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American Morning

Kerry and Edwards Get Ready for First Campaign Appearance; Prewar Iraq Intelligence Report Due Out This Week

Aired July 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, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Today, joining forces -- John Kerry and John Edwards make their very first campaign appearance together. It will happen this hour. We'll be there live.

Also, a deadly gunfight in the streets of Baghdad on a day when a critical new security plan is now put in place for the Iraqi people.

And it is that time of year again. The galloping streets of Pamplona, Spain, ahead here on AMERICAN MORNING.

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

HEMMER: Welcome, everybody.

Eight o'clock here in New York and good morning.

Soledad is out this week on vacation.

Heidi Collins helping us out here.

Nice to see you.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: So you've run with the bulls?

HEMMER: No. I'd like to one day.

COLLINS: OK. Exactly.

HEMMER: Would you like to do it?

COLLINS: Absolutely not.

HEMMER: You've got to do it once.

COLLINS: Never.

HEMMER: It's like one mile and you're done.

COLLINS: Nope. Nope.

HEMMER: All right.

Politics tops our news again this morning. About 30 minutes away, John Kerry and John Edwards making their first public appearance together. That happens near Pittsburgh. Kelly Wallace standing by live there and we'll get you there in a second, as well.

COLLINS: Also, outgoing CIA Director George Tenet won't get out of Washington without hearing some seriously harsh words. A Senate committee preparing a report that really hammers him on analysis in the Iraq weapons program. A lot of points raised in the report that you probably haven't heard before. So we're going to talk about that and talk to one of the members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Carl Levin.

HEMMER: All right, also this hour, Sanjay Gupta with us looking at a bizarre case combining medical science and police work. Usually DNA evidence brings investigators closer to an arrest, but what happens when police have two suspects who are identical twins? A good twist and a good story to look at and we will.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Put them both in jail. That's easy. You know that way you've got the right one.

COLLINS: Well, that's not fair.

CAFFERTY: Huh?

COLLINS: That's not fair.

CAFFERTY: Then you know you've got the right guy locked up, right?

HEMMER: There's always that.

COLLINS: Jack Cafferty joining us now.

CAFFERTY: That bulls thing, you know, I root for the bulls every year. I think that's...

COLLINS: You do?

CAFFERTY: I mean those poor animals are driven through the streets...

COLLINS: That's right.

CAFFERTY: ... with a bunch of drunks running around them and then they're taken out to a bull ring and killed later.

HEMMER: The drunks are up all night.

CAFFERTY: I mean they should make it fair. They should, you know, make the people run like with their legs tied together or something and let the bulls just trample them and then they wouldn't have this anymore. It really is a cruel thing to do to the animals. I mean people have the choice to act stupid. The bulls have no choice in this.

Anyway, other things. It's Wednesday. Things people say. We'll tell you which athlete calls himself "the most foolish person he knows" and which Democrat is promising to "take things away from you" if the Democrats win in November.

If you think about it, you probably can guess that one.

COLLINS: All right, Jack, we'll wait to hear more on that.

Thanks.

And we are now about a half an hour away from getting a look at Senators John Kerry and John Edwards together for the first time since becoming the Democratic presidential ticket. It'll happen in Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania, and that is where Kelly Wallace is standing by.

Good morning, Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

Well, this will be the official beginning of a very well orchestrated rollout of the Kerry-Edwards ticket, really designed to get as much coverage as possible. We're expecting the Edwards and Kerry families to walk behind us here. You're going to have a row of cameras capturing their every move and the Kerry team has a haystack barricade to keep reporters away.

Now, Senator Edwards, his wife Elizabeth and their three children arrived in Pittsburgh last night. We're told the family stayed up late enjoying dinner of veal tenderloins and farm salad, and we're told the youngest ones, Emma Claire and Jack, had a blast going swimming in the outdoor pool.

But for John Kerry, though, on this day after his big announcement, some questions about why he selected John Edwards, a man whose experience he questioned during the primaries and whether he really had another candidate in mind.

Earlier, Bill Hemmer interviewing Jim Johnson, who headed John Kerry's vice presidential search team.

Bill asked Jim Johnson how seriously John Kerry considered Republican Senator John McCain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM JOHNSON, VICE CHAIRMAN, PERSEUS, L.L.C.: There was a lot of interest in the concept of a unity ticket, both parties being represented, trying to stop this bitter partisanship that's really a plague on our nation. So there were some preliminary discussions, but they never got to a serious stage and there was never an offer made. There was only one offer, and that was John Edwards. It seems to be working out very well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And initial reaction to the Edwards choice appears to be positive. That's at least according to a CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll conducted after the announcement.

When asked opinions of John Edwards, 54 percent say they have a favorable opinion, 16 percent say unfavorable, 30 percent unsure.

Now from here on out, the two men and their wives will be spending lots of time on airplanes. They head to Ohio and Florida today, important battleground states. They will also be visiting New Mexico, West Virginia, New York and they will end up this weekend in North Carolina, the home state of John Edwards -- Heidi.

COLLINS: That's right, it is.

All right, Kelly Wallace, thanks, coming to us from Pennsylvania this morning.

And, of course, we do want to remind you, CNN will have live coverage of the Kerry-Edwards event coming up in just a few minutes, scheduled to get under way at about 8:30 a.m. Eastern time -- Bill.

HEMMER: Five minutes past the hour.

Heidi, in his final days as director of the CIA, George Tenet will get an earful from the Senate Intelligence Committee on the agency's handling of prewar intelligence on Iraq. That report due out at the end of this week.

