Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Iraq at Top of Agenda for G-8 Summit; Suicide Bombers Kill 11 in Iraq; Thousands Pay Respects to Reagan; Groups Lobbies for Reagan Memorials
Aired June 08, 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Good morning, and welcome, everyone, to another special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. Even in the middle of the night they come, Americans moved by the death of Ronald Reagan, now paying their respects to the former president of the United States.
Also this morning, new violence all across Iraq today. Americans and Iraqis killed at the hands of insurgents, just as the president appears poised for an international victory.
And show time for Venus. Earth's next-door neighbor makes a spectacular journey past the sun.
Those stories all ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning, welcome, everybody. Bill Hemmer is in Simi Valley, California. Going to be chatting with him in just a few moments this morning.
Also this morning, we've been talking about this conference going on in Georgia. Security there, obviously, extremely tight, as the world leaders arrive for the G-8 summit.
Will it be a backdrop or a major step forward for President Bush, who's seeking, obviously, international support for Iraq? An update on that is ahead as well.
Also joining me, the two of us alone here in the studio while Hemmer's out on the West Coast, Jack Cafferty. Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CO-HOST: Good morning, Soledad.
There are plans being drawn up by the United States to withdraw a major portion of its military force from the peninsula in South Korea. There we are!
O'BRIEN: There you are.
CAFFERTY: I understand what's going on is we had to switch control rooms. I'm not sure if that's right or not, but so maybe we'll have a little technical...
O'BRIEN: Good to see you and hear your voice, too.
CAFFERTY: A little limp in our step as we try to get going here. Pull a large number of troops out of South Korea. Needless to say, it's making a lot of people in the region nervous. We'll take a look at what it might mean and how the various players are likely to react.
O'BRIEN: All right. Jack, thank you very much.
Let's get right to our top story, though, this morning. Even though it is called an economic summit among leaders from the world's eight largest industrial nations, it is Iraq that is actually at the top of the agenda as the G-8 meeting gets underway at Sea Island in Georgia.
President Bush meeting today with leaders who both support and oppose his Iraq policies.
White House correspondent Dana Bash is covering the summit for us this morning.
Dana, good morning.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
And U.N. Security Council is supposed to vote on and pass a new resolution on Iraq later this afternoon, and that is exactly the way the White House wanted to kick things off here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): The president returned from a three-day European trip prepared to pick up where he left off in his campaign to renew unity with estranged allies.
Mr. Bush is hosting more than 20 world leaders around the G-8 summit at this seaside Georgia resort, and officials worked feverishly to finalize an apparent agreement on a U.N. resolution on Iraq. They hope it will be a potent symbol going into the summit.
Disagreement over the war is evolving into agreement about Iraq's future.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: Everybody now understands the key is an Iraq that is prosperous and moving forward. It really closes a page -- closes the book on the past.
BASH: The breakthrough came after a weekend exchange of letters with Iraq's interim prime minister, detailing Baghdad's operational authority over foreign troops.
It is at the heart of demands from France and others that Iraq's new government is truly independent from the United States.
For all the talk of the future at Sea Island, a key figure from the past, Ronald Reagan, looms over this summit, as he does everywhere this week. Reagan, Bush aides note, was instrumental in giving then G-7 meetings a high profile, and are drawing parallels between Mr. Bush's diplomatic style and what they call Reagan's clear-spoken rhetoric against communism that inspired change but also ruffled European leaders.
RICE: President Bush is inspired by that kind of plainspokeness, about that willingness to tell the truth, about the willingness to be unabashedly clear about the universality of the values of liberty and freedom.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: And promoting freedom and democracy with a new Mideast initiative is a central U.S. goal at the summit.
However, some key leaders, like those from Egypt and Saudi Arabia, declined an invitation, and that puts into question just how effective the efforts to spark change here will actually be -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Dana, that was going to be my question. You talked a little bit about a breakthrough, certainly, on the Iraq front.
So is there at least more hope now that the summit will be considered a success or at least a decent success?
BASH: Well, of course, everything that pertains to Iraq is officially on the sidelines of this summit. It's not officially on the agenda. But unofficially, yes, that's essentially what it is all about.
The president hosts more than 20 leaders here, certainly trying to move past all the differences over the Iraq war, and what they're hoping is, now that they've moved past this they can really focus on what they want to focus on, which is a new initiative in the Middle East.
This is something that they'll unveil Wednesday. They want to really push for new economic reforms, democratic reforms, social reforms and are hoping that now that Iraq is behind them at least symbolically, the resolution is they can have more success with that -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: We will see. Dana Bash for us this morning. Dana, thanks.
Suicide car bombs exploded in two Iraqi cities this morning, killing at least 11 people including a U.S. soldier. Coalition officials say dozens more were wounded in the attacks.
Harris Whitbeck is live for us out Baghdad this morning.
Harris, good morning.
