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American Morning
Hexogen Found on Crashed Russian Planes; NYC Finalizing RNC Security Plans
Aired August 27, 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Answers in Russia: Two planes crash in minutes. Now a scenario beginning to emerge in one of the disasters.
Three days before the Republican convention, and the first protesters appear in the streets of New York. Peaceful so far, but police getting ready for much worse.
And Najaf on the morning after: Has a deal between clerics really saved the city?
All ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
COLLINS: Good morning. Heidi Collins in for Soledad O'Brien at the moment.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Bill Hemmer. Welcome to Friday.
Some of the other stories this hour. From Virginia, police desperately trying to catch a rapist there, believed to have attacked at least seven women to date. A town considered by some to be the best place to live in America. We'll talk to a member of the police department, find out what they think this criminal plans for in advance.
COLLINS: Also, Sanjay Gupta with us this hours, looking at statins. Rave reviews so far for the family of drugs, but what are the effects over the long term? New study now answering that question. Sanjay's going to look at the results.
HEMMER: All right, back to Jack Cafferty, too. Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: How are you doing?
Coming up on "The Cafferty File" in a little less than an hour, we've got the story of a woman who thinks that God saved her from an out of control truck. It's a pretty incredible story.
And just in the nick of time, visiting Republicans have been saved from naked boys singing.
HEMMER: OK. COLLINS: I bet they're happy about that. All right, Jack. Thanks a lot.
Now to Carol Costello straight ahead for the news of the morning. Hi, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Heidi. That Jack!
Here's what's new in the news this morning. Iraqi marchers are gathering in Najaf this morning for Friday prayers. These images just in to CNN. Marchers filling the area around the Imam Ali Mosque. Security members screening visitors as they enter the mosque compound. Witnesses say the mood inside the shrine appears calm. In 15 minutes, reaction to the brokered peace in Najaf from Islam scholar Akbar Ahmed.
Within the next two hours, a fourth suspect is expected to be arraigned before a military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But it's not clear whether the hearing will take place. The man's lawyer is apparently quitting, and a replacement has not been appointed. The hearing is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.
And in just a few hours, authorities in Eagle, Colorado, will start jury selection in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case. About 500 prospective jurors will show up. Attorneys will begin questioned the possible jurors one by one during closed hearings on Monday.
Craig Kilborn does his last "Late Late Show" tonight. He started doing the show back in 1999, replacing Tom Snyder. Kilborn was in negotiations for a new contract when he told CBS he'd be leaving. He denies reports that salary was the issue, saying he just wanted to make a change. Guest hosts will take over after three weeks of reruns.
Back to New York now.
COLLINS: All right. Carol Costello, thanks so much. We'll check in a little bit later on.
Just hours ago, Russia's top security service confirmed that it believes terrorism is to blame for at least one of two Russian air crashes. The Russian agency says traces of explosives were found in the wreckage of one of those crashes. The planes went down within minutes of each other Tuesday, killing 89 people.
Paula Hancocks is live now in Moscow with the very latest. Paula, good morning.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Well, the Federal Security Bureau does say that they do believe terrorism was behind at least one of the two planes that did come down on Tuesday night. Traces of explosives have been found in the wreckage of that particular flight -- the one that was on its way to the Black Sea resort of Sochi, where President Vladimir Putin was taking his holiday at the time. They say the explosive is likely to be hexogen, which has been used in past five years here in Russia, most noticeably in 1999 for apartment building bombings which killed around 300 people and were blamed on Chechen separatists.
The security services also say that there has been one body on that plane that has not been collected by relatives; they do believe one of a Chechen woman. And Interfax news agency is saying that on the second plane, there was a second Chechen woman who had got a ticket just one hour before that flight took off. They -- Interfax saying they have just found her remains. Again, no relatives have turned up to find the body or inquire where she is.
That's the latest from Moscow -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Paula, quickly, wondering about those black boxes. I know there were four in total that investigators have recovered. Learning anything from those yet?
HANCOCKS: Not very much from those at all. Officials are saying that they do not believe they will be able to help them very much. They don't believe they'll be able to get reliable information. One minister on Thursday was saying that it looked as though they weren't -- either weren't working or they had stopped working just before the planes came down. So, they're not expecting to find anything useful from them.
But on a separate note, they do say, according to Interfax, that they did have two alarm calls from one of the planes. One an SOS alarm, one a hijacking alarm. And when the air controllers tried to contact the air cabin crew, they couldn't get hold of them.
But the black boxes themselves, not necessarily going to be very useful, we're hearing.
COLLINS: Doesn't sound like it. All right, Paula Hancocks, live from Moscow this morning. Thanks, Paula.
HEMMER: Back to politics, Heidi, now. Republicans getting ready to make their way here to New York for the national convention on Monday. A "New York Times"/CBS poll finding that more than half of the residents in New York City are worried about a terrorist attack, and nearly half also think the protests will lead to violence.
Contrast that with Republican delegates surveyed, they show only 31 percent believe a terrorist attack is imminent, and 86 percent say New York is a good choice for the convention.
Learning lessons from the past, from the riots in 1968, New York City police say they are ready for whatever comes their way. Jeanne Meserve this morning, live outside Madison Square Garden. Jeanne, good morning there.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
There were a couple of protest actions yesterday, and the police know this is just the beginning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): It was another war -- Vietnam -- that brought protesters to the streets outside the Chicago Democratic Convention in 1968. The violence there and elsewhere has led police to adopt a different approach to demonstrators.
JEFFREY KERN, VANCE INTL. DECISION STRATEGIES: It's based upon, not on force, but on a practical level on advance work: preparation and intelligence; finding out how many -- exactly how many people are expected; what are their goals; what do they want to accomplish?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Isolate, isolate, isolate, isolate, isolate...
MESERVE: In New York, the preparation has included drills with mock protesters, and information gathering using the Internet and undercover operations.
RAY KELLY, NYC POLICE COMMISSIONER: Maybe as many as 1,000 or 1,500 people who come here, bent on causing a problem.
MESERVE: The most violent protesters bring their own tactics and tools, including these dangerous wrist rockets. Police say they will move quickly to isolate and arrest troublemakers.
JACK MCMANUS, ASSISTANT CHIEF, NYPD: How tough we will be? When you have a large group of people that disrupt either pedestrian or vehicular traffic or destroy property, there's not a lot of time for diplomacy there. So, we're prepared to move in very quickly and effect arrests.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's important not to block traffic on a sidewalk or street, as well.
MESERVE: Mainstream protest groups are training legal observers to monitor a police force that, in the past, has been accused of trying to limit protests and free speech, for instance, with the use of pens.
DONNA LIEBERMAN, NY CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION: The police have the right to regulate, to protect the law and order, but they don't have a right to turn you into a prisoner simply because you're exercising your right to protest.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (on camera): Estimates are that several hundred thousand protesters could show up here in New York. The vast majority expected to be peaceful, but the NYPD says it is ready for whatever the next week brings -- Bill?
HEMMER: Well, Jeanne, here we are on Friday morning. Any notice of increased security thus so far today? MESERVE: Yes, Bill. You might notice right behind me in front of Madison Square Garden this green truck that's pulled up. We aren't sure what it is. It looks like it could be communications. When we asked could you tell us? They said no.
And then, right over here, you can see this truck unloading Jersey barriers. Those obviously put in place to keep people and traffic away from the Garden during the convention.
Bill, back to you.
HEMMER: All right. Jeanne, thanks for that. And welcome to New York City, Jeanne. Jeanne Meserve outside the Garden -- Heidi?
COLLINS: The Republican delegates aren't even here in New York yet for the convention -- especially by the looks of that street Jeanne was on there -- but protesters are. Some of them already causing commotion.
Yesterday a group of AIDS activists dropped their drawers near Madison Square Garden and urged Republicans to drop the debt and, instead, spend more money on fighting AIDS.
Democratic Governor Mark Warner of Virginia joins us now from Richmond with his take on the approaching convention.
Good morning, Governor.
I'm glad we didn't show that naked video there before coming to you.
GOV. MARK WARNER (D), VIRGINIA: That's right. Not the right lead-in.
Good morning, Heidi.
COLLINS: Want to look at this L.A. Times poll. Key battleground states now, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin. Let's look at these numbers. John Kerry -- Bush is actually leading Kerry by two in Missouri, four in Wisconsin, five in Ohio.
Any concern about these numbers?
WARNER: No. I actually think they're very good numbers.
And, as a matter of fact, Virginia where a Democrat hasn't been competitive for 40 years, there was a Zogby's poll in the last couple of days that shows Bush only ahead by one point. So I think in terms of going into the Republican convention, John Kerry is very well positioned.
COLLINS: Well, maybe something a little more disconcerting. L.A. Times poll in three states, once again, shows that while Bush is drawing support from virtually 100 percent of those who agree with his policy, Senator John Kerry really only attracting about 80 percent of the people who want change in this country. Why? WARNER: Well, I think that John Kerry still is continuing to make the case with the American people, but when folks have to ask themselves, are they better off than they were four years ago -- that ultimate rejoinder that Ronald Reagan made so famous years back -- I think they're going to say no.
When you look at the question of the economy -- we saw just as recently as the last 24 hours, the Census Department come out with data that shows more Americans living in poverty; an average family of four losing about $1,500 off their income. The economic uncertainty is pervasive in this country.
Health care -- more Americans, unfortunately, are uninsured, up to about 45 million.
The debt -- could you imagine if it had been a Democratic president that would have taken a surplus at a national level and turned it into the largest national deficit in our nation's history? He'd be skewered.
But that's the record of the Bush administration. And clearly the question of America's standing abroad -- no one in this country believes that America is better regarded amongst its friends and enemies around the world today than it was four years ago.
So when Americans ask that question as the campaign continues, I think they're going to choose John Kerry.
COLLINS: Quickly, you bring up the word "record." Talking about military record now. Senator John Kerry himself has been the one to run on his military record, saying at the DNC, with a salute, "reporting for duty."
Look at these numbers now. CNN/Gallup poll showing July to August, more people were more likely to vote for Kerry, 41 percent. But now that number down to 22 percent. Concerned about that drop? Looks like about 50 percent.
WARNER: In terms of the drop on the question of military records?