A preview now with David Ensor, our national security correspondent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The report will criticize outgoing Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet, according to knowledgeable sources, for relaying too much on the work of this man, an American CIA weapons expert, who last year showed CNN gas centrifuge parts dug up from an Iraqi scientist's garden.

Knowledgeable sources say the report says the man, who CIA officials asked CNN not to identify, was biased, that he was convinced that aluminum tubes imported by Iraq were for uranium enrichment, as opposed to conventional rockets, as the Iraqis had claimed.

JOSEPH CIRINCIONE, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: The CIA seems to have picked an analyst who had the point of view that these tubes were for a nuclear weapons program.

ENSOR: Even the CIA's own former Iraq weapons chief is now a critic.

DAVID KAY, FMR. CIA IRAQ WEAPONS INSPECTOR: I was shocked by the low level of technical analysis that was behind the claim. And the more I dug into it, the more I found people, who I really did respect their technical expertise in this area, had either they've not been consulted or their views had not been fully taken into account.

ENSOR: George Tenet and other CIA officials continue to insist it is still not clear what the aluminum tubes were really for.

GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: We have additional data to collect and more sources to question.

ENSOR: Another fault found by the Senate Intelligence Committee reports, sources say, is that the CIA interviewed some family members of Iraqi scientists who said there were no longer any weapons of mass destruction programs, but that the CIA never told the president.

CIRINCIONE: It's perfectly understandable that the CIA wouldn't believe family members of scientists who told them there were no programs. But they should have included it in their report. They should have revealed all the evidence, not just the resignation that fit their position.

ENSOR: CIA officials respond that it was a handful of scientists' relatives who were simply repeating the party line from Iraq's leader, Saddam Hussein.

Asked about the Senate report, the president continues to assert Washington was right to be suspicious of Iraq.

BUSH: Saddam Hussein had the intent. He had the capability. And the world is better off without Saddam Hussein in power.

ENSOR (on camera): But on Thursday, the day before the Senate report is scheduled to come out, George Tenet will be bidding farewell to his CIA staff, having apparently decided that he'd rather face what are likely to be several scathing reports on intelligence due out this summer as a private citizen.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Democratic Senator Carl Levin is a member of the Intelligence Committee.

He's with us live on Capitol Hill.

Senator, welcome back here to AMERICAN MORNING.

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: What are Americans going to learn when this 400-page report is out this week?

LEVIN: They're going to learn just how inept the CIA was in its estimates, in its analysis of the material. What they will not see is the second half of the picture, which is left to phase two, which is the -- whether or not the administration took that information, as exaggerated as it was, and exaggerated it further right before the war.

It's obvious that, even from Bob Woodward's book, that the president had certain beliefs and that he wanted the intelligence to meet those beliefs. That's kind of the party line, as your reference was a moment ago, and that's phase two of this report, which will hopefully come out this year.

HEMMER: Take the first phase, if you could.

Are you suggesting that's why George Tenet is no longer the CIA director, because reports like these were known to come out at some point?

LEVIN: I think this is an obvious factor. This is a highly critical report of the CIA and Tenet is supposed to have appeared in front of our committee. I doubt now that he will be required to appear, even though I do hope Chairman Roberts will still require him to appear to answer questions about this report. But the fact that this was looming, it seems to me, was a factor in his decision. I'm guessing at that, but it's pretty obvious to me.

HEMMER: Senator, we've heard from the CIA often on this, George Tenet saying it's too soon to draw conclusions.

Are you jumping the gun at this point and not allowing all the work to be finished in Iraq?

LEVIN: Well, they're going to continue to sort of gather whatever additional information is available. But it's -- whatever the final evidence is on various factors, it's very clear now that there were no big stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction and that the statements that there were exaggerations, both by the CIA and by the administration. And, by the way, those exaggerations continue to this day.

We still have the vice president of the United States saying that there was collaboration between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. And there's just no evidence of those kind of strong links in even the CIA's reports. So the exaggerations continue to this day by the administration.

HEMMER: Well, the White House would say the evidence is in Zarqawi, still operating in Iraq today with al Qaeda links there.

LEVIN: The Zarqawi links, however, to Saddam Hussein are very nebulous. But it's clear even yesterday, the 9/11 Commission had to reiterate the fact that the vice president of the United States has not provided evidence that he said he had about links between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.

HEMMER: Senator, you're taking us to an obvious point here. We're four months away from an election. Politically, how would this report be used by both sides?

LEVIN: Well, clearly, it's not going to be able to be used by the Republicans, because it's just too damning about the CIA that was under the control of this administration. The head of the CIA told the administration that this was a slam dunk, responding to the president's sort of query as to whether or not the statements that were being made to him about the weapons of mass destruction were all that there was.

And then we have the CIA trying to please the president of the United States by saying this is a slam dunk. And then you have the president, the vice president, the secretary of defense reiterating these very strong statements about the relationship between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein right before the decision was made by the Congress to authorize this attack.

HEMMER: We'll leave it there and we'll wait for the report later this week and much more reaction by then.

LEVIN: Thank you.

HEMMER: Thank you, Senator -- Heidi.

COLLINS: The leaders of the 9/11 Commission are challenging Vice President Dick Cheney's assertion he may know more about an aspect of the 9/11 attacks than the Commission. Last month, the vice president suggested he may have additional information about links between al Qaeda and Iraq before 2001. Yesterday, the commission chairman released a statement saying, in part, "The 9/11 Commission believes it has access to the same information the vice president has seen regarding contacts between al Qaeda and Iraq prior to the 9/11 attacks."

The commission has said it has seen no evidence to suggest Iraq was involved in the attacks -- Bill.

HEMMER: About 12 minutes past the hour.

Back to Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center with a check of other news today.

Fred, good morning.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, Bill.

Once again we begin in Iraq. Insurgents in Baghdad clashing with Iraqi and multinational forces in a deadly battle. The fighting comes as a new national security plan is put into effect. Officials announcing details of the policy just hours ago, which includes the power to declare martial law.

Here in the U.S., some revelations about the new Medicare law. A report by the Health and Human Services Department suggesting that the Bush administration did not break any laws when it provided Congress with lower projected costs for the bill. Officials have been criticized for underestimating costs by some $100 billion. Some Democrats saying the report confirms an effort to keep the true Medicare costs a secret.

Retail giant Wal-Mart is trying to avoid the largest private civil rights lawsuit in U.S. history. Last month, a federal court had approved class action status for a sex discrimination suit facing the retailer. Wal-Mart's lawyers yesterday asked an appeals court to review the ruling, arguing that the case was unfairly expanded to include as many as 1.6 million employees.

The price to fill up your gas tank inching downward again. The Energy Department says gasoline prices have dropped nearly $0.03, with the national average now just over $1.89 a gallon. Drivers on the West Coast still facing the highest prices.

And in Pamplona, Spain, thrill seekers taking their chances in the first bull run of this year's San Fermin Festival. There were some reports of injuries, but none of the runners were gored. People gathered from all parts of the world to take part in the run, which is about 900 yards and lasts a little more than two minutes. I know we have no takers in New York, at least not on that set.

HEMMER: Think twice.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

HEMMER: Thanks, Fredricka.

Let's get to Kamber and May right now on a Wednesday morning. An awful lot to talk about. Democratic consultant Victor Kamber from D.C.

Vic, good morning to you.

VICTOR KAMBER, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: Also, the former RNC communications director, Cliff May, with us, as well.

Cliff, good morning to you, also.

CLIFF MAY, FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: I know you were listening quite carefully to Senator Levin a short time ago. Your response to what he is saying right now. It is a clear indictment against the White House about the claims of weapons of mass destruction and the fact that they simply have not been found at this point.

MAY: No, that's a very partisan point of view that he's taking and I understand why in an election year he would, but he shouldn't, because it's really too important. We're talking about George Tenet. There's criticism of him, rightly so. He was CIA director under President Clinton. He was CIA director, as well, kept on by the Bush administration.

The CIA needs reform. Congress has not done its job of overseeing the CIA terribly well. But to make this an election or make this a partisan issue is wrong.

As for Zarqawi, you are absolutely right. To say that well, it's nebulous, the connections between Zarqawi and al Qaeda, look, al Qaeda is not the kind of organization that applies for 501(c)3 status. They don't sign treaties and contracts. What we know is this is an ideology we're up against. Zarqawi represents it. He was in Iraq at the invitation of Saddam Hussein before the invasion. He is there now killing Americans. We really need to stop making partisan fodder out of an issue that's much too important, an issue of war and peace. And I'm sorry that Mr. Levin did that this morning.

HEMMER: Well, how about that, Victor? Is it just politics?

KAMBER: Well, not at all. I mean, I'm shocked, sort of, sitting here listening to Cliff. The -- I mean, Senator Levin responded to your question. This is a report by a commission. The president of the United States has been in power three and a half years, frankly, three and a half years too long as far as I'm concerned.

We went to war based upon information that the president of the United States passed on to Congress. He got it from his CIA. He got it from his FBI. He was in charge. Those were his people. Yes, they had been there under Clinton, but they were his people two years into his term or one year into his term.

Decisions were made based upon that information. Those decisions, three and a half years later, have proven wrong. There are no weapons, or at least we haven't discovered them, of mass destruction. And if you'll remember, that was one of the major reasons we went to war. There is no evidence that al Qaeda was involved with 9/11. That was a major reason we went to war.

MAY: That's just not true. That's just not true.

KAMBER: What's just not true?

MAY: That's just not true.

KAMBER: That there are...

MAY: Nobody said that we had evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11.

KAMBER: It depends on how you read what the president said.

MAY: But after 9/11, you have to look at rogue dictators who have used weapons of mass destruction, who have conspired with the terrorists differently than you did before. If you don't understand that, you really shouldn't be governing in this period of history...

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: Let me get a final word from Vic then I want to move on to Edwards.

KAMBER: And George Bush should not be.

HEMMER: Go ahead, Vic, a final word.

KAMBER: Well, just George Bush should not be governing in this time or period, just what Cliff said. HEMMER: Let's move to John Edwards. We're going to see both men in about 15 minutes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. On the screen for our viewers here, registered voters asked their choice of Edwards as a running mate. We get 28 percent as excellent, 36 percent say pretty good.

Vic, stack it up for us.

A pretty good choice yesterday, in your estimation, or not?

KAMBER: A great choice. I mean I, you know, I really, I'm one of those, I guess, fewer than many, that are excited about John Kerry. He gives me goose pimples. I think he's terrific. I don't know that he needed a running mate, frankly.

But given the choice that the Democrats had, and we had plenty of choices, and any one of them, I think, would have been a wonderful choice, John Edwards even excites me more. He's bright, he's talented, he's articulate, he obviously does well with the people. And the one thing I'm really excited about is it proves that John Kerry is able to look for his own shortcomings, so to speak. He doesn't need somebody who knows every street in Washington, D.C. He needs somebody that understood how to connect with people in a way that some people claim John Kerry can't. John Edwards can connect with people.

It's a terrific ticket.

HEMMER: Cliff, how do you go after John Edwards?

MAY: Well, look, I think John Edwards is probably a good choice. He's something of a predictable choice. I think that what Vic says is right, a presidential candidate picks somebody who has qualities he lacks -- charm, charisma, likability, things that Kerry doesn't have so much.

