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American Morning

Moussaoui Gets Life; Mexico Drug Bill; Trapped Miners

Aired May 04, 2006 - 06:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Judgement day for Zacarias Moussaoui. Jurors say he should get life in prison. He's back in court for sentencing later this morning, what might he say in court?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: They've got food, water, air, even an iPod, but they're still not above ground. We'll tell you what rescue teams are trying now to save those trapped Australian miners.

S. O'BRIEN: And dirty instruments putting lives in danger at a San Diego hospital. Hundreds of patients now are in fear that they have a deadly virus.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Carol Costello. No Mexican holiday for casual drug users, the Mexican president backs down.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm meteorologist Chad Myers in Atlanta. Severe weather dying off this morning, but more will pop up today. All that and "Hurricane 101" on this AMERICAN MORNING.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us this morning.

Let's get right to our top story. We may hear from an al Qaeda conspirator, Zacarias Moussaoui, one last time this morning. He'll be formally sentenced to life in prison just about four hours from now. A federal jury rejected the death penalty for Moussaoui yesterday, saying instead he should spend the rest of his life in prison for his role in the 9/11 attacks.

Kelli Arena has more on the emotional ending of the trial.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Zacarias Moussaoui will be sentenced in court later on this morning and he is expected to be able to make a statement. It should be the last time that the public hears anything from this convicted terrorist.

Yesterday on his way out of the courtroom, he said, America, you lost. But the judge had a very different take on things, saying that government always wins when justice is served. And she felt that Moussaoui got a fair trial and that justice was indeed served. The jury anonymous, still anonymous, did not really give any clues in their verdict form as to what happened in deliberations, but they clearly rejected the government's argument that Moussaoui could be held personