Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

'What's In It For Me?'; Iraqi Reaction to State of the Union Speech; Bush, Religious Right

Aired February 03, 2005 - 07:29   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. It's just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. You're looking at some really fantastic shots of the Canon Office Building. Some congressmen and women have their offices right here. I am at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. this morning.
There is an important prayer breakfast going on in Washington this morning. The Reverend Franklin Graham is our guest. He's going to talk about what President Bush had to say last night to the nation, and also he'll tell us a little bit more about the prayer breakfast. He's not attending this year, but he certainly has led prayers in past years -- Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, thanks.

Back here, we're looking at Jacksonville this hour, hosting the Super Bowl this weekend, a mid-sized town, too, and a massive undertaking for a city of this size. We'll talk to the mayor, John Peyton, where all the guests are going to stay and all about that high-tech security plans to try and keep them safe, 100,000 invading Jacksonville Super Bowl Sunday three days away and counting.

Back to the headlines in the meantime. Here is Carol Costello with me here in New York.

Good morning -- Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Bill. Good morning to all of you.

"Now in the News."

The Vatican says Pope John Paul II is improving this morning. The announcement coming in the past hour as groups of supporters continue to hold vigils for the pontiff. He was rushed to the hospital on Tuesday with breathing problems and was said to be suffering from the flu. The 84-year-old pope, who also has Parkinson's disease, was last seen in public on Sunday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expressing his condolences to the families of Georgia's prime minister. Georgia's prime minister and his deputy were found dead this morning after an apparent accidental gas poisoning. Officials say there will be an investigation.

New details from a panel investigating the United Nations oil- for-food program in Iraq. The committee's Chairman, Paul Volker, cites his concerns in an op-ed article published today in "The Wall Street Journal." He reportedly blames the program's top administrator for its poor management and cites problems with the program's hiring policy and its audit process. Details of the preliminary report are set for release this afternoon.

And the L.A. Lakers are looking for a brand-new head coach. Rudy Tomjanovich walking away from a 5-year $13 million contract. He cites physical and emotional difficulties -- quote-- "The wear and tear of doing this business." The assistant coach, Frank Hamlin, is temporarily stepping in. And, Bill, there are rumors that Phil Jackson might return.

HEMMER: Oh, you think so?

COSTELLO: He's at the top of the list apparently.

HEMMER: That would be a heck of a story, wouldn't it? The NBA could use a good story at this point, too.

Thank you, Carol. I'll talk to you later.

HEMMER: So then, how is the State of the Union address playing with average Americans? We're revisiting that topic with some of the people who took part in our recent series called "What's In It For Me?" Kelly Wallace is on duty there, back with us this morning.

You were late last night.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, we were up late last night.

HEMMER: Good morning.

WALLACE: That panel likes to talk and talk and talk. They told us yesterday, of course, what they wanted to hear from the president. So, we got them together last night, and we asked them if they liked what they heard. We also asked them if the president changed any minds.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our generation has been blessed.

WALLACE (voice over): In a conference room at CNN, they watched, listened and shared their opinions along the way. And when it was over?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Home run. I wanted him to succeed, and I wanted to be proud of him as my president tonight. And I was.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was hoping for more detail on things like women's issues and health care. But he only had a certain amount of time.

WALLACE: As the president spoke, Bob Agnes, a retiree, tracked just how much time he spent on every subject.

BOB AGNES, RETIREE: The biggest single issue was Social Security, which was a little over five minutes he spent on that.

BUSH: Because our children's retirement security is more important than partisan politics.

WALLACE (on camera): Anyone here confident, really confident, that the Democrats and the Republicans will agree on Social Security reform during the president's second term?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm confident they'll agree that there's a problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whether or not they'll reach a decisive...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Plan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... plan, yes, is another story.

WALLACE (voice over): Roseanne Salinitri (ph), a conservative, said she's still nervous about the president's message of spreading freedom around the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he stepped back a little bit and said he wasn't going to impose our ideals on other people. But yet in the next sentence, he goes forward and he talks about that again. And it still makes me a little bit uneasy.

WALLACE: Their biggest disagreement was over the speech's most emotional moment, the hug between a mother of a fallen soldier in Iraq and an Iraqi woman who voted for the first time. Bob and Ilana thought a State of the Union speech was not the place for such a tribute. Dawn, whose husband just returned from Iraq, disagreed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those families need that recognition. They need that. That's their time to be acknowledged, to be thanked. It also helps them through the grieving process.

WALLACE: In the end, they all hoped the president would reach out. And they think he did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the best part of the whole night was when he kissed Joe Lieberman.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And that was a moment that really delighted our panel. And we can say our panel really delighted us. A huge thanks to them for all of the time they spent with us, Bill. And what we told them is we're going to check back with them periodically from time to time, get their thoughts on the presidential agenda, and then come back and tell you what they think.

HEMMER: And the reactions on the emotion at the end of the speech were very interesting, too.

WALLACE: One, Ilana (ph) thought particularly maybe politics was there. But then Bob thought that perhaps you should have had a separate event for a memorial for the fallen soldiers, not that event. But you saw the passionate response from others. They felt that it was a moment that was unscripted, and that the president responded.

HEMMER: Thank you, Kelly. Talk to you later.

WALLACE: OK.

