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American Morning
Iraq Hostages; President Bush Doesn't Back off Decision to Invade Iraq; Interview With Senator Jay Rockefeller
Aired September 22, 2004 - 8:59 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. Baghdad, Sadr City erupts in violence again today. And President Bush and John Kerry now using the war in Iraq to hammer each other along the campaign trail.
Also, a second American hostage apparently murdered in Iraq. Now confusion as to whether or not a key female prisoner in that country will go free.
And in this country, Florida hard hit by the hurricanes already. But is there a spot in the U.S. even more at risk for that big storm? The answer on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
HEMMER: All right. Good morning, everyone. Nine o'clock here in New York. I'm Bill Hemmer.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins, in for Soledad.
Some of the stories we're following this morning, President Bush and John Kerry making a lot of promises about what each would do if elected in November. But can either one pay for those proposals? Coming up, Kelly Wallace will have a look at taxes and tax cuts and, of course, the costs of campaign promises.
HEMMER: Also, on Capitol Hill, the Senate will decide whether or not Congressman Porter Goss will be the head of the CIA. Senator Jay Rockefeller, a Democrat, one of the senators who voted against him in committee yesterday, is our guest in a few moments. We'll ask him why he thinks Goss is not the right man for this job.
COLLINS: Jack Cafferty is the right man for this job.
Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: There you go. Why, thank you, Heidi.
The ultimate political irony to date of the season is flap over these documents. And Dan Rather, a "60 Minutes" reports on CBS, the report was presumably one that would have hurt President Bush. At the end of the day, it may come back to hurt the Kerry campaign.
If you think that's a possibility, you can e-mail us. We're reading some pretty good stuff. AM@CNN.com. We'll have some in about 20 minutes or so.
COLLINS: Yes, really good stuff this morning. All right, Jack. Thanks so much.
Want to check on the stories "Now in the News" this morning with Kelly Wallace.
Good morning to you, Kelly. Starting in Iraq again.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Again, yes. Right, Heidi. Good morning to you, and good morning to everyone.
In Iraq, heavy fighting being reported this hour in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad. U.S. forces are clashing with insurgents in what they say is a sweep for suspected terrorists. And earlier, a suicide bombing targeting Iraqi police recruits.
Officials say at least seven people were killed, some 47 others were injured. More on the situation in Iraq, including the latest on the possible release of a female prisoner, coming up.
Senator John Kerry has criticized President Bush's policies on Iraq. But this morning, the senator's actions during the Vietnam War are coming under fire.
A new Swift Boat ad claims Kerry met with "enemy leaders" during a 1970 trip to Paris. In response, the Kerry campaign says the Swift Boat ad group has as much credibility as "a cheap tabloid magazine." A Kerry spokesman says the senator went to Paris on a mission to get American prisoners of war released and to end the war.
Brazil, Germany, India and Japan are joining forces to each lobby for a permanent U.N. Security council seat. The four countries are banding together and promising to work to reform the United Nations. Representatives from the four countries are meeting in New York City, where the annual General Assembly meeting is still under way.
And it appears that walking regularly could ward off Alzheimer's Disease. Researchers found that people who walk on a consistent basis at age 70 and beyond can keep their mind sharp and have a much lower risk of developing the disease. The study appears in today's "Journal of the American Medical Association."
Good advice there.
HEMMER: That is very interesting.
WALLACE: Keep on walking.
HEMMER: Put Gupta on that case, will you?
WALLACE: Yes, definitely.
HEMMER: Thank you, Kelly.
Want to start again in Iraq and what's happening there today. Iraqi police have turned in a headless body over to American officials in Baghdad. They are trying to determine whether or not it is the body of American hostage Jack Hensley.
A terrorist group claims to have killed him late yesterday. They are suspected of killing American Eugene Armstrong and are still holding a British citizen as well. All three kidnapped by the group last Thursday, which demanded the release of all female Iraqi prisoners.
Now, Iraqi officials say they will release one of the two female prisoners held by the U.S. That's Dr. Rihab Taha, otherwise known as Dr. Germ. But, they insist, the Iraqis do, that they are not giving into the terrorist demands. The American embassy says neither of the women who were once top scientists in the Saddam Hussein regime will be set free.
To help sort through all this, to the Pentagon. And Barbara Starr is watching it from there.
Barbara, hello.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well, a lot of delicate maneuvering in Washington and Baghdad today, as you say. Now, a senior U.S. military official has confirmed to CNN this morning that all of the high-value detainees from that deck of cards from the war time, all of them are under review for possible release, including the two women prisoners.
They are under review of release on the condition that they have been cooperative and that they're no longer of intelligence value. The women are included in that, but the question, of course, is whether they would now be released given the kidnappers' demands and how it might look.
The question also on the table this morning is, who actually has the authority to release them? They are jointly held by the coalition, the U.S. and the Iraqi interim government.
Now, a senior official says it would require the agreement of the Bush administration for these women prisoners or any of the high-value prisoners to actually be released. But that is not clear entirely.