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
As you say, two car bombings. The first one occurred in the city of Baquba, which is not too far from the Iraqi capital, north of here. It happened outside a U.S. military installation as Iraqi civilian workers were lined up to enter that compound to report for work. One Iraqi civilian and one U.S. soldier died, and 16 other Iraqi civilians and U.S. soldiers were wounded.
An Iraqi police spokesman says that he saw that -- it is believed it was, in fact, a suicide bomber driving a civilian passenger car who caused that explosion.
Meanwhile, in the northern city of Mosul, another apparent suicide bombing, this time outside the city hall there. Left at least nine Iraqi civilians dead and some 25 wounded.
Witnesses there reported seeing three men in a taxi that blew up -- that blew up in front of city hall.
The U.S. says it has no military installations near the site of the attack, and they believe that the intended target was a convoy carrying members of the local governing council that had passed by the site of the explosion shortly before that attack occurred -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Harris Whitbeck, live for us out Baghdad this morning. Harris, thank you.
Let's head back to Bill Hemmer, who's in Simi Valley, California, this morning.
Bill, good morning to you.
BILL HEMMER, CO-HOST: Soledad, good morning to you, as well.
And boy, it is one impressive stream of mourners.
We arrived here at 2:30 in the morning. Middle of the night local time here in Southern California, and bus after bus continued to climb up the canyon here, up to the presidential library in Simi Valley. Every single seat taken. And in many cases on those buses it was standing room only.
A live picture from inside the lobby, the front lobby for the presidential library, here high atop of Simi Valley. Deep in the distance, across the valley, far too far away for our cameras to catch, a steady stream of cars backed up on the highway, literally bumper to bumper, taillight to taillight as they await to go into the assembly area, board the buses and make the three- to four-mile journey up here at the top of the mountain in Simi Valley.
It was an incredible day yesterday. So many images, so many memories to capture, but it was perhaps, Soledad, that one image that stands out the most. The image when the first lady, Nancy Reagan, laid her left ear and the left side of her face against the casket of the American flag holding the body of her late husband and late president Ronald Reagan. It was that image and so many more from yesterday that we now remember today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our God is in our midst, and as we were in the procession, I couldn't help but think of the love and the outpouring that has begun in the nation for a great president, a great world leader and a faithful servant of almighty God.
(MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Casket, down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And finally, just a few verses from the last book of the Bible, which I share with you for your comfort as you begin this journey of remembrance.
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new Earth for the first heaven and the first Earth that passed away and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, a dawn for a husband, and I heard a great voice from the throne saying, 'See, the dwelling of God is with people. He will dwell with them, and God himself will be with him. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.' And may God bless his rich word to your hearts this day and every day."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Again, the many images from yesterday. Back to the live picture today, as the mourners continue that steady stream past the casket.
They do not get much time around the body of the former president, but they do get at least a chance to touch history, to come close to the man who helped change history in his eight years as president of the United States, and then eight years as governor in the state of California prior to that.
It's not easy for these people to get here. It's about an hour's drive without traffic from downtown, the city of L.A. You have to go to an assembly area at a local college, as I mentioned area, about three or four miles from our location, where we're situated here just outside the library.
Then you have to wait in line, sometimes as long as three hours to board a shuttle bus, climb up the mountain here. Spend a few short moments inside, then get back on the shuttle buses and depart.
And again, the line and the stream is a very long one.
It's hard for us to get numbers on how many mourners have come here. At last night last check late last night, they said at least 17,000 had come through shortly before midnight, local time in California. We're well past that number now.
Earlier, estimates said as many as 65,000 would come here. Again, a bit difficult to get a firm and fast and hard number now, but we hope to get one of those throughout the morning as our coverage continues.
Also, I mention the image of Nancy Reagan placing her head on the casket of her late husband yesterday. There's another image back in 1997 said to be the last public image ever captured of the late president.
It was captured by a grandfather, a Ukrainian immigrant with his grandson. At the time he was age 12. Today that young boy is 18. He's a medical student at the University of Toledo.
And we'll talk to him about his experience in a few moments here, how he recognized the president then and what their conversation was all about in that park in Los Angeles back in 1997.
History watching again today, Soledad, and we shall here, high on top the valley in Simi Valley, California -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Bill, it's really remarkable when you see the stream of people continuing to go through. As you mentioned, 17,000 people before midnight is the estimate, I guess the more definitive numbers will be coming shortly.
When you consider that it is just after 4 a.m. on the West Coast, and I don't believe that they have stopped since overnight. Am I right about that, Bill?
HEMMER: They have not stopped. In fact, they had yesterday said that the plans for this viewing would continue to about 6 p.m. local time. There was already speculation in the middle of the night here that they may extend those hours.
The schedule had been set at sundown, that they would close down the stream of mourners and close it off completely for the public, getting ready for the transfer of the body early tomorrow morning to Andrews Air Force Base. There's talk about extending those hours, but nothing has been said on that, I should note.