HEMMER: We want to get to Iraq right now. In that address last night, the president says he will not be able to set a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, claiming it would -- quote -- "embolden the terrorists."

Nic Robertson is in Baghdad with more reaction to the speech there. He joins us live.

Nic -- hello.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill.

Well, certainly that was a divisive issue amongst Iraqis we talked to today, the suggestion that there is not going to be a concrete timeframe for the pullout of troops.

One man told us that he thought that that was a good idea, because he said that he didn't know what the security situation was going to be like in Iraq over the next few years. And, therefore, Iraq needs U.S. forces here.

But while our producer was talking to him on the street, another group of people joined him. And they got in a very heated debate. Other people put in and said, look, while the United States troops are here in Iraq, this gives a legitimacy to insurgents who claim this is a foreign occupation, and that they'll fight against it. Therefore, he said, as long as U.S. troops are here, the battles will go on, and innocent Iraqis will be injured.

Somebody else joining the conversation said the very fact that U.S. troops remain means that the Sunni people here, the Sunni Muslims, will not participate in the political process. And certainly that happened over the weekend with the elections. The Sunnis had a low turnout.

This man said that as long as U.S. troops are here, Sunnis stay out of the political process because their leaders are telling them that there's an occupation and U.S. troops are here. This will exacerbate differences over the long run between the Sunni Muslim community and the Shia Muslim community. And as far as that man was concerned that was a bad situation in the long run for Iraq.

Another issue President Bush said, a new face for U.S. troops here focusing on training Iraqi security forces. All of those people we talked to today said that that was a good idea; that the U.S. troops should, as President Bush said, begin training of the Iraqi security forces much more aggressively -- Bill.

HEMMER: Nic, if I could while I have you, and quickly now, back to yesterday a second. Everyone in Iraq is reporting how quiet the day was yesterday. Some are suggesting there were zero reported incidents of attacks against coalition forces. What explains this, Nic?

ROBERTSON: Bill, I think perhaps if we look back at yesterday, maybe we go back a couple of days, that perhaps the offensive operations by Iraqi security forces, U.S. forces here to tamp down insurgent action around the time of the elections paid off in the aftermath of the elections. But the reports that have come in today now refer to incidents yesterday. And we've now had reported that two Marines from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force were killed in that western in the Sunni Triangle province of al Anbar.

We've heard as well that last night 12 new Iraqi recruits were taken off their bus returning from training. They were unarmed and they were all gunned down and killed. Two more Iraqi army personnel off-duty at home, unarmed in civilian clothes in Baghdad, were killed last night. That period of perhaps a lull may be over at the moment -- Bill.

HEMMER: And the battle continues. Thanks, Nic. Nic Robertson in Baghdad.

Back to Washington now with more with Soledad there.

O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks.

Across town, the National Prayer Breakfast gets under way in just about half an hour. Most congressional leaders are expected, as well as President Bush, who will speak in about an hour from now. Many evangelicals are looking for the president to repay them, in a way, for their support during the election.

Reverend Franklin Graham was named as one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in the country by "TIME" magazine. He joins us this morning to talk a little bit about the relationships with the administration and the evangelicals.

Nice to see you, sir. Thanks for chatting with us this morning.

REV. FRANKLIN GRAHAM, PRES., CEO, BILLY GRAHAM EVANGELICAL ASSN.: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Before we talk about the prayer breakfast, let's talk about the president's speech. What did you think of it?

GRAHAM: I thought it was probably one of the best that he's given. He's very confident, very strong. I liked it. I know there's going to be some debate about Social Security. And the Congress will work those things out with the president. But I really believe that he's got this nation going in the right direction. O'BRIEN: He said a couple of things of obviously great interest and importance to the constituency that you represent, the evangelicals, as we mentioned. He talked a little bit about same-sex marriage. He talked a little bit about the stem cell research as well. Let's play first what the president had to say, and then we'll talk about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because marriage is a sacred institution and the foundation of society, it should not be redefined by activist judges. For the good of families, children and society, I support a constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage. I will work with Congress to ensure that human embryos are not created for experimentation or grown for body parts, and that human life is never bought or sold as a commodity. America will continue to lead the world in medical research that is ambitious, aggressive and always ethical.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Was that enough for you? I mean, to some degree, that was kind of it on those two and in a fairly long speech.

GRAHAM: Right.

O'BRIEN: And not only for you, but other evangelicals and the Christian right that really supported the president takes a lot of credit for putting him into office.

GRAHAM: Yes, but, Soledad, there are so many issues that the president is dealing with. And the president can only mention so much in a speech. I believe that he will be -- I believe he'll keep his word what he promised the American people during the election process. And he will do that. I really believe.

But I also realize he can't work magic. There is a whole Congress that has to go along with him. And he's going to do his best, I believe, to implement what he's promised. He's a man of integrity. I trust him. And I think he's going to do the best that he can to carry out his promises.

O'BRIEN: To some degree, though, it's a little bit of a zero-sum game. In other words, if you're going to spend a lot of energy and time and political capital on Social Security, if you're going to try to reform taxes, if you're going to look into immigration, and these are all -- I mean, and the list goes on and on and on and on from last night's speech.