The official acknowledges it is possible, perhaps, that the Iraqis could seek to unilaterally release them. It just isn't clear at this point this morning.
So the timing very difficult, very delicate. U.S. officials are trying to dampen the expectation of an early release because, of course, they are quite concerned that this would appear to be giving into the kidnappers.
At the same time, Bill, they tell us this insurgency growing more deadly, more lethal. They tell us there is new evidence there is a criminal network operating in Iraq that are -- that is taking people hostage and then selling them to these insurgent groups that are putting them on these videos -- Bill.
HEMMER: Barbara, in your discussions with officials there at the Pentagon -- this comes out of left field, but very curious to know an answer if there is one. Are we missing something in terms of a cultural misunderstanding or lack of understanding that the Iraqis say they may have in negotiating with these men when the U.S. are clearly saying, that is not part of what we're about?
STARR: Difficult to say. As you indicate, Bill, you know, a lot of people wonder, is there something going on behind the scenes to try and negotiate the release of this last man, this British hostage, negotiate the release of other hostages?
The official position, of course, of the United States, Britain, the coalition is that they simply do not negotiate. They do not bargain.
However, there are many indications that there are efforts through third parties, perhaps, to reach out to some of these insurgent group, see if it's even possible to make contact. But in many cases, they simply don't know who's holding these hostages. So it remains very, very tough business.
HEMMER: Which brings us to another point. What is the U.S. military doing to track these people down?
STARR: That is a tough question. We've asked that repeatedly over the last several days.
There -- to all indications, there is nothing new, no sudden secret initiative, any of it. They are continuing to collect intelligence. They reach out to third parties in the Iraqi community to see if anybody knows anything. They continue to conduct strikes against insurgents, where they find them.
But I must tell you, all of the officials we speak to at the Pentagon expressing a lot of frustration, a lot of sadness about what is going on in Iraq, about the tragedy of the hostage situation. And, you know, General John Abizaid is going to be on Capitol Hill later today, briefing senators and congressmen behind closed doors.
He is going to be asked an awful lot about this. A lot of indication that General Abizaid is going to tell Congress behind closed doors it's very tough business in Iraq right now.
HEMMER: Thank you, Barbara. Barbara Starr, thanks for your report there at the Pentagon -- Heidi.
COLLINS: President Bush wants the U.N.'s help, but he didn't back off his decision to invade Iraq when he spoke to world leaders yesterday. The U.N. speech also became a convenient political platform to fend off some of John Kerry's latest attacks.
John King is in New York covering the Bush campaign now for us this morning.
Good morning to you, John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Heidi.
And the morning after that speech, more diplomacy, a break from the campaign trail for the president for a few hours. He will be back out campaigning in Pennsylvania by early this afternoon.
Mr. Bush meeting this morning with another man he says is a key ally in the war on terrorism. You see him right here, President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan.
No questions, no comments at all from the leaders this morning. Mr. Bush trying to make the case in his diplomacy here in New York and then out on the campaign trail that he is, indeed, making progress in the war on terrorism. It has become the campaign's defining issue.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING (voice-over): Six weeks to election day here at home, Mr. Bush deflected a question about GOP critics of his Iraq policy, saying the Republicans raising those questions still preferred him over Democrat John Kerry.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My opponent has taken so many different positions on Iraq that his statements are hardly credible at all.
KING: Senator Kerry calls Mr. Bush's Iraq policy a colossal failure and says it is the president who has lost credibility as Iraq spirals into chaos. This campaign debate raises the stakes of Prime Minister Allawi's visit, which includes a speech to Congress on Thursday. Mr. Bush is banking on help, convincing Americans that the insurgency will be crushed and a new democracy born.
IYAD ALLAWI, IRAQI INTERIM PRIME MINISTER: We are winning. We are making progress in Iraq. We are defeating terrorists.
KING: Mr. Bush posed with the cameras for Kofi Annan just days after the U.N. secretary-general labeled the Iraq war illegal. As he opened this year's General Assembly, Mr. Annan was less pointed, but again critical.
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: Every nation that proclaims a rule of law at home must respect it abroad.
KING: Mr. Bush followed soon after, and defended his decision to go to war, though it was clear most in the audience did not agree. And while voicing optimism about Iraq's future, the president was more candid about political and security problems in both Afghanistan and Iraq than he tends to be in more upbeat campaign speeches.
BUSH: But these difficulties will not shake our conviction that the future of Afghanistan and Iraq is a future of liberty. The proper response to difficulty is not to retreat; it is to prevail.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Now, on the issue of whether there should be a release or will be a release of these female prisoners in Iraq, a senior administration official telling us this morning, "There is no negotiation with terrorists." This official saying that perhaps those female prisoners and others could be released soon, but the official insisting they will not be released imminently because of the signal that might send to those holding now a Briton captive and those who have beheaded two Americans in the past 24 hours -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Such a tough situation there, John. Wondering, though, after the violence that we're hearing about even this morning again in Iraq, do you think the president made any headway at the U.N.? Is there any chance of international support now?
KING: He has certainly made no head way in convincing people who were opposed to the war to change their opinion. The key question now is, can he get nations to at least provide in the short term some security help to the United Nations, which is reluctant to send in more election monitors into Iraq right now?
The White House saying the United Nations has an obligation to help with those elections, and of course the security situation is dicey. The White House is expecting no substantial help from any other countries from a long-term commitment.
It would like a short-term commitment. And it says, primarily, if the leaders aren't going to listen to President Bush, they should listen to the new interim prime minister of Iraq, Mr. Allawi. He addresses the General Assembly on Friday.
COLLINS: Yes he does. All right. John King, thanks so much this morning.
HEMMER: Want to check back in on the weather. East of the Mississippi looking pretty good today. The west of the Mississippi, a bit of a different morning. Back to Chad on that.
Good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Certainly a tale of two states or two countries, there, Bill.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Chad, don't go far. Back to you in a moment. "Eye on Hurricanes," your series, starts today.
Question today, why has Florida been hit so hard and other states dodge the bullet? Or do they for long? A look at that.
COLLINS: Some of those states on the water, too.
HEMMER: Yes, very true. Back with that in a moment.
COLLINS: Also ahead, the fallout from the CBS document scandal. But who stands to lose the most? It may not be Dan Rather.
HEMMER: Also, the man picked to head the CIA one step closer now to getting that job. There are some critics, though, who say he is too partisan. We'll talk to one of them, Jay Rockefeller from West Virginia, ahead here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Porter Goss, the president's choice for CIA director, now one step closer to confirmation today. The Senate Intelligence Committee approved the Goss nomination yesterday. This despite Senator Jay Rockefeller's vote against him.
The senator from West Virginia with us from Capitol Hill.
And Senator, welcome back. Good morning to you.
SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D), WEST VIRGINIA: Good morning.
HEMMER: Why is Porter Goss not the man for this job?
ROCKEFELLER: I hope he -- I hope he will be. I hope very, very much that he will be a good CIA director.
The country needs a good CIA director. But in the National Security Act under our laws, a CIA director cannot have a partisan approach. Has to be independent, has to be able to speak the truth to the president, tell the president when he's wrong on matters.
And Porter Goss, as much as he knows about intelligence, as fine a human being as he is, has a long history in the Intelligence Committee of the House of being very partisan and very specifically partisan on the House about the Democrats in general, saying the Democrats have a cultural disdain for intelligence, as well as John Kerry. And so I can't in conscience vote for him, but I can in conscience hope that he proves me wrong. And I've told him that.
HEMMER: You mentioned the partisan issue a couple of times in your answer. Here's how he addressed that yesterday in that committee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PORTER GOSS, CIA DIRECTOR NOMINEE: For the great majority of my life, I don't believe I made a single partisan speech. Of course there have been times on partisan issues. I've been on the Rules Committee, as you very well know. We have a lot of partisan votes, and I've had to support those partisan votes on the Rules Committee.
But on the things that count, the things that are not just the interplay between the two agendas of the two parties, there's only one flag in the room, and it's that flag back there. And we all know that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Does that argument not fly with you?
ROCKEFELLER: That argument is what I hope will be and become Porter Goss, because he will be the next CIA director. But I cannot -- Bill, I simply cannot do something based upon a promise for the future.
I mean, the record is very, very clear on this. I have volumes of statements that he's made. And I take no joy in my position. But I have a responsibility on the Intelligence Committee.
And there will be a debate about it today on the floor. And I will speak on it. But he and I have had private communications.
I want to be able to work with him. I don't know how it is that one changes from 15 years of partisanship, all of a sudden to none whatsoever, working for, I think, quite a partisan president. But, you know, I will vote against him based upon his record because that's the only judgment I have.
HEMMER: If I could, at the top of your answer you said he will be the next CIA director. Do you believe he will be approved by the Senate?
ROCKEFELLER: Yes, he'll -- yes. Yes.
HEMMER: All right. Senator, thank you for your time this morning from Capitol Hill.
ROCKEFELLER: Thank you.
HEMMER: We'll watch it from here -- Heidi.
ROCKEFELLER: OK.
COLLINS: Time now for Jack once again and his "Question of the Day."
Good morning.
CAFFERTY: Thanks, Heidi.
We're talking about those phony CBS documents. Joe Lockhart, a high-ranking member of the Kerry campaign, admits that he talked to Bill Burkett, who's the man responsible for giving those documents to CBS. A conversation that was arranged by CBS producer Mary Mapes. But Lockhart insists they didn't discuss the documents in question; they talked about other stuff.
At the end of the day, though, it could be the Kerry campaign that has the most to lose this thing, right after Mary Mapes, who, it's my guess, will not survive all this. That's the producer in the middle of this whole thing. And she may wind up being the sacrificial lamb in this thing before it's over.
