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American Morning
Rumsfeld to Testify Before Congress on Abuse Allegations; Bin Laden Tape Offers Reward for Killing U.S., U.N. Officials; Job Report Expected to be Down
Aired May 07, 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.
BILL HEMMER, CO-HOST: Could Osama bin Laden be putting a bounty of gold on the heads of U.S. and U.N. leaders in Iraq?
And a decade of "Friends" now over. Did last night's finale meet the expectations of millions?
Ahead 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.
HEMMER: All right. Welcome to Friday. Welcome to 8 a.m. here in New York. Soledad is off today. Heidi Collins working with us again today.
Good morning.
HEIDI COLLINS, CO-HOST: She got to sleep in on a very rainy day.
HEMMER: It's a good day to sleep in here.
Other stories this hour.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld facing questions today. Later this morning, in fact, from the Senate Armed Services Committee. The panel's ranking Democrat, Senator Carl Levin, is our guest in a few minutes. He met with him yesterday. What did he learn? We'll find out in a moment here.
COLLINS: Yes, we will.
Also, major league baseball has to admit it was way off base with its plans to promote the new "Spider-Man" movie. Later this hour, our "Give Me a Minute" crew will talk about what caused a corporate about- face on those.
HEMMER: It's all P.R.
Good morning, Jack.
JACK CAFFERTY, CO-HOST: It was a stupid idea, and they figured that out just in the knick of time.
Coming up on the "Cafferty File," a couple things. We'll debate the issues of artistic license, which is a lofty topic for the "Cafferty File," if I do say so.
And to balance things out, we'll tell you where to find a happy toilet. And there's a -- in order to be a happy toilet, you have to have three stars. And that's all I'm going to say because...
COLLINS: I've been looking for a happy toilet, though, for a really long time.
CAFFERTY: Well, I -- I've got a map for you and everything. I'm going to get you all outfitted and ready to go here, if you pardon the phrase, ready to go.
COLLINS: OK. Bill?
HEMMER: Top stories now, top of the hour.
U.S. soldiers tightening their grip on Iraq's holy city of Najaf. Troops there have been fighting with supporters of Moqtada al Sadr. Amid that fighting, the rebel cleric traveled to nearby Kufa today for weekly prayers.
And meanwhile, fresh clashes are reported between U.S. troops and militia loyal to Sadr near Karbala. All this in south-central Iraq.
Two journalists are dead in that country. A Polish embassy official says a Polish television crew was traveling near Baghdad when they came under heavy gunfire.
In addition to the two killed there, two others wounded in the same attack. Footage shows the car crew was traveling in and had a sign marked press in the front windshield.
President Bush says the U.S. will expand its dialogue with the Palestinians over the situation in the Middle East. The president meeting yesterday with Jordan's King Abdullah.
Mr. Bush appears to be distancing himself from earlier comments that he supports Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza plan. He says the U.S. will not prejudice the outcome of final negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Emergency contraception known as the "morning after pill" will not be sold over the counter. The FDA yesterday rejecting a recommendation of its scientific committee to restrict sales of Plan B. The agency cited concern about young girls' unsupervised use of the pills. The maker of the drug says it will try again for approval with the FDA.
Later today, former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling faces a court review on the terms of his $5 million bail. All this stemming from the bizarre scene last month.
Skilling was allegedly drunk in New York, acting erratically late in the night on a New York street corner. Prosecutors want the judge to review whether or not Skilling violated terms of his bail. Those terms required him to, quote, "refrain from excessive use of alcohol." 8:03 now here in New York. Off and running for another hour.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: This morning, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld answers the call from Capitol Hill, where two congressional committees are waiting with questions about the prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq.
Officials tell CNN Rumsfeld will announce the creation of an independent panel to review how the Pentagon handled the abuse allegations.
CNN's Elaine Quijano has more now from the Pentagon.
Elaine, good morning to you.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
Secretary Rumsfeld is expected to spend about two hours testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee. He'll then head over to the House side and testify before the House Armed Services Committee. And in both sessions, he is expected to face some sharp questions from lawmakers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO (voice-over): When Defense Secretary Rumsfeld heads to Capitol Hill, he'll bring with him a vote of confidence from President Bush.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Secretary Rumsfeld is a really good secretary of defense.
QUIJANO: Democratic calls for Rumsfeld to resign increased after more pictures of alleged prisoner abuse surfaced Thursday.
But one key senator, who said it might be necessary for Rumsfeld to resign, now says lawmakers should move on.
SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: We should not focus on the issue of whose scalp should be delivered. We should be talking about what are we going to do?
QUIJANO: Rumsfeld is set to face off with lawmakers, not by himself, but with joint chiefs chairman General Richard Myers and a handful of other top defense officials.
To better prepare, the secretary canceled a planned speech Thursday in Philadelphia, instead dispatching Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz in his place.
A Pentagon official said Rumsfeld spent the day working with staff members by going over timelines and nuances. Lawmakers want details about how the military investigated the alleged prisoner abuses by Americans at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, cases the secretary insisted earlier this week defense officials have handled properly. DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The fact of the matter is that this is a serious problem, and it's something that the department is addressing. The system works. The system works.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO: And aides to Secretary Rumsfeld say he is upbeat and anxious to tell his story.
One Republican senator who met with the secretary yesterday says the secretary believes there is a rational explanation for how the Pentagon handled this investigation.
By the way, we should mention that Secretary Rumsfeld is expected to bring with him today to Capitol Hill a poster-sized copy of a news release dated January 16, intended to bolster his argument. That news release announcing the investigation into the abuse allegations, intended to bolster the Pentagon's argument that it took the proper steps in carrying out the investigation -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Elaine Quijano, thanks so much, live from the Pentagon this morning.
HEMMER: Michigan Senator Carl Levin among those who will questioning the defense secretary later this morning. Senator Levin the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee. He's our guest live today from Washington.
Good morning, Senator.
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: Good morning.
HEMMER: And welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Do you think an apology is necessary today from Secretary Rumsfeld?
LEVIN: Well, I do. It should be directed to -- directed at the Iraqi people and on behalf of the American people, and, of course, to the people who were abused.
I think a direct apology is very appropriate. It's not enough. Actions must follow. Accountability must follow. But I would like to see that direct apology.
HEMMER: Bearing in mind this is a political campaign year, some Democrats are calling for the resignation of Rumsfeld. A, are you in that camp, and B, how much of politics now entered into this debit?
LEVIN: Well, the politics are just not in this debate at all. Republicans and Democrats are both deeply dismayed by these actions, by the failure of the Pentagon to deal properly with these actions.
I -- if I thought that Rumsfeld's departure would change the policies, I'd be all for it, because it's the policies which have led to so much mismanagement in this war. But I don't see that that would automatically follow from his departure.
And whether or not she should leave based on these particular events will depend on whether or not he acted strongly when he heard about them and also whether he is willing to take this right up the chain.
It's not enough to go after the people who perpetrated these atrocities, even though it's important that we do that. But the people who suggested and prompted, probably in the intelligence community, that the people at the lower level, our troops, soften up or prepare for interrogation these inmates, have also got to be held accountable.
HEMMER: Senator, just to be clear. You support or do not support a resignation plea?
LEVIN: I will support it, depending on what we learn about Rumsfeld's actions, after he learned about it, and whether or not he's willing to take very strong action up the chain in the intelligence part of the military.
If I thought, again, that his departure would change the policies, the mismanagement of the war, I would favor it under those circumstances. But not for that reason. Only if we find out today and in the days ahead that he failed to act forthrightly and directly or that he is unwilling to act.
And appointing a commission is not good enough. Rumsfeld himself has to be willing to take strong actions now.
HEMMER: Senator, it's my understanding at least some members of your committee met with Secretary Rumsfeld yesterday, and the topic of this prison came up. Are you privy to those conversations, and if so, what was exchanged there?
LEVIN: No, I am not. He met with Republican senators yesterday.
HEMMER: All right. Today your big question is what then? Saxby Chambliss, also on your committee, says he wants to know about the chain of command, whether or not it's going to get worse before it gets better.
In other words, was it a systemic problem throughout the military operating in Iraq?
LEVIN: My focus will be the role of the intelligence personnel there: why this prison was turned over to them to begin with and whether or not they encouraged, prompted, suggested these kind of atrocities.
They were despicable and I can't believe they were spontaneous by the troops. I believe that there was a suggestion prompting from the intelligence personnel that our troops should soften up or prepare for interrogation these prisoners.
And those are the folks that also must be held accountable and anybody above them who knew about it and tolerated these policies. They must be held accountable, as well.
HEMMER: Senator, thank you. Carl Levin there, Democrat from Michigan in Washington.
Next hour, Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss, a Republican, also a member of that committee, will be our guest here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Later this morning, stay tuned for our live coverage of that testimony. It starts -- Our coverage, anyway, starts at 11:30 a.m. in D.C. with Wolf Blitzer. Secretary Rumsfeld expected to begin his own testimony about 11:45 a.m. Eastern Time. We'll have it for you.
COLLINS: All right. Still to come this morning, we will stay on this topic. President Bush says he is sorry about the actions of soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison. How are his words being received in the Arab world?
HEMMER: Also, for the first time, a reported al Qaeda tape putting a bounty on high-ranking officials working and serving in Iraq. Is that voice the voice of Osama bin Laden?