But as you watch these mourners, I was in the library yesterday for a short time, Soledad. It's a rather impressive place. It sits high on this hill, and a beautiful expanse of California landscape that looks out as far west, 20 miles to the ocean looking west.
And when the mourners come through, they pass by a presidential limousine that's been flown out here many years ago to mark one ever the 50,000 artifacts that are contained inside of this library. There's a giant, larger than life bronze statue of Ronald Reagan wearing his ranch clothes as he pass through as well and, of course, the honor guard stationed, as they have been, since yesterday.
Behind the library and outside, the final resting place for the 40th president. There is a presidential copper seal. This seal is surrounded by a granite wall, and around the far side of this wall, facing west, towards the western setting sun, is where Ronald Reagan will be laid to rest late on Friday night when he's interned back here in California. There's a string of oak trees on each side of this site, and there are 40 crabapple trees planted to one side, to denote the 40th president of the United States. A plot of rose bushes help lead the way towards this plot, and next to that, there's this giant replica, Soledad, of the South Lawn of the White House that lies in the area immediately next to it. It is an impressive facility.
And as we go throughout the morning a number of very interesting items marking the life of Ronald Reagan, the life of Nancy Reagan and, of course, his eight years in the White House.
O'BRIEN: All right, Bill. We'll continue to check in with you throughout the morning, obviously.
Right now we want to get you caught up on the rest of the news of the morning. It's coming up on quarter past the hour, and it's time to take a look at some of the other stories that are making headlines with Daryn Kagan, who's sitting in for us today.
Hey, Daryn, good morning.
DARYN KAGAN, ANCHOR: Soledad, good to see you this morning.
Let's begin in France. The French now say they will back a new U.N. draft resolution on Iraq. The document authorizes U.S.-led multinational forces to stay in Iraq after the June 30 handover. Germany also suggested that it would support the resolution after some last minute changes were made. A Security Council vote is expected later today.
The death of former President Ronald Reagan is casting the spotlight yet again on stem cell research. Yesterday, a bipartisan group of senators made public a letter which calls on President Bush to expand the number of stem cell lines available for research.
The letter was sent Friday, before Mr. Reagan died. Former first lady Nancy Reagan has also promoted stem cell research.
In California, the jury in the Scott Peterson trial will hear more from members of Laci Peterson's family today. Yesterday, Laci's mother, Sharon Rocha, testified about how Scott seemed distant from friends and family members the night he reported Laci missing. Peterson is charged with killing his wife and their unborn son.
From the world of hockey, the Tampa Bay Lightning captured their first Stanley Cup final. Rusian Fedotenko scoring both goals for the Lightning. They beat the Calgary Flames 2-1. That was game seven of the NHL finals.
As for the fans? Yes, you can say they're a little bit pumped up in Tampa. The city is planning a celebration for tomorrow.
And it's an event more than 120 years in the making: the transit of Venus seen overnight and this morning in much of the world. The astronomical event occurs only twice about every century and when the sun, Venus and Earth line up just right. Planet watcher Jeff Hookheimer (ph) tells us more about this. He is coming up later.
And appropriate, Soledad, you might say that those two events, the Tampa Bay Lightning winning the Stanley Cup and that astronomical event, just about as rare.
Chad, you know from the world of hockey, Tampa Bay Lightning just a few years ago, they were the total jokes of the sports world.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEROLOGIST: Of course. And then all of the folks up in Canada are wondering, was that really a goal that Calgary scored at game six? And should they have won the cup two days ago? So the controversy continues.
KAGAN: Goes on! Much to talk about. What about in the world of weather?
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Two high-profile business cases are on hold. But in another, there is a new guilty plea.
Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Hello. Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Soledad.
Yes, we've got three pieces of news out of three trials.
First of all, two of them in the NFL, National Football League. That's delay of game, delay of trial. We had two trials delayed. Two pieces going on. Let's talk about Enron.
First of all, the first criminal case in Enron delayed yesterday down in Houston by the judge. And I don't get this at all. He said the trial would take too long association so he's going to delay it.
Some speculation that he had vacation in July. That's what's going on there.
OK. Next, let's move up to New York. Martha Stewart supposed to be sentenced on June 17. The judge saying, "We're going to delay that." That's because she wants to give more time for her lawyers to possibly argue for a retrial. You remember all the controversy there with that expert witness regarding the ink in that situation.
O'BRIEN: See if she could get a new trial. How long would they give -- would they delay that one?
SERWER: They're going to delay that one a month.
Yes. So, I mean -- Then let's move on to a third piece. O'BRIEN: A guilty plea here?
SERWER: A guilty plea here finally. Scott Sullivan, former chief financial officer for WorldCom yesterday down in Jackson, Mississippi, pleading guilty to one count of securities fraud.