The question is this: Has the CBS scandal damaged the Kerry campaign? Nancy in Appleton, Wisconsin, writes: "It wouldn't damage anyone's campaign if you would shut up about it. Can you spell issue?"
R in Sable River, Nova Scotia, "Yes, this should hurt Kerry's campaign. And no amount of spin should reduce the seriousness of this smear. If this was Rush Limbaugh who did this, the media would have crucified him and moved to take him off the air."
Frank in Bloomington, Minnesota, "The CBS report should only effect the credibility of CBS and the media at large. Kerry is hurting the Kerry campaign. It would be nice to see him come up with some of his own ideas. As Jay Leno said, he has a four-point plan for every position."
And finally, Celia in Lawrence, Kansas, "No. If guilt by conversation were the standard, Tom DeLay would be out of office for talking to corporate contributors, President Bush would be impeached because of his friendship with Ken Lay, and Jack Cafferty would lose his job because he communicates with nut cakes who respond to his 'Question of the Day' each day."
HEMMER: Nut cakes.
CAFFERTY: She does make her point.
HEMMER: Yes.
COLLINS: I do wonder, though, if it will come up in these debates. I mean, I wonder if there will be a question thrown to them.
CAFFERTY: I wonder if anything's going to come up in these debates. I get the sense this stuff has been so sanitized and prearranged and rehearsed and -- and -- and fiddled with that we're not going to get anything out of these debates but a bunch of posturing and generalizations and garbage. That would be my guess. I hope I'm wrong.
HEMMER: That's a fact, Jack. So the entire debate, 90 minutes, or whatever is going to be televised...
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: ... hinges on one statement or one quote or one body reaction. You can ask Al Gore about that from 2000.
CAFFERTY: It's just nonsense. I mean, you're supposed to have a debate. Let them get in the room and talk about the issues.
HEMMER: But the one thing the "60 Minutes" story does, it keeps Kerry off his own message for another day or another two days, which has been consistent for weeks now.
CAFFERTY: Well, and it keeps -- and it keeps the spotlight off some of the perceived failings of the incumbent presidency as well. I mean, neither of these guys -- for the moment, it's all about the CBS document gig. Nobody is looking at whether or not these guys are doing anything for the people at large.
HEMMER: Eight days away for that debate, by the way.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: All right. Jack, thanks.
Still to come this morning, Kelly Wallace brings us part three of her weeklong series, "Promises, Promises."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE (voice-over): Vote with your wallet? The economy is a top issue, but with a ballooning deficit, how much can the candidates really do about your taxes? Part three of our weeklong series, "Promises, Promises" ahead this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Now to our "Eye on Hurricanes" series. August set a record for the most named storms in the same month. September had its share as well, with Florida the hardest hit.
Why is the Sunshine State so unlucky when it comes to wild weather? And why do other coastal areas appear to be in the safe zone?
Chad Myers is at the CNN Center with details on all of this.
A lot of people probably asking that very same question -- Chad.
MYERS: You know, is it luck, is it unluck? Is it whatever?
I'll tell you what, we look at these computer models all the time. And sometimes it is like looking at a bowl of spaghetti. These things are going all different ways.
Obviously, hurricanes are fickle. But are they random?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MYERS (voice-over): From Mississippi to the Caribbean and the Carolinas, some areas seem to be hurricane havens. So far this year, it's Florida's turn.
Mother Nature slapped the Sunshine State with three strong storms within a month. Charley sliced the state from the southwest, Frances forced millions to flee from the east, then Ivan struck the panhandle. But the Sunshine State is not alone.
The Carolina coast breaks the record with some 30 hurricanes making landfall over the past 100 years. And let's not neglect the Gulf. Last week, Hurricane Ivan devastated the Mississippi and Alabama coast lines, too. But some of the worst destruction this year was felt in the Caribbean, in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Cuba, Jamaica and Grand Cayman. It will take months or years for the islands to recover from the multiple hurricane that have swept in from the Atlantic.
Not surprisingly, a map of hurricane activity from the U.S. Geological Survey clearly shows that the Eastern Seaboard and the Gulf Coast regions are high-risk areas for hurricanes. Even states as far north as New York have felt the slap of a passing storm. But some cities seem to wear a lucky charm.
New Orleans has not had a direct hit by a major hurricane since it was struck by Betsy in 1965. And Savannah, on the coast of Georgia, dodged every major hurricane in the 20th century.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MYERS: And tomorrow we're going to take a look at why this year, why 2004? Is it our imagination, El Nino, global warning, some type of series of events?
We have a shot at setting a new record for Atlantic storms this year. So far, 12.
Lisa is number 12 and Matthew is not that far behind. The record is 19. We are only 11 days past halfway. A lot more of this season still to come.
COLLINS: Oh, that's depressing to think about. All right. Chat Myers, thanks so much for that.
Still to come this morning, the Wednesday edition of "90-Second Pop."
(MUSIC)
COLLINS: Oops, she did it again. Britney gets hitched once more. But she's got a big safety net this time.
Plus, the "Star Wars" trilogy finally comes to a galaxy near you on DVD. So why are some fans so unhappy?
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired September 22, 2004 - 8:59 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. Baghdad, Sadr City erupts in violence again today. And President Bush and John Kerry now using the war in Iraq to hammer each other along the campaign trail.
Also, a second American hostage apparently murdered in Iraq. Now confusion as to whether or not a key female prisoner in that country will go free.
And in this country, Florida hard hit by the hurricanes already. But is there a spot in the U.S. even more at risk for that big storm? The answer on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
HEMMER: All right. Good morning, everyone. Nine o'clock here in New York. I'm Bill Hemmer.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins, in for Soledad.
Some of the stories we're following this morning, President Bush and John Kerry making a lot of promises about what each would do if elected in November. But can either one pay for those proposals? Coming up, Kelly Wallace will have a look at taxes and tax cuts and, of course, the costs of campaign promises.
HEMMER: Also, on Capitol Hill, the Senate will decide whether or not Congressman Porter Goss will be the head of the CIA. Senator Jay Rockefeller, a Democrat, one of the senators who voted against him in committee yesterday, is our guest in a few moments. We'll ask him why he thinks Goss is not the right man for this job.
COLLINS: Jack Cafferty is the right man for this job.
Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: There you go. Why, thank you, Heidi.
The ultimate political irony to date of the season is flap over these documents. And Dan Rather, a "60 Minutes" reports on CBS, the report was presumably one that would have hurt President Bush. At the end of the day, it may come back to hurt the Kerry campaign.
If you think that's a possibility, you can e-mail us. We're reading some pretty good stuff. AM@CNN.com. We'll have some in about 20 minutes or so.
COLLINS: Yes, really good stuff this morning. All right, Jack. Thanks so much.
Want to check on the stories "Now in the News" this morning with Kelly Wallace.
Good morning to you, Kelly. Starting in Iraq again.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Again, yes. Right, Heidi. Good morning to you, and good morning to everyone.
In Iraq, heavy fighting being reported this hour in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad. U.S. forces are clashing with insurgents in what they say is a sweep for suspected terrorists. And earlier, a suicide bombing targeting Iraqi police recruits.
Officials say at least seven people were killed, some 47 others were injured. More on the situation in Iraq, including the latest on the possible release of a female prisoner, coming up.
Senator John Kerry has criticized President Bush's policies on Iraq. But this morning, the senator's actions during the Vietnam War are coming under fire.
A new Swift Boat ad claims Kerry met with "enemy leaders" during a 1970 trip to Paris. In response, the Kerry campaign says the Swift Boat ad group has as much credibility as "a cheap tabloid magazine." A Kerry spokesman says the senator went to Paris on a mission to get American prisoners of war released and to end the war.
Brazil, Germany, India and Japan are joining forces to each lobby for a permanent U.N. Security council seat. The four countries are banding together and promising to work to reform the United Nations. Representatives from the four countries are meeting in New York City, where the annual General Assembly meeting is still under way.
And it appears that walking regularly could ward off Alzheimer's Disease. Researchers found that people who walk on a consistent basis at age 70 and beyond can keep their mind sharp and have a much lower risk of developing the disease. The study appears in today's "Journal of the American Medical Association."
Good advice there.
HEMMER: That is very interesting.
WALLACE: Keep on walking.
HEMMER: Put Gupta on that case, will you?
WALLACE: Yes, definitely.
HEMMER: Thank you, Kelly.
Want to start again in Iraq and what's happening there today. Iraqi police have turned in a headless body over to American officials in Baghdad. They are trying to determine whether or not it is the body of American hostage Jack Hensley.
A terrorist group claims to have killed him late yesterday. They are suspected of killing American Eugene Armstrong and are still holding a British citizen as well. All three kidnapped by the group last Thursday, which demanded the release of all female Iraqi prisoners.
Now, Iraqi officials say they will release one of the two female prisoners held by the U.S. That's Dr. Rihab Taha, otherwise known as Dr. Germ. But, they insist, the Iraqis do, that they are not giving into the terrorist demands. The American embassy says neither of the women who were once top scientists in the Saddam Hussein regime will be set free.
To help sort through all this, to the Pentagon. And Barbara Starr is watching it from there.
Barbara, hello.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well, a lot of delicate maneuvering in Washington and Baghdad today, as you say. Now, a senior U.S. military official has confirmed to CNN this morning that all of the high-value detainees from that deck of cards from the war time, all of them are under review for possible release, including the two women prisoners.
They are under review of release on the condition that they have been cooperative and that they're no longer of intelligence value. The women are included in that, but the question, of course, is whether they would now be released given the kidnappers' demands and how it might look.
The question also on the table this morning is, who actually has the authority to release them? They are jointly held by the coalition, the U.S. and the Iraqi interim government.
Now, a senior official says it would require the agreement of the Bush administration for these women prisoners or any of the high-value prisoners to actually be released. But that is not clear entirely.
The official acknowledges it is possible, perhaps, that the Iraqis could seek to unilaterally release them. It just isn't clear at this point this morning.
So the timing very difficult, very delicate. U.S. officials are trying to dampen the expectation of an early release because, of course, they are quite concerned that this would appear to be giving into the kidnappers.
At the same time, Bill, they tell us this insurgency growing more deadly, more lethal. They tell us there is new evidence there is a criminal network operating in Iraq that are -- that is taking people hostage and then selling them to these insurgent groups that are putting them on these videos -- Bill.
HEMMER: Barbara, in your discussions with officials there at the Pentagon -- this comes out of left field, but very curious to know an answer if there is one. Are we missing something in terms of a cultural misunderstanding or lack of understanding that the Iraqis say they may have in negotiating with these men when the U.S. are clearly saying, that is not part of what we're about?
STARR: Difficult to say. As you indicate, Bill, you know, a lot of people wonder, is there something going on behind the scenes to try and negotiate the release of this last man, this British hostage, negotiate the release of other hostages?
The official position, of course, of the United States, Britain, the coalition is that they simply do not negotiate. They do not bargain.
However, there are many indications that there are efforts through third parties, perhaps, to reach out to some of these insurgent group, see if it's even possible to make contact. But in many cases, they simply don't know who's holding these hostages. So it remains very, very tough business.
HEMMER: Which brings us to another point. What is the U.S. military doing to track these people down?
STARR: That is a tough question. We've asked that repeatedly over the last several days.
There -- to all indications, there is nothing new, no sudden secret initiative, any of it. They are continuing to collect intelligence. They reach out to third parties in the Iraqi community to see if anybody knows anything. They continue to conduct strikes against insurgents, where they find them.
But I must tell you, all of the officials we speak to at the Pentagon expressing a lot of frustration, a lot of sadness about what is going on in Iraq, about the tragedy of the hostage situation. And, you know, General John Abizaid is going to be on Capitol Hill later today, briefing senators and congressmen behind closed doors.
He is going to be asked an awful lot about this. A lot of indication that General Abizaid is going to tell Congress behind closed doors it's very tough business in Iraq right now.
HEMMER: Thank you, Barbara. Barbara Starr, thanks for your report there at the Pentagon -- Heidi.
COLLINS: President Bush wants the U.N.'s help, but he didn't back off his decision to invade Iraq when he spoke to world leaders yesterday. The U.N. speech also became a convenient political platform to fend off some of John Kerry's latest attacks.
John King is in New York covering the Bush campaign now for us this morning.
Good morning to you, John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Heidi.
And the morning after that speech, more diplomacy, a break from the campaign trail for the president for a few hours. He will be back out campaigning in Pennsylvania by early this afternoon.
Mr. Bush meeting this morning with another man he says is a key ally in the war on terrorism. You see him right here, President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan.
No questions, no comments at all from the leaders this morning. Mr. Bush trying to make the case in his diplomacy here in New York and then out on the campaign trail that he is, indeed, making progress in the war on terrorism. It has become the campaign's defining issue.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING (voice-over): Six weeks to election day here at home, Mr. Bush deflected a question about GOP critics of his Iraq policy, saying the Republicans raising those questions still preferred him over Democrat John Kerry.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My opponent has taken so many different positions on Iraq that his statements are hardly credible at all.
KING: Senator Kerry calls Mr. Bush's Iraq policy a colossal failure and says it is the president who has lost credibility as Iraq spirals into chaos. This campaign debate raises the stakes of Prime Minister Allawi's visit, which includes a speech to Congress on Thursday. Mr. Bush is banking on help, convincing Americans that the insurgency will be crushed and a new democracy born.
IYAD ALLAWI, IRAQI INTERIM PRIME MINISTER: We are winning. We are making progress in Iraq. We are defeating terrorists.
KING: Mr. Bush posed with the cameras for Kofi Annan just days after the U.N. secretary-general labeled the Iraq war illegal. As he opened this year's General Assembly, Mr. Annan was less pointed, but again critical.
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: Every nation that proclaims a rule of law at home must respect it abroad.
KING: Mr. Bush followed soon after, and defended his decision to go to war, though it was clear most in the audience did not agree. And while voicing optimism about Iraq's future, the president was more candid about political and security problems in both Afghanistan and Iraq than he tends to be in more upbeat campaign speeches.
BUSH: But these difficulties will not shake our conviction that the future of Afghanistan and Iraq is a future of liberty. The proper response to difficulty is not to retreat; it is to prevail.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Now, on the issue of whether there should be a release or will be a release of these female prisoners in Iraq, a senior administration official telling us this morning, "There is no negotiation with terrorists." This official saying that perhaps those female prisoners and others could be released soon, but the official insisting they will not be released imminently because of the signal that might send to those holding now a Briton captive and those who have beheaded two Americans in the past 24 hours -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Such a tough situation there, John. Wondering, though, after the violence that we're hearing about even this morning again in Iraq, do you think the president made any headway at the U.N.? Is there any chance of international support now?