COLLINS: Yes.
WARNER: Well, I think what you've seen is you've seen the effect of some of these Swift boat ads and in the constant pounding on talk radio and some of the other networks to try to drive this point.
COLLINS: So are people believing what they're seeing in those ads?
WARNER: Well, I think what you saw was, there was a lot of attention to the ads, and now I think it is starting to reverse.
I think you're seeing Senator Kerry fight back, but equally important to the senator's statements is you've got people like John McCain stepping up. You've got numbers of people stepping up who have clearly not been involved in the political process before; people who were quiet for 20, 30, 40 years about what went on in Vietnam who are stepping up like that Chicago Tribune editor and saying, "Hey, I just can't let John Kerry get smeared this way, because he was there, and what the Swift boat folks are saying just isn't true."
So I think this issue has turned around. But clearly, there was probably a week or two where it dominated the news.
COLLINS: It certainly did.
Governor Mark Warner from Virginia, we appreciate your time this morning.
WARNER: Thank you, Heidi.
COLLINS: I want to let you know, of course, AMERICAN MORNING will have live coverage of that, what is it? The convention? Republican convention, that's it! In New York. That's going to start Monday. We will be there all week long.
HEMMER: Going be throughout the entire city, too, on AMERICAN MORNING, starting on Monday.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Still to come a remarkable tale about a man and his dog. Usually, you hear about man's best friend. Well, this time, it's the dog's best friend, who make a daring rescue.
HEMMER: Also back to this topic in a moment, John Kerry making his military service a cornerstone of his campaign in Boston. Will that come back to bite him? It's Friday. "Gimme a Minute" has a shot and other topics in a moment.
COLLINS: And next, peace in Najaf: Muqtada Al Sadr orders his followers to lay down their arms, new developments live from the Pentagon, next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: There are developments out of Najaf in Iraq, and Barbara Starr at the Pentagon is watching that.
Barbara, what do you have?
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, this morning, U.S. officials, to say they were tentative and skeptical about the agreement Najaf might be an understatement. A U.S. defense official telling CNN just a few moments ago that they consider this agreement in Najaf -- quote -- "a face-saving agreement all the way around," very concerned about whether Muqtada Al Sadr and his militia fighters really are interested in peace at this point.
To that end, here is the layout of U.S. military forces in Najaf as we understand it at this hour. U.S. forces are still maintaining essentially a cordon a perimeter, around the mosque, about 300 meters outside that mosque, all the way around. One corridor has been opened up. That is the path, if you will, back and forth to the Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani's house. People moving back and forth now between his home in Najaf, outside the perimeter and inside towards the mosque.
U.S. officials saying there are now thousands of people inside the mosque. They believe many of the fighters have left. They don't know where their arms are. They really are quite skeptical about Sadr's intentions.
One last point U.S. officials are making this morning, the standoff in Fallujah of several months ago, the standoff in Najaf, the lesson learned, they say, in this type of insurgency, overwhelming U.S. military force is not the answer. They view this as a face- saving agreement, if it all works -- Bill.
HEMMER: Interesting development there. So far, though, today calm is the report we're getting out of Najaf. We hope that holds.
Barbara, thanks, at the Pentagon -- Heidi.
COLLINS: That being said now, can this agreement hold? I spoke with Akbar Ahmad, an Islam scholar at American University in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: You have said in the past that grand Ayatollah Al Sistani would actually be the key solution to reaching an agreement in Najaf, but we have seen sort of agreements like this reached before. Is this one going to stick? How will it be different?
AKBAR AHMED, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: This is the best chance for peace, and I had repeatedly said that Sistani is the answer, because Sistani works within society, within the understood traditions, culture, norms of Iraqi society, particularly the Shia community, and you saw that how in the middle of what was, in effect, a war situation, one man, an old, frail man, off the operating theater, flies in from London and stops a war. It's in that sense an extraordinary event that took place.
Now, this is the best chance for peace. If this fails, we really will have a very serious situation in Najaf. I think it will stick.
COLLINS: And you say that this situation, the agreement itself, is extraordinary. In fact, an Al Sadr spokesman said that the standoff itself provided a critical point to the U.S., and that is that its religious authority that rules the country of Iraq, and not necessarily a government, or any kind of government. Your thoughts on that?
AHMED: Yes, this is an important point to be discussed that in some senses, the power that stopped the fighting shifted from Baghdad, the capital of country, to Najaf, where the religious band, the religious authority had to come and stop the fighting. We had three different parties to the fight, with three different objectives. You had the coalition troops. You had the interim government, blowing hot and cold, not very sure, somewhat impotent, and then you had this rebel clerical figure who's emerged from nowhere, and at the same time, who seems to now have come through this, what could have been a bloodbath situation, come through with some element of victor, which means that he's got his demands made, he's got the coalition troops out of Najaf, he's got Najaf declared a free zone, and he's got his own -- all the acquisitions against him wiped out. The slate is clean for him.
COLLINS: The U.S. military actually pulling out of Najaf. How will that be seen by the average Iraq? I mean, could it possibly be seen as a win for Al Sadr?
AHMED: Yes and no. I think the military has played a very sensible role in this whole situation. They have deliberately not targeted the shrine itself. The great mosque of Ali. They have played, as far as possible, in a very restrained manner, which is difficult for a military commander in that situation on the ground, and compare these tactics with what happened in Fallujah, where they went all-out to, in fact, subdue the opponents.
So they've played in a very diplomatic, sensible manner, and I think they've come through with some reputation which has been not tarnished and certainly maintained.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Akbar Ahmed, Islam scholar at American University. He calls the agreement the best chance for peace. Pentagon officials call it only a face-saving agreement -- Bill.
HEMMER: Heidi, there's still a lot hype when it comes to benefits of statins. No one knew the long-term effects of the drugs until now. We'll page the good doctor on that.
Also another Olympic challenge: Japanese gymnast Shun Fujimoto helped happened his team win the all-around gymnastics competition at the '76 Games in Montreal. Here's the question, what was special about his performance? Perfect 10, first in all events, competing with a broken knee, or all of the above? The answer, after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Before the break, we asked you what was particularly special about the performance of Japanese gymnast Shun Fujimoto at the 1976 Games in Montreal? Did he score a perfect 10, come in first in all apparatuses, compete with a broken knee, or, d, all of above.
And you're now -- ding, ding, ding -- c, he competed with a broken kneecap. Fujimoto broke his knee during the floor acts, but kept the injury a secret until after scoring 9.7 on the rings, his highest score ever. That dismount had to be very painful.
HEMMER: Tough guy.
COLLINS: Yes.
Meanwhile, an overtime stunner ends with a pot of gold for the U.S. women's soccer team. Mia Hamm, Brandy Chastain and the rest of the fab five reclaimed their Olympic titles with the help of their teammates. They beat Brazil 2-1 in overtime, with that header also. The team won its first gold when soccer debuted during the 1996 Atlanta Games four years ago in Sydney. They got a silver there.
HEMMER: That is a great team, too.
COLLINS: I know, last they play together, too.
HEMMER: Carving the way for a whole new generation of young ladies across the country.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Did they keep their shirts on this time?
COLLINS: They did.
CAFFERTY: Three of them going into retirement. They have been nothing but sensational going back, what, 13 years now?
COLLINS: That' true.
HEMMER: How you doing?
CAFFERTY: I'm Fine. And yourself?
HEMMER: All right. Thanks for asking.
CAFFERTY: It's already started. The convention starts on Monday, but already yesterday, we had some naked people down by where the conventions going to be, and the cops picked them up. No big deal.
There was a cop injured, though, when they answered a call because four idiots climbed and the roof of the Plaza Hotel and unfurled some kind of banner. The cop who answered the call wound up getting cut. It took 40 stitches to close the cut. The people involved in that little protest facing first-degree assault charges, could put them in prison for 25 years. That wasn't funny.
HEMMER: And then we had a bunch of them tying up Broadway in the middle of the afternoon, which doesn't, you know, affect President Bush one way or the other, but makes life a little tough on us poor folks trying to get around midtown.
The the question is, how tough should the cops be on the protesters in New York City?
Jones (ph) in Texas: "I'm not as concerned with the protesters as I am with some of these protesters were able to slip by security at the plaza and hang a banner off the roof. If protesters could by security, so could terrorists, and that scares me." Rich in Long Island -- "They say that those who failed to learn from history, doomed to repeat it. In this case, the use of oppressive police tactics against what would have otherwise been peaceful demonstrators is begging for a repetition of the 1968 Democratic convention debacle. Let's all calm down and allow those with a voice to exercise their First Amendment rights."
I don't know if there were any oppressive police tactics used yesterday. I don't think there were.
Viola in Savannah, Georgia, "Unruly demonstrators always cite their right to free speech and their right to protest. My elbow." I think you meant a different word. "Don't these clowns now that the rights are theirs only if exercised lawfully and responsibly? What about the rights of New Yorkers to use the city streets that they pay for?"
See, viola understand what's we're doing here.
Samuel in Oregon (ph) says, "I tune in every morning waiting hopefully to hear you've had a seizure of some sort."
COLLINS: Oh, my gosh!
CAFFERTY: Thank you, Sam. And a happy day to you out there in Utah, my friend!
HEMMER: Let him know how healthy you are, right, Jack.
CAFFERTY: "I tune in everyday hopefully to hear you had a seizure of some sort."
HEMMER: Yippie-yi-yay!
CAFFERTY: That could be from my ex-wife actually.
Join me this weekend for "IN THE MONEY." The Republicans about to take the stage in New York City. Protesters will be making their voices heard. On "IN THE MONEY," we're going to look at how protest movements have evolved in this country. and whether next week's could be any different.
"IN THE MONEY" airs Saturday at 1:00, Sunday at 3:00, assuming I don't have a seizure between now and then.
(LAUGHTER)
COLLINS: I was going to say something else but...
CAFFERTY: I have such friends out there.
COLLINS: Jack, thanks so much.
Still ahead, police in the town once voted the best place to live in America are worried now. Looks like they have a serial rapist on their hands. We'll have the latest in the investigation, coming up. Also, it's the little ad campaign that turned into a huge headache for John Kerry. When all is said and done, will he be sunk by the swift boat controversy? "The Gimme a Minute" panel takes a look.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired August 27, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Answers in Russia: Two planes crash in minutes. Now a scenario beginning to emerge in one of the disasters.
Three days before the Republican convention, and the first protesters appear in the streets of New York. Peaceful so far, but police getting ready for much worse.
And Najaf on the morning after: Has a deal between clerics really saved the city?
All ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
COLLINS: Good morning. Heidi Collins in for Soledad O'Brien at the moment.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Bill Hemmer. Welcome to Friday.
Some of the other stories this hour. From Virginia, police desperately trying to catch a rapist there, believed to have attacked at least seven women to date. A town considered by some to be the best place to live in America. We'll talk to a member of the police department, find out what they think this criminal plans for in advance.
COLLINS: Also, Sanjay Gupta with us this hours, looking at statins. Rave reviews so far for the family of drugs, but what are the effects over the long term? New study now answering that question. Sanjay's going to look at the results.
HEMMER: All right, back to Jack Cafferty, too. Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: How are you doing?
Coming up on "The Cafferty File" in a little less than an hour, we've got the story of a woman who thinks that God saved her from an out of control truck. It's a pretty incredible story.
And just in the nick of time, visiting Republicans have been saved from naked boys singing.
HEMMER: OK. COLLINS: I bet they're happy about that. All right, Jack. Thanks a lot.
Now to Carol Costello straight ahead for the news of the morning. Hi, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Heidi. That Jack!
Here's what's new in the news this morning. Iraqi marchers are gathering in Najaf this morning for Friday prayers. These images just in to CNN. Marchers filling the area around the Imam Ali Mosque. Security members screening visitors as they enter the mosque compound. Witnesses say the mood inside the shrine appears calm. In 15 minutes, reaction to the brokered peace in Najaf from Islam scholar Akbar Ahmed.
Within the next two hours, a fourth suspect is expected to be arraigned before a military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But it's not clear whether the hearing will take place. The man's lawyer is apparently quitting, and a replacement has not been appointed. The hearing is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.
And in just a few hours, authorities in Eagle, Colorado, will start jury selection in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case. About 500 prospective jurors will show up. Attorneys will begin questioned the possible jurors one by one during closed hearings on Monday.
Craig Kilborn does his last "Late Late Show" tonight. He started doing the show back in 1999, replacing Tom Snyder. Kilborn was in negotiations for a new contract when he told CBS he'd be leaving. He denies reports that salary was the issue, saying he just wanted to make a change. Guest hosts will take over after three weeks of reruns.
Back to New York now.
COLLINS: All right. Carol Costello, thanks so much. We'll check in a little bit later on.
Just hours ago, Russia's top security service confirmed that it believes terrorism is to blame for at least one of two Russian air crashes. The Russian agency says traces of explosives were found in the wreckage of one of those crashes. The planes went down within minutes of each other Tuesday, killing 89 people.
Paula Hancocks is live now in Moscow with the very latest. Paula, good morning.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Well, the Federal Security Bureau does say that they do believe terrorism was behind at least one of the two planes that did come down on Tuesday night. Traces of explosives have been found in the wreckage of that particular flight -- the one that was on its way to the Black Sea resort of Sochi, where President Vladimir Putin was taking his holiday at the time. They say the explosive is likely to be hexogen, which has been used in past five years here in Russia, most noticeably in 1999 for apartment building bombings which killed around 300 people and were blamed on Chechen separatists.
The security services also say that there has been one body on that plane that has not been collected by relatives; they do believe one of a Chechen woman. And Interfax news agency is saying that on the second plane, there was a second Chechen woman who had got a ticket just one hour before that flight took off. They -- Interfax saying they have just found her remains. Again, no relatives have turned up to find the body or inquire where she is.
That's the latest from Moscow -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Paula, quickly, wondering about those black boxes. I know there were four in total that investigators have recovered. Learning anything from those yet?
HANCOCKS: Not very much from those at all. Officials are saying that they do not believe they will be able to help them very much. They don't believe they'll be able to get reliable information. One minister on Thursday was saying that it looked as though they weren't -- either weren't working or they had stopped working just before the planes came down. So, they're not expecting to find anything useful from them.
But on a separate note, they do say, according to Interfax, that they did have two alarm calls from one of the planes. One an SOS alarm, one a hijacking alarm. And when the air controllers tried to contact the air cabin crew, they couldn't get hold of them.
But the black boxes themselves, not necessarily going to be very useful, we're hearing.
COLLINS: Doesn't sound like it. All right, Paula Hancocks, live from Moscow this morning. Thanks, Paula.
HEMMER: Back to politics, Heidi, now. Republicans getting ready to make their way here to New York for the national convention on Monday. A "New York Times"/CBS poll finding that more than half of the residents in New York City are worried about a terrorist attack, and nearly half also think the protests will lead to violence.
Contrast that with Republican delegates surveyed, they show only 31 percent believe a terrorist attack is imminent, and 86 percent say New York is a good choice for the convention.