The thing is, it's a choice for sizzle, not for stake. The harshest criticism of Edwards came from Kerry during the primary. Kerry said at that point this is not a guy ready to be president tomorrow. Kerry has picked a guy who is not ready to be president tomorrow. He has no foreign affairs experience, no national security experience. He lacks a lot of the kind of knowledge you want.

Now, he's a smart guy and he's a quick study, I'm sure, but would you want him to be president the first week of December?

HEMMER: Is he going to help John Kerry in the Midwest, though?

KAMBER: Bill, he brings...

MAY: You know what, that's the thing. Broder, David Broder, who's not a partisan, said today this was a choice about an election, not a choice about governing, and I think David Broder is correct.

HEMMER: A final word again, Vic.

KAMBER: And you can't govern until you get elected.

HEMMER: Yes.

Hey, Cliff, did you read the "Wall Street Journal" this morning, by chance?

MAY: Part of it, yes.

HEMMER: The last line, "he chose sizzle in a year when the voters are looking for substance."

MAY: That's, no, I think that's right. John Edwards is very much sizzle rather than substance, or sizzle rather than...

HEMMER: You didn't lift that from the "Wall Street Journal," did you?

MAY: Oh, I hope not. But I'm sorry about that.

KAMBER: Bill, one thing...

HEMMER: Not a problem at all.

Victor, we've got to run.

KAMBER: One thing...

HEMMER: Make it quick.

KAMBER: If I may, Bill, one thing. John Edwards brings more to the table than Bill -- than President Bush ever brought to the table four years ago.

HEMMER: Victor Kamber, Cliff May, thank you to both gentlemen.

KAMBER: Thank you.

HEMMER: All right -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Severe thunderstorms have hounded the St. Louis area. They brought torrential rains and winds blowing 70 miles an hour. Flash floods washed through some parts yesterday. This man in East St. Louis, Illinois tried to drive his car right through the rising flood waters and became trapped. Some passing security guards in a pickup truck helped him out, though, and eventually they did rescue him.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: It is Kerry-Edwards on the ticket. In about 10 minutes, we do expect the first photo-op of the two men outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We'll get you there live in a moment and shake it down for you, also.

COLLINS: We sure will.

Also ahead, your car might not be safe to drive and you don't even know it. The trouble with recalls coming up.

HEMMER: Also, how reliable is DNA evidence when two different suspects have the same DNA? Sanjay has that story a bit later this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Candidate Web sites are as much a part of politics these days as the TV ads on the buses and the planes, too. Senator John Kerry has raised millions, though, through his Web site, johnkerry.com. And yesterday he e-mailed supporters the news that his vice presidential choice was John Edwards. The "Washington Post" says a man in Indianapolis named Kerry Edwards, Kerry Edwards, has owned the domain name, kerryedwards.com for about six years. The Kerry- Edwards camp has been in touch about buying it, won't say what they're asking. Mr. Edwards says he has fielded some other offers for the domain, as well.

He can get a pretty good price at this point, don't you think?

COLLINS: Well, they won't say what they're asking or they won't pay what the price is?

HEMMER: Well, they're not saying whether they're going to pay for it just yet. Kerry-Edwards is my name.

All right -- Jack Cafferty, what's happening?

CAFFERTY: I'm just dropping by. I'll get out of your way in a minute.

In the "Cafferty File" today, it would be Wednesday. People say things that get our attention and once a week we share a few of them with you, like this. "I am the most foolish person I know." This would be Mike Tyson, arguably the most intelligent thing he's probably ever said on staging another comeback. He's going to fight some tomato can named Danny Williams on July 30.

HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CAFFERTY: Well, I mean it's not Lennox Lewis.

"It's as if I were to tell the United States how to conduct its relations with Mexico." My favorite politician and world leader, French President Jacques Chirac, on President Bush's call for Turkey to be admitted to the European Union, something that Mr. Chirac is resisting.

"We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." This was from Comrade Hillary Clinton, speaking to a group of supporters out in San Francisco, saying that they will lose some of the Bush administration's tax cuts if the Democrats win the White House and control of Congress in November. "We're going to take some things away from you on behalf of the common good."

"I had something really, really super sexy, but they wouldn't let me wear it. I won't describe it. Maybe they'll let me wear it next year." This is the tennis player, Serena Williams, on her Wimbledon wardrobe. Williams lost to Maria Sharapova in the finals last weekend. She was wearing some kind of a, you know, kind of different looking tennis outfit. I mean...

HEMMER: She looked good.

CAFFERTY: Huh?

HEMMER: She looked good.

CAFFERTY: Yes. She lost.

HEMMER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: And finally this, "Rest assured that generous helpings of crow were eaten here yesterday and the leftovers will surely last a few more days." That's the editor of the "New York Post" talking about the incorrect reporting yesterday that Dick Gephardt had been chosen as John Kerry's running mate.

HEMMER: Oh, what a story. I had a buddy of mine call me yesterday and say it's seven o'clock in the morning. My Yahoo! account told me that John Edwards was the guy. I go to the deli two hours later and the "Post" tells me Dick Gephardt is the guy. I've been working all day. Who's the guy? He said I measured the Yahoo! account and I measured the "Post" and I chose Yahoo!.

COLLINS: Yahoo!. I see.

HEMMER: A lot of confusion.

CAFFERTY: That's right.

HEMMER: Let's get a break here.

We're still waiting for the two men to appear in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania outside of that town, John Kerry and John Edwards' first campaign appearance together. We'll get you there live in a moment.

Also, Edwards has gotten a warm welcome so far from Democratic supporters. What does the rest of the country think? We'll have a look at that when we continue.

