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American Morning

Thieves Pull Off Huge Heist in England; Interview With Dorothy Hamill

Aired February 23, 2006 - 06:30   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Uprisings in Iraq. Anger and revenge take control after the attack on that revered mosque.
Thieves pull off a huge robbery near London. Now a nationwide manhunt is under way. We're live at the scene.

A popular online classified ad clearing house under fire. Claims of discrimination go all the way to court.

And she was an original ice princess. But who does Dorothy Hamill will grab the gold in the Olympics?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, gosh, I remember these pictures so well. Do you remember watching Dorothy Hamill?

M. O'BRIEN: You know, you said a moment ago it was 30 years ago and that just hit me like a ton of bricks.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, it makes you old.

M. O'BRIEN: It doesn't seem like it was that long ago. She is wonderful.

S. O'BRIEN: She was such an inspiration to every 10-year-old girl plus out there.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm sure she spurred on a lot of figure skaters and certainly numerous hairstyles.

S. O'BRIEN: Absolutely.

We've got other stories to talk about, though, this morning. Kelly Wallace has that. She's in this morning for Carol. She's in the newsroom.

Hi there.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there.

And good morning, everyone.

We're following some new developments coming out of Iraq. An Iraqi army patrol came under fire today. The Iraqi military says at least five people, including soldiers and civilians, were killed.

Meantime, the Iraqi government has now extended curfews, and police are on very high alert. This after Wednesday's attack on a Shia mosque sparked major protests. Dozens of Sunni mosques were also attacked in retaliation.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice making a surprise stop in Lebanon during her Mideast trip. Secretary Rice meeting with the newly elected prime minister there. It will be a quick stop in Beirut, and then on to the United Arab Emirates, which is at the center of a controversial port deal here in the United States.

President Bush will be talking about the lessons learned from the response to Hurricane Katrina. The White House will release a report later this morning on what it thinks went wrong during that disaster. The report includes dozens of recommendations, including a call for the Pentagon to play a bigger role in emergency relief efforts.

And the self-proclaimed king of all media says he's looking for a few good movies. Howard Stern is launching a film festival. Budding filmmakers are urged to come up with five-minute short films that reflect all things Howard. You can use your imagination on that one.

Up to $15,000 in cash is up for grabs. The top winner will be honored in a red carpet ceremony in New York in April.

Miles, you think a challenge to the Sundance Film Festival here?

M. O'BRIEN: Wait. How much money does Howard Stern make? What is it about $30 million?

WALLACE: Kajillions is what I like to say.

M. O'BRIEN: And he's only offering up $15,000 as a grand prize?

S. O'BRIEN: It's a short film.

M. O'BRIEN: He needs to pony up some more dough.

WALLACE: All right.

Howard Stern, if you are listening, more cash for the winner there.

M. O'BRIEN: I think he's busy right now.

WALLACE: I think so too.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you, Kelly.

WALLACE: Sure.

M. O'BRIEN: A massive police hunt is under way in England. They are looking for thieves who pulled off one of the biggest robberies in that country's history. The heist almost seems like something out of the movies, complete with a kidnapping, phony police officers, a late- night raid.

Jim Boulden is at the scene of the crime in Tonbridge. That's about 40 miles southeast of London as we Google-mapped our way in.

Jim, boy, they sure know how to do heists in England, don't they?

JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This looks like another sophisticated gang, an armed gang here in the U.K. who used their brains and used some -- probably some inside information to steal what looks like it could be mainland Britain's biggest cash haul ever.

They're talking about 25 million pounds. Now, that's $43 million U.S.. And we could hear in a few hours' time when the police have a press conference, Miles, that they actually took even more than that. It could be up to 40 million pounds in cash, actual bills. That's something like $73 million U.S..

And what we're told is that what they did on Tuesday night is actually kidnapped the depot manager, and then they also took his wife and his child. And they told the depot manager if he didn't let them into this building, this secure building in Tonbridge, that the family would be harmed.

So, on Wednesday morning, about 1:00, the raiders came here, about six of them. Some of them armed with this manager, and they spent about an hour here putting some 25 million pounds worth of notes into a white van. That was about 35 hours ago, Miles. They have disappeared.

M. O'BRIEN: Jim Boulden in Tonbridge. Kind of the great train robbery story without the train. Unbelievable.

S. O'BRIEN: That is a horrible situation to hold a guy's family captive and threaten him.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: That's terrible.

We'll have more details on that story.

First, though, a check of the forecast at 35 minutes past the hour. Back to Bonnie at the CNN Center.

Good morning, again.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Bonnie, thank you.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: Coming up tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING, we've got a special hour of our medical series "30-40-50." Our medical team, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Elizabeth Cohen, are going to join us to tell us what you need to know before you go to the doctor.

