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American Morning
Immigration Battle; Warlord Arrested; Life or Death?; White House Shuffle
Aired March 29, 2006 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Carol Costello in for Soledad today.
O'BRIEN: The immigration battle hitting the Senate floor today, even as the president takes the issue south of the border.
And a wanted warlord captured.
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN AFRICA CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jeff Koinange in South Africa on the developing story of former Liberian President Charles Taylor's arrest just hours ago. That's coming up.
COSTELLO: Rape allegations, and now one of college's most powerful teams is sidelined for the season. Much more on this story ahead.
Plus, a boy tries to save his best friend and ends up needed saved himself. A daring rescue caught on tape.
O'BRIEN: And a rare dance in the heavens. Live pictures right now. The sun and the moon are crossing paths. We'll have a live look for you at the solar eclipse under way as we speak.
COSTELLO: That is cool.
O'BRIEN: Expect more fireworks today in the immigration battle. We're watching for new protests in California, Texas and Arizona. Students led demonstrations yesterday. Eight thousand walked out of schools in the Los Angeles area. About 3,000 students walked out of Phoenix, Arizona high schools as well. A sharply divided Senate begins floor debate on all this today.
Congressional correspondent Dana Bash is watching it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Later this afternoon, the Senate finally takes up the controversial issue of immigration reform, and there will be a couple of measures that the Senate will be debating.
First, something from the Senate majority leader which just deals with the issue of border security. But the Senate will also be debating the issue passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is a guest worker program, essentially allows illegal workers to stay legally in the United States and even have a path towards citizenship.
But what we will see over the next week and a half during this debate is essentially a free-for-all. This issue very much divides Republicans, certainly is incredibly emotional, but where this will turn out is anybody's guess.
Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: The immigration problem goes to the highest level this afternoon. President Bush flying to Mexico, three-day, three-way summit with Mexico's President Vicente Fox and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Lou Dobbs will be there in Cancun, Mexico, to anchor "BROKEN BORDERS SPECIAL REPORT." That's at 6:00 Eastern tonight, tomorrow and Friday.
COSTELLO: A developing story now on the capture of an African warlord. CNN has learned former Liberian President Charles Taylor has been arrested in northern Nigeria, right on the border with Cameroon.
Africa correspondent Jeff Koinange is monitoring the developments from Johannesburg, South Africa.
Jeff, people thought this guy had disappeared. How did they come up with an arrest?
KOINANGE: I'll tell you what, Carol, there was a huge high alert across Nigeria for the last 24 hours, because this was a huge embarrassment for the Nigerian government. So apparently what we're hearing from a spokesman of the Nigerian police, Charles Taylor was heading across the border from Nigeria into neighboring Cameroon. An alert border guard spotted him in the convoy.
They arrested him, detained him. They are now holding him at this border post, awaiting to be taken to the capital Abuja. And from there, we understand, the Nigerian government has just issued a statement saying that he will be repatriated back to Liberia.
Now let's remember why he is being repatriated. Charles Taylor being charged on 17 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for aiding and abetting a revolutionary force in Sierra Leone is responsible for tens of thousands of murders -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I'm going to be a little cynical now, Jeff, because I know the president -- the United States' president is meeting with the Nigerian president today. I mean it seems so coincidental that Taylor would be caught today.
KOINANGE: Absolutely. But even more important, can you imagine if he hadn't been caught, the embarrassment to the Nigerian government at the White House, the questions he would have been asked. So you can just imagine this high state of alert that was issued across the Nigerian country. And this, 24 hours after Mr. Taylor disappeared from his villa in a southeastern state.
So this is good news, not just for Nigeria, mind you, good news for the entire subregion. Because if Charles Taylor had showed up somewhere in Liberia, it would have destabilized not only that country but the entire subregion of West Africa -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jeff Koinange live in South Africa this morning, thanks.
O'BRIEN: Closing arguments at the Zacarias Moussaoui trial today, and you have to wonder what attorneys might say to sum up this bizarre spectacle. The al Qaeda operative has incriminated himself in ways that have surprised just about everyone. All this with his life hanging in the balance.
CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena on the "Security Watch."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Jurors will hear closing arguments this afternoon. Their mission is to decide whether Zacarias Moussaoui is eligible for the death penalty.
Now the key question on the verdict form reads as follows: "Do you, the jury, unanimously find that the government has established beyond a reasonable doubt that victims died on September 11 as a direct result of Moussaoui's lies to federal agents?"
It turns out the best witness for the prosecution was Moussaoui himself. Now he told jurors he lied to keep the 9/11 plot on track. He said he knew the targets included the World Trade Center. And he said he was supposed to be a part of the attacks by piloting a fifth plane into the White House. That directly contradicts statements that he's made in the past about being part of a separate follow-on mission.
His defense team tried to salvage its case by introducing statements from al Qaeda leaders who portrayed Moussaoui as unstable, difficult and who flat-out said that he was not meant to be a part of 9/11.
Deliberations will start soon after closing arguments.
Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Now to the White House shuffle. It started with Chief of Staff Andrew Card, but some inside the Republican Party hope it doesn't end there, but will it?
CNN White House correspondent Ed Henry has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After White House Chief of Staff Andy Card's resignation, the question now, is this the end of the shakeup or just the beginning?
QUESTION: Mr. President, will you make more staff changes?
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: ... staff changes?
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: ... more staff changes?
HENRY: With Republicans calling for an infusion of new blood, someone to reinvigorate the White House's agenda on Capitol Hill, amid plummeting poll numbers, the president tried to sell budget chief Josh Bolten, who has had close contact with congressional leaders, as just the man to replace Card.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No person is better prepared for this important position. And I'm honored that Josh has agreed to serve. The next three years will demand much of those who serve our country. We have a global war to fight and win.
HENRY: But, like Card, Bolten has been at the president's side since day one of the administration, and served as policy director in the 2000 campaign -- hardly a newcomer. And senior Republicans privately say, a broader shakeup is need, a notion welcomed by some outside activists.
BAY BUCHANAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I do not think that changing the chairs between Card and Bolten changes anything.
HENRY (on camera): While White House spokesman Scott McClellan did not rule out more changes, he said it's premature to speculate on the fate of other top aides -- not good enough for some senior Republicans, who are demanding a bigger shakeup.
Ed Henry, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And coming up in the next hour on AMERICAN MORNING, we'll talk about other possible White House changes with Republican strategist and former Bush assistant Mary Matalin.
O'BRIEN: Life is returning to normal in France a day after national strikes literally shut down the country. The majority of the demonstrations were peaceful, but police were forced to use water cannon on some of the more volatile crowds, as you see there. Hundreds arrested across the country. Students and union members unhappy over a law making it easier to fire younger workers. Airlines, subways, newspaper offices all shut down as a result. A shadow of total darkness crossing the Earth right now, an eerie spectacle. There you see the path of the total solar eclipse as it winds its way across from left to right on your screen there. People...
COSTELLO: Let's see the pictures.
O'BRIEN: Well we're going to get to that. There you go, and there's the picture.
COSTELLO: Yes.
O'BRIEN: That's a close up of the -- near the corona of the sun as the moon blocks the sun. Here's the interesting little fact of nature, the moon is much smaller than the sun, but it is exactly in the right spot so that it appears to be the same size as the sun to us.
COSTELLO: So it's just an optical illusion?
O'BRIEN: Yes, but it's just -- you have to wonder how that little quirk of nature occurred. All kinds of superstition goes along with this. If you have -- in some cultures, if you have food cooking when the eclipse begins, you have to throw the food out...
COSTELLO: Really?
O'BRIEN: ... subsequent to the eclipse.
COSTELLO: Why, will it kill you if you eat it then?
O'BRIEN: Undoubtedly. And then there's another one, in another culture, if you're holding a knife or an ax when this happens, when you see the eclipse, you have to cut yourself.
COSTELLO: What?
O'BRIEN: Many, many things I don't understand in this world. But you know...
COSTELLO: I thought you were going to say that would force you to...
O'BRIEN: ... who knows the answers, -- Chad Myers.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right.
O'BRIEN: He knows why. Are you superstitious about eclipses?
MYERS: No. None.
O'BRIEN: OK.
MYERS: But you know the other irony is if you take out a nickel...
