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American Morning

Could Emily Still Hit the United States?; '90-Second Pop'

Aired July 18, 2005 - 09:30   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Carol Costello, in for Soledad this morning. We are tracking Hurricane Emily as it moves through Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Could Emily still hit the United States? We'll check the forecast and look at preparations in southern Texas just ahead.

Right now,, let's get another check of the headlines. Betty Nguyen in Atlanta with that.

Good morning, Betty.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you both. Now in the news, President Bush is beginning talks with India's prime minister. The prime minister arrived at the White House just a short time ago. Now the two are expected to discuss nuclear weapons, trade and India's bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. After the meeting, the two are expected to hold a news conference, and CNN will have live coverage of that beginning at 11:15 Eastern.

Iraq's special tribunal has laid its first formal charges against Saddam Hussein. The former Iraqi leader will stand trial for a series of executions and detentions back in 1982, following an assassination attempt. The criminal court has 45 days to set a trial date.

Taiwan being battered by a powerful typhoon, packing winds of more than 100 miles per hour. The storm dumped more than a foot of rain in some parts, triggering flooding, mudslides and power outages. At least one death is being blamed on the severe weather.

And listen to this, no more fighting over the remote control. The Japanese electronic firm Sharp has come up with a television set that shows two pictures at the same time, depending on where you sit, of course. The LCD set simultaneously displays different images on the right and left sides of the screen through a back light. Sharp says it will begin mass producing the TV set next month, and it could hit store shelves later this year. Boy, that's a long ways from the days when you had to walk up to the TV to turn the dial and switch the channel.

COSTELLO: I don't even remember those days, do you?

NGUYEN: Oh, I remember those days.

O'BRIEN: That's the olden days. You know, what you could do, is you get two shows that you'd want to watch. At the same time, you can just do this the whole time.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: I love that idea.

NGUYEN: It's a great idea. Just when I thought what television I want to buy, they come out with something new, so I have to wait now.

O'BRIEN: Hold on. Just wait.

NGUYEN: Yes, exactly. Save your money.

O'BRIEN: It will get really cheap in about 10 years.

NGUYEN: Yes, exactly.

O'BRIEN: Thank you, Betty.

COSTELLO: Hurricane Emily is ready to move into the Gulf of Mexico, with powerful winds and heavy rains beating on the Yucatan Peninsula all morning long, and it's expected to pick up strength when it gets over the water, and then slam into the Gulf Coast late tomorrow or Wednesday. South Texas could be in Emily's path.

Chris Lawrence is live in South Padre Island, Texas.

Chris, are people there gearing up?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT Yes, in some ways, Carol. We are under a hurricane watch here. And just in the last hour, I was driving up and down the coast, and I saw more businesses boarded up than I had first thought.

Officials here are definitely taking it seriously. They have been trying it deepen some of the storm-drainage points. They have been stockpiling sandbags for folks here to use in their homes, and a lot of the farmers here, cotton is a huge industry in this area, and those torrential rains and wind can strip it right off the stalk. Some of the farmers here are worried about losing millions of dollars in this storm. So they are trying to harvest as much as possible right now.

As for the folks who live here, as it gets closer to the storm, here on South Padre Island, there is one bridge in and out. So they'll have to make a decision early whether they want to try to cross that bridge and get out of the area.

As far as evacuations are concerned, officials recently passed legislation to allow them to force mandatory evacuations, but that legislation has not taken effect yet. So any evacuation order is going to be voluntary, and a lot of folks here say they'll be content to just ride it out -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I bet. Chris Lawrence, live in Texas this morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Stay with us all morning for continued coverage of Hurricane Emily.

O'BRIEN: Authorities in Pakistan searching for a 27-year-old American climber. Erica Kutcher is her name. Kutcher was last seen July 9th at a Pakistani base camp. She was set to scale a remote mountain peak with fellow climber Pierre Olsson, seen on the screen left there, who is now helping with the search. Earlier I spoke with her parents, Blossom and David Kutcher and asked them about Erica's skill and experience with climbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLOSSOM KUTCHER, MOTHER OF MISSING CLIMBER: She has traveled all over the world from being in Australia, and traveling from one part to the other, New Zealand. From the Pacific to the Atlantic, she bicycled from Purdue Bay down to Baja, Mexico. She's been with someone or alone, and has always survived, and she will.