COLLINS: And the big "Friends" finale. Were there any surprises? Maybe not so many.
It's all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A new audiotape containing a message purportedly from Osama bin Laden has surfaced, and for the first time the al Qaeda leader offers a material reward to anyone who kills certain U.S. and U.N. officials.
National security correspondent David Ensor is live from Washington this morning.
David, good morning to you.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
As you say, this is something new from Osama bin Laden, if the voice is him, and it probably is. He's offering money for terrorism.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR (voice-over): The voice claim to be Osama bin Laden offer gold to anyone who kills top American or U.N. officials or citizens of any nation fighting in Iraq.
OSAMA BIN LADEN, AL QAEDA LEADER (through translator): You know that America promised big rewards for those who killed Mujahadeen. We in al Qaeda will guaranteed, God willing, 10,000 grams of gold to whoever kills the occupier Bremer or the American chief military commander or his deputy in Iraq.
ENSOR: In addition to offering rewards to anyone who kills Paul Bremer, the coalition provisional authority chief or the top American generals in the region, generals Abizaid and Sanchez, bin Laden also offers the same sum for killing U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan or his special representative for Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi.
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: It's very specific, telling the United Nations and the people who lead it. I think it's bin Laden's sort of way of saying, OK, the American handover is coming soon. The United Nations is going to take over, but we're also calling for attacks on the United Nations because we don't want a stable Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: Ten thousand grams of gold is currently valued at somewhere between $125,000 and $140,000. Contrast that, though, with the $50 million the U.S. is offering for bin Laden -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, that is quite a contrast. David, I want to ask you, how sure is anyone at this point that that's actually bin Laden on that tape?
ENSOR: Well, the CIA routinely does a technical analysis and compares the voice with other tapes that they know to be the voice of bin Laden.
In the past they've always turned out to be the voice of bin Laden, the ones that they've analyzed, the ones that have gone on Arab language tape -- on Arab language networks.
Occasionally, they do turn out to be old recordings that have been previously made public. However, in this case, this recording makes references to current events, suggesting it probably is him and it probably is new -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. David Ensor, live from Washington this morning. Thanks.
HEMMER: About 16 minutes past the hour now, Heidi. If you're in the business of starting a new business, want to try eBay?
And we're just moments away from the April jobs report. Watching this throughout the week. Andy Serwer is all over it, "Minding Your Business" this morning. Good morning to you.
Fourteen minutes away from the jobs report.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes. Topic A in the business world right now, Bill, is jobs, jobs, jobs. We obviously do have that report coming up in about 13 minutes.
And also, of course, we've been losing jobs overseas to China and India. Where do the new jobs come from, though, in the economy? Well, you can look at eBay. That's an interesting place.
Thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of people making their living or even partial living at eBay. EBay announcing today it was launching a program with G.E., General Electric, to help small businesses finance their -- their situation at eBay.
And I tell you, right now it's just amazing. Four hundred and thirty thousand Americans make a living, at least partially, selling their wares on eBay: $7.5 billion worth of goods. And you know, they get together, Bill, at conventions. They're talking about organizing.
And what's so interesting to me is, you know, when you see steel workers losing their jobs, you wonder, you know, where the new jobs are going to come from, and online has been a place we've seen a lot of growth.
HEMMER: Half a million people doing that, you say?
SERWER: It's staggering.
HEMMER: Market recap from yesterday, we were down. But again, a lot of people waiting to see what happening at 8:30.
SERWER: Yes. I think the market was really treading water a lot yesterday.
But also, Greenspan warning about the budget deficit and I think a lot of people very concerned on Wall Street about the possibility of higher interest rates, which I believe really are coming.
Let's look at what happened. Stocks slipping across the board.
The jobs report coming up in about 12 minutes. The big, big, big report. We're looking at 173,000 jobs created in the month of April. That's what economists are expecting. That's after 308,000 created last month or in March.
And we're looking if the unemployment rate holding at 5.7 percent. Actually here, the good news here could be bad news. Because if we get more than 173,000, the economy may be picking up too fast, and the perception will be the fed will have to raise rates sooner and more than anticipated.
HEMMER: You can't win.
SERWER: I know. It is a can't win situation.
HEMMER: Thank you, Andy.
SERWER: OK. You're welcome.
COLLINS: Still to come, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld will be in the hot seat today over his handling of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. We'll get to that with our "Give Me a Minute" panel.
And on a much lighter note, the "Friends" finale, a comedic look at what might have been.
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. Back to Jack, "Question of the Day."
CAFFERTY: Thank you, sir.
A report by the Center for American Progress says that the right has managed to hang the label "liberal" on most Democrats, liberal meaning well-meaning and admirable but ultimately weak, naive and ineffective.
The center says Democrats should avoid using the word "liberal" and call themselves instead progressive.
The Center for American Progress is a liberal think tank.
Liberal used to stand for social progress; now it stands for something else. What happened? The question is "Is liberal a dirty word?"
Andy in Rexville (ph), Ohio: "Liberal and conservative have both become meaningless. Bush's Iraq gun slinging is apparently considered conservative, while constrained and consuming our natural resources is liberal tree hugging. Both liberal and conservatives seem to mean as much as Democrat and Republican -- nothing."
Elaine in Hemlock, New York. Hemlock, New York. I don't want to go there. "Liberals were responsible for ensuring labor rights, the child labor law, affordable health care, education, et cetera. Today, greedy neocons would have us think the military industrial complex and war mean peace and freedom. This country is suffering spiritual bankruptcy."
John in Orlando, Florida: "It's funny that a Google search for a definition of liberal doesn't return any of the traditional sense of the word: generous, sympathetic to those less fortunate. There was a time when we all hoped for a liberal serving of pie for dessert, for example, until the religious right and neoconservative reactionaries turned it into a negative word."
"I think you missed the point, Jack. The Republican liberals like Carnegie used their own money for social purposes. Democratic liberals like Kennedy and Kerry want to raise taxes and use my money. There is a difference."
And Jay in Newberry Port (ph), Massachusetts: "Liberal should not be a dirty word. However, I think it was Archie Bunker who referred to Michael, 'Meathead,' as a liberal pinko commie, which probably went a long way in our culture to defining, in some people's minds, what a liberal is."
There's probably something to that last letter. I remember that show.
COLLINS: I remember that moment. All right. Want to move on now to the big story of the day. Believe it or not, a lot of people still talking about this. The finale of "Friends."
It packed a couple of surprises and a double whammy for Monica and Chandler, who were surprised by twins.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COURTENEY COX, ACTRESS: Thank you so much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm really happy for you guys.
MATTHEW PERRY, ACTOR: How do you feel?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm tired.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't have that much time to relax. The other one will be along in a minute.
COX: I'm sorry. Who should be along in a what now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The next baby should be along in a minute.
COX: We only ordered one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: On last night's "Tonight's Show" Jay Leno spoke with a few actors who were considered for roles on "Friends."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB DOLE, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Bob Dole was on "Friends" in 1995. Bob Dole quit the show to run for president in 1996. Bob Dole should have stayed with "Friends."
SNOOP DOGG, MUSICIAN: Well, I auditioned for "Friends" a long time ago, and the response was they had enough black people on the show.
BILLY BOB THORNTON, ACTOR: I was in the original cast of "Friends," and then they decided that I was too British. And that was it. They fired me. But then about two weeks later -- this is the way God works -- about two weeks later, I got a two-part "Saved by the Bell." So I guess I got the last laugh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: How about Snoop?
COLLINS: Yes.
HEMMER: All right. Let's get a break.
In a moment, Bill Clinton needs to meet a deadline and soon, we're told.
Baseball says no to "Spider-Man.
And what does our "Give Me a Minute" panel think of today's Rumsfeld testimony? They're up next when we continue on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Get the latest news every morning in your e-mail. Just sign up for AMERICAN MORNING Quick News at CNN.com/AM.
Still to come: the reasons behind new increased security at some of America's nuclear power plants. We'll tell you about that in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. Almost 8:30. Still waiting on that jobs report. Should be out any minute.
Welcome back. Heidi Collins working for Soledad O'Brien.
Good morning again.
COLLINS: Good morning.
HEMMER: We are learning, in fact, at this hour the Associated Press is reporting that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld plans to apologize to Congress today for not informing them of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.
Again, that testimony starts in about three hours from now, 11:45 a.m. Eastern Time, down there in D.C.
Also we'll talk in a moment here with an Arab diplomat who says President Bush's apology is good, but apparently not good enough. His thoughts in a moment in a moment here on what's happening overseas in that region of the world.
COLLINS: Also, Dr. Sanjay Gupta continues his series "Life Beyond Limits" with three people who seem to be able to do the impossible. Strong people, too. How they are pushing the human envelope is good for all of us to talk a little bit about.
Want to go ahead now and get to the news this morning. An apparent suicide attack in Pakistan has left at least 10 people dead. Police say a bomb exploded during prayers at a Shiite mosque in downtown Karachi. At least 90 others were wounded.
Meanwhile, Israeli sources say an Israeli soldier has been killed in a battle with the Hezbollah militia. Cross-border fighting broke out overnight between Israeli forces. Israel says eight Israeli soldiers have also been injured in the clashes.
Police, firefighters and rescue workers conduct a rescue drill in the city's subway system. It was all part of an anti-terror drill. More than 200 rescuers took part in the response. It involved a simulated explosion at a metro station in southeastern Paris.
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Aired May 7, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CO-HOST: Could Osama bin Laden be putting a bounty of gold on the heads of U.S. and U.N. leaders in Iraq?
And a decade of "Friends" now over. Did last night's finale meet the expectations of millions?
Ahead 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.
HEMMER: All right. Welcome to Friday. Welcome to 8 a.m. here in New York. Soledad is off today. Heidi Collins working with us again today.
Good morning.
HEIDI COLLINS, CO-HOST: She got to sleep in on a very rainy day.
HEMMER: It's a good day to sleep in here.
Other stories this hour.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld facing questions today. Later this morning, in fact, from the Senate Armed Services Committee. The panel's ranking Democrat, Senator Carl Levin, is our guest in a few minutes. He met with him yesterday. What did he learn? We'll find out in a moment here.
COLLINS: Yes, we will.
Also, major league baseball has to admit it was way off base with its plans to promote the new "Spider-Man" movie. Later this hour, our "Give Me a Minute" crew will talk about what caused a corporate about- face on those.
HEMMER: It's all P.R.
Good morning, Jack.
JACK CAFFERTY, CO-HOST: It was a stupid idea, and they figured that out just in the knick of time.
Coming up on the "Cafferty File," a couple things. We'll debate the issues of artistic license, which is a lofty topic for the "Cafferty File," if I do say so.
And to balance things out, we'll tell you where to find a happy toilet. And there's a -- in order to be a happy toilet, you have to have three stars. And that's all I'm going to say because...
COLLINS: I've been looking for a happy toilet, though, for a really long time.
CAFFERTY: Well, I -- I've got a map for you and everything. I'm going to get you all outfitted and ready to go here, if you pardon the phrase, ready to go.
COLLINS: OK. Bill?
HEMMER: Top stories now, top of the hour.
U.S. soldiers tightening their grip on Iraq's holy city of Najaf. Troops there have been fighting with supporters of Moqtada al Sadr. Amid that fighting, the rebel cleric traveled to nearby Kufa today for weekly prayers.
And meanwhile, fresh clashes are reported between U.S. troops and militia loyal to Sadr near Karbala. All this in south-central Iraq.
Two journalists are dead in that country. A Polish embassy official says a Polish television crew was traveling near Baghdad when they came under heavy gunfire.
In addition to the two killed there, two others wounded in the same attack. Footage shows the car crew was traveling in and had a sign marked press in the front windshield.
President Bush says the U.S. will expand its dialogue with the Palestinians over the situation in the Middle East. The president meeting yesterday with Jordan's King Abdullah.
Mr. Bush appears to be distancing himself from earlier comments that he supports Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza plan. He says the U.S. will not prejudice the outcome of final negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Emergency contraception known as the "morning after pill" will not be sold over the counter. The FDA yesterday rejecting a recommendation of its scientific committee to restrict sales of Plan B. The agency cited concern about young girls' unsupervised use of the pills. The maker of the drug says it will try again for approval with the FDA.
Later today, former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling faces a court review on the terms of his $5 million bail. All this stemming from the bizarre scene last month.
Skilling was allegedly drunk in New York, acting erratically late in the night on a New York street corner. Prosecutors want the judge to review whether or not Skilling violated terms of his bail. Those terms required him to, quote, "refrain from excessive use of alcohol." 8:03 now here in New York. Off and running for another hour.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: This morning, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld answers the call from Capitol Hill, where two congressional committees are waiting with questions about the prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq.
Officials tell CNN Rumsfeld will announce the creation of an independent panel to review how the Pentagon handled the abuse allegations.
CNN's Elaine Quijano has more now from the Pentagon.
Elaine, good morning to you.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
Secretary Rumsfeld is expected to spend about two hours testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee. He'll then head over to the House side and testify before the House Armed Services Committee. And in both sessions, he is expected to face some sharp questions from lawmakers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO (voice-over): When Defense Secretary Rumsfeld heads to Capitol Hill, he'll bring with him a vote of confidence from President Bush.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Secretary Rumsfeld is a really good secretary of defense.
QUIJANO: Democratic calls for Rumsfeld to resign increased after more pictures of alleged prisoner abuse surfaced Thursday.
But one key senator, who said it might be necessary for Rumsfeld to resign, now says lawmakers should move on.
SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: We should not focus on the issue of whose scalp should be delivered. We should be talking about what are we going to do?
QUIJANO: Rumsfeld is set to face off with lawmakers, not by himself, but with joint chiefs chairman General Richard Myers and a handful of other top defense officials.
To better prepare, the secretary canceled a planned speech Thursday in Philadelphia, instead dispatching Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz in his place.
A Pentagon official said Rumsfeld spent the day working with staff members by going over timelines and nuances. Lawmakers want details about how the military investigated the alleged prisoner abuses by Americans at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, cases the secretary insisted earlier this week defense officials have handled properly. DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The fact of the matter is that this is a serious problem, and it's something that the department is addressing. The system works. The system works.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO: And aides to Secretary Rumsfeld say he is upbeat and anxious to tell his story.
One Republican senator who met with the secretary yesterday says the secretary believes there is a rational explanation for how the Pentagon handled this investigation.
By the way, we should mention that Secretary Rumsfeld is expected to bring with him today to Capitol Hill a poster-sized copy of a news release dated January 16, intended to bolster his argument. That news release announcing the investigation into the abuse allegations, intended to bolster the Pentagon's argument that it took the proper steps in carrying out the investigation -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Elaine Quijano, thanks so much, live from the Pentagon this morning.
HEMMER: Michigan Senator Carl Levin among those who will questioning the defense secretary later this morning. Senator Levin the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee. He's our guest live today from Washington.
Good morning, Senator.
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: Good morning.
HEMMER: And welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Do you think an apology is necessary today from Secretary Rumsfeld?
LEVIN: Well, I do. It should be directed to -- directed at the Iraqi people and on behalf of the American people, and, of course, to the people who were abused.
I think a direct apology is very appropriate. It's not enough. Actions must follow. Accountability must follow. But I would like to see that direct apology.
HEMMER: Bearing in mind this is a political campaign year, some Democrats are calling for the resignation of Rumsfeld. A, are you in that camp, and B, how much of politics now entered into this debit?
LEVIN: Well, the politics are just not in this debate at all. Republicans and Democrats are both deeply dismayed by these actions, by the failure of the Pentagon to deal properly with these actions.
I -- if I thought that Rumsfeld's departure would change the policies, I'd be all for it, because it's the policies which have led to so much mismanagement in this war. But I don't see that that would automatically follow from his departure.
And whether or not she should leave based on these particular events will depend on whether or not he acted strongly when he heard about them and also whether he is willing to take this right up the chain.
It's not enough to go after the people who perpetrated these atrocities, even though it's important that we do that. But the people who suggested and prompted, probably in the intelligence community, that the people at the lower level, our troops, soften up or prepare for interrogation these inmates, have also got to be held accountable.
HEMMER: Senator, just to be clear. You support or do not support a resignation plea?
LEVIN: I will support it, depending on what we learn about Rumsfeld's actions, after he learned about it, and whether or not he's willing to take very strong action up the chain in the intelligence part of the military.
If I thought, again, that his departure would change the policies, the mismanagement of the war, I would favor it under those circumstances. But not for that reason. Only if we find out today and in the days ahead that he failed to act forthrightly and directly or that he is unwilling to act.
And appointing a commission is not good enough. Rumsfeld himself has to be willing to take strong actions now.
HEMMER: Senator, it's my understanding at least some members of your committee met with Secretary Rumsfeld yesterday, and the topic of this prison came up. Are you privy to those conversations, and if so, what was exchanged there?
LEVIN: No, I am not. He met with Republican senators yesterday.
HEMMER: All right. Today your big question is what then? Saxby Chambliss, also on your committee, says he wants to know about the chain of command, whether or not it's going to get worse before it gets better.
In other words, was it a systemic problem throughout the military operating in Iraq?
LEVIN: My focus will be the role of the intelligence personnel there: why this prison was turned over to them to begin with and whether or not they encouraged, prompted, suggested these kind of atrocities.
They were despicable and I can't believe they were spontaneous by the troops. I believe that there was a suggestion prompting from the intelligence personnel that our troops should soften up or prepare for interrogation these prisoners.
And those are the folks that also must be held accountable and anybody above them who knew about it and tolerated these policies. They must be held accountable, as well.
HEMMER: Senator, thank you. Carl Levin there, Democrat from Michigan in Washington.
Next hour, Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss, a Republican, also a member of that committee, will be our guest here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Later this morning, stay tuned for our live coverage of that testimony. It starts -- Our coverage, anyway, starts at 11:30 a.m. in D.C. with Wolf Blitzer. Secretary Rumsfeld expected to begin his own testimony about 11:45 a.m. Eastern Time. We'll have it for you.
COLLINS: All right. Still to come this morning, we will stay on this topic. President Bush says he is sorry about the actions of soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison. How are his words being received in the Arab world?
HEMMER: Also, for the first time, a reported al Qaeda tape putting a bounty on high-ranking officials working and serving in Iraq. Is that voice the voice of Osama bin Laden?
COLLINS: And the big "Friends" finale. Were there any surprises? Maybe not so many.