We're talking about whether you are in your 30s or your 40s or your 50s. Hence, the title "30-40-50."

Among our topics, fertility and eye sight and memory, overall health for women and men. They're going to be answering all your questions. So if you have an e-mail about your health, send it to us today. It's at cnn.com/am. We're going to get those questions answered on our air tomorrow.

M. O'BRIEN: They could have saved some space and just called it "The 120." Just added it all up.

S. O'BRIEN: Anderson thought we were ripping him off.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, we can't do that. That's right.

S. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, Kelly Wallace will take a walk down memory lane, or skate, perhaps, with Dorothy Hamill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOROTHY HAMILL, FIGURE SKATER: Little did I know that that day would change my life. You know, I was 19. And, you know, it's one of those things you dream about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Well, the hairdo is different. She'll share her memories, both good and bad, of Olympic glory 30 years ago.

S. O'BRIEN: And if -- and this is a big "if" -- Hillary Clinton runs for president, how big of an issue is gender going to be? We're going to take the pulse of the nation just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes, it's ladies night tonight, that's for sure. One of the premiere events of the winter Olympic hits the ice tonight, the long program in women's figure skating.

American Sasha Cohen is currently in the lead by about this much. Her teammates, Kimmy Misner and Emily Hughes, also very much in the race. The winner of the gold medal, no doubt, becomes an instant hero.

That, of course, is exactly what happened to Dorothy Hamill. Can you believe it was 30 years ago since she won her gold? And of course she's still a hero to millions of us, including AMERICAN MORNING'S Kelly Wallace, who had a chance to sit down and talk to Dorothy Hamill.

Oh, I love her.

WALLACE: Oh, I know. And this is one of the moments where you pinch yourself really, and you're like, I have a cool job, right?

S. O'BRIEN: She's a hero. She's a hero, you know. We're at that age where we fell in love with her.

WALLACE: You remember -- you must remember watching her and watching her skate to Olympic gold back in 1976, right?

Well, it's interesting. When we caught up with Dorothy Hamill, we found out a couple of things.

Number one, 30 years later she is still skating. Also, she is still amazed at how her life was forever changed by Olympic gold.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice over): She still has it, Grace, speed, and, oh, yes, traces of that hairstyle which was the rave back in 1976.

(on camera): What did you think when girls all across the United States wanted to have the Dorothy Hamill haircut?

HAMILL: That horrible haircut.

WALLACE: It wasn't horrible. I didn't have it but I loved it.

HAMILL: Lucky you.

WALLACE: No.

(voice over): Thirty years ago, Hamill was just 19, a shy kid from Connecticut who, by winning Olympic gold, suddenly became America's sweetheart.

(on camera): That shot, you know, where they're putting the gold medal around your neck, what's going through your mind?

HAMILL: Oh my gosh, there are so many emotions that I remember thinking, oh my gosh, I did it. And I wanted to look at the medal and see what it actually looked like.

WALLACE (voice over): Millions of little girls around the country wanted to be just like her, including, OK, full disclosure here, this reporter.

HAMILL: Is this your little scrapbook?

WALLACE (on camera): My little scrapbook.

HAMILL: Oh my gosh. Isn't that scary?

WALLACE: No.

HAMILL: That's a real autograph. That's not the forged one.

WALLACE: I got the real...

HAMILL: Oh my god.

WALLACE: And you say, "To Kelly, thank you for the lovely flowers."

(voice over): Our interview turned into a walk down memory lane, recalling the good times and the toughest.

(on camera): This is Ice Capades. I think this is when your first show -- and you're getting ready to perform at Madison Square Garden.

HAMILL: Yes. Oh my gosh. I was -- I was not prepared to handle any of that.

That's a time I would never want again. I was just painfully shy. That's one of the reasons I took up skating so I didn't have to talk to anybody. And all of a sudden, everybody wanted five minutes, and I didn't get to practice and I was so unprepared.

WALLACE (voice over): Hard to believe she's nearly 50 now, a twice divorced single mother with a 17-year-old daughter who still skates five days a week and travels around the country performing in the ice show Broadway on Ice.

But now she's also on the other side of the rink.

HAMILL: You guys are hot.

WALLACE: She's a judge on FOX's new show "Skating With Celebrities."

So, how does she size up the Olympic competition?

HAMILL: I'll tell you, we've got some great girls.

WALLACE (on camera): I know. Tell me about the great girls, the great young women.

(voice over): Cohen, Misner, Hughes, but she says don't count out Slutskaya of Russia.

(on camera): Twenty-seven, too.

HAMILL: Yes. I know. So good for the old people, right?