O'BRIEN: Let me ask you this, Mr. Kutcher, you can take this first. Do you suspect foul play in this case, and do you feel confident that Pierre Olsson is telling you the full truth about what happened?

DAVID KUTCHER, FATHER OF MISSING CLIMBER: We do not suspect four play, and with regard to Pierre, we need Pierre where he is now, in Pakistan, helping in the search efforts for Erica, which he is an active participant in.

O'BRIEN: Mrs. Kutcher, would you agree?

D. KUTCHER: Yes, absolutely. We need him there. We do speak to him every day, as we speak to the American embassy every single day, and we do get as much information as possible.

O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you for coming in.

D. KUTCHER: You're welcome.

B. KUTCHER: Again, we only have one thing on our agenda, and that's to locate our daughter, and to bring her home safely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: The American embassy in Islamabad is coordinating the search with Pakistani authorities.

And we will -- let's see. We're going to move on to Iraq now. This morning, three Iraqi police officers were killed in two separate insurgent attacks. Those incidents follow an extremely violent weekend during which close to 100 were killed. The worst attack came on a Saturday, when a stolen tanker truck exploded outside a mosque 45 miles south of Baghdad.

Correspondent Aneesh Raman is in Baghdad with the latest. Aneesh, a real uptick in violence over the weekend. I know there was an important anniversary. It was the anniversary of the Baath Party coup some 46 years ago. Does that have anything to do with it, do you think?

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we always see insurgent attacks sort of spike as we get closer to big political moments. The constitution deadline now just a few weeks away, as you say. July 17th, that anniversary. We're not sure exactly if that ties in, but we have seen, as you say, since last week an uptick in violence. The crescendo was on Saturday in that town of Musayyib, south of the Iraqi capital, where some 90 people were killed, well over 100 others wounded after a suicide bomber detonated next to a fuel tank in the town center, adding, Miles, to this massive explosion was the adjacent gas station, apartment buildings and homes that also caught on fire. It was a coordinated attack. At the same time, mortar rounds were launched at both the police headquarters, as well as the general hospital. That made rescuing those who were lucky enough to survive incredibly difficult.

Now on Wednesday, three minutes of silence have been called to commemorate those who perished. So amidst this growing violence, though, we spoke earlier today with Brigadier General Don Alston, the spokesman for the U.S. military here. He says, though, within this picture, there is some progress being made.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. DAVID ALSTON, U.S. MILITARY SPOKESMAN IN IRAQ: The progress from the beginning of May through, roughly, the beginning of July, the number of car bomb attacks in Baghdad was in the -- I'd say in the high teens. And then as a consequence of deliberate operations with Iraq's security forces, as well as coalition forces, that was reduced to about eight a week. So there was actually very good progress In Baghdad, with regard to reducing the number of EBIDS.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAMAN; Now, Miles, the problem is that if nothing else, the insurgents are incredibly flexible. So while there has been major operations to clamp down on the production of car bombs, and that has had an effects, the insurgents have just gone to other tactics -- assassinations, suicide bombings. So the key is sealing the borders and getting better intelligence. You need Iraqi security forces for that -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Aneesh Raman in Baghdad, thank you very much -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Also in Iraq, Miles, a U.S. army medic survives being shot by a sniper, saved by the body armor he was wearing. But there is much more to this story. It's a tale of one soldier's bravery, mixed with compassion, even for the enemy.

CNN's Alina Cho talked with the soldier's family at home, and communicated with the soldier via the Internet. Ali joins us now.

This is just an amazing story.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You can't make it up. It is almost difficult to believe, and it only gets better, Carol. Not only did Private First Class Stephen Tschiderer survive the sniper attack, he popped right back on his feet, went after the insurgents who tried to kill him and then eventually caught them. In fact, he even handcuffed the man who shot at him, and because the sniper was wounded himself, Tschiderer, who is a medic, bandaged him up.

Now, this entire attack was caught on videotape. It was shot by the insurgents themselves, meant to be part of a terrorist training video. On it, you see Tschiderer outside his humvee in Baghdad unit on routine patrol. He says he knew there were snipers in the area and was about to radio in and tell his superiors when he was shot, as you just saw there. Tschiderer went down, got up just as fast, and took cover. His parents say he survived, one because of his bullet-proof vest and, two, because the bullet grazed his thumb and hit his vest at an angle.

Now, that attack happened on July 2nd. Tschiderer's parents, if you can believe it, were on vacation at the time, out of cell phone range. So they had no idea what happened until they were on their way back home. They talked to their son, finally, three days after the attack, not knowing it was all caught on tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBBIE TSCHIDERER, SOLDIER'S MOTHER: I said what do you mean there's a video? He goes, Mom, they taped the whole thing. Why? For training. I wasn't supposed to live. It was for training. He said, I've got the video. Do you want me to send it to you? I'm like, well, OK.

JOHN TSCHIDERER, SOLDIER'S FATHER: It's been hard. The reality of it all, and to see the video, and to know what him and all those soldiers are up against, day in and day out, it's -- there's not a safe place to be in. It's difficult to sleep. It's tough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Something that helps John and Debbie Tschiderer is that they are in constant contact with their son via instant message. This is the information age, after all. And, in fact, just yesterday while we there taping our interview, Stephen happened to be online with his parents, and, of course, I asked him a couple of questions. He told me his bruise is gone now and that he does not consider himself a hero. Most people would disagree. He also told us what it's like to have his 15 minutes of fame.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PFC STEPHEN TSCHIDERER: I don't think it really changes. Just everybody in my unit, they're all freakin' hey, superstar, hey, how you doing? Hey, superman, all this other stuff, so. Honestly, I just can't wait for it to all fade away and just go back to doing my job and go home. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: How could you not love this guy? Private Tschiderer is expected to be home in late September or early October after a one- year tour of duty. His parents are hoping he will be home by September 27th. That is his 22nd birthday. Of course, his family is already making big plans for a big welcome home/birthday celebration. So everyone is anxiously awaiting his arrival.

And, Carol, we should mention that tonight on "PAULA ZAHN NOW," we will have much more on this story, including our interview with the parents and more on Tschiderer.

COSTELLO: I want to know so much more! Just tell me, if you can, succinctly, why he decided to save this guy's life? This guy had just shot him in the chest!

CHO: Right, right. I asked him that. I mean, I said, didn't you want to just leave this guy to die? And he said, essentially, listen, this is my job. I'm a medic. I do this on a regular basis. And he said if we -- if I had not done this, we would not have the information. Apparently the weapon they used was meant to penetrate bullet-proof vests, and now they are analyzing the bullet. And so they are getting more information about the insurgency.

COSTELLO: Well, he is one awesome guy.

CHO: He is.

COSTELLO: Alina, thank you so much -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Alina, I think there's some young ladies in our audience that would like that I.M. address. Can you give that out?

CHO: No proposals yet, Miles. He says no proposals. Lots of e- mails, but no proposals.

O'BRIEN: I suspect he'd be hearing from quite a few of them. All right. Thanks very much.

Still to come, we are "Minding Your Business." Credit card companies are getting tougher, if you're late on a payment or you go over your limit. We'll tell you how to avoid getting squeezed.

And what is the proper attire for meeting the president? You can't see it here, because of all the -- well, down there a little bit. You can see the flip-flops, OK? Flip-flops? For the president? The "90-Second Poppers" will weigh in on this possible fashion faux pas, next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is time now for the Monday edition of "90 Second Pop." Our pop pundits today, Christopher John Farley, contributing editor of "Time" magazine and author of the new novel "Kingston by Starlight." Whoo, congratulations. CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Jessica Shaw of "Entertainment Weekly," and Andy Borowitz of borowitzreport.com. Welcome to all of you.

We must talk about the "Harry Potter" book, first off. Talk about a stampede, Andy.

ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: I know. That's amazing. I actually live near a Barnes and Noble and there were just people lining up for that release of the book. And then I just took at look at these people and they're the same people, I think, who were waiting for "Star Wars" a couple months ago. And I'm wondering, what do they do the rest of the year? They just hang out, like, at the DMV? And they just wait on line? This is what they love to do? But it's amazing.

COSTELLO: Well, it's 6.9 million books right off the bat, gone.

BOROWITZ: Incredible. And then the reviews are coming in. What I love about the reviews is how seriously they are taking this book. I mean, they are pretty much comparing it to everything except "War and Peace." You know, it's being treated so seriously by the critics.

COSTELLO: Oh, yes, some critics are saying it's literature.

BOROWITZ: It is. Well, I just want to remind people, it's a kids' book. I think it's better to compare it to, say, "Make Way For Ducklings" and see how it stacks up with that.

COSTELLO: But it has some sex in it.

BOROWITZ: Well, that's why I'm reading it.

JESSICA SHAW, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": You know, how are parents dealing with their kids, when there is, like, all this death and sex and a major character dies. I mean, I don't know, I haven't read it, but --

FARLEY: Well, I've been reading it and I find that my nephews are actually ahead of me. So they're reading faster than I am. And it's kind of hard...

COSTELLO: So they've gone to the sex parts faster?

FARLEY: It's a little bit embarrassing. Yes, they have. They've somehow sped ahead. And I think it's worth reading. I don't think it's as good as "The Chronicles of Narnia" or "The Lord of the Rings," but it is an involving book and it has me, you know, wanting to finish it up.

COSTELLO: OK, next topic, the weekend box office. Because "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" did very, very well. But was it -- did it do well enough? I want to get my grammar correct. Did it do well enough to get the box office out of its doldrums? FARLEY: Well, yes it did. I mean, for this particular week. I mean, the overall summer is down. One week isn't going to solve the problem. Isn't going to save the whole summer. But you did have "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." It did quite well. You did have "The Wedding Crashers," which also did quite well. And so it's something for the kids, with the "Chocolate Factory," and something for, you know, adults, with an R-Rated comedy in "The Wedding Crashers," which also got good reviews. But the fact is, a year ago, this same movie that was coming -- the movie that was coming out was "I, Robot." So they didn't have much to sort of build upon from last year.

BOROWITZ: Yes, it was a great weekend for adult entertainment. Because I bought the "Harry Potter Book," I went to see "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and then I went home and saw the "Teletubbies."

COSTELLO: Aww.

BOROWITZ: It was great. It was a great weekend, all around.

COSTELLO: Aww, that brought back you to your childhood.

SHAW: I do think the real winner, though, of the weekend is "Wedding Crashers," even though it opened at number two, because that was a movie that people liked, so then it will open at 20 million. And then it ended up opening at, what, 32? It did amazingly well. That'll be one of the big successes...

COSTELLO: Yes. We meant to talk about John McCain being in that movie. Did he have just a little tiny part?

SHAW: Did he crash a wedding?

FARLEY: It was very small part, but, geez -- and I'm surprised he's in it because there's a lot of nude women. Then you see this senator, and you're like, what?

COSTELLO: Senator John McCain.

FARLEY: It was a little strange. Little strange.

COSTELLO: OK, talking about strange. Flip-flops at the White House.

SHAW: Yes.

COSTELLO: I don't know. Because, remember, from the RNC, when everybody was waving the flip-flops, you know, talking about John Kerry being a flip-flopper. We all remember that, so maybe the tables were turned, and the girls wore...

SHAW: Maybe the girls of the Northwestern women's lacrosse team were Democrats, I don't know? They show up. They have this great winning streak. They show up to the White House, and a bunch of them are wearing flip-flops, and people are horrified. Personally, I don't think it's that big a deal. I think they're relatively nice. They are suede. They have some rhinestones, I think.

COSTELLO: Oh, come on! One of the girls' mothers thought it was awful.

SHAW: I think if Karl Rove wearing flip-flops to the White House it would be a different story. But this is, like, it's a bunch of teenage girls.