O'BRIEN: Yes.
MYERS: ... and you hold the nickel out, that's also the same size as the moon.
O'BRIEN: Whoa!
MYERS: Now isn't that ironic?
O'BRIEN: Get out of town. A nickel, the moon and the sun all the same size.
MYERS: All the same.
O'BRIEN: Wow!
MYERS: Just the things you need to know.
COSTELLO: That must explain that optical illusion.
O'BRIEN: Yes, see just like that.
MYERS: There you go.
O'BRIEN: Maybe that and a nickel will get you...
COSTELLO: Nothing.
MYERS: Nothing.
O'BRIEN: ... nothing. Nothing.
COSTELLO: Too bad.
MYERS: Won't even give you cream for your coffee anymore.
O'BRIEN: Yes, not anymore.
MYERS: Good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Can't wait.
Thank you, -- Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: A daring rescue for a boy and his dog. The two got stuck on this slippery cliff in North Vancouver. The boy climbed down to save his dog. But, as you can see, he got into a little bit of trouble himself. He's stuck. This dramatic rescue played out on live television. What a surprise.
O'BRIEN: Wow!
COSTELLO: A firefighter was lowered down and he brought both the boy and his Golden Retriever. I wanted to say Lassie, but brought both boy and dog to safety.
O'BRIEN: It certainly has the makings of a Lassie thing, doesn't it?
COSTELLO: That's really cool.
Another...
O'BRIEN: I'm glad everything is OK.
COSTELLO: We are, too.
Another inspirational night for J-Mac, the high school basketball player with autism, you remember. Jason McElwain had never played a minute until the final game of the season. And then in the last four minutes, the coach puts Jason in and he scores again and again and again. Twenty points in four minutes. The whole country cheered. He met the president. And Tuesday, his hometown gave him the highest honor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN AUBERGER, GREECE, N.Y. TOWN SUPERVISOR: It is hereby proclaimed today Jason McElwain Day here in the town of Greece.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, we may not have heard the last of Jason McElwain. Hollywood wants to make a movie about him.
O'BRIEN: Naturally.
COSTELLO: Naturally.
O'BRIEN: Apple versus Apple, we're talking about two very important brand names that are one but are now at each other's throats.
COSTELLO: Man, it's too early for a riddle.
O'BRIEN: Yes, you might say it's bitter to the core. A look at what the case could mean if you download music.
COSTELLO: Also, remember this happy reunion last week, a family rescued after 17 days in the Oregon mountains. Well, there is a new twist to this story and somebody is in trouble with the law.
O'BRIEN: And, boy, they have sure improved those prizes in those claw machines at the arcade. We'll tell you how this little guy got inside. And be careful how much you squeeze on his head when you pull him out, you know what I mean. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: You know, I could just listen to this song and get...
COSTELLO: And look at the moon.
O'BRIEN: Yes. It wouldn't be so bad, would it, this morning?
COSTELLO: So why is it sometimes blue and sometimes orange?
O'BRIEN: It's a filter. It's just a filter. Yes. But you know the thing, you're not supposed to look at it, right? If you're out there, if you're on a cruise ship somewhere out there and you're -- you know use...
COSTELLO: For god's sake don't look.
O'BRIEN: ... the Mylar, folks. Use the Mylar, the welder's glasses, whatever you got.
Kelly Wallace is in and we're glad to see that.
Kelly Wallace, good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She is in. Good morning, Miles, and good morning, Carol. And hello, everyone.
We're beginning with news in Israel. Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is extending the olive branch to the Palestinians, but he warns -- quote -- "we will not wait forever." Olmert's party is in the lead after Tuesday's election. It is the first election since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon slipped into a coma. It is also historic for its weak voter turnout. Nearly 5 percent fewer people turned out than in the last election.
A grim discovery at ground zero here in New York, construction workers found human bones on the roof of the former Deutsche Bank building near the World Trade Center. The city medical examiner will conduct DNA tests to determine whether the bones are from September 11 victims. Test results not expected for several months.
A surprising turn in a dramatic rescue story we told you about last week. You'll remember this, the family found safe after 17 days in the Oregon mountains. Well, turns out the couple is wanted on drug charges in Arizona. They are now in custody and could face felony flight charges for taking off.
Duke University's lacrosse team suspended amid allegations of a gang rape. School administrators say the team will not play again this season until more is known about what really happened the night of an off-campus party. Nearly everyone on the team has given DNA samples. No charges have been filed yet.
Friends of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff are singing his praises. More than 260 people have sent letters to a federal judge in Miami asking for leniency. Abramoff today faces seven years in prison for fraud, but could get a reduction for cooperating with a Washington corruption investigation.
And there is word Randy McCloy is heading home. You'll recall he's the sole survivor in the Sago Mine disaster. McCloy has been undergoing intensive rehabilitation for the past nine weeks. Doctors describe his recovery as miraculous. A news conference expected tomorrow. And his wife says McCloy might appear. If so, it would be his first public appearance since the disaster.
Certainly good news there, right, -- Chad?
MYERS: Yes, you've got to like the words miraculous from a doctor no matter what it is.
WALLACE: Exactly.
MYERS: Good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
Back to you guys.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.
We were talking about interest rates, because we fear they're going up so much...
O'BRIEN: Well, we were listening to Chad. We were listening to Chad, too, you know.
COSTELLO: Closely.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is what we do, we talk about interest rates and things like that while there are other things going on. Very intellectual.
O'BRIEN: Yes, it's early and we don't have much to bat around at this hour, so there's the eclipse and then there's interest rates.
COSTELLO: And frankly, we're not very interesting people. No, I'm just kidding.
LEE: Interest rates are interesting, though, at least I think so; but, hey, I'm the business news reporter.
Well, the Federal Reserve raised rates as expected a quarter point yesterday. The 15th such rate hike since we've been seeing rate hikes in June of 2004, putting the Fed Funds Rate at 4.75 percent, the highest level in five years.
What happens next? Well Ben Bernanke at the helm, he is the Chief of the Federal Reserve now. Wall Street widely expecting another rate hike when the Fed meets again in May. But beyond that, kind of a question mark. Now the language he used similar to what Alan Greenspan, the prior Fed Chief, said.
O'BRIEN: No, really.
LEE: As one person says, the new boss has the same worries as the old boss, inflation. Bernanke says some further policy firming may be needed, which means that we will likely see more rate hikes after today. But he says the economic growth, while strong in the current quarter, seems to be slowing a little bit. The words exactly, but appears likely to moderate to a more sustainable pace. So that would mean -- you could interpret that to mean we're not going to see a lot more interest rate hikes.
COSTELLO: So at what point will it affect like mortgage rates?
LEE: Well mortgages aren't exactly directly tied to interest rates, but they can be. We know mortgage rates have been going up already, credit card rates. You can bet the banks are probably raising rates right now as we speak. They don't waste any time doing this.
O'BRIEN: Beyond the 20-some odd percent they're charging? I mean it's -- you know, it's high? Those are big numbers.
LEE: They move right in lockstep. It's amazing.
O'BRIEN: They do. Yes.
LEE: You get your credit card statement and the same month that the Fed will raise rates, you'll see the raise on credit cards as well.
A quick check on stocks, the Dow down 95 points yesterday after the Fed moved. But this morning, futures are looking pretty strong, so we could see a rebound after those red arrows yesterday.
That's the latest.
COSTELLO: Thanks.
O'BRIEN: It's a fickle group there, isn't it?
LEE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: All right, thank you, -- Carrie.
LEE: OK.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Carrie.
"Morning Coffee" is straight ahead. Coming up this morning, why Americans ought to start washing out their mouths with soap. Plus, is this the new face of terror right there? We'll tell you why this housecat was put under house arrest. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: No, it's sooner. We're talking about when we spring forward. Do you know when? Pete? Anybody? Is that this weekend or the next?
COSTELLO: No. O'BRIEN: Saturday night, this weekend.
WALLACE: It is this weekend.
O'BRIEN: So savor that sunlight we all appreciate.
WALLACE: Yes, it's so nice 5:30 in the morning, yes.
O'BRIEN: That east -- you know that Daylight Savings Time, it really is just shifting the daylight to people unlike us.
COSTELLO: Normal people.