(CROSSTALK)

WALLACE: The older ones are at it.

(voice over): The sport has changed so much, she says, with new scoring and greater media attention that she's glad she's not a 19- year-old competitor again. But oh how she loves it just as much as she did as a little girl dreaming of gold.

HAMILL: It's the freedom. I love the edges, I love the lean. I love the -- you know, the wind at my face. I love interpreting music. It's just something that, you know, gets right to my core.

WALLACE: An idol 30 years ago, an icon now. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: Oh, we could watch her skate for hours. You know, since she loves skating more than ever, I joked with Dorothy Hamill that retirement must not be an option. But she said retirement at some point, Soledad, is going to have to be an option.

S. O'BRIEN: At 90.

WALLACE: Yes, the body can only do so much. But she said, you know what, she will always lace up her skates for herself and as a form of exercise.

S. O'BRIEN: Is she a mom?

WALLACE: She is. She has a daughter, a teenage daughter, 17.

S. O'BRIEN: Really?

WALLACE: So of course you had to ask, did she say, "Hey, mom I want to skate"?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, and did she?

WALLACE: And she said she skates a little. She has. She can do some spins and jumps, but she never pushed it on her. She wanted it to come from within.

S. O'BRIEN: She has no idea probably how much her mother was just absolutely admired by 10-year-old girls like us, you know, 30 years ago.

WALLACE: Well, when I showed her this scrapbook...

S. O'BRIEN: This is your little scrapbook. This is so cute.

Kelly has written notes like, "This is the envelope I received from Dorothy Hamill."

WALLACE: I know.

S. O'BRIEN: This is so cute. Did she think you were like a weird stalker or...

WALLACE: I was worried that she thought I might be a weird stalker, but I think she thought it was funny. And she said...

S. O'BRIEN: "Kelly, thanks for the flowers."

WALLACE: I know. She said...

S. O'BRIEN: "Kelly, thanks for writing." "Kelly, here's a picture."

WALLACE: Kelly, stop writing.

S. O'BRIEN: "Kelly" -- I'm not making this up.

WALLACE: Oh, she's great. No, but, you know, it's funny. With her daughter, she said when she was looking at this in a way, she said, "Oh my god, I should show this to my daughter. She would get a kick out of it."

Because I said, "Has your daughter sort of seen your performance from '76?" She said, "Maybe once, but it isn't something I say, 'Here, honey, sit down and watch mommy win the gold.'"

Anyway...

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, god. How much fun for you?

WALLACE: Oh, so fun.

S. O'BRIEN: And she's lovely. She's lovely.

WALLACE: She is.

S. O'BRIEN: That's great.

Kelly, thank you.

WALLACE: Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: It's wonderful -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Were you spirited away by security, Kelly, after that?

(LAUGHTER)

WALLACE: I think they have all of my information now.

M. O'BRIEN: Ms. Wallace -- Ms. Wallace, please, please leave the arena.

S. O'BRIEN: That's right. The interview is done. Let's go.

WALLACE: Stay off the premises.

M. O'BRIEN: That is just too cute.

All right.

Coming up, a popular online classified site is being sued for discrimination. We're "Minding Your Business" on that. Craigslist is what we're talking about.

Plus, the astronauts are gearing up -- no, they're not getting an eye test there. That's actual -- that's virtual reality. That's how they practice for space walks.

They are hoping to launch in May for another kind of return to flight mission. There he is. There's the pilot, Mark Kelly. We're going to talk to him about the dangers of a shuttle mission ahead.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: I remember the week after the storm being at the New Orleans airport, you know. And here, just a few days prior, I had walked through this very terminal and it was -- it was a MASH unit.

And now they're coming here. They're being evaluated by medical personnel who are just overwhelmed by what they have here.

We were there trying to do our job, and it was very difficult. If you are in a situation like that and you tell people, well, I was able to set aside my own emotions, I don't think you're human. It was all about being touched by that moment. And that's -- that's OK. I mean, that's part of what we're supposed to do is relate that kind of experience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Next week, AMERICAN MORNING will be in New Orleans and all around the Gulf Coast. It happened to be Mardi Gras, but we're covering a lot more than just the parade.

We're going to tackle some of the key problems facing the city of New Orleans and, of course, the entire region, now six months since Katrina. So please join us on AMERICAN MORNING live from the Gulf Coast starting on Monday morning.

A check of the headlines now with Kelly Wallace, who is filling in with -- filling in for Carol Costello.

Kelly, you move fast. You're here. Now you're there.

WALLACE: I'm a little out of breath. So hopefully...

M. O'BRIEN: Are you going to be OK?

S. O'BRIEN: A little pregnant.

M. O'BRIEN: And you're pregnant, too.

WALLACE: I know. I know.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm very impressed.

WALLACE: It's just a little bit tough. But no, we'll get through it. We'll get through it.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

WALLACE: Hello there, Miles.

And hello, everyone.

Key senators will be debating today a controversial port agreement. The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold hearings on the deal in which a Dubai-based company will take over six American ports. Several lawmakers have criticized the plan, citing potential security concerns, though administration officials say security of the ports will remain with the United States.

Another case of possible sexual misconduct at the nation's military schools. The U.S. Naval Academy's quarterback, Lamar Owens, has been charged with raping a female midshipman in her dorm room. An academy spokesman says Owens remains in classes. A hearing will be held to determine if there is enough evidence for a court-martial.

If public opinion is right, Senator Hillary Clinton will be on the presidential ticket in 2008. According to a new national poll, two-thirds of Americans believe Clinton will run, but only a third believe she could actually win. The polls show gender is an issue, with 27 percent saying they would not vote for a woman in 2008.

The shirts of "Brokeback" roping in money for a very good cause. Two shirts from "Brokeback Mountain" were auctioned off on eBay for more than $100,000. The shirts were worn by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, who played gay cowboys in the Oscar-nominated movie, and the money will be benefiting a children's charity.

And take a look at this video from a police dash cam. Bad weather icing up roadways in eastern Texas this week, causing that pickup truck you see there to strike an SUV before flipping over several times right in the direction of a stranded driver. Police say the driver was treated at the scene for minor injuries. Thankfully, everyone is OK there.

Bonnie Schneider in for Chad Myers today at the CNN Center with another weather update.

Good morning, Bonnie.

SCHNEIDER: Good morning, Kelly.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Bonnie. Thank you very much.

If you've got a digital camera, some new options for you.

Gerri's got that. She's filling in for Andy, who's off today.

Good morning.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Good to see you guys.

Listen, if you know Hewlett-Packard, then you know that the company has been big in the digital camera business. They have the copiers, they have the cameras, they even have a Web site where you can upload your pictures and then have them send you prints. But they are not in the kiosk business.

I know it doesn't sound cutting-edge, but guess what? Kodak has some 60,000 kiosks where you can go and have your -- your pictures printed for you. And that's exactly what Hewlett-Packard is going to do.

M. O'BRIEN: So where are they going to put them? Just drugstores, that kind of thing?

WILLIS: All over the place.

M. O'BRIEN: All over the place.

WILLIS: They're mostly in drugstores.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

WILLIS: Not clear to me yet precisely where these are going to go, but they're going to get into the business. It sounds very old school to me. I thought everybody was going to print them at home. But apparently, Americans are actually spending more time going out and having them printed for them.

And you know how this is. It's kind of tough sometimes to figure out those printers.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. It's much easier. And a lot of mistakes sometimes are made. So it's just easier to do it, you know, at a CVS or whatever kind of place.

WILLIS: Let's talk about this Craigslist story. It's really interesting.

Craigslist is this informal Web site where people go and they put up ads because they want to rent a house, they want to maybe sell one. But guess what? Now they are being sued.

Little Craigslist, with 19 employees, being sued by the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights because they say it violates the Fair Housing Act. You may agree when you hear about some of the ads on this Web site.

They say things like "No kids allowed," "African-American and Arabians tend to clash with me." These are pretty surprising things.

Apparently, Craigslist does not monitor these ads in any way, so they really don't know what is going up there. The service is available in most major cities in the U.S. Now obviously having big problems with discrimination.

S. O'BRIEN: If they lose that lawsuit, that will open up a whole...

WILLIS: Can of worms.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, I think -- yes, I think it puts them out of business in that respect because they don't have the people to go through and monitor that.

S. O'BRIEN: I mean, Craigslist, 19 employees, but they are huge.

WILLIS: They are huge. And you've got to wonder what the bigger ramifications are for other Web sites, as well.

S. O'BRIEN: Exactly.

M. O'BRIEN: Good point.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: I mean, they monitor that.

All right, Gerri. Thank you very much.

A look at the day's top stories just ahead, including this terrible story we've been telling you about in Moscow where that roof collapsed, 33 people killed, at least. Those numbers are expected to rise.

Plus, we're telling you about those deadly protests that are spreading in Iraq after the explosion at a sacred mosque.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice makes her surprise visit to Lebanon. We'll tell you about that.

And the White House Homeland Security adviser is going to talk to me about this new Hurricane Katrina report that's coming out.

Plus, we're going to test your health in "30-40-50." Those are ages, by the way.

And the Powerball winners, we've been talking about them for a couple of days. Well, now we know who they are. They come forward. We've got their story.

All ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

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