It's all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A new audiotape containing a message purportedly from Osama bin Laden has surfaced, and for the first time the al Qaeda leader offers a material reward to anyone who kills certain U.S. and U.N. officials.
National security correspondent David Ensor is live from Washington this morning.
David, good morning to you.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
As you say, this is something new from Osama bin Laden, if the voice is him, and it probably is. He's offering money for terrorism.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR (voice-over): The voice claim to be Osama bin Laden offer gold to anyone who kills top American or U.N. officials or citizens of any nation fighting in Iraq.
OSAMA BIN LADEN, AL QAEDA LEADER (through translator): You know that America promised big rewards for those who killed Mujahadeen. We in al Qaeda will guaranteed, God willing, 10,000 grams of gold to whoever kills the occupier Bremer or the American chief military commander or his deputy in Iraq.
ENSOR: In addition to offering rewards to anyone who kills Paul Bremer, the coalition provisional authority chief or the top American generals in the region, generals Abizaid and Sanchez, bin Laden also offers the same sum for killing U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan or his special representative for Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi.
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: It's very specific, telling the United Nations and the people who lead it. I think it's bin Laden's sort of way of saying, OK, the American handover is coming soon. The United Nations is going to take over, but we're also calling for attacks on the United Nations because we don't want a stable Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: Ten thousand grams of gold is currently valued at somewhere between $125,000 and $140,000. Contrast that, though, with the $50 million the U.S. is offering for bin Laden -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, that is quite a contrast. David, I want to ask you, how sure is anyone at this point that that's actually bin Laden on that tape?
ENSOR: Well, the CIA routinely does a technical analysis and compares the voice with other tapes that they know to be the voice of bin Laden.
In the past they've always turned out to be the voice of bin Laden, the ones that they've analyzed, the ones that have gone on Arab language tape -- on Arab language networks.
Occasionally, they do turn out to be old recordings that have been previously made public. However, in this case, this recording makes references to current events, suggesting it probably is him and it probably is new -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. David Ensor, live from Washington this morning. Thanks.
HEMMER: About 16 minutes past the hour now, Heidi. If you're in the business of starting a new business, want to try eBay?
And we're just moments away from the April jobs report. Watching this throughout the week. Andy Serwer is all over it, "Minding Your Business" this morning. Good morning to you.
Fourteen minutes away from the jobs report.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes. Topic A in the business world right now, Bill, is jobs, jobs, jobs. We obviously do have that report coming up in about 13 minutes.
And also, of course, we've been losing jobs overseas to China and India. Where do the new jobs come from, though, in the economy? Well, you can look at eBay. That's an interesting place.
Thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of people making their living or even partial living at eBay. EBay announcing today it was launching a program with G.E., General Electric, to help small businesses finance their -- their situation at eBay.
And I tell you, right now it's just amazing. Four hundred and thirty thousand Americans make a living, at least partially, selling their wares on eBay: $7.5 billion worth of goods. And you know, they get together, Bill, at conventions. They're talking about organizing.
And what's so interesting to me is, you know, when you see steel workers losing their jobs, you wonder, you know, where the new jobs are going to come from, and online has been a place we've seen a lot of growth.
HEMMER: Half a million people doing that, you say?
SERWER: It's staggering.
HEMMER: Market recap from yesterday, we were down. But again, a lot of people waiting to see what happening at 8:30.
SERWER: Yes. I think the market was really treading water a lot yesterday.
But also, Greenspan warning about the budget deficit and I think a lot of people very concerned on Wall Street about the possibility of higher interest rates, which I believe really are coming.
Let's look at what happened. Stocks slipping across the board.
The jobs report coming up in about 12 minutes. The big, big, big report. We're looking at 173,000 jobs created in the month of April. That's what economists are expecting. That's after 308,000 created last month or in March.
And we're looking if the unemployment rate holding at 5.7 percent. Actually here, the good news here could be bad news. Because if we get more than 173,000, the economy may be picking up too fast, and the perception will be the fed will have to raise rates sooner and more than anticipated.
HEMMER: You can't win.
SERWER: I know. It is a can't win situation.
HEMMER: Thank you, Andy.
SERWER: OK. You're welcome.
COLLINS: Still to come, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld will be in the hot seat today over his handling of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. We'll get to that with our "Give Me a Minute" panel.
And on a much lighter note, the "Friends" finale, a comedic look at what might have been.
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. Back to Jack, "Question of the Day."
CAFFERTY: Thank you, sir.
A report by the Center for American Progress says that the right has managed to hang the label "liberal" on most Democrats, liberal meaning well-meaning and admirable but ultimately weak, naive and ineffective.
The center says Democrats should avoid using the word "liberal" and call themselves instead progressive.