GRAHAM: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Some things are going to get squeezed out. And while you say he's not a miracle worker, at the same time, again, I think there's a constituency that says we put you in office. It was very much our support that led the way to getting in. GRAHAM: Well, listen, there are millions of Americans that voted for him that weren't evangelicals, that weren't Christians. No question I think people of faith, all faiths, voted for him. They saw things that he said, what he represented that they liked.

Now, he has to represent all Americans. He doesn't owe me anything. We owe him. As a minister of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, it's my duty to pray for the president, to pray for those that are in authority, and to ask that God will, you know, guide and direct every step that they take. But he doesn't owe me anything. But I owe him my prayers and my support as he guides and directs this nation each day.

I'm a minister. Of course, I believe that Jesus Christ is God's son who died on Calvary's cross for my sins. We have a lot of problems in this world. And as a minister of the gospel, I want to do everything I can to help my president to succeed, to help those that are in Congress to succeed. As a Christian, this is my duty, to pray for them and to help them to make those decisions that are pleasing to almighty God in heaven, who's watching over all of us.

O'BRIEN: Before we run out of time, we only have a few seconds left. Tell me the importance of the prayer breakfast. I mean, it is the biggest event, obviously, every Thursday in February.

GRAHAM: It's huge. It's huge. And it is a great event. People from all over the world, leaders come from, this year I think it's 160 different nations. You have the Congress there, Democrats, Republicans. Politics is set aside, and...

O'BRIEN: Kind of.

GRAHAM: ... they are asking for God's blessing for this nation and it's a great occasion.

O'BRIEN: Reverend Franklin Graham, nice to see you. Thanks for coming and talking with us, because I know you should be getting seated about now for the prayer breakfast. We certainly appreciate it.

GRAHAM: Thank you, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Let's head now to weather.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Apple's seemingly invincible iPod may have found some worthy competition. We'll check that out in a moment here, "Minding Your Business." And security for that big game on Sunday, Jacksonville with a very unique challenge. We'll talk to the mayor live in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: A music service has come up with a new way to challenge the popular iPod. That's our first check of "Minding Your Business." Once again, here's Gerri Willis working for Andy Serwer this morning.

Good morning -- Gerri.

GERRIE WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning.

HEMMER: This is the best thing going today. I mean, it's...

GRAHAM: The iPod, yes.

HEMMER: Not slowing down, are they?

WILLIS: Oh, it's fantastic, I've got to tell you. But other people are seeing this business model and they are thinking they want a piece of the action, namely, Napster. Do you remember the file- swapping Website?

HEMMER: Oh, I sure do, yes.

WILLIS: It got in trouble with the government. It got shut down. You probably saw that. Well, they want a piece of iPod's action as well, and they're launching a rival Web site that they're going to advertise during the Super Bowl with a $30 million ad campaign.

Here's how it works. You pay 14.95 a month for unlimited downloading, a very attractive thing. But I've got to tell you. Here's my question: Do you have an iPod?

HEMMER: I sure do, yes.

WILLIS: Do you love it?

HEMMER: Thirty gigs.

WILLIS: Oh, you got the big one.

HEMMER: Yes. Well, not the biggest one, but it has more music than I ever need actually, yes.

WILLIS: But it's not just the fact that you can get the music. It's also a product that's really well-designed. It's attractive. It's almost like jewelry for people. Do you know what I mean? You want to use your iPod. So, I'm wondering if this is actually going to even work.

I saw something on the Web the other day. People are buying those little white earpieces and putting it on other kinds of music download players to use it, because they want it to look like an iPod.

HEMMER: It's kind of a fashion statement, isn't it? Well, you have Dell challenging Apple now on this. You have Microsoft challenging them a little bit, too. But so far as we can tell, they are not cutting the market share at all when it comes to Apple's dominance.

WILLIS: I've got to tell you. And it's interesting because they are charging 99 cents for every song that you download as opposed to this 14.95 a month option that's going to be out there. It's interesting to see whether they can maintain this edge at that price point.

HEMMER: Sure. Sure. And I thought Napster went out of business.

WILLIS: Well, you know, they're a company in search of a business model, and I think they think they've found it.

HEMMER: Good deal. Thank you, Gerri. We'll talk to you next hour.

WILLIS: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: We want to get to Jacksonville, Florida, right now. We're standing by to talk with the mayor, who has an enormous job, not just today, but over the next three days as we get ready for the Super Bowl. More than 100,000 are invading that northern Florida city for the single-biggest sporting event of the year. Jacksonville is a mid- sized town. How then will it handle the challenge?

In our "CNN Security Watch" today, we're talking with the mayor. John Peyton is my guest now in Jacksonville.

Good morning, Mr. Mayor. Congratulations to you so far so good.

MAYOR JOHN PEYTON, JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA: Good morning.

HEMMER: You have a very unique challenge in your town, Mr. Mayor. The St. Johns River runs past the stadium. It runs through downtown. How is this challenge being met in terms of keeping things safe?

PEYTON: Well, you know, we've used this river as an asset. You know, we're a smaller market, the smallest market to host an event of this size. And our biggest challenge was room capacity. And it was this river that allowed us to bring in, you know, five cruise ships. We'll be actually sleeping about 7,000 people on this beautiful river, which is our great resource and it compliments our skyline.

The river is really the gathering place. But with that, of course, Bill, comes security implications. And this is a new dynamic for a Super Bowl event.