You may remember, Soledad, back in March he pled guilty to federal charges there. So -- and we have more trials to come in that WorldCom situation, as well.
O'BRIEN: And more trials to come just generally.
SERWER: Trials, tribulations.
O'BRIEN: That we're covering. Andy, thanks. Next time we chat we'll talk a little bit about the markets and what you expect for today.
SERWER: Sure will.
O'BRIEN: Thank you. Jack Cafferty? Good morning.
CAFFERTY: Good morning, Soledad.
The United States is thinking about pulling one-third of its 37,000 troops out of South Korea by the end of next year. That would be the largest force reduction in Korea in 50 years since the end of the year.
The 12,500 troops would be repositioned around the globe in order to respond better to new terrorism threats.
If the U.S. plan is finalized, South Korea says it would beef up its own military forces. But there is criticism that Washington is, in effect, turning its back on South Korea, and that North Korea, which has a reconstituted nuclear weapons program, might see this as a sign of weakness.
There's also concern that China could use the move as an excuse to try to expand its influence in the region.
Here's the question, if you're so inclined, "How dangerous is it for the United States to pull one-third of its troops out of South Korea?" You can e-mail us at AM@CNN.com.
You may remember in the run-up to the Iraq war, they pulled a lot of Marines out of various bases in the South Pacific. Not out of South Korea, but other bases in the area, and just to keep that little dude in North Korea on alert that he needn't get twitchy over this, they put some heavy duty long-range bombers into Guam, and those will suffice to repel a supposedly repel any sort of a threat from North Korea. But we will -- We'll see.
Right now it's just a plan, hasn't been finalized, but they're working on it. SERWER: There's been talk about reducing forces there for years. And it takes a situation like this, where we may need forces in other parts of the world, to actually make that happen.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jack, thanks.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
O'BRIEN: We've been talking about the thousands of people who have come to pay their final respects to late President Reagan at his library in Simi Valley, California. It's where Bill Hemmer is for us this morning as well.
Bill, good morning again.
HEMMER: Hey, Soledad. Good morning.
Yesterday at one point the wait was four miles long in traffic out on the highway and then you would have to wait about three hours to get a bus here. That has died down overnight, but still the steady stream does come here.
And of all the public services for President Ronald Reagan, some people pushing for ways to permanently remember the popular president. Many ideas range from a monument on the Washington mall to putting his picture on money. How about the $10 bill?
Here's Tom Foreman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRSPONDENT (voice-over): In his lifetime, Ronald Reagan saw many things named for him: an aircraft carrier, an airport, office buildings, highways, on and on it goes.
And now the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project wants his picture on the ten dollar bill.
GROVER NORQUIST, RONALD REAGAN LEGACY PROJECT: Alexander Hamilton has been on the bill for a long time. This is no disrespect to him, but in the past when presidents have passed away, they've replaced other people who weren't presidents.
FOREMAN: The Treasury Department says it is too soon to discuss the idea, but Reagan fans also want a memorial on the mall in Washington, and that could prove tricky.
Last year, controversy over the new World War II memorial made Congress declare the mall a completed work of art.
JOHN PARSONS, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE: That is, they have passed a law that prohibits memorials on the mall in the future, which is problematic, if the initiative is to build on the mall. FOREMAN: This sort of thing is always problematic. Renaming Washington's national airport for Reagan and a rejected plan to put his face on Mount Rushmore both spurred debates.
(on camera) Only 11 presidents have monuments to their lives in Washington, D.C. Some, like Jefferson, for obvious reasons, but others like Buchanan and Garfield, primarily because they had constituencies, people who strongly believed they should be remembered.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, for instance, we're working on Eisenhower and Adams.
FOREMAN: And it takes a long time. The FDR memorial authorized in 1959 was dedicated almost 40 years later.
So Reagan admirers will have to wait. After all, there is even a law saying, no memorial to a person can be erected here until 25 years after death. And that law was signed by Ronald Reagan.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Whatever the debate for the future holds, that really does not matter at this point.
Local time here, 4:30 in the morning in California. For the people who have come here, they've come to honor the life and the past of Ronald Reagan and how he served his great country and also served this great state of California.
They acutely remember him here in this state. Eight years of governor. Prior to that, his years as an actor in the state, as well. Remembered intimately throughout the state, even in the dead of night.
This will continue late into the evening hours here in California. Then tomorrow, Wednesday, the transfer of the body to Andrews Air Force Base in Washington, D.C.
The state funeral then takes place late on Wednesday night, lying in state on Thursday. Then the funeral at the national cathedral on Friday before the return of the late president's body here to Simi Valley late Friday night.
As you see behind me, that steady stream of buses continues. In every single bus, every single seat on those buses is filled.
In a moment here, seven years ago, 1997, a 12-year-old Ukrainian boy crossing paths with a president in a park. A piece of history coming out of that meeting. We'll show you what that was in a moment.
