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American Morning

Second Term Comeback For Bush?; Actor Arrested In Shooting; 'Minding Your Business'; Remembering Richard Pryor

Aired December 12, 2005 - 07:30   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Prisoners as well at the hands of other Iraqis. Let's get right to Carol Costello for an update on that story.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I have more information for you on that.

New signs of possible prisoner abuse, this time at the hands of Iraqis. The Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights says there are problems with overcrowding and prisoner's health (ph), but articles in today's "Washington Post" and "The New York Times" mention harsh treatment of prisoners.

In the meantime, the first ballot is being cast in the country's parliamentary elections. Voters in hospitals, military camps and prisoners are eligible. The official voting day, as you know, is Thursday, December 15th.

At least four people have been killed in a massive car bombing in Beirut. Among them, a leading critic of Syria. The attacks comes as a U.N. team investigating the murder of ex Prime Minister Rafik Hariri presents more of its findings to the security council. Hariri was killed in a massive blast in Beirut in February.

California Supreme Court denying a emergency request for Stanley "Tookie" Williams. The co-founder of the street gang Crips is set to be executed at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time for the murder of four people back in 1979. Supporters of Williams have been holding rallies calling on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to grant him clemency. It's pretty much his last resort.

And investigators think they may have a lead in determining what caused a Southwest Airlines plane to skid off the runway at Chicago's Midway Airport. Federal investigators spoke to the planes crew and learned the thrust reversers did not immediately kick in when they should have. Thrust reversers are meant to slow a plane as it rolls down a runway. The plane slid onto a busy street Thursday during a heavy snowstorm killing a six-year-old boy who was riding in a car with his family.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: God, that was such a terrible story.

COSTELLO: Yes, so they've interviewed everyone. They've interviewed the flight attendants, and passengers. THE NTSB is busy at work trying to figure out why exactly that happened.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh.

MILES O'BRIEN: One more factor. There was about a nine knot tail wind and there are a lot of questions as to why the controllers didn't, you know, as they say, turn the airport around and send the planes in the other direction. That would have made a difference. Huge difference.

COSTELLO: It's interesting because they interviewed the air traffic controllers. They could not see the plane land, so they could provide no real help to the investigators. They couldn't see the -- that's how poor visibility was.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, that's a little scary in and of itself.

MILES O'BRIEN: Well . . .

COSTELLO: Lots of stuff coming out.

MILES O'BRIEN: All kinds of stuff. All right, we're following that one for you as well.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Thanks, Carol.

MILES O'BRIEN: Thank you, Carol.

The president is on his way to Philadelphia today, the city of brotherly love, to talk about the war in Iraq. Part three of his four-part effort to improve his popularity and support ratings, specifically as it relates to the handling of the war in Iraq. Today, of course, with the Iraqis beginning their process of parliamentary elections and the prospect of an Iraqi constitution in work, Philadelphia, the setting for that speech.

Mike Allen is with "Time" magazine. He joins us from Washington to go through some poll numbers for us.

Mike, good to have you back with us.

MIKE ALLEN, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Miles. Happy Monday.

MILES O'BRIEN: Same to you. Same to you.

Let's talk about the current numbers. And they're good news for the White House. According to the Associated Press/IPSOS Poll, the trend line is pretty good. Right now, 42 percent are issuing approval for the president, as opposed to last month 37 percent. That's a significant number, Mike?

ALLEN: Yes, Miles, who knew that Bush would be so excited about a number that started with a "4." That's usually not what you would ask Santa for but these days they'll take it.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes. ALLEN: In recent months, the Bush crowd has felt railroaded both by events and by some of the coverage and they've sort of had a bone to pick with reporters and pollsters. But there's a sign of a turn. A presidential advisor told me at the end of the week last week, it's time for the Bush comeback story. The perfect storm is over. So we didn't quite take his advice yet but there is good news.

Now, Miles . . .

MILES O'BRIEN: So you get the sense that they are trying to spin these numbers a little bit. We should add to it too, "The New York Times"/CBS had a similar poll. They are saying right now, this based on recent numbers, 40 percent approval rating. I'm sorry, this is -- yes, that's not the right poll. Anyway, there was another "New York Times"/CBS poll which showed a 40 percent approval rating, which also was up as well. But the one you just saw talked about the economy, I believe.

ALLEN: Right. Miles, the most important thing about these numbers is they show that there is a floor. I think there was some concern in the White House that the president was in freefall. They think that they have hit the bottom and the bottom is the very most solid foundation of Republican support. And that's why, Miles, as you see the president out doing his events during the week, you'll see two distinct audiences. With some of the tougher statements that are coming out of the administration, a very aggressive, sophisticated, rapid response operation going after Democrats. That's aimed largely at Republicans, keeping the base with them and happy.