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: Let me get back to the cruise ships in a moment here. And I apologize for interrupting you. But you won this bid before the attacks of 9/11, is that right?

PEYTON: That's exactly right.

HEMMER: A lot of your planning came after the events of 9/11. How have you met that challenge? And what did you have to meet there? PEYTON: Well, of course, the implications on the budget were immense. You know, when we prepared our bid, it was really about crowd management. And then after the 9/11 event, the world changed. And, of course, that had huge impacts on this event.

We're actually coordinating now with 39 agencies to keep this area safe. And there are all kinds, between the skies, the water, under the water, the banks of the St. Johns River. The security is pretty impressive. And I've been really impressed with those who have been working on it. I think this is probably going to be one of the safest places in America.

HEMMER: Well, I hope you're right on that. Because it's the Super Bowl, have you been in contact with homeland security offices?

PEYTON: Absolutely. I've made -- personally, I've made three trips to Washington. I've been talking to homeland security. And, of course, our sheriff's office is the lead agency here, FBI, the Coast Guard, Marine Patrol. You just can't imagine layer after layer after layer. Keeping this city safe has been a priority and a huge budget item, I might add, too.

HEMMER: And the reason why I asked that question, have you been informed about any threats leveled against your town?

PEYTON: I am not aware of any threats at this point.

HEMMER: What do you think the Super Bowl does for Jacksonville? Sunday comes and goes. It's Monday, and the headline is everything came off without a hitch.

PEYTON: Right. Well, you know, Bill, this market is smaller than most markets. And Jacksonville is largely unknown nationwide. So, naturally, having this type of exposure we think could lead to great economic opportunity. We're expecting a billion viewers, you know, 100,000 visitors plus, 200 countries represented, 26 languages. And it's just hard to quantify the impact of that type of exposure.

One thing we know is when people come to Jacksonville, they usually like what they see, and they want to come back. This is a great place to live, a great quality of life, a strong economy. And on a biased side, we've got a great government that's real business- friendly.

HEMMER: Hey, good luck to you. I'm staying on one of those cruise ships, too, and I'm looking forward to it. John Peyton is the mayor down in Jacksonville.

PEYTON: Excellent. Enjoy your stay.

HEMMER: We'll see you this weekend, OK.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Here's Soledad again in Washington. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Bill.

Well, President Bush talked last night about Social Security and the war in Iraq. But our Jeff Greenfield says one topic seemed to kind of come out of left field. That's coming up in our next hour. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING live from Capitol Hill.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Back to Jack, the "Question of the Day."

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it was pointed out, and I think it was the first time since I've been doing this show, I mean, I forgot to ask the question at 7:00. Did you know that? Yes, so did all of the people downstairs. Hey, look, you know, it...

HEMMER: Do you want to do a redo?

CAFFERTY: Well, I got busy talking about the politicians, and I just forgot. Anyway, the game is on. Here's the deal. Social Security will go broke. It's just a matter of when. Some people say it's not going to be for a very long time. We don't have to do anything.

President Bush wants to change the program, though. He wants to create individual investment accounts, take some money out of the government's hands, give it back to the taxpayers, which I think is always a wonderful idea. Guys like Senator Harry Reid from Nevada, though, they're howling already. Can't do it. Won't do it. Dead on arrival. Forget about it.

The upcoming fight among the politicians on this issue will be breathtaking, and I can't wait to watch.

Here's the question: Will President Bush succeed in reforming Social Security? My apologizes for eliminating that part earlier. Here's some of the mail.

Steve in Staten Island: "I hope he's successful as I need to know that Social Security will be there for me. I'm not sure what the right answer is to fix it. But it certainly must be done. If the liberal Democrats are so afraid to touch it, why not let President Bush at least try? If he fails, they win. If he succeeds, then we all win."

John in -- how do you say that town in Florida?

HEMMER: Ochapee (ph), it looks like, yes.

CAFFERTY: Oh, this is -- I had a problem with another one the other day. John in Ochapee (ph) or Ochopee (ph), Florida: "Just keep the government's greedy hands out of the pockets of Social Security. If they'd repay with interest what they've already stolen, there wouldn't be any problem."

John understands it.

Jay in Glenview, Illinois: "The Democratic response given by Barbie and Ken's grandparents convinced me that in lieu of opposing ideas of the real debate, the president will succeed with his plan."

Allen in Newark, Delaware: "Jack, the Democrats have proven they can be rude and obstructionist. Now let's see if they can get on board and make some positive contributions to the overhaul of Social Security. Don't they understand we need them to be part of this or it will be written entirely by one side of the social spectrum?"

And Doug in New Jersey: "Mr. Bush may get to tweak a few details on Social Security, but his desire to spend $2 trillion on transition costs for privatization will never fly. Sorry, Wall Street, you'll just have to make money the old-fashioned way."

HEMMER: You know, for a guy who didn't ask a question, you did pretty well there.

CAFFERTY: Who is that?

HEMMER: Pretty astute viewers. You did.

CAFFERTY: Oh, these are great.

HEMMER: They just jumped right on it.

CAFFERTY: These are great. I should send these people part of my check every week. I won't, but I should, because...

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

HEMMER: Here's Soledad back in D.C.

O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks.

Well, President Bush touched on some important issues to evangelicals last night. But was it enough to satisfy the base? The president might try to make up for it this morning. We've got live coverage of his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast. That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.


