that's been used in smaller deals, never on one this big.

And it means that you don't have to be connected to get stock. You just have to be smart. You have to open up an account at the underwriters, at CSFB or Morgan Stanley. You get your prospectus. You basically just sign up.

And then you place your bid at where you think the stock is going to trade to get the stock. You can't highball it. You can't put in $300 and get the stock.

Then we'll see what happens here. The IPO price is set after the auction. So let's say 100 billion shares are bid, 100 million -- or 1 billion shares are bid, and they're only going to sell 150 million shares.

They would take the bids on the 150 million shares bid the highest. The highest bids, OK? Throwing out those top outlier bids. And then the price is set at the low point of the 150.

So if you're a high bidder, if you think the thing's going to go out at $50 and you're one of the higher bidders, you would get stock, as opposed to being someone who's just connected.

HEMMER: That's going to generate more money for the company, also.

SERWER: Right. It's more fair. It means people won't be flipping stock.

CAFFERTY: But if you bid $50 and it goes out at $35, you still have to pay 50...

SERWER: Right.

CAFFERTY: ... is the way I understand it.

SERWER: Right. That's correct. So, you know, there's a lot of mechanisms here that are uncertain. And it will be interesting to see how it goes.

Wall Street not going to like this one.

HEMMER: Google is writing its own rules on this.

SERWER: That's right.

HEMMER: Does Wall Street not like this one?

SERWER: Wall Street probably will not like it, because it means less fees. It means less insiders get the stocks. So controversial plan. But they do things their way.

HEMMER: Yes, they do.

SERWER: These guys, yes.

O'BRIEN: "Question of the Day" from Jack.

CAFFERTY: And it's working.

O'BRIEN: Yes, apparently.

CAFFERTY: "Question of the Day." Interesting story. ABC's NIGHTLINE will be in the dark tonight. Ted Koppel is going to read the names of all the U.S. troops who have died in the war in Iraq.

One media company is ordering the preemption of the show on seven stations. Sinclair Broadcast Group says the "Nightline" show is, quote, "motivated by a political agenda."

It's interesting to note that four of Sinclair's top executives each gave the maximum campaign contribution to President Bush's re- election campaign. Coincidence? I think not.

ABC says the program, quote, "seeks to honor those who have laid down their lives for this country."

"Nightline" says they were inspired for the show by this famous 1969 "Life" magazine issue. It included photos of 200 U.S. troops who died in Vietnam that week. And this issue helped to crystallize the anti-war movement in this country.

Here's the question: "Is the 'Nightline' special a tribute or a political statement or both?" AM@CNN.com. Your thoughts, please.

HEMMER: We'll get them all. Thanks.

CAFFERTY: And that judge in that Jayson Williams thing ought to tell those jurors, "We've been messing around here for four months. Get back in the room and figure this stuff out. Don't give me any of this deadlock nonsense."

HEMMER: Judge Jack is back.

CAFFERTY: This guy is entirely too nice.

HEMMER: But the judge has given so much leeway throughout this case going back to January.

We'll talk about that during the commercial.

CAFFERTY: Reminds me of the guy who botched that O.J. Simpson trial. What was his name? Judge.

HEMMER: Ito.

CAFFERTY: Yes. Yes.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

HEMMER: Ito. Rhymes with Cafferty.

The 9/11 commission's historic Oval Office session. Both -- just kidding, friend -- both sides say it was cordial yesterday. But what was revealed behind closed doors? And how much will we find out eventually?

Back in a moment, after this.

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