Also ahead, on a much different topic, al Qaeda may be making new threats. We'll tell you what they are.
Still to come this morning on a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 8, 2004 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Good morning, and welcome, everyone, to another special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. Even in the middle of the night they come, Americans moved by the death of Ronald Reagan, now paying their respects to the former president of the United States.
Also this morning, new violence all across Iraq today. Americans and Iraqis killed at the hands of insurgents, just as the president appears poised for an international victory.
And show time for Venus. Earth's next-door neighbor makes a spectacular journey past the sun.
Those stories all ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning, welcome, everybody. Bill Hemmer is in Simi Valley, California. Going to be chatting with him in just a few moments this morning.
Also this morning, we've been talking about this conference going on in Georgia. Security there, obviously, extremely tight, as the world leaders arrive for the G-8 summit.
Will it be a backdrop or a major step forward for President Bush, who's seeking, obviously, international support for Iraq? An update on that is ahead as well.
Also joining me, the two of us alone here in the studio while Hemmer's out on the West Coast, Jack Cafferty. Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CO-HOST: Good morning, Soledad.
There are plans being drawn up by the United States to withdraw a major portion of its military force from the peninsula in South Korea. There we are!
O'BRIEN: There you are.
CAFFERTY: I understand what's going on is we had to switch control rooms. I'm not sure if that's right or not, but so maybe we'll have a little technical...
O'BRIEN: Good to see you and hear your voice, too.
CAFFERTY: A little limp in our step as we try to get going here. Pull a large number of troops out of South Korea. Needless to say, it's making a lot of people in the region nervous. We'll take a look at what it might mean and how the various players are likely to react.
O'BRIEN: All right. Jack, thank you very much.
Let's get right to our top story, though, this morning. Even though it is called an economic summit among leaders from the world's eight largest industrial nations, it is Iraq that is actually at the top of the agenda as the G-8 meeting gets underway at Sea Island in Georgia.
President Bush meeting today with leaders who both support and oppose his Iraq policies.
White House correspondent Dana Bash is covering the summit for us this morning.
Dana, good morning.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
And U.N. Security Council is supposed to vote on and pass a new resolution on Iraq later this afternoon, and that is exactly the way the White House wanted to kick things off here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): The president returned from a three-day European trip prepared to pick up where he left off in his campaign to renew unity with estranged allies.
Mr. Bush is hosting more than 20 world leaders around the G-8 summit at this seaside Georgia resort, and officials worked feverishly to finalize an apparent agreement on a U.N. resolution on Iraq. They hope it will be a potent symbol going into the summit.
Disagreement over the war is evolving into agreement about Iraq's future.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: Everybody now understands the key is an Iraq that is prosperous and moving forward. It really closes a page -- closes the book on the past.
BASH: The breakthrough came after a weekend exchange of letters with Iraq's interim prime minister, detailing Baghdad's operational authority over foreign troops.
It is at the heart of demands from France and others that Iraq's new government is truly independent from the United States.
For all the talk of the future at Sea Island, a key figure from the past, Ronald Reagan, looms over this summit, as he does everywhere this week. Reagan, Bush aides note, was instrumental in giving then G-7 meetings a high profile, and are drawing parallels between Mr. Bush's diplomatic style and what they call Reagan's clear-spoken rhetoric against communism that inspired change but also ruffled European leaders.
RICE: President Bush is inspired by that kind of plainspokeness, about that willingness to tell the truth, about the willingness to be unabashedly clear about the universality of the values of liberty and freedom.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: And promoting freedom and democracy with a new Mideast initiative is a central U.S. goal at the summit.
However, some key leaders, like those from Egypt and Saudi Arabia, declined an invitation, and that puts into question just how effective the efforts to spark change here will actually be -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Dana, that was going to be my question. You talked a little bit about a breakthrough, certainly, on the Iraq front.
So is there at least more hope now that the summit will be considered a success or at least a decent success?
BASH: Well, of course, everything that pertains to Iraq is officially on the sidelines of this summit. It's not officially on the agenda. But unofficially, yes, that's essentially what it is all about.
The president hosts more than 20 leaders here, certainly trying to move past all the differences over the Iraq war, and what they're hoping is, now that they've moved past this they can really focus on what they want to focus on, which is a new initiative in the Middle East.
This is something that they'll unveil Wednesday. They want to really push for new economic reforms, democratic reforms, social reforms and are hoping that now that Iraq is behind them at least symbolically, the resolution is they can have more success with that -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: We will see. Dana Bash for us this morning. Dana, thanks.
Suicide car bombs exploded in two Iraqi cities this morning, killing at least 11 people including a U.S. soldier. Coalition officials say dozens more were wounded in the attacks.
Harris Whitbeck is live for us out Baghdad this morning.
Harris, good morning.