The Center for American Progress is a liberal think tank.
Liberal used to stand for social progress; now it stands for something else. What happened? The question is "Is liberal a dirty word?"
Andy in Rexville (ph), Ohio: "Liberal and conservative have both become meaningless. Bush's Iraq gun slinging is apparently considered conservative, while constrained and consuming our natural resources is liberal tree hugging. Both liberal and conservatives seem to mean as much as Democrat and Republican -- nothing."
Elaine in Hemlock, New York. Hemlock, New York. I don't want to go there. "Liberals were responsible for ensuring labor rights, the child labor law, affordable health care, education, et cetera. Today, greedy neocons would have us think the military industrial complex and war mean peace and freedom. This country is suffering spiritual bankruptcy."
John in Orlando, Florida: "It's funny that a Google search for a definition of liberal doesn't return any of the traditional sense of the word: generous, sympathetic to those less fortunate. There was a time when we all hoped for a liberal serving of pie for dessert, for example, until the religious right and neoconservative reactionaries turned it into a negative word."
"I think you missed the point, Jack. The Republican liberals like Carnegie used their own money for social purposes. Democratic liberals like Kennedy and Kerry want to raise taxes and use my money. There is a difference."
And Jay in Newberry Port (ph), Massachusetts: "Liberal should not be a dirty word. However, I think it was Archie Bunker who referred to Michael, 'Meathead,' as a liberal pinko commie, which probably went a long way in our culture to defining, in some people's minds, what a liberal is."
There's probably something to that last letter. I remember that show.
COLLINS: I remember that moment. All right. Want to move on now to the big story of the day. Believe it or not, a lot of people still talking about this. The finale of "Friends."
It packed a couple of surprises and a double whammy for Monica and Chandler, who were surprised by twins.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COURTENEY COX, ACTRESS: Thank you so much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm really happy for you guys.
MATTHEW PERRY, ACTOR: How do you feel?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm tired.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't have that much time to relax. The other one will be along in a minute.
COX: I'm sorry. Who should be along in a what now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The next baby should be along in a minute.
COX: We only ordered one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: On last night's "Tonight's Show" Jay Leno spoke with a few actors who were considered for roles on "Friends."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB DOLE, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Bob Dole was on "Friends" in 1995. Bob Dole quit the show to run for president in 1996. Bob Dole should have stayed with "Friends."
SNOOP DOGG, MUSICIAN: Well, I auditioned for "Friends" a long time ago, and the response was they had enough black people on the show.
BILLY BOB THORNTON, ACTOR: I was in the original cast of "Friends," and then they decided that I was too British. And that was it. They fired me. But then about two weeks later -- this is the way God works -- about two weeks later, I got a two-part "Saved by the Bell." So I guess I got the last laugh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: How about Snoop?
COLLINS: Yes.
HEMMER: All right. Let's get a break.
In a moment, Bill Clinton needs to meet a deadline and soon, we're told.
Baseball says no to "Spider-Man.
And what does our "Give Me a Minute" panel think of today's Rumsfeld testimony? They're up next when we continue on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Get the latest news every morning in your e-mail. Just sign up for AMERICAN MORNING Quick News at CNN.com/AM.
Still to come: the reasons behind new increased security at some of America's nuclear power plants. We'll tell you about that in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. Almost 8:30. Still waiting on that jobs report. Should be out any minute.
Welcome back. Heidi Collins working for Soledad O'Brien.
Good morning again.
COLLINS: Good morning.
HEMMER: We are learning, in fact, at this hour the Associated Press is reporting that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld plans to apologize to Congress today for not informing them of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.
Again, that testimony starts in about three hours from now, 11:45 a.m. Eastern Time, down there in D.C.
Also we'll talk in a moment here with an Arab diplomat who says President Bush's apology is good, but apparently not good enough. His thoughts in a moment in a moment here on what's happening overseas in that region of the world.
COLLINS: Also, Dr. Sanjay Gupta continues his series "Life Beyond Limits" with three people who seem to be able to do the impossible. Strong people, too. How they are pushing the human envelope is good for all of us to talk a little bit about.
Want to go ahead now and get to the news this morning. An apparent suicide attack in Pakistan has left at least 10 people dead. Police say a bomb exploded during prayers at a Shiite mosque in downtown Karachi. At least 90 others were wounded.
Meanwhile, Israeli sources say an Israeli soldier has been killed in a battle with the Hezbollah militia. Cross-border fighting broke out overnight between Israeli forces. Israel says eight Israeli soldiers have also been injured in the clashes.
Police, firefighters and rescue workers conduct a rescue drill in the city's subway system. It was all part of an anti-terror drill. More than 200 rescuers took part in the response. It involved a simulated explosion at a metro station in southeastern Paris.
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