The speeches, like the one that you mentioned in Philadelphia, and I'm about to jump on a train and go up there and see that speech, are designed at reaching out to skeptics and critics. The staff tells me that these speeches are going to continue to be very heavy on facts. Now everybody won't agree on the facts, everybody won't agree on the completeness of the facts. But the idea is to have information in there that someone can latch on to if they're willing to take a second look at the president's Iraq policies.

In addition to the fact that they're staging these in a big way. There's also a lot of frequency. The president's speech today, he's going to taking a break tomorrow to talk about Medicare's new prescription drug plan here in the suburbs of Springfield, Virginia. And then, Miles, you'll see another big speech by the president Wednesday, right ahead of those parliamentary elections. That will be at the Woodrow Wilson Center here in Washington.

MILES O'BRIEN: Well, let's -- I want -- let's go through these numbers one more time here. I'm not sure -- I'm hopeful we're going to get the numbers on Iraq right now which show approval ratings from the way Mr. Bush is handling the war in Iraq, right now 36 percent, up from 32 percent. There we go. So these speeches are working, is that what it is? Or is there more to it than that?

ALLEN: Well, there definitely is more to it. And no one in the White House is claiming an exact cause and effect. They're happy to take the numbers and they're not going to quarrel about what (ph). But looking ahead, they have a plan to try to keep this trajectory going. This year is looked at as sort of a black hole. The president was traveling most of the month last month. This month he's doing his 26 Christmas parties for 9,500 people. So January's when they really are -- hope to get a solid footing.

The most important thing to them is a quick victory on Judge Alito's confirmation to the Supreme Court. Then you have the president's state of the union. He can talk about big themes and they hope reconnect with the American people, something that clearly was lost over the summer.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right, let's talk about the economy quickly. "New York Times"/CBS poll, current approval rating for the way the president's handling the economy 38 percent, up from 34. Once again, these numbers are in 3's. These are not the kind numbers you hope for. But, once again, the trend is up. Good jobs report out. Do you think people are feeling better about that as well?

ALLEN: Yes, that was part of the perfect storm ending. And there's a lot of signs that Christmas shopping is going to be good. There's a lot of talk about, you know, some new energy in the markets. And the other thing is, you have the administration reminding people that the economy is good, reminding people about this good information and you've also seen positive changes in consumer confidence numbers which, frankly, are more important than the president's because they could help push them along.

You're going to see Republicans out doing all kinds of things. The speaker of the house, Dennis Hastert of Illinois, is going to be out Christmas shopping on camera.. So you're going to see Republicans reminding people of the good news that -- imagine if there was inflation, things like that, and reminding them who's in charge because they certainly are taking the downside of being in charge. They also want to claim credit for what's going well.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right, a Dennis Hastert shopping trip. Now that is must see TV. All right.

Mike Allen of "Time" magazine, safe journeys up to Philadelphia. We look forward to your report from there.

And CNN will have live coverage of the president's speech this morning starting at 11:15 Eastern. You don't have to get on a train.

Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Well, you may not know the actor Lillo Brancato Jr. by name. He's one of those actors you only kind of know when you see him. He's in about 20 movies, had a role on the Sopranos too and now he is under arrest for the murder of a New York City police officer. CNN's Chris Huntington has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): That man shooting at Tony Soprano's nephew is actor Lillo Brancato. Brancato's character didn't fare to well after that. He was rubbed out mob style. But that was TV drama. Cut to real life and Brancato is in real trouble. He is now one of two murder suspects in the slaying of New York City Policeman Daniel Enchautegui.

According to the police, before dawn on Saturday, Enchautegui, who had only been home and asleep a few hours after working a late shift, woke up to the sound of breaking glass. He grabbed his gun, police badge and his cell phone and went outside to investigate. When he saw a broken basement window next door, he suspected a burglary and called in for backup. But before help arrived, a gun battle broke out.

Officer enchautegui encountered two men rushing out of a building, 29-year-old actor Lillo Brancato and 48-year-old Steven Armento, who has a history of prior convictions and arrests related to drugs and weapons. Enchautegui told them to stop and that he was a cop. But police say Armento, armed with a 357 Smith & Wesson revolver shot and hit Enchautegui right near his heart.

Mortally wounded, Enchautegui shot bac, hitting Brancato twice and Armento four times. When other police finally got there, their fellow cop was on his back, barely breathing. Brancato was up the street, slumped over an SUV. Armento still up and armed surrendered. All three were taken to a nearby hospital but 28-year-old officer Daniel Enchautegui did not survive.

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK CITY: He did everything he could, just as he was trained to do. This is a devastating example of the bravery and dedication of this police officer who had just finished a shift a few hours earlier. Sadly, this is the second police officer to be murdered in the last two weeks.