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
As you say, two car bombings. The first one occurred in the city of Baquba, which is not too far from the Iraqi capital, north of here. It happened outside a U.S. military installation as Iraqi civilian workers were lined up to enter that compound to report for work. One Iraqi civilian and one U.S. soldier died, and 16 other Iraqi civilians and U.S. soldiers were wounded.
An Iraqi police spokesman says that he saw that -- it is believed it was, in fact, a suicide bomber driving a civilian passenger car who caused that explosion.
Meanwhile, in the northern city of Mosul, another apparent suicide bombing, this time outside the city hall there. Left at least nine Iraqi civilians dead and some 25 wounded.
Witnesses there reported seeing three men in a taxi that blew up -- that blew up in front of city hall.
The U.S. says it has no military installations near the site of the attack, and they believe that the intended target was a convoy carrying members of the local governing council that had passed by the site of the explosion shortly before that attack occurred -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Harris Whitbeck, live for us out Baghdad this morning. Harris, thank you.
Let's head back to Bill Hemmer, who's in Simi Valley, California, this morning.
Bill, good morning to you.
BILL HEMMER, CO-HOST: Soledad, good morning to you, as well.
And boy, it is one impressive stream of mourners.
We arrived here at 2:30 in the morning. Middle of the night local time here in Southern California, and bus after bus continued to climb up the canyon here, up to the presidential library in Simi Valley. Every single seat taken. And in many cases on those buses it was standing room only.
A live picture from inside the lobby, the front lobby for the presidential library, here high atop of Simi Valley. Deep in the distance, across the valley, far too far away for our cameras to catch, a steady stream of cars backed up on the highway, literally bumper to bumper, taillight to taillight as they await to go into the assembly area, board the buses and make the three- to four-mile journey up here at the top of the mountain in Simi Valley.
It was an incredible day yesterday. So many images, so many memories to capture, but it was perhaps, Soledad, that one image that stands out the most. The image when the first lady, Nancy Reagan, laid her left ear and the left side of her face against the casket of the American flag holding the body of her late husband and late president Ronald Reagan. It was that image and so many more from yesterday that we now remember today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our God is in our midst, and as we were in the procession, I couldn't help but think of the love and the outpouring that has begun in the nation for a great president, a great world leader and a faithful servant of almighty God.
(MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Casket, down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And finally, just a few verses from the last book of the Bible, which I share with you for your comfort as you begin this journey of remembrance.
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new Earth for the first heaven and the first Earth that passed away and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, a dawn for a husband, and I heard a great voice from the throne saying, 'See, the dwelling of God is with people. He will dwell with them, and God himself will be with him. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.' And may God bless his rich word to your hearts this day and every day."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Again, the many images from yesterday. Back to the live picture today, as the mourners continue that steady stream past the casket.
They do not get much time around the body of the former president, but they do get at least a chance to touch history, to come close to the man who helped change history in his eight years as president of the United States, and then eight years as governor in the state of California prior to that.
It's not easy for these people to get here. It's about an hour's drive without traffic from downtown, the city of L.A. You have to go to an assembly area at a local college, as I mentioned area, about three or four miles from our location, where we're situated here just outside the library.
Then you have to wait in line, sometimes as long as three hours to board a shuttle bus, climb up the mountain here. Spend a few short moments inside, then get back on the shuttle buses and depart.
And again, the line and the stream is a very long one.
It's hard for us to get numbers on how many mourners have come here. At last night last check late last night, they said at least 17,000 had come through shortly before midnight, local time in California. We're well past that number now.
Earlier, estimates said as many as 65,000 would come here. Again, a bit difficult to get a firm and fast and hard number now, but we hope to get one of those throughout the morning as our coverage continues.
Also, I mention the image of Nancy Reagan placing her head on the casket of her late husband yesterday. There's another image back in 1997 said to be the last public image ever captured of the late president.
It was captured by a grandfather, a Ukrainian immigrant with his grandson. At the time he was age 12. Today that young boy is 18. He's a medical student at the University of Toledo.
And we'll talk to him about his experience in a few moments here, how he recognized the president then and what their conversation was all about in that park in Los Angeles back in 1997.
History watching again today, Soledad, and we shall here, high on top the valley in Simi Valley, California -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Bill, it's really remarkable when you see the stream of people continuing to go through. As you mentioned, 17,000 people before midnight is the estimate, I guess the more definitive numbers will be coming shortly.
When you consider that it is just after 4 a.m. on the West Coast, and I don't believe that they have stopped since overnight. Am I right about that, Bill?
HEMMER: They have not stopped. In fact, they had yesterday said that the plans for this viewing would continue to about 6 p.m. local time. There was already speculation in the middle of the night here that they may extend those hours.
The schedule had been set at sundown, that they would close down the stream of mourners and close it off completely for the public, getting ready for the transfer of the body early tomorrow morning to Andrews Air Force Base. There's talk about extending those hours, but nothing has been said on that, I should note.