Aired February 3, 2005 - 07:29   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. It's just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. You're looking at some really fantastic shots of the Canon Office Building. Some congressmen and women have their offices right here. I am at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. this morning.
There is an important prayer breakfast going on in Washington this morning. The Reverend Franklin Graham is our guest. He's going to talk about what President Bush had to say last night to the nation, and also he'll tell us a little bit more about the prayer breakfast. He's not attending this year, but he certainly has led prayers in past years -- Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, thanks.

Back here, we're looking at Jacksonville this hour, hosting the Super Bowl this weekend, a mid-sized town, too, and a massive undertaking for a city of this size. We'll talk to the mayor, John Peyton, where all the guests are going to stay and all about that high-tech security plans to try and keep them safe, 100,000 invading Jacksonville Super Bowl Sunday three days away and counting.

Back to the headlines in the meantime. Here is Carol Costello with me here in New York.

Good morning -- Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Bill. Good morning to all of you.

"Now in the News."

The Vatican says Pope John Paul II is improving this morning. The announcement coming in the past hour as groups of supporters continue to hold vigils for the pontiff. He was rushed to the hospital on Tuesday with breathing problems and was said to be suffering from the flu. The 84-year-old pope, who also has Parkinson's disease, was last seen in public on Sunday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expressing his condolences to the families of Georgia's prime minister. Georgia's prime minister and his deputy were found dead this morning after an apparent accidental gas poisoning. Officials say there will be an investigation.

New details from a panel investigating the United Nations oil- for-food program in Iraq. The committee's Chairman, Paul Volker, cites his concerns in an op-ed article published today in "The Wall Street Journal." He reportedly blames the program's top administrator for its poor management and cites problems with the program's hiring policy and its audit process. Details of the preliminary report are set for release this afternoon.

And the L.A. Lakers are looking for a brand-new head coach. Rudy Tomjanovich walking away from a 5-year $13 million contract. He cites physical and emotional difficulties -- quote-- "The wear and tear of doing this business." The assistant coach, Frank Hamlin, is temporarily stepping in. And, Bill, there are rumors that Phil Jackson might return.

HEMMER: Oh, you think so?

COSTELLO: He's at the top of the list apparently.

HEMMER: That would be a heck of a story, wouldn't it? The NBA could use a good story at this point, too.

Thank you, Carol. I'll talk to you later.

HEMMER: So then, how is the State of the Union address playing with average Americans? We're revisiting that topic with some of the people who took part in our recent series called "What's In It For Me?" Kelly Wallace is on duty there, back with us this morning.

You were late last night.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, we were up late last night.

HEMMER: Good morning.

WALLACE: That panel likes to talk and talk and talk. They told us yesterday, of course, what they wanted to hear from the president. So, we got them together last night, and we asked them if they liked what they heard. We also asked them if the president changed any minds.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our generation has been blessed.

WALLACE (voice over): In a conference room at CNN, they watched, listened and shared their opinions along the way. And when it was over?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Home run. I wanted him to succeed, and I wanted to be proud of him as my president tonight. And I was.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was hoping for more detail on things like women's issues and health care. But he only had a certain amount of time.

WALLACE: As the president spoke, Bob Agnes, a retiree, tracked just how much time he spent on every subject.

BOB AGNES, RETIREE: The biggest single issue was Social Security, which was a little over five minutes he spent on that.

BUSH: Because our children's retirement security is more important than partisan politics.

WALLACE (on camera): Anyone here confident, really confident, that the Democrats and the Republicans will agree on Social Security reform during the president's second term?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm confident they'll agree that there's a problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whether or not they'll reach a decisive...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Plan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... plan, yes, is another story.

WALLACE (voice over): Roseanne Salinitri (ph), a conservative, said she's still nervous about the president's message of spreading freedom around the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he stepped back a little bit and said he wasn't going to impose our ideals on other people. But yet in the next sentence, he goes forward and he talks about that again. And it still makes me a little bit uneasy.

WALLACE: Their biggest disagreement was over the speech's most emotional moment, the hug between a mother of a fallen soldier in Iraq and an Iraqi woman who voted for the first time. Bob and Ilana thought a State of the Union speech was not the place for such a tribute. Dawn, whose husband just returned from Iraq, disagreed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those families need that recognition. They need that. That's their time to be acknowledged, to be thanked. It also helps them through the grieving process.

WALLACE: In the end, they all hoped the president would reach out. And they think he did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the best part of the whole night was when he kissed Joe Lieberman.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And that was a moment that really delighted our panel. And we can say our panel really delighted us. A huge thanks to them for all of the time they spent with us, Bill. And what we told them is we're going to check back with them periodically from time to time, get their thoughts on the presidential agenda, and then come back and tell you what they think.

HEMMER: And the reactions on the emotion at the end of the speech were very interesting, too.

WALLACE: One, Ilana (ph) thought particularly maybe politics was there. But then Bob thought that perhaps you should have had a separate event for a memorial for the fallen soldiers, not that event. But you saw the passionate response from others. They felt that it was a moment that was unscripted, and that the president responded.

HEMMER: Thank you, Kelly. Talk to you later.

WALLACE: OK.

HEMMER: We want to get to Iraq right now. In that address last night, the president says he will not be able to set a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, claiming it would -- quote -- "embolden the terrorists."