BOROWITZ: I think in the interest of full disclosure, we should point out that Jessica is wearing open-toed shoes. I think she has a bias here, a political bias.

SHAW: And very good pedicure, I might add.

COSTELLO: Well, exactly, it's funny you should say that, because one mother said, oh, my God, my daughter wore flip-flops, but at least she had a great pedicure.

FARLEY: Aren't there people that wear cowboy boots to the White House? I mean, should we be so horrified over loafers or flip-flops? I mean, come on.

COSTELLO: But at least there's a reason, because President Bush is from Texas, so you're wearing cowboy boots.

FARLEY: They're a lacrosse team. That's the reason, come on.

COSTELLO: I think they have better things to worry about.

SHAW: Like John McCain being in "The Wedding Crashers," for example.

COSTELLO: Oh, yes, surrounded by naked women, which he was not in the movie. I don't want to like...

FARLEY: No, they were in another scene, but they were still in the same movie.

COSTELLO: Cool.

FARLEY: So some clever editing for a campaign commercial...

COSTELLO: Andy Borowitz, Christopher John Farley, and Jessica Shaw, thanks to all -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN LIVE TODAY is coming up next. Next, Daryn Kagan is working on some things for us.

Daryn, good morning.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: That we are. Miles, good morning.

Coming up at the top of the hour, sentencing is set this morning for confessed serial bomber Eric Robert Rudolph. He may address some of his victims, and they are expected to speak as well. You're going to hear what both sides have to say when they come face to face. Plus, two American sisters, they were just 10 feet away from one of the London bombing sites. They are ready to talk about their ordeal and their injuries. They're back here in the U.S. recovering, and we will take you live to Duke University, and a very magical delivery for children in hospitals this weekend. "Harry Potter" delivered right to their bedsides in honor of a very special boy. We'll tell you about that coming up.

Miles, back to you.

M. O'BRIEN: Lifting some spirits there. All right, excellent, Daryn. Thank you.

Credit card companies are putting the squeeze on customers. Grace periods are down, minimum payments are going up, and so are fees for late payments. What should you do? We're "Minding Your Business," next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Did you hear can you get a credit card with Darth Vader on it? That seems so inappropriate, because they are the evil empire, aren't they, Ellen McGirt. I mean, really, we want to take your money, Luke? I've raised your interest rates again.

ELLEN MCGIRT, "MONEY" MAGAZINE: That's right. That's exactly right. Yes, you need to be keeping an eye out for your mailbox, because chances are, you're going to be getting some mail that says, your grace period is going away, your interest rates are going up, you're minimum is going up, and God help you if you're late or go over your balance, because, bam, you're going to hit with some hefty fees.

COSTELLO: Why? Why are they doing that?

MCGIRT: Because they're just not raking it in enough!

COSTELLO: Put succinctly.

MCGIRT: That's the short answer.

COSTELLO: Agreed.

MCGIRT: There you go. But there is something that you can do, if you don't like the deal you're getting and if you're worried about -- if you just don't feel you're getting a good deal, get on the phone, call, either cancel it, then transfer it to a better creditor who can give you a better deal, or renegotiate, everything's negotiable. Be prepared with another offer on your hands.

COSTELLO: Have you ever tried to cancel a credit card, though?

O'BRIEN: They won't let you. They're not going to let you out.

COSTELLO: No, they won't. They will not.

MCGIRT: You have to talk to a supervisor. You have to keep going. Or just call me at "Money" Help. I'll get right on the phone.

COSTELLO: What's your number?

O'BRIEN: You know, it's getting to the point where it's like Tony Soprano terms. You might as well just go see the loan shark in the neighborhood with the baseball bat.

COSTELLO: Oh, absolutely. Your rate can double if you miss a payment, up 41 percent. I mean, you really have to stay on top of it.

We recommend that you keep your payments automatic, so that you know that you're getting your minimum on time, and that you're not going to miss anything. But keep on top of it.

O'BRIEN: And don't keep the balances up high there, right?

MCGIRT: Light saber.

O'BRIEN: Light saber. All right.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Ellen.

O'BRIEN: Ellen McGirt, thanks.

We'll be back in a moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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