Learning lessons from the past, from the riots in 1968, New York City police say they are ready for whatever comes their way. Jeanne Meserve this morning, live outside Madison Square Garden. Jeanne, good morning there.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
There were a couple of protest actions yesterday, and the police know this is just the beginning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): It was another war -- Vietnam -- that brought protesters to the streets outside the Chicago Democratic Convention in 1968. The violence there and elsewhere has led police to adopt a different approach to demonstrators.
JEFFREY KERN, VANCE INTL. DECISION STRATEGIES: It's based upon, not on force, but on a practical level on advance work: preparation and intelligence; finding out how many -- exactly how many people are expected; what are their goals; what do they want to accomplish?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Isolate, isolate, isolate, isolate, isolate...
MESERVE: In New York, the preparation has included drills with mock protesters, and information gathering using the Internet and undercover operations.
RAY KELLY, NYC POLICE COMMISSIONER: Maybe as many as 1,000 or 1,500 people who come here, bent on causing a problem.
MESERVE: The most violent protesters bring their own tactics and tools, including these dangerous wrist rockets. Police say they will move quickly to isolate and arrest troublemakers.
JACK MCMANUS, ASSISTANT CHIEF, NYPD: How tough we will be? When you have a large group of people that disrupt either pedestrian or vehicular traffic or destroy property, there's not a lot of time for diplomacy there. So, we're prepared to move in very quickly and effect arrests.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's important not to block traffic on a sidewalk or street, as well.
MESERVE: Mainstream protest groups are training legal observers to monitor a police force that, in the past, has been accused of trying to limit protests and free speech, for instance, with the use of pens.
DONNA LIEBERMAN, NY CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION: The police have the right to regulate, to protect the law and order, but they don't have a right to turn you into a prisoner simply because you're exercising your right to protest.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (on camera): Estimates are that several hundred thousand protesters could show up here in New York. The vast majority expected to be peaceful, but the NYPD says it is ready for whatever the next week brings -- Bill?
HEMMER: Well, Jeanne, here we are on Friday morning. Any notice of increased security thus so far today? MESERVE: Yes, Bill. You might notice right behind me in front of Madison Square Garden this green truck that's pulled up. We aren't sure what it is. It looks like it could be communications. When we asked could you tell us? They said no.
And then, right over here, you can see this truck unloading Jersey barriers. Those obviously put in place to keep people and traffic away from the Garden during the convention.
Bill, back to you.
HEMMER: All right. Jeanne, thanks for that. And welcome to New York City, Jeanne. Jeanne Meserve outside the Garden -- Heidi?
COLLINS: The Republican delegates aren't even here in New York yet for the convention -- especially by the looks of that street Jeanne was on there -- but protesters are. Some of them already causing commotion.
Yesterday a group of AIDS activists dropped their drawers near Madison Square Garden and urged Republicans to drop the debt and, instead, spend more money on fighting AIDS.
Democratic Governor Mark Warner of Virginia joins us now from Richmond with his take on the approaching convention.
Good morning, Governor.
I'm glad we didn't show that naked video there before coming to you.
GOV. MARK WARNER (D), VIRGINIA: That's right. Not the right lead-in.
Good morning, Heidi.
COLLINS: Want to look at this L.A. Times poll. Key battleground states now, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin. Let's look at these numbers. John Kerry -- Bush is actually leading Kerry by two in Missouri, four in Wisconsin, five in Ohio.
Any concern about these numbers?
WARNER: No. I actually think they're very good numbers.
And, as a matter of fact, Virginia where a Democrat hasn't been competitive for 40 years, there was a Zogby's poll in the last couple of days that shows Bush only ahead by one point. So I think in terms of going into the Republican convention, John Kerry is very well positioned.
COLLINS: Well, maybe something a little more disconcerting. L.A. Times poll in three states, once again, shows that while Bush is drawing support from virtually 100 percent of those who agree with his policy, Senator John Kerry really only attracting about 80 percent of the people who want change in this country. Why? WARNER: Well, I think that John Kerry still is continuing to make the case with the American people, but when folks have to ask themselves, are they better off than they were four years ago -- that ultimate rejoinder that Ronald Reagan made so famous years back -- I think they're going to say no.
When you look at the question of the economy -- we saw just as recently as the last 24 hours, the Census Department come out with data that shows more Americans living in poverty; an average family of four losing about $1,500 off their income. The economic uncertainty is pervasive in this country.
Health care -- more Americans, unfortunately, are uninsured, up to about 45 million.
The debt -- could you imagine if it had been a Democratic president that would have taken a surplus at a national level and turned it into the largest national deficit in our nation's history? He'd be skewered.
But that's the record of the Bush administration. And clearly the question of America's standing abroad -- no one in this country believes that America is better regarded amongst its friends and enemies around the world today than it was four years ago.
So when Americans ask that question as the campaign continues, I think they're going to choose John Kerry.
COLLINS: Quickly, you bring up the word "record." Talking about military record now. Senator John Kerry himself has been the one to run on his military record, saying at the DNC, with a salute, "reporting for duty."
Look at these numbers now. CNN/Gallup poll showing July to August, more people were more likely to vote for Kerry, 41 percent. But now that number down to 22 percent. Concerned about that drop? Looks like about 50 percent.
WARNER: In terms of the drop on the question of military records?
COLLINS: Yes.