Nic Robertson is in Baghdad with more reaction to the speech there. He joins us live.

Nic -- hello.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill.

Well, certainly that was a divisive issue amongst Iraqis we talked to today, the suggestion that there is not going to be a concrete timeframe for the pullout of troops.

One man told us that he thought that that was a good idea, because he said that he didn't know what the security situation was going to be like in Iraq over the next few years. And, therefore, Iraq needs U.S. forces here.

But while our producer was talking to him on the street, another group of people joined him. And they got in a very heated debate. Other people put in and said, look, while the United States troops are here in Iraq, this gives a legitimacy to insurgents who claim this is a foreign occupation, and that they'll fight against it. Therefore, he said, as long as U.S. troops are here, the battles will go on, and innocent Iraqis will be injured.

Somebody else joining the conversation said the very fact that U.S. troops remain means that the Sunni people here, the Sunni Muslims, will not participate in the political process. And certainly that happened over the weekend with the elections. The Sunnis had a low turnout.

This man said that as long as U.S. troops are here, Sunnis stay out of the political process because their leaders are telling them that there's an occupation and U.S. troops are here. This will exacerbate differences over the long run between the Sunni Muslim community and the Shia Muslim community. And as far as that man was concerned that was a bad situation in the long run for Iraq.

Another issue President Bush said, a new face for U.S. troops here focusing on training Iraqi security forces. All of those people we talked to today said that that was a good idea; that the U.S. troops should, as President Bush said, begin training of the Iraqi security forces much more aggressively -- Bill.

HEMMER: Nic, if I could while I have you, and quickly now, back to yesterday a second. Everyone in Iraq is reporting how quiet the day was yesterday. Some are suggesting there were zero reported incidents of attacks against coalition forces. What explains this, Nic?

ROBERTSON: Bill, I think perhaps if we look back at yesterday, maybe we go back a couple of days, that perhaps the offensive operations by Iraqi security forces, U.S. forces here to tamp down insurgent action around the time of the elections paid off in the aftermath of the elections. But the reports that have come in today now refer to incidents yesterday. And we've now had reported that two Marines from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force were killed in that western in the Sunni Triangle province of al Anbar.

We've heard as well that last night 12 new Iraqi recruits were taken off their bus returning from training. They were unarmed and they were all gunned down and killed. Two more Iraqi army personnel off-duty at home, unarmed in civilian clothes in Baghdad, were killed last night. That period of perhaps a lull may be over at the moment -- Bill.

HEMMER: And the battle continues. Thanks, Nic. Nic Robertson in Baghdad.

Back to Washington now with more with Soledad there.

O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks.

Across town, the National Prayer Breakfast gets under way in just about half an hour. Most congressional leaders are expected, as well as President Bush, who will speak in about an hour from now. Many evangelicals are looking for the president to repay them, in a way, for their support during the election.

Reverend Franklin Graham was named as one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in the country by "TIME" magazine. He joins us this morning to talk a little bit about the relationships with the administration and the evangelicals.

Nice to see you, sir. Thanks for chatting with us this morning.

REV. FRANKLIN GRAHAM, PRES., CEO, BILLY GRAHAM EVANGELICAL ASSN.: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Before we talk about the prayer breakfast, let's talk about the president's speech. What did you think of it?

GRAHAM: I thought it was probably one of the best that he's given. He's very confident, very strong. I liked it. I know there's going to be some debate about Social Security. And the Congress will work those things out with the president. But I really believe that he's got this nation going in the right direction. O'BRIEN: He said a couple of things of obviously great interest and importance to the constituency that you represent, the evangelicals, as we mentioned. He talked a little bit about same-sex marriage. He talked a little bit about the stem cell research as well. Let's play first what the president had to say, and then we'll talk about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because marriage is a sacred institution and the foundation of society, it should not be redefined by activist judges. For the good of families, children and society, I support a constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage. I will work with Congress to ensure that human embryos are not created for experimentation or grown for body parts, and that human life is never bought or sold as a commodity. America will continue to lead the world in medical research that is ambitious, aggressive and always ethical.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Was that enough for you? I mean, to some degree, that was kind of it on those two and in a fairly long speech.

GRAHAM: Right.

O'BRIEN: And not only for you, but other evangelicals and the Christian right that really supported the president takes a lot of credit for putting him into office.

GRAHAM: Yes, but, Soledad, there are so many issues that the president is dealing with. And the president can only mention so much in a speech. I believe that he will be -- I believe he'll keep his word what he promised the American people during the election process. And he will do that. I really believe.

But I also realize he can't work magic. There is a whole Congress that has to go along with him. And he's going to do his best, I believe, to implement what he's promised. He's a man of integrity. I trust him. And I think he's going to do the best that he can to carry out his promises.

O'BRIEN: To some degree, though, it's a little bit of a zero-sum game. In other words, if you're going to spend a lot of energy and time and political capital on Social Security, if you're going to try to reform taxes, if you're going to look into immigration, and these are all -- I mean, and the list goes on and on and on and on from last night's speech.

GRAHAM: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Some things are going to get squeezed out. And while you say he's not a miracle worker, at the same time, again, I think there's a constituency that says we put you in office. It was very much our support that led the way to getting in. GRAHAM: Well, listen, there are millions of Americans that voted for him that weren't evangelicals, that weren't Christians. No question I think people of faith, all faiths, voted for him. They saw things that he said, what he represented that they liked.