Much more straight ahead after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired July 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, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Today, joining forces -- John Kerry and John Edwards make their very first campaign appearance together. It will happen this hour. We'll be there live.

Also, a deadly gunfight in the streets of Baghdad on a day when a critical new security plan is now put in place for the Iraqi people.

And it is that time of year again. The galloping streets of Pamplona, Spain, ahead here on AMERICAN MORNING.

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

HEMMER: Welcome, everybody.

Eight o'clock here in New York and good morning.

Soledad is out this week on vacation.

Heidi Collins helping us out here.

Nice to see you.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: So you've run with the bulls?

HEMMER: No. I'd like to one day.

COLLINS: OK. Exactly.

HEMMER: Would you like to do it?

COLLINS: Absolutely not.

HEMMER: You've got to do it once.

COLLINS: Never.

HEMMER: It's like one mile and you're done.

COLLINS: Nope. Nope.

HEMMER: All right.

Politics tops our news again this morning. About 30 minutes away, John Kerry and John Edwards making their first public appearance together. That happens near Pittsburgh. Kelly Wallace standing by live there and we'll get you there in a second, as well.

COLLINS: Also, outgoing CIA Director George Tenet won't get out of Washington without hearing some seriously harsh words. A Senate committee preparing a report that really hammers him on analysis in the Iraq weapons program. A lot of points raised in the report that you probably haven't heard before. So we're going to talk about that and talk to one of the members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Carl Levin.

HEMMER: All right, also this hour, Sanjay Gupta with us looking at a bizarre case combining medical science and police work. Usually DNA evidence brings investigators closer to an arrest, but what happens when police have two suspects who are identical twins? A good twist and a good story to look at and we will.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Put them both in jail. That's easy. You know that way you've got the right one.

COLLINS: Well, that's not fair.

CAFFERTY: Huh?

COLLINS: That's not fair.

CAFFERTY: Then you know you've got the right guy locked up, right?

HEMMER: There's always that.

COLLINS: Jack Cafferty joining us now.

CAFFERTY: That bulls thing, you know, I root for the bulls every year. I think that's...

COLLINS: You do?

CAFFERTY: I mean those poor animals are driven through the streets...

COLLINS: That's right.

CAFFERTY: ... with a bunch of drunks running around them and then they're taken out to a bull ring and killed later.

HEMMER: The drunks are up all night.

CAFFERTY: I mean they should make it fair. They should, you know, make the people run like with their legs tied together or something and let the bulls just trample them and then they wouldn't have this anymore. It really is a cruel thing to do to the animals. I mean people have the choice to act stupid. The bulls have no choice in this.

Anyway, other things. It's Wednesday. Things people say. We'll tell you which athlete calls himself "the most foolish person he knows" and which Democrat is promising to "take things away from you" if the Democrats win in November.

If you think about it, you probably can guess that one.

COLLINS: All right, Jack, we'll wait to hear more on that.

Thanks.

And we are now about a half an hour away from getting a look at Senators John Kerry and John Edwards together for the first time since becoming the Democratic presidential ticket. It'll happen in Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania, and that is where Kelly Wallace is standing by.

Good morning, Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

Well, this will be the official beginning of a very well orchestrated rollout of the Kerry-Edwards ticket, really designed to get as much coverage as possible. We're expecting the Edwards and Kerry families to walk behind us here. You're going to have a row of cameras capturing their every move and the Kerry team has a haystack barricade to keep reporters away.

Now, Senator Edwards, his wife Elizabeth and their three children arrived in Pittsburgh last night. We're told the family stayed up late enjoying dinner of veal tenderloins and farm salad, and we're told the youngest ones, Emma Claire and Jack, had a blast going swimming in the outdoor pool.

But for John Kerry, though, on this day after his big announcement, some questions about why he selected John Edwards, a man whose experience he questioned during the primaries and whether he really had another candidate in mind.

Earlier, Bill Hemmer interviewing Jim Johnson, who headed John Kerry's vice presidential search team.

Bill asked Jim Johnson how seriously John Kerry considered Republican Senator John McCain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM JOHNSON, VICE CHAIRMAN, PERSEUS, L.L.C.: There was a lot of interest in the concept of a unity ticket, both parties being represented, trying to stop this bitter partisanship that's really a plague on our nation. So there were some preliminary discussions, but they never got to a serious stage and there was never an offer made. There was only one offer, and that was John Edwards. It seems to be working out very well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And initial reaction to the Edwards choice appears to be positive. That's at least according to a CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll conducted after the announcement.

When asked opinions of John Edwards, 54 percent say they have a favorable opinion, 16 percent say unfavorable, 30 percent unsure.

Now from here on out, the two men and their wives will be spending lots of time on airplanes. They head to Ohio and Florida today, important battleground states. They will also be visiting New Mexico, West Virginia, New York and they will end up this weekend in North Carolina, the home state of John Edwards -- Heidi.

COLLINS: That's right, it is.

All right, Kelly Wallace, thanks, coming to us from Pennsylvania this morning.

And, of course, we do want to remind you, CNN will have live coverage of the Kerry-Edwards event coming up in just a few minutes, scheduled to get under way at about 8:30 a.m. Eastern time -- Bill.

HEMMER: Five minutes past the hour.

Heidi, in his final days as director of the CIA, George Tenet will get an earful from the Senate Intelligence Committee on the agency's handling of prewar intelligence on Iraq. That report due out at the end of this week.

A preview now with David Ensor, our national security correspondent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The report will criticize outgoing Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet, according to knowledgeable sources, for relaying too much on the work of this man, an American CIA weapons expert, who last year showed CNN gas centrifuge parts dug up from an Iraqi scientist's garden.