O'BRIEN: In other words, they're robbing our daylight. It's daylight robbing time for us, anyway.
COSTELLO: It is time for "Morning Coffee."
O'BRIEN: Let's go there.
COSTELLO: And we're talking about bad words, you know the use of profanity.
O'BRIEN: We are?
COSTELLO: Yes, we are. In "Morning Coffee," we're talking about that. Because you know using profanity really doesn't catch many people by surprise anymore. In fact, nearly 50 percent of people in an Associated Press poll say they use profanity just in general conversation more than a few times a week. Not...
O'BRIEN: No!
COSTELLO: Isn't that something?
O'BRIEN: Yes.
COSTELLO: I mean look at the front page of "The New York Post" this morning. I mean it's not exactly profanity, but it says you son of a pitch. So it's pretty close.
O'BRIEN: I think we know what they mean.
COSTELLO: I think so, too.
WALLACE: I think so.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
COSTELLO: But, I mean, it's so common now. Here are some statistics for you, 32 percent of men admit to dropping the F-bomb more than a few times every week. Now think back, old people, to when you were little, nobody ever said the F-word.
O'BRIEN: Frig, is that what you're talking about?
COSTELLO: No, really.
WALLACE: Phooey. Phooey.
COSTELLO: Phooey.
WALLACE: Phooey, yes.
O'BRIEN: Phooey.
COSTELLO: OK, I'll just move along now.
O'BRIEN: The baby is listening.
WALLACE: The baby is listening, let's...
COSTELLO: Anyway, 32 percent of men admit to dropping the F-bomb more than a few times a week. That compares to just 23 percent of women. And nearly 75 percent of the women polled say they are offended by the profanity they hear compared to 60 percent of the men, which means 40 percent of them don't really care.
O'BRIEN: Wait a minute, 60 percent of the men are offended by...
COSTELLO: No, they're not.
O'BRIEN: Or not...
COSTELLO: No, 60 percent are offended.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
COSTELLO: Forty percent are not.
O'BRIEN: Come on, guys, get over it. All right.
COSTELLO: Get over it.
O'BRIEN: Well I...
COSTELLO: I think it's terrible when you hear those.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes.
COSTELLO: I do. It's like, I don't know, dirtying society or something.
WALLACE: I do admit there...
O'BRIEN: You're in the wrong city, sister.
WALLACE: Yes, exactly, wrong business.
O'BRIEN: You're in the wrong city.
WALLACE: The wrong business.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
WALLACE: I mean, anyway, all right.
COSTELLO: All right, I'm in the wrong business, so I'm going to talk about this cat, the new face of terror. Some communities deal with cat burglars; but in Fairfield, Connecticut, they just have a cat, a very bad cat. This is Louis (ph). And he is blamed for killing just about anything that's smaller than him, birds and rats and snakes. And you know he's even attacked a few people and sent people to the hospital. That's how badly this cat attacks people.
O'BRIEN: Is this for real?
COSTELLO: This is for real. When he's outside, he actually like hooks onto people's shins and digs his claws in. He has six toes on each foot, so he has an extra claw to dig in on each foot.
After repeated trips to the animal shelter, Louis is now under house arrest. Louis is now a housecat whether he likes it or not. And now this swanky suburb is safe from Louis' kitty cat capers.
WALLACE: You hail from those parts, every run into Louis, the fiendish cat?
COSTELLO: No, and I'm glad. But you hear about Louis all the time. You're walking down the street and your neighbor will walk by and they, Louis, Louis. The police just put him -- he has to stay in the house for good now. Somebody filed suit against the owners of Louis for letting Louis out. It's nasty, -- Kelly.
WALLACE: It's nasty. Wow! I don't know. Well we'll see if now that he's under house arrest if people are feeling safer in Fairfield, Connecticut.
COSTELLO: I hope it's safe.
OK, I'm done now.
WALLACE: All right.
O'BRIEN: No more worries now.
Top stories ahead, including why an Apple a day is OK but two can make for a court case. We'll tell you how a legal battle over logos and trademarks may affect the way you download music.
Plus, a little boy who really kept his eye on the prize a little too much ends up inside one of those claw arcade games. We'll tell you what happened after this.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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