But as you watch these mourners, I was in the library yesterday for a short time, Soledad. It's a rather impressive place. It sits high on this hill, and a beautiful expanse of California landscape that looks out as far west, 20 miles to the ocean looking west.
And when the mourners come through, they pass by a presidential limousine that's been flown out here many years ago to mark one ever the 50,000 artifacts that are contained inside of this library. There's a giant, larger than life bronze statue of Ronald Reagan wearing his ranch clothes as he pass through as well and, of course, the honor guard stationed, as they have been, since yesterday.
Behind the library and outside, the final resting place for the 40th president. There is a presidential copper seal. This seal is surrounded by a granite wall, and around the far side of this wall, facing west, towards the western setting sun, is where Ronald Reagan will be laid to rest late on Friday night when he's interned back here in California. There's a string of oak trees on each side of this site, and there are 40 crabapple trees planted to one side, to denote the 40th president of the United States. A plot of rose bushes help lead the way towards this plot, and next to that, there's this giant replica, Soledad, of the South Lawn of the White House that lies in the area immediately next to it. It is an impressive facility.
And as we go throughout the morning a number of very interesting items marking the life of Ronald Reagan, the life of Nancy Reagan and, of course, his eight years in the White House.
O'BRIEN: All right, Bill. We'll continue to check in with you throughout the morning, obviously.
Right now we want to get you caught up on the rest of the news of the morning. It's coming up on quarter past the hour, and it's time to take a look at some of the other stories that are making headlines with Daryn Kagan, who's sitting in for us today.
Hey, Daryn, good morning.
DARYN KAGAN, ANCHOR: Soledad, good to see you this morning.
Let's begin in France. The French now say they will back a new U.N. draft resolution on Iraq. The document authorizes U.S.-led multinational forces to stay in Iraq after the June 30 handover. Germany also suggested that it would support the resolution after some last minute changes were made. A Security Council vote is expected later today.
The death of former President Ronald Reagan is casting the spotlight yet again on stem cell research. Yesterday, a bipartisan group of senators made public a letter which calls on President Bush to expand the number of stem cell lines available for research.
The letter was sent Friday, before Mr. Reagan died. Former first lady Nancy Reagan has also promoted stem cell research.
In California, the jury in the Scott Peterson trial will hear more from members of Laci Peterson's family today. Yesterday, Laci's mother, Sharon Rocha, testified about how Scott seemed distant from friends and family members the night he reported Laci missing. Peterson is charged with killing his wife and their unborn son.
From the world of hockey, the Tampa Bay Lightning captured their first Stanley Cup final. Rusian Fedotenko scoring both goals for the Lightning. They beat the Calgary Flames 2-1. That was game seven of the NHL finals.
As for the fans? Yes, you can say they're a little bit pumped up in Tampa. The city is planning a celebration for tomorrow.
And it's an event more than 120 years in the making: the transit of Venus seen overnight and this morning in much of the world. The astronomical event occurs only twice about every century and when the sun, Venus and Earth line up just right. Planet watcher Jeff Hookheimer (ph) tells us more about this. He is coming up later.
And appropriate, Soledad, you might say that those two events, the Tampa Bay Lightning winning the Stanley Cup and that astronomical event, just about as rare.
Chad, you know from the world of hockey, Tampa Bay Lightning just a few years ago, they were the total jokes of the sports world.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEROLOGIST: Of course. And then all of the folks up in Canada are wondering, was that really a goal that Calgary scored at game six? And should they have won the cup two days ago? So the controversy continues.
KAGAN: Goes on! Much to talk about. What about in the world of weather?
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Two high-profile business cases are on hold. But in another, there is a new guilty plea.
Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Hello. Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Soledad.
Yes, we've got three pieces of news out of three trials.
First of all, two of them in the NFL, National Football League. That's delay of game, delay of trial. We had two trials delayed. Two pieces going on. Let's talk about Enron.
First of all, the first criminal case in Enron delayed yesterday down in Houston by the judge. And I don't get this at all. He said the trial would take too long association so he's going to delay it.
Some speculation that he had vacation in July. That's what's going on there.
OK. Next, let's move up to New York. Martha Stewart supposed to be sentenced on June 17. The judge saying, "We're going to delay that." That's because she wants to give more time for her lawyers to possibly argue for a retrial. You remember all the controversy there with that expert witness regarding the ink in that situation.
O'BRIEN: See if she could get a new trial. How long would they give -- would they delay that one?
SERWER: They're going to delay that one a month.
Yes. So, I mean -- Then let's move on to a third piece. O'BRIEN: A guilty plea here?
SERWER: A guilty plea here finally. Scott Sullivan, former chief financial officer for WorldCom yesterday down in Jackson, Mississippi, pleading guilty to one count of securities fraud.
You may remember, Soledad, back in March he pled guilty to federal charges there. So -- and we have more trials to come in that WorldCom situation, as well.