WARNER: Well, I think what you've seen is you've seen the effect of some of these Swift boat ads and in the constant pounding on talk radio and some of the other networks to try to drive this point.
COLLINS: So are people believing what they're seeing in those ads?
WARNER: Well, I think what you saw was, there was a lot of attention to the ads, and now I think it is starting to reverse.
I think you're seeing Senator Kerry fight back, but equally important to the senator's statements is you've got people like John McCain stepping up. You've got numbers of people stepping up who have clearly not been involved in the political process before; people who were quiet for 20, 30, 40 years about what went on in Vietnam who are stepping up like that Chicago Tribune editor and saying, "Hey, I just can't let John Kerry get smeared this way, because he was there, and what the Swift boat folks are saying just isn't true."
So I think this issue has turned around. But clearly, there was probably a week or two where it dominated the news.
COLLINS: It certainly did.
Governor Mark Warner from Virginia, we appreciate your time this morning.
WARNER: Thank you, Heidi.
COLLINS: I want to let you know, of course, AMERICAN MORNING will have live coverage of that, what is it? The convention? Republican convention, that's it! In New York. That's going to start Monday. We will be there all week long.
HEMMER: Going be throughout the entire city, too, on AMERICAN MORNING, starting on Monday.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Still to come a remarkable tale about a man and his dog. Usually, you hear about man's best friend. Well, this time, it's the dog's best friend, who make a daring rescue.
HEMMER: Also back to this topic in a moment, John Kerry making his military service a cornerstone of his campaign in Boston. Will that come back to bite him? It's Friday. "Gimme a Minute" has a shot and other topics in a moment.
COLLINS: And next, peace in Najaf: Muqtada Al Sadr orders his followers to lay down their arms, new developments live from the Pentagon, next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: There are developments out of Najaf in Iraq, and Barbara Starr at the Pentagon is watching that.
Barbara, what do you have?
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, this morning, U.S. officials, to say they were tentative and skeptical about the agreement Najaf might be an understatement. A U.S. defense official telling CNN just a few moments ago that they consider this agreement in Najaf -- quote -- "a face-saving agreement all the way around," very concerned about whether Muqtada Al Sadr and his militia fighters really are interested in peace at this point.
To that end, here is the layout of U.S. military forces in Najaf as we understand it at this hour. U.S. forces are still maintaining essentially a cordon a perimeter, around the mosque, about 300 meters outside that mosque, all the way around. One corridor has been opened up. That is the path, if you will, back and forth to the Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani's house. People moving back and forth now between his home in Najaf, outside the perimeter and inside towards the mosque.
U.S. officials saying there are now thousands of people inside the mosque. They believe many of the fighters have left. They don't know where their arms are. They really are quite skeptical about Sadr's intentions.
One last point U.S. officials are making this morning, the standoff in Fallujah of several months ago, the standoff in Najaf, the lesson learned, they say, in this type of insurgency, overwhelming U.S. military force is not the answer. They view this as a face- saving agreement, if it all works -- Bill.
HEMMER: Interesting development there. So far, though, today calm is the report we're getting out of Najaf. We hope that holds.
Barbara, thanks, at the Pentagon -- Heidi.
COLLINS: That being said now, can this agreement hold? I spoke with Akbar Ahmad, an Islam scholar at American University in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: You have said in the past that grand Ayatollah Al Sistani would actually be the key solution to reaching an agreement in Najaf, but we have seen sort of agreements like this reached before. Is this one going to stick? How will it be different?
AKBAR AHMED, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: This is the best chance for peace, and I had repeatedly said that Sistani is the answer, because Sistani works within society, within the understood traditions, culture, norms of Iraqi society, particularly the Shia community, and you saw that how in the middle of what was, in effect, a war situation, one man, an old, frail man, off the operating theater, flies in from London and stops a war. It's in that sense an extraordinary event that took place.
Now, this is the best chance for peace. If this fails, we really will have a very serious situation in Najaf. I think it will stick.
COLLINS: And you say that this situation, the agreement itself, is extraordinary. In fact, an Al Sadr spokesman said that the standoff itself provided a critical point to the U.S., and that is that its religious authority that rules the country of Iraq, and not necessarily a government, or any kind of government. Your thoughts on that?
AHMED: Yes, this is an important point to be discussed that in some senses, the power that stopped the fighting shifted from Baghdad, the capital of country, to Najaf, where the religious band, the religious authority had to come and stop the fighting. We had three different parties to the fight, with three different objectives. You had the coalition troops. You had the interim government, blowing hot and cold, not very sure, somewhat impotent, and then you had this rebel clerical figure who's emerged from nowhere, and at the same time, who seems to now have come through this, what could have been a bloodbath situation, come through with some element of victor, which means that he's got his demands made, he's got the coalition troops out of Najaf, he's got Najaf declared a free zone, and he's got his own -- all the acquisitions against him wiped out. The slate is clean for him.
COLLINS: The U.S. military actually pulling out of Najaf. How will that be seen by the average Iraq? I mean, could it possibly be seen as a win for Al Sadr?
AHMED: Yes and no. I think the military has played a very sensible role in this whole situation. They have deliberately not targeted the shrine itself. The great mosque of Ali. They have played, as far as possible, in a very restrained manner, which is difficult for a military commander in that situation on the ground, and compare these tactics with what happened in Fallujah, where they went all-out to, in fact, subdue the opponents.
So they've played in a very diplomatic, sensible manner, and I think they've come through with some reputation which has been not tarnished and certainly maintained.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Akbar Ahmed, Islam scholar at American University. He calls the agreement the best chance for peace. Pentagon officials call it only a face-saving agreement -- Bill.
HEMMER: Heidi, there's still a lot hype when it comes to benefits of statins. No one knew the long-term effects of the drugs until now. We'll page the good doctor on that.
Also another Olympic challenge: Japanese gymnast Shun Fujimoto helped happened his team win the all-around gymnastics competition at the '76 Games in Montreal. Here's the question, what was special about his performance? Perfect 10, first in all events, competing with a broken knee, or all of the above? The answer, after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Before the break, we asked you what was particularly special about the performance of Japanese gymnast Shun Fujimoto at the 1976 Games in Montreal? Did he score a perfect 10, come in first in all apparatuses, compete with a broken knee, or, d, all of above.
And you're now -- ding, ding, ding -- c, he competed with a broken kneecap. Fujimoto broke his knee during the floor acts, but kept the injury a secret until after scoring 9.7 on the rings, his highest score ever. That dismount had to be very painful.
HEMMER: Tough guy.
COLLINS: Yes.
Meanwhile, an overtime stunner ends with a pot of gold for the U.S. women's soccer team. Mia Hamm, Brandy Chastain and the rest of the fab five reclaimed their Olympic titles with the help of their teammates. They beat Brazil 2-1 in overtime, with that header also. The team won its first gold when soccer debuted during the 1996 Atlanta Games four years ago in Sydney. They got a silver there.
HEMMER: That is a great team, too.
COLLINS: I know, last they play together, too.
HEMMER: Carving the way for a whole new generation of young ladies across the country.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Did they keep their shirts on this time?
COLLINS: They did.
CAFFERTY: Three of them going into retirement. They have been nothing but sensational going back, what, 13 years now?
COLLINS: That' true.
HEMMER: How you doing?
CAFFERTY: I'm Fine. And yourself?
HEMMER: All right. Thanks for asking.
CAFFERTY: It's already started. The convention starts on Monday, but already yesterday, we had some naked people down by where the conventions going to be, and the cops picked them up. No big deal.
There was a cop injured, though, when they answered a call because four idiots climbed and the roof of the Plaza Hotel and unfurled some kind of banner. The cop who answered the call wound up getting cut. It took 40 stitches to close the cut. The people involved in that little protest facing first-degree assault charges, could put them in prison for 25 years. That wasn't funny.
HEMMER: And then we had a bunch of them tying up Broadway in the middle of the afternoon, which doesn't, you know, affect President Bush one way or the other, but makes life a little tough on us poor folks trying to get around midtown.
The the question is, how tough should the cops be on the protesters in New York City?
Jones (ph) in Texas: "I'm not as concerned with the protesters as I am with some of these protesters were able to slip by security at the plaza and hang a banner off the roof. If protesters could by security, so could terrorists, and that scares me." Rich in Long Island -- "They say that those who failed to learn from history, doomed to repeat it. In this case, the use of oppressive police tactics against what would have otherwise been peaceful demonstrators is begging for a repetition of the 1968 Democratic convention debacle. Let's all calm down and allow those with a voice to exercise their First Amendment rights."
I don't know if there were any oppressive police tactics used yesterday. I don't think there were.
Viola in Savannah, Georgia, "Unruly demonstrators always cite their right to free speech and their right to protest. My elbow." I think you meant a different word. "Don't these clowns now that the rights are theirs only if exercised lawfully and responsibly? What about the rights of New Yorkers to use the city streets that they pay for?"
See, viola understand what's we're doing here.
Samuel in Oregon (ph) says, "I tune in every morning waiting hopefully to hear you've had a seizure of some sort."
COLLINS: Oh, my gosh!
CAFFERTY: Thank you, Sam. And a happy day to you out there in Utah, my friend!
HEMMER: Let him know how healthy you are, right, Jack.
CAFFERTY: "I tune in everyday hopefully to hear you had a seizure of some sort."
HEMMER: Yippie-yi-yay!
CAFFERTY: That could be from my ex-wife actually.
Join me this weekend for "IN THE MONEY." The Republicans about to take the stage in New York City. Protesters will be making their voices heard. On "IN THE MONEY," we're going to look at how protest movements have evolved in this country. and whether next week's could be any different.
"IN THE MONEY" airs Saturday at 1:00, Sunday at 3:00, assuming I don't have a seizure between now and then.
(LAUGHTER)
COLLINS: I was going to say something else but...
CAFFERTY: I have such friends out there.
COLLINS: Jack, thanks so much.
Still ahead, police in the town once voted the best place to live in America are worried now. Looks like they have a serial rapist on their hands. We'll have the latest in the investigation, coming up. Also, it's the little ad campaign that turned into a huge headache for John Kerry. When all is said and done, will he be sunk by the swift boat controversy? "The Gimme a Minute" panel takes a look.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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