HUNTINGTON: That officer, Dillon Stewart, died under similar circumstances. Shot while investigating a suspicious driver, he still chased down the suspect. Like Stewart, Enchautegui is considered to have died in the line of duty. Brancato, who built his career playing street thugs, now finds himself in more serious trouble than he ever encounters as an actor.

CNN was unable to contact anyone representing the suspect. And the Bronx district attorney said he is unaware of whether the suspects have attorneys at this point.

Chris Huntington, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Brancato is hospitalized in critical condition. He's expected to be charged with second-degree murder.

Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: Let's check the weather once again. Bonnie Schneider at the Weather Center with that.

Good morning, Bonnie. (WEATHER REPORT)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Ahead, Andy is "Minding Your Business."

What you got?

ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, family friendly cable. Sounds like an oxymoron but it may be coming. Stay tuned to AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: You can't hear too much Dionne Warwick is what I always say.

MILES O'BRIEN: No, you can't.

SERWER: I agree. I love Dionne Warwick.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: My dad's favorite singer ever.

MILES O'BRIEN: I think I wore out that 8 track of Dionne Warwick.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Yes, dating yourself there.

SERWER: Of course, (INAUDIBLE) hits.

MILES O'BRIEN: You know, (INAUDIBLE) right at the good part. Cahink (ph), you know, it would ruin it.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Yes, you might want to invest in the DVD now. In the CD now.

SERWER: Yes.

MILES O'BRIEN: Time for an upgrade, do you think?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Let's talk about cable getting family friendly. And the Time Warner AOL what?

SERWER: Split up. Right. Yes, the architect of the deal had some interesting things to say.

Let's talk about this cable situation first. Families tired of racy TV shows, Soledad, may now have an option. Published reports saying that some leading cable companies, including Comcast and Time Warner, parent company of CNN, are interested in creating family tear packages where you would only buy networks that are kid friendly.

MILES O'BRIEN: Is that us?

SERWER: Sure. Why not.

It's problematic to me on a couple fronts. First of all, would you exclude CBS because they have "CSI"? Would you exclude TNT because it has "Law & Order"? So all you'd be left with is like Nick, Disney, The Cartoon Network and Discovery. Then what happens when the kids go to bed? You know, some things to work out here. And this all has to do with the a la carte option they're discussing as well.

MILES O'BRIEN: See I thought that was what the rating plan was all about. To deal with that issue anyway.

SERWER: Well, there's that, too. Yes.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right.

SERWER: And now let's talk about a world class about face. Steven Case, who was the head of AOL and the architect of the AOL Time Warner deal, again parent company of CNN, has now come out and said, he is for splitting the company up. This is the guy who put all of these companies together. And in "The Washington Post," Steve Case is quoted as saying "given that Time Warner failed to capitalize on AOL's potential during the period when it owned it 100 percent, it seems unlikely it will do a better job when it owns less than 100 percent." Well, I would tell Mr. Case, there are probably some different interpretations why this deal hasn't worked out.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Failed to capitalize.

SERWER: I think that's safe to say.

MILES O'BRIEN: So I was against the merger before I was in favor of the merger or something like that. Or vice versa.

SERWER: Yes, before I was against it. Now, you know, and maybe I could run part of it when it's split up.

MILES O'BRIEN: Where's he working now, revisionist.com or something?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh.

SERWER: He's -- yes.

MILES O'BRIEN: Where is Steve?

SERWER: Revision is history a little bit, I think.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, OK.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thank you very much.

SERWER: You're welcome.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, remembering Richard Pryor. We've got some personal stories from the comedian's life just ahead when we talk to one of his closest friends up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Legendary Comedian Richard Pryor died over the weekend. He broke new ground with his comedy and his sensibility too. Some of his best jokes got a little help from his good friend Paul Mooney. And Paul Mooney joins us this morning.

Thanks for talking with us. And our condolences to you. What a real loss I know even though Richard Pryor really had been not well for quite a while.

PAUL MOONEY, COMEDIAN/WRITER: Yes. Yes, it's a great loss. And we've lost a genius. And a very, very unique and interesting person.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Tell me a little bit about where his comedy came from. Because at first it seemed that black people loved Richard Pryor but then he kind of crossed over into white audiences -- or all audiences as well. Give me the sense of the source.

MOONEY: Well, isn't that -- doesn't everybody cross over? I mean that's an expression that's very funny to me. I mean the first time I heard it -- because I'm a southern, I'm from Louisiana -- and the first time I heard crossover it reminded me of people when they . . .

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: When they die?

MOONEY: No, no.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Not that crossover?

MOONEY: No, no, not that crossover. No, when they date out of their race.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, huh.

MOONEY: The color line.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Huh.

MOONEY: Have you ever heard that expression?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Yes, yes, yes, of course.