KING: He has certainly made no head way in convincing people who were opposed to the war to change their opinion. The key question now is, can he get nations to at least provide in the short term some security help to the United Nations, which is reluctant to send in more election monitors into Iraq right now?
The White House saying the United Nations has an obligation to help with those elections, and of course the security situation is dicey. The White House is expecting no substantial help from any other countries from a long-term commitment.
It would like a short-term commitment. And it says, primarily, if the leaders aren't going to listen to President Bush, they should listen to the new interim prime minister of Iraq, Mr. Allawi. He addresses the General Assembly on Friday.
COLLINS: Yes he does. All right. John King, thanks so much this morning.
HEMMER: Want to check back in on the weather. East of the Mississippi looking pretty good today. The west of the Mississippi, a bit of a different morning. Back to Chad on that.
Good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Certainly a tale of two states or two countries, there, Bill.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Chad, don't go far. Back to you in a moment. "Eye on Hurricanes," your series, starts today.
Question today, why has Florida been hit so hard and other states dodge the bullet? Or do they for long? A look at that.
COLLINS: Some of those states on the water, too.
HEMMER: Yes, very true. Back with that in a moment.
COLLINS: Also ahead, the fallout from the CBS document scandal. But who stands to lose the most? It may not be Dan Rather.
HEMMER: Also, the man picked to head the CIA one step closer now to getting that job. There are some critics, though, who say he is too partisan. We'll talk to one of them, Jay Rockefeller from West Virginia, ahead here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Porter Goss, the president's choice for CIA director, now one step closer to confirmation today. The Senate Intelligence Committee approved the Goss nomination yesterday. This despite Senator Jay Rockefeller's vote against him.
The senator from West Virginia with us from Capitol Hill.
And Senator, welcome back. Good morning to you.
SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D), WEST VIRGINIA: Good morning.
HEMMER: Why is Porter Goss not the man for this job?
ROCKEFELLER: I hope he -- I hope he will be. I hope very, very much that he will be a good CIA director.
The country needs a good CIA director. But in the National Security Act under our laws, a CIA director cannot have a partisan approach. Has to be independent, has to be able to speak the truth to the president, tell the president when he's wrong on matters.
And Porter Goss, as much as he knows about intelligence, as fine a human being as he is, has a long history in the Intelligence Committee of the House of being very partisan and very specifically partisan on the House about the Democrats in general, saying the Democrats have a cultural disdain for intelligence, as well as John Kerry. And so I can't in conscience vote for him, but I can in conscience hope that he proves me wrong. And I've told him that.
HEMMER: You mentioned the partisan issue a couple of times in your answer. Here's how he addressed that yesterday in that committee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PORTER GOSS, CIA DIRECTOR NOMINEE: For the great majority of my life, I don't believe I made a single partisan speech. Of course there have been times on partisan issues. I've been on the Rules Committee, as you very well know. We have a lot of partisan votes, and I've had to support those partisan votes on the Rules Committee.
But on the things that count, the things that are not just the interplay between the two agendas of the two parties, there's only one flag in the room, and it's that flag back there. And we all know that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Does that argument not fly with you?
ROCKEFELLER: That argument is what I hope will be and become Porter Goss, because he will be the next CIA director. But I cannot -- Bill, I simply cannot do something based upon a promise for the future.
I mean, the record is very, very clear on this. I have volumes of statements that he's made. And I take no joy in my position. But I have a responsibility on the Intelligence Committee.
And there will be a debate about it today on the floor. And I will speak on it. But he and I have had private communications.
I want to be able to work with him. I don't know how it is that one changes from 15 years of partisanship, all of a sudden to none whatsoever, working for, I think, quite a partisan president. But, you know, I will vote against him based upon his record because that's the only judgment I have.
HEMMER: If I could, at the top of your answer you said he will be the next CIA director. Do you believe he will be approved by the Senate?
ROCKEFELLER: Yes, he'll -- yes. Yes.
HEMMER: All right. Senator, thank you for your time this morning from Capitol Hill.
ROCKEFELLER: Thank you.
HEMMER: We'll watch it from here -- Heidi.
ROCKEFELLER: OK.
COLLINS: Time now for Jack once again and his "Question of the Day."
Good morning.
CAFFERTY: Thanks, Heidi.
We're talking about those phony CBS documents. Joe Lockhart, a high-ranking member of the Kerry campaign, admits that he talked to Bill Burkett, who's the man responsible for giving those documents to CBS. A conversation that was arranged by CBS producer Mary Mapes. But Lockhart insists they didn't discuss the documents in question; they talked about other stuff.
At the end of the day, though, it could be the Kerry campaign that has the most to lose this thing, right after Mary Mapes, who, it's my guess, will not survive all this. That's the producer in the middle of this whole thing. And she may wind up being the sacrificial lamb in this thing before it's over.
The question is this: Has the CBS scandal damaged the Kerry campaign? Nancy in Appleton, Wisconsin, writes: "It wouldn't damage anyone's campaign if you would shut up about it. Can you spell issue?"