Now, he has to represent all Americans. He doesn't owe me anything. We owe him. As a minister of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, it's my duty to pray for the president, to pray for those that are in authority, and to ask that God will, you know, guide and direct every step that they take. But he doesn't owe me anything. But I owe him my prayers and my support as he guides and directs this nation each day.

I'm a minister. Of course, I believe that Jesus Christ is God's son who died on Calvary's cross for my sins. We have a lot of problems in this world. And as a minister of the gospel, I want to do everything I can to help my president to succeed, to help those that are in Congress to succeed. As a Christian, this is my duty, to pray for them and to help them to make those decisions that are pleasing to almighty God in heaven, who's watching over all of us.

O'BRIEN: Before we run out of time, we only have a few seconds left. Tell me the importance of the prayer breakfast. I mean, it is the biggest event, obviously, every Thursday in February.

GRAHAM: It's huge. It's huge. And it is a great event. People from all over the world, leaders come from, this year I think it's 160 different nations. You have the Congress there, Democrats, Republicans. Politics is set aside, and...

O'BRIEN: Kind of.

GRAHAM: ... they are asking for God's blessing for this nation and it's a great occasion.

O'BRIEN: Reverend Franklin Graham, nice to see you. Thanks for coming and talking with us, because I know you should be getting seated about now for the prayer breakfast. We certainly appreciate it.

GRAHAM: Thank you, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Let's head now to weather.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Apple's seemingly invincible iPod may have found some worthy competition. We'll check that out in a moment here, "Minding Your Business." And security for that big game on Sunday, Jacksonville with a very unique challenge. We'll talk to the mayor live in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: A music service has come up with a new way to challenge the popular iPod. That's our first check of "Minding Your Business." Once again, here's Gerri Willis working for Andy Serwer this morning.

Good morning -- Gerri.

GERRIE WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning.

HEMMER: This is the best thing going today. I mean, it's...

GRAHAM: The iPod, yes.

HEMMER: Not slowing down, are they?

WILLIS: Oh, it's fantastic, I've got to tell you. But other people are seeing this business model and they are thinking they want a piece of the action, namely, Napster. Do you remember the file- swapping Website?

HEMMER: Oh, I sure do, yes.

WILLIS: It got in trouble with the government. It got shut down. You probably saw that. Well, they want a piece of iPod's action as well, and they're launching a rival Web site that they're going to advertise during the Super Bowl with a $30 million ad campaign.

Here's how it works. You pay 14.95 a month for unlimited downloading, a very attractive thing. But I've got to tell you. Here's my question: Do you have an iPod?

HEMMER: I sure do, yes.

WILLIS: Do you love it?

HEMMER: Thirty gigs.

WILLIS: Oh, you got the big one.

HEMMER: Yes. Well, not the biggest one, but it has more music than I ever need actually, yes.

WILLIS: But it's not just the fact that you can get the music. It's also a product that's really well-designed. It's attractive. It's almost like jewelry for people. Do you know what I mean? You want to use your iPod. So, I'm wondering if this is actually going to even work.

I saw something on the Web the other day. People are buying those little white earpieces and putting it on other kinds of music download players to use it, because they want it to look like an iPod.

HEMMER: It's kind of a fashion statement, isn't it? Well, you have Dell challenging Apple now on this. You have Microsoft challenging them a little bit, too. But so far as we can tell, they are not cutting the market share at all when it comes to Apple's dominance.

WILLIS: I've got to tell you. And it's interesting because they are charging 99 cents for every song that you download as opposed to this 14.95 a month option that's going to be out there. It's interesting to see whether they can maintain this edge at that price point.

HEMMER: Sure. Sure. And I thought Napster went out of business.

WILLIS: Well, you know, they're a company in search of a business model, and I think they think they've found it.

HEMMER: Good deal. Thank you, Gerri. We'll talk to you next hour.

WILLIS: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: We want to get to Jacksonville, Florida, right now. We're standing by to talk with the mayor, who has an enormous job, not just today, but over the next three days as we get ready for the Super Bowl. More than 100,000 are invading that northern Florida city for the single-biggest sporting event of the year. Jacksonville is a mid- sized town. How then will it handle the challenge?

In our "CNN Security Watch" today, we're talking with the mayor. John Peyton is my guest now in Jacksonville.

Good morning, Mr. Mayor. Congratulations to you so far so good.

MAYOR JOHN PEYTON, JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA: Good morning.

HEMMER: You have a very unique challenge in your town, Mr. Mayor. The St. Johns River runs past the stadium. It runs through downtown. How is this challenge being met in terms of keeping things safe?

PEYTON: Well, you know, we've used this river as an asset. You know, we're a smaller market, the smallest market to host an event of this size. And our biggest challenge was room capacity. And it was this river that allowed us to bring in, you know, five cruise ships. We'll be actually sleeping about 7,000 people on this beautiful river, which is our great resource and it compliments our skyline.

The river is really the gathering place. But with that, of course, Bill, comes security implications. And this is a new dynamic for a Super Bowl event.

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: Let me get back to the cruise ships in a moment here. And I apologize for interrupting you. But you won this bid before the attacks of 9/11, is that right?

PEYTON: That's exactly right.

HEMMER: A lot of your planning came after the events of 9/11. How have you met that challenge? And what did you have to meet there? PEYTON: Well, of course, the implications on the budget were immense. You know, when we prepared our bid, it was really about crowd management. And then after the 9/11 event, the world changed. And, of course, that had huge impacts on this event.

We're actually coordinating now with 39 agencies to keep this area safe. And there are all kinds, between the skies, the water, under the water, the banks of the St. Johns River. The security is pretty impressive. And I've been really impressed with those who have been working on it. I think this is probably going to be one of the safest places in America.

HEMMER: Well, I hope you're right on that. Because it's the Super Bowl, have you been in contact with homeland security offices?

PEYTON: Absolutely. I've made -- personally, I've made three trips to Washington. I've been talking to homeland security. And, of course, our sheriff's office is the lead agency here, FBI, the Coast Guard, Marine Patrol. You just can't imagine layer after layer after layer. Keeping this city safe has been a priority and a huge budget item, I might add, too.

HEMMER: And the reason why I asked that question, have you been informed about any threats leveled against your town?

PEYTON: I am not aware of any threats at this point.

HEMMER: What do you think the Super Bowl does for Jacksonville? Sunday comes and goes. It's Monday, and the headline is everything came off without a hitch.

PEYTON: Right. Well, you know, Bill, this market is smaller than most markets. And Jacksonville is largely unknown nationwide. So, naturally, having this type of exposure we think could lead to great economic opportunity. We're expecting a billion viewers, you know, 100,000 visitors plus, 200 countries represented, 26 languages. And it's just hard to quantify the impact of that type of exposure.

One thing we know is when people come to Jacksonville, they usually like what they see, and they want to come back. This is a great place to live, a great quality of life, a strong economy. And on a biased side, we've got a great government that's real business- friendly.

HEMMER: Hey, good luck to you. I'm staying on one of those cruise ships, too, and I'm looking forward to it. John Peyton is the mayor down in Jacksonville.

PEYTON: Excellent. Enjoy your stay.

HEMMER: We'll see you this weekend, OK.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Here's Soledad again in Washington. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Bill.

Well, President Bush talked last night about Social Security and the war in Iraq. But our Jeff Greenfield says one topic seemed to kind of come out of left field. That's coming up in our next hour. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING live from Capitol Hill.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Back to Jack, the "Question of the Day."

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it was pointed out, and I think it was the first time since I've been doing this show, I mean, I forgot to ask the question at 7:00. Did you know that? Yes, so did all of the people downstairs. Hey, look, you know, it...

HEMMER: Do you want to do a redo?

CAFFERTY: Well, I got busy talking about the politicians, and I just forgot. Anyway, the game is on. Here's the deal. Social Security will go broke. It's just a matter of when. Some people say it's not going to be for a very long time. We don't have to do anything.

President Bush wants to change the program, though. He wants to create individual investment accounts, take some money out of the government's hands, give it back to the taxpayers, which I think is always a wonderful idea. Guys like Senator Harry Reid from Nevada, though, they're howling already. Can't do it. Won't do it. Dead on arrival. Forget about it.

The upcoming fight among the politicians on this issue will be breathtaking, and I can't wait to watch.

Here's the question: Will President Bush succeed in reforming Social Security? My apologizes for eliminating that part earlier. Here's some of the mail.

Steve in Staten Island: "I hope he's successful as I need to know that Social Security will be there for me. I'm not sure what the right answer is to fix it. But it certainly must be done. If the liberal Democrats are so afraid to touch it, why not let President Bush at least try? If he fails, they win. If he succeeds, then we all win."

John in -- how do you say that town in Florida?

HEMMER: Ochapee (ph), it looks like, yes.

CAFFERTY: Oh, this is -- I had a problem with another one the other day. John in Ochapee (ph) or Ochopee (ph), Florida: "Just keep the government's greedy hands out of the pockets of Social Security. If they'd repay with interest what they've already stolen, there wouldn't be any problem."

John understands it.

Jay in Glenview, Illinois: "The Democratic response given by Barbie and Ken's grandparents convinced me that in lieu of opposing ideas of the real debate, the president will succeed with his plan."

Allen in Newark, Delaware: "Jack, the Democrats have proven they can be rude and obstructionist. Now let's see if they can get on board and make some positive contributions to the overhaul of Social Security. Don't they understand we need them to be part of this or it will be written entirely by one side of the social spectrum?"

And Doug in New Jersey: "Mr. Bush may get to tweak a few details on Social Security, but his desire to spend $2 trillion on transition costs for privatization will never fly. Sorry, Wall Street, you'll just have to make money the old-fashioned way."

HEMMER: You know, for a guy who didn't ask a question, you did pretty well there.

CAFFERTY: Who is that?

HEMMER: Pretty astute viewers. You did.

CAFFERTY: Oh, these are great.

HEMMER: They just jumped right on it.

CAFFERTY: These are great. I should send these people part of my check every week. I won't, but I should, because...

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

HEMMER: Here's Soledad back in D.C.

O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks.

Well, President Bush touched on some important issues to evangelicals last night. But was it enough to satisfy the base? The president might try to make up for it this morning. We've got live coverage of his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast. That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.