O'BRIEN: And more trials to come just generally.
SERWER: Trials, tribulations.
O'BRIEN: That we're covering. Andy, thanks. Next time we chat we'll talk a little bit about the markets and what you expect for today.
SERWER: Sure will.
O'BRIEN: Thank you. Jack Cafferty? Good morning.
CAFFERTY: Good morning, Soledad.
The United States is thinking about pulling one-third of its 37,000 troops out of South Korea by the end of next year. That would be the largest force reduction in Korea in 50 years since the end of the year.
The 12,500 troops would be repositioned around the globe in order to respond better to new terrorism threats.
If the U.S. plan is finalized, South Korea says it would beef up its own military forces. But there is criticism that Washington is, in effect, turning its back on South Korea, and that North Korea, which has a reconstituted nuclear weapons program, might see this as a sign of weakness.
There's also concern that China could use the move as an excuse to try to expand its influence in the region.
Here's the question, if you're so inclined, "How dangerous is it for the United States to pull one-third of its troops out of South Korea?" You can e-mail us at AM@CNN.com.
You may remember in the run-up to the Iraq war, they pulled a lot of Marines out of various bases in the South Pacific. Not out of South Korea, but other bases in the area, and just to keep that little dude in North Korea on alert that he needn't get twitchy over this, they put some heavy duty long-range bombers into Guam, and those will suffice to repel a supposedly repel any sort of a threat from North Korea. But we will -- We'll see.
Right now it's just a plan, hasn't been finalized, but they're working on it. SERWER: There's been talk about reducing forces there for years. And it takes a situation like this, where we may need forces in other parts of the world, to actually make that happen.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jack, thanks.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
O'BRIEN: We've been talking about the thousands of people who have come to pay their final respects to late President Reagan at his library in Simi Valley, California. It's where Bill Hemmer is for us this morning as well.
Bill, good morning again.
HEMMER: Hey, Soledad. Good morning.
Yesterday at one point the wait was four miles long in traffic out on the highway and then you would have to wait about three hours to get a bus here. That has died down overnight, but still the steady stream does come here.
And of all the public services for President Ronald Reagan, some people pushing for ways to permanently remember the popular president. Many ideas range from a monument on the Washington mall to putting his picture on money. How about the $10 bill?
Here's Tom Foreman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRSPONDENT (voice-over): In his lifetime, Ronald Reagan saw many things named for him: an aircraft carrier, an airport, office buildings, highways, on and on it goes.
And now the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project wants his picture on the ten dollar bill.
GROVER NORQUIST, RONALD REAGAN LEGACY PROJECT: Alexander Hamilton has been on the bill for a long time. This is no disrespect to him, but in the past when presidents have passed away, they've replaced other people who weren't presidents.
FOREMAN: The Treasury Department says it is too soon to discuss the idea, but Reagan fans also want a memorial on the mall in Washington, and that could prove tricky.
Last year, controversy over the new World War II memorial made Congress declare the mall a completed work of art.
JOHN PARSONS, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE: That is, they have passed a law that prohibits memorials on the mall in the future, which is problematic, if the initiative is to build on the mall. FOREMAN: This sort of thing is always problematic. Renaming Washington's national airport for Reagan and a rejected plan to put his face on Mount Rushmore both spurred debates.
(on camera) Only 11 presidents have monuments to their lives in Washington, D.C. Some, like Jefferson, for obvious reasons, but others like Buchanan and Garfield, primarily because they had constituencies, people who strongly believed they should be remembered.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, for instance, we're working on Eisenhower and Adams.
FOREMAN: And it takes a long time. The FDR memorial authorized in 1959 was dedicated almost 40 years later.
So Reagan admirers will have to wait. After all, there is even a law saying, no memorial to a person can be erected here until 25 years after death. And that law was signed by Ronald Reagan.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Whatever the debate for the future holds, that really does not matter at this point.
Local time here, 4:30 in the morning in California. For the people who have come here, they've come to honor the life and the past of Ronald Reagan and how he served his great country and also served this great state of California.
They acutely remember him here in this state. Eight years of governor. Prior to that, his years as an actor in the state, as well. Remembered intimately throughout the state, even in the dead of night.
This will continue late into the evening hours here in California. Then tomorrow, Wednesday, the transfer of the body to Andrews Air Force Base in Washington, D.C.
The state funeral then takes place late on Wednesday night, lying in state on Thursday. Then the funeral at the national cathedral on Friday before the return of the late president's body here to Simi Valley late Friday night.
As you see behind me, that steady stream of buses continues. In every single bus, every single seat on those buses is filled.
In a moment here, seven years ago, 1997, a 12-year-old Ukrainian boy crossing paths with a president in a park. A piece of history coming out of that meeting. We'll show you what that was in a moment.
Also ahead, on a much different topic, al Qaeda may be making new threats. We'll tell you what they are.
Still to come this morning on a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