Knowledgeable sources say the report says the man, who CIA officials asked CNN not to identify, was biased, that he was convinced that aluminum tubes imported by Iraq were for uranium enrichment, as opposed to conventional rockets, as the Iraqis had claimed.

JOSEPH CIRINCIONE, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: The CIA seems to have picked an analyst who had the point of view that these tubes were for a nuclear weapons program.

ENSOR: Even the CIA's own former Iraq weapons chief is now a critic.

DAVID KAY, FMR. CIA IRAQ WEAPONS INSPECTOR: I was shocked by the low level of technical analysis that was behind the claim. And the more I dug into it, the more I found people, who I really did respect their technical expertise in this area, had either they've not been consulted or their views had not been fully taken into account.

ENSOR: George Tenet and other CIA officials continue to insist it is still not clear what the aluminum tubes were really for.

GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: We have additional data to collect and more sources to question.

ENSOR: Another fault found by the Senate Intelligence Committee reports, sources say, is that the CIA interviewed some family members of Iraqi scientists who said there were no longer any weapons of mass destruction programs, but that the CIA never told the president.

CIRINCIONE: It's perfectly understandable that the CIA wouldn't believe family members of scientists who told them there were no programs. But they should have included it in their report. They should have revealed all the evidence, not just the resignation that fit their position.

ENSOR: CIA officials respond that it was a handful of scientists' relatives who were simply repeating the party line from Iraq's leader, Saddam Hussein.

Asked about the Senate report, the president continues to assert Washington was right to be suspicious of Iraq.

BUSH: Saddam Hussein had the intent. He had the capability. And the world is better off without Saddam Hussein in power.

ENSOR (on camera): But on Thursday, the day before the Senate report is scheduled to come out, George Tenet will be bidding farewell to his CIA staff, having apparently decided that he'd rather face what are likely to be several scathing reports on intelligence due out this summer as a private citizen.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Democratic Senator Carl Levin is a member of the Intelligence Committee.

He's with us live on Capitol Hill.

Senator, welcome back here to AMERICAN MORNING.

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: What are Americans going to learn when this 400-page report is out this week?

LEVIN: They're going to learn just how inept the CIA was in its estimates, in its analysis of the material. What they will not see is the second half of the picture, which is left to phase two, which is the -- whether or not the administration took that information, as exaggerated as it was, and exaggerated it further right before the war.

It's obvious that, even from Bob Woodward's book, that the president had certain beliefs and that he wanted the intelligence to meet those beliefs. That's kind of the party line, as your reference was a moment ago, and that's phase two of this report, which will hopefully come out this year.

HEMMER: Take the first phase, if you could.

Are you suggesting that's why George Tenet is no longer the CIA director, because reports like these were known to come out at some point?

LEVIN: I think this is an obvious factor. This is a highly critical report of the CIA and Tenet is supposed to have appeared in front of our committee. I doubt now that he will be required to appear, even though I do hope Chairman Roberts will still require him to appear to answer questions about this report. But the fact that this was looming, it seems to me, was a factor in his decision. I'm guessing at that, but it's pretty obvious to me.

HEMMER: Senator, we've heard from the CIA often on this, George Tenet saying it's too soon to draw conclusions.

Are you jumping the gun at this point and not allowing all the work to be finished in Iraq?

LEVIN: Well, they're going to continue to sort of gather whatever additional information is available. But it's -- whatever the final evidence is on various factors, it's very clear now that there were no big stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction and that the statements that there were exaggerations, both by the CIA and by the administration. And, by the way, those exaggerations continue to this day.

We still have the vice president of the United States saying that there was collaboration between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. And there's just no evidence of those kind of strong links in even the CIA's reports. So the exaggerations continue to this day by the administration.

HEMMER: Well, the White House would say the evidence is in Zarqawi, still operating in Iraq today with al Qaeda links there.

LEVIN: The Zarqawi links, however, to Saddam Hussein are very nebulous. But it's clear even yesterday, the 9/11 Commission had to reiterate the fact that the vice president of the United States has not provided evidence that he said he had about links between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.

HEMMER: Senator, you're taking us to an obvious point here. We're four months away from an election. Politically, how would this report be used by both sides?

LEVIN: Well, clearly, it's not going to be able to be used by the Republicans, because it's just too damning about the CIA that was under the control of this administration. The head of the CIA told the administration that this was a slam dunk, responding to the president's sort of query as to whether or not the statements that were being made to him about the weapons of mass destruction were all that there was.

And then we have the CIA trying to please the president of the United States by saying this is a slam dunk. And then you have the president, the vice president, the secretary of defense reiterating these very strong statements about the relationship between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein right before the decision was made by the Congress to authorize this attack.

HEMMER: We'll leave it there and we'll wait for the report later this week and much more reaction by then.

LEVIN: Thank you.

HEMMER: Thank you, Senator -- Heidi.

COLLINS: The leaders of the 9/11 Commission are challenging Vice President Dick Cheney's assertion he may know more about an aspect of the 9/11 attacks than the Commission. Last month, the vice president suggested he may have additional information about links between al Qaeda and Iraq before 2001. Yesterday, the commission chairman released a statement saying, in part, "The 9/11 Commission believes it has access to the same information the vice president has seen regarding contacts between al Qaeda and Iraq prior to the 9/11 attacks."

The commission has said it has seen no evidence to suggest Iraq was involved in the attacks -- Bill.

HEMMER: About 12 minutes past the hour.

Back to Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center with a check of other news today.

Fred, good morning.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, Bill.