R in Sable River, Nova Scotia, "Yes, this should hurt Kerry's campaign. And no amount of spin should reduce the seriousness of this smear. If this was Rush Limbaugh who did this, the media would have crucified him and moved to take him off the air."
Frank in Bloomington, Minnesota, "The CBS report should only effect the credibility of CBS and the media at large. Kerry is hurting the Kerry campaign. It would be nice to see him come up with some of his own ideas. As Jay Leno said, he has a four-point plan for every position."
And finally, Celia in Lawrence, Kansas, "No. If guilt by conversation were the standard, Tom DeLay would be out of office for talking to corporate contributors, President Bush would be impeached because of his friendship with Ken Lay, and Jack Cafferty would lose his job because he communicates with nut cakes who respond to his 'Question of the Day' each day."
HEMMER: Nut cakes.
CAFFERTY: She does make her point.
HEMMER: Yes.
COLLINS: I do wonder, though, if it will come up in these debates. I mean, I wonder if there will be a question thrown to them.
CAFFERTY: I wonder if anything's going to come up in these debates. I get the sense this stuff has been so sanitized and prearranged and rehearsed and -- and -- and fiddled with that we're not going to get anything out of these debates but a bunch of posturing and generalizations and garbage. That would be my guess. I hope I'm wrong.
HEMMER: That's a fact, Jack. So the entire debate, 90 minutes, or whatever is going to be televised...
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: ... hinges on one statement or one quote or one body reaction. You can ask Al Gore about that from 2000.
CAFFERTY: It's just nonsense. I mean, you're supposed to have a debate. Let them get in the room and talk about the issues.
HEMMER: But the one thing the "60 Minutes" story does, it keeps Kerry off his own message for another day or another two days, which has been consistent for weeks now.
CAFFERTY: Well, and it keeps -- and it keeps the spotlight off some of the perceived failings of the incumbent presidency as well. I mean, neither of these guys -- for the moment, it's all about the CBS document gig. Nobody is looking at whether or not these guys are doing anything for the people at large.
HEMMER: Eight days away for that debate, by the way.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: All right. Jack, thanks.
Still to come this morning, Kelly Wallace brings us part three of her weeklong series, "Promises, Promises."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE (voice-over): Vote with your wallet? The economy is a top issue, but with a ballooning deficit, how much can the candidates really do about your taxes? Part three of our weeklong series, "Promises, Promises" ahead this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Now to our "Eye on Hurricanes" series. August set a record for the most named storms in the same month. September had its share as well, with Florida the hardest hit.
Why is the Sunshine State so unlucky when it comes to wild weather? And why do other coastal areas appear to be in the safe zone?
Chad Myers is at the CNN Center with details on all of this.
A lot of people probably asking that very same question -- Chad.
MYERS: You know, is it luck, is it unluck? Is it whatever?
I'll tell you what, we look at these computer models all the time. And sometimes it is like looking at a bowl of spaghetti. These things are going all different ways.
Obviously, hurricanes are fickle. But are they random?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MYERS (voice-over): From Mississippi to the Caribbean and the Carolinas, some areas seem to be hurricane havens. So far this year, it's Florida's turn.
Mother Nature slapped the Sunshine State with three strong storms within a month. Charley sliced the state from the southwest, Frances forced millions to flee from the east, then Ivan struck the panhandle. But the Sunshine State is not alone.
The Carolina coast breaks the record with some 30 hurricanes making landfall over the past 100 years. And let's not neglect the Gulf. Last week, Hurricane Ivan devastated the Mississippi and Alabama coast lines, too. But some of the worst destruction this year was felt in the Caribbean, in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Cuba, Jamaica and Grand Cayman. It will take months or years for the islands to recover from the multiple hurricane that have swept in from the Atlantic.
Not surprisingly, a map of hurricane activity from the U.S. Geological Survey clearly shows that the Eastern Seaboard and the Gulf Coast regions are high-risk areas for hurricanes. Even states as far north as New York have felt the slap of a passing storm. But some cities seem to wear a lucky charm.
New Orleans has not had a direct hit by a major hurricane since it was struck by Betsy in 1965. And Savannah, on the coast of Georgia, dodged every major hurricane in the 20th century.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MYERS: And tomorrow we're going to take a look at why this year, why 2004? Is it our imagination, El Nino, global warning, some type of series of events?
We have a shot at setting a new record for Atlantic storms this year. So far, 12.
Lisa is number 12 and Matthew is not that far behind. The record is 19. We are only 11 days past halfway. A lot more of this season still to come.
COLLINS: Oh, that's depressing to think about. All right. Chat Myers, thanks so much for that.
Still to come this morning, the Wednesday edition of "90-Second Pop."
(MUSIC)
COLLINS: Oops, she did it again. Britney gets hitched once more. But she's got a big safety net this time.
Plus, the "Star Wars" trilogy finally comes to a galaxy near you on DVD. So why are some fans so unhappy?
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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