MOONEY: Because you're crossing the color line. That's what it reminded me of and it sort of made me laugh. But Richard was -- yes, it started out with the black. Blacks were really relating to him because during that period, you know, you didn't see a lot of black people. I mean, that was back in the day. You're not old enough for it. I am. You would wait at like in a commercial, you would see somebody black and you'd go, there's a black person!

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: And call your friend.

MOONEY: Yes, and call your friends.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Did you see? MOONEY: Yes, a black person on TV, you know, because TV was like, you know, black and white and mostly white. And it was interesting. But Richard had a worldly appeal. He really did. Even when the blacks were, of course, behind him, because we always need our heroes, you know, and he was virulently funny. But Richard was a big fan of Bill Cosby's, a big fan of . . .

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: He was? Because, I mean, obviously, there are contemporary . . .

MOONEY: Oh, yes. Oh, big time. Oh, he wanted to (INAUDIBLE).

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Really?

MOONEY: Oh, yes. We used to argue about it all the time.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Very different styles, though. You wouldn't necessarily -- I wouldn't necessarily think . . .

MOONEY: Bill did the crossover and was accepted, so Richard wanted that acceptance. And I used to tell him all the time that Bill Cosby couldn't hold a candle to him.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: He had a lot of . . .

MOONEY: His thing was -- Richard's thing were different.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Very different. Very different.

MOONEY: I mean, I like Bill. You know, but on the edge. And groundbreaking. And nerving.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: How much of that was because of his personal struggles, which were well noted and many?

MOONEY: Well, all comedians are like that. Even me. That's what makes us funny. We have all that confusion in our lives and that drama. And Richard -- the thing that Richard did was unique is that you could never really talk about him because he would talk about himself, you know? If he was having a divorce or if he beat his wife up or he shot up her car, whatever he did, he would go to the stage and tell it first. He made you repeating what he said redundant. He did the same thing with the word "nigger." He made it redundant. But when he finished saying something, if you said it, it was stupid because he would it. He would talk about himself.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Your just copying him.

What kind of a debt do you think the young comedians today but -- like Eddie Murphy and like Chris Rock and the litany of other young black . . .

MOONEY: They all wan -- they all -- I know all of them and they all love Richard.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: And how much of a debt do they owe him, though, for the fact that they even just exist today?

MOONEY: He opened the door. The debt is that he opened the door. Without him -- you know it's like -- it's comics now, they're like topless dancers. They're everywhere, you know? I mean, you know? I mean, you know, there's no stopping them, you know? A little freak over there is laughing!

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: That's not a freak, that's my co-anchor.

MOONEY: Is it.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: I'll kick him for you, Miles.

But, you know, what do you think then, in all seriousness, what do you think the loss is, I mean, now that he's gone? And he hadn't been, obviously, performing for . . .

MOONEY: Oh, no, no, it's a great loss because the king is dead, you know? They were running around talking about the king of comedy. It was a joke. The king was live. Richard. You know, now all of the king of copycats can be king because the king is gone.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: A big, personal loss to you too?

MOONEY: Richard definitely, definitely was the king.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Big personal loss to you?

MOONEY: But he's not really gone. He is, you know, love lives forever. You know that. History shows you that.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Big personal loss for you, too?

MOONEY: Oh, no, yes, very. Oh, no, a good friend. I'm going to miss him. Good times. We had good times. We made people laugh and that's healthy. Look at you smiling. See how healthy it is? It's very healthy.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: You just called my co-anchor a freak.

MOONEY: No, what, well look at you laugh. (INAUDIBLE). What do you think he is, a priest? We won't get into that.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: No, we won't. You're right, it is healthy to laugh. I'm sure Richard Pryor would appreciate that. Nice to have. Paul Mooney.

MOONEY: It's nice to be here.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Thank you for coming in to talk to us. We appreciate that.

MOONEY: Nice to be had. Nice to be had.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: We're going to have much more, in fact, on the life of Richard Pryor tonight on "Larry King Live." Larry's guest is Richard Pryor's wife, Jennifer Lee Pryor. That's tonight, 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

A short break and we're back right in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MILES O'BRIEN: All right, coming up, I'm getting ready for my daily candy segment.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, with Danielle (INAUDIBLE) back.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, with Danielle.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: I get my best ideas from her.

MILES O'BRIEN: And today we're doing - we're doing classy stuff today. We're classing up the joint like music you haven't heard before, movies you haven't seen. You know that kind of stuff. Real good stuff, you know, for people who have Grey Poupon in the kitchen cabinet, you know?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: I hear you.

MILES O'BRIEN: Coming up. I'm getting very Long Islandy in that (ph).

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: What's with the accent?

MILES O'BRIEN: I have no idea.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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