Once again we begin in Iraq. Insurgents in Baghdad clashing with Iraqi and multinational forces in a deadly battle. The fighting comes as a new national security plan is put into effect. Officials announcing details of the policy just hours ago, which includes the power to declare martial law.

Here in the U.S., some revelations about the new Medicare law. A report by the Health and Human Services Department suggesting that the Bush administration did not break any laws when it provided Congress with lower projected costs for the bill. Officials have been criticized for underestimating costs by some $100 billion. Some Democrats saying the report confirms an effort to keep the true Medicare costs a secret.

Retail giant Wal-Mart is trying to avoid the largest private civil rights lawsuit in U.S. history. Last month, a federal court had approved class action status for a sex discrimination suit facing the retailer. Wal-Mart's lawyers yesterday asked an appeals court to review the ruling, arguing that the case was unfairly expanded to include as many as 1.6 million employees.

The price to fill up your gas tank inching downward again. The Energy Department says gasoline prices have dropped nearly $0.03, with the national average now just over $1.89 a gallon. Drivers on the West Coast still facing the highest prices.

And in Pamplona, Spain, thrill seekers taking their chances in the first bull run of this year's San Fermin Festival. There were some reports of injuries, but none of the runners were gored. People gathered from all parts of the world to take part in the run, which is about 900 yards and lasts a little more than two minutes. I know we have no takers in New York, at least not on that set.

HEMMER: Think twice.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

HEMMER: Thanks, Fredricka.

Let's get to Kamber and May right now on a Wednesday morning. An awful lot to talk about. Democratic consultant Victor Kamber from D.C.

Vic, good morning to you.

VICTOR KAMBER, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: Also, the former RNC communications director, Cliff May, with us, as well.

Cliff, good morning to you, also.

CLIFF MAY, FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: I know you were listening quite carefully to Senator Levin a short time ago. Your response to what he is saying right now. It is a clear indictment against the White House about the claims of weapons of mass destruction and the fact that they simply have not been found at this point.

MAY: No, that's a very partisan point of view that he's taking and I understand why in an election year he would, but he shouldn't, because it's really too important. We're talking about George Tenet. There's criticism of him, rightly so. He was CIA director under President Clinton. He was CIA director, as well, kept on by the Bush administration.

The CIA needs reform. Congress has not done its job of overseeing the CIA terribly well. But to make this an election or make this a partisan issue is wrong.

As for Zarqawi, you are absolutely right. To say that well, it's nebulous, the connections between Zarqawi and al Qaeda, look, al Qaeda is not the kind of organization that applies for 501(c)3 status. They don't sign treaties and contracts. What we know is this is an ideology we're up against. Zarqawi represents it. He was in Iraq at the invitation of Saddam Hussein before the invasion. He is there now killing Americans. We really need to stop making partisan fodder out of an issue that's much too important, an issue of war and peace. And I'm sorry that Mr. Levin did that this morning.

HEMMER: Well, how about that, Victor? Is it just politics?

KAMBER: Well, not at all. I mean, I'm shocked, sort of, sitting here listening to Cliff. The -- I mean, Senator Levin responded to your question. This is a report by a commission. The president of the United States has been in power three and a half years, frankly, three and a half years too long as far as I'm concerned.

We went to war based upon information that the president of the United States passed on to Congress. He got it from his CIA. He got it from his FBI. He was in charge. Those were his people. Yes, they had been there under Clinton, but they were his people two years into his term or one year into his term.

Decisions were made based upon that information. Those decisions, three and a half years later, have proven wrong. There are no weapons, or at least we haven't discovered them, of mass destruction. And if you'll remember, that was one of the major reasons we went to war. There is no evidence that al Qaeda was involved with 9/11. That was a major reason we went to war.

MAY: That's just not true. That's just not true.

KAMBER: What's just not true?

MAY: That's just not true.

KAMBER: That there are...

MAY: Nobody said that we had evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11.

KAMBER: It depends on how you read what the president said.

MAY: But after 9/11, you have to look at rogue dictators who have used weapons of mass destruction, who have conspired with the terrorists differently than you did before. If you don't understand that, you really shouldn't be governing in this period of history...

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: Let me get a final word from Vic then I want to move on to Edwards.

KAMBER: And George Bush should not be.

HEMMER: Go ahead, Vic, a final word.

KAMBER: Well, just George Bush should not be governing in this time or period, just what Cliff said. HEMMER: Let's move to John Edwards. We're going to see both men in about 15 minutes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. On the screen for our viewers here, registered voters asked their choice of Edwards as a running mate. We get 28 percent as excellent, 36 percent say pretty good.

Vic, stack it up for us.

A pretty good choice yesterday, in your estimation, or not?

KAMBER: A great choice. I mean I, you know, I really, I'm one of those, I guess, fewer than many, that are excited about John Kerry. He gives me goose pimples. I think he's terrific. I don't know that he needed a running mate, frankly.

But given the choice that the Democrats had, and we had plenty of choices, and any one of them, I think, would have been a wonderful choice, John Edwards even excites me more. He's bright, he's talented, he's articulate, he obviously does well with the people. And the one thing I'm really excited about is it proves that John Kerry is able to look for his own shortcomings, so to speak. He doesn't need somebody who knows every street in Washington, D.C. He needs somebody that understood how to connect with people in a way that some people claim John Kerry can't. John Edwards can connect with people.

It's a terrific ticket.

HEMMER: Cliff, how do you go after John Edwards?

MAY: Well, look, I think John Edwards is probably a good choice. He's something of a predictable choice. I think that what Vic says is right, a presidential candidate picks somebody who has qualities he lacks -- charm, charisma, likability, things that Kerry doesn't have so much.

The thing is, it's a choice for sizzle, not for stake. The harshest criticism of Edwards came from Kerry during the primary. Kerry said at that point this is not a guy ready to be president tomorrow. Kerry has picked a guy who is not ready to be president tomorrow. He has no foreign affairs experience, no national security experience. He lacks a lot of the kind of knowledge you want.

Now, he's a smart guy and he's a quick study, I'm sure, but would you want him to be president the first week of December?

HEMMER: Is he going to help John Kerry in the Midwest, though?

KAMBER: Bill, he brings...

MAY: You know what, that's the thing. Broder, David Broder, who's not a partisan, said today this was a choice about an election, not a choice about governing, and I think David Broder is correct.

HEMMER: A final word again, Vic.

KAMBER: And you can't govern until you get elected.

HEMMER: Yes.

Hey, Cliff, did you read the "Wall Street Journal" this morning, by chance?

MAY: Part of it, yes.

HEMMER: The last line, "he chose sizzle in a year when the voters are looking for substance."

MAY: That's, no, I think that's right. John Edwards is very much sizzle rather than substance, or sizzle rather than...

HEMMER: You didn't lift that from the "Wall Street Journal," did you?

MAY: Oh, I hope not. But I'm sorry about that.

KAMBER: Bill, one thing...

HEMMER: Not a problem at all.

Victor, we've got to run.

KAMBER: One thing...

HEMMER: Make it quick.

KAMBER: If I may, Bill, one thing. John Edwards brings more to the table than Bill -- than President Bush ever brought to the table four years ago.

HEMMER: Victor Kamber, Cliff May, thank you to both gentlemen.

KAMBER: Thank you.

HEMMER: All right -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Severe thunderstorms have hounded the St. Louis area. They brought torrential rains and winds blowing 70 miles an hour. Flash floods washed through some parts yesterday. This man in East St. Louis, Illinois tried to drive his car right through the rising flood waters and became trapped. Some passing security guards in a pickup truck helped him out, though, and eventually they did rescue him.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: It is Kerry-Edwards on the ticket. In about 10 minutes, we do expect the first photo-op of the two men outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We'll get you there live in a moment and shake it down for you, also.

COLLINS: We sure will.

Also ahead, your car might not be safe to drive and you don't even know it. The trouble with recalls coming up.

HEMMER: Also, how reliable is DNA evidence when two different suspects have the same DNA? Sanjay has that story a bit later this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Candidate Web sites are as much a part of politics these days as the TV ads on the buses and the planes, too. Senator John Kerry has raised millions, though, through his Web site, johnkerry.com. And yesterday he e-mailed supporters the news that his vice presidential choice was John Edwards. The "Washington Post" says a man in Indianapolis named Kerry Edwards, Kerry Edwards, has owned the domain name, kerryedwards.com for about six years. The Kerry- Edwards camp has been in touch about buying it, won't say what they're asking. Mr. Edwards says he has fielded some other offers for the domain, as well.

He can get a pretty good price at this point, don't you think?

COLLINS: Well, they won't say what they're asking or they won't pay what the price is?

HEMMER: Well, they're not saying whether they're going to pay for it just yet. Kerry-Edwards is my name.

All right -- Jack Cafferty, what's happening?

CAFFERTY: I'm just dropping by. I'll get out of your way in a minute.

In the "Cafferty File" today, it would be Wednesday. People say things that get our attention and once a week we share a few of them with you, like this. "I am the most foolish person I know." This would be Mike Tyson, arguably the most intelligent thing he's probably ever said on staging another comeback. He's going to fight some tomato can named Danny Williams on July 30.

HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CAFFERTY: Well, I mean it's not Lennox Lewis.

"It's as if I were to tell the United States how to conduct its relations with Mexico." My favorite politician and world leader, French President Jacques Chirac, on President Bush's call for Turkey to be admitted to the European Union, something that Mr. Chirac is resisting.

"We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." This was from Comrade Hillary Clinton, speaking to a group of supporters out in San Francisco, saying that they will lose some of the Bush administration's tax cuts if the Democrats win the White House and control of Congress in November. "We're going to take some things away from you on behalf of the common good."

"I had something really, really super sexy, but they wouldn't let me wear it. I won't describe it. Maybe they'll let me wear it next year." This is the tennis player, Serena Williams, on her Wimbledon wardrobe. Williams lost to Maria Sharapova in the finals last weekend. She was wearing some kind of a, you know, kind of different looking tennis outfit. I mean...

HEMMER: She looked good.

CAFFERTY: Huh?

HEMMER: She looked good.

CAFFERTY: Yes. She lost.

HEMMER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: And finally this, "Rest assured that generous helpings of crow were eaten here yesterday and the leftovers will surely last a few more days." That's the editor of the "New York Post" talking about the incorrect reporting yesterday that Dick Gephardt had been chosen as John Kerry's running mate.

HEMMER: Oh, what a story. I had a buddy of mine call me yesterday and say it's seven o'clock in the morning. My Yahoo! account told me that John Edwards was the guy. I go to the deli two hours later and the "Post" tells me Dick Gephardt is the guy. I've been working all day. Who's the guy? He said I measured the Yahoo! account and I measured the "Post" and I chose Yahoo!.

COLLINS: Yahoo!. I see.

HEMMER: A lot of confusion.

CAFFERTY: That's right.

HEMMER: Let's get a break here.

We're still waiting for the two men to appear in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania outside of that town, John Kerry and John Edwards' first campaign appearance together. We'll get you there live in a moment.

Also, Edwards has gotten a warm welcome so far from Democratic supporters. What does the rest of the country think? We'll have a look at that when we continue.

Much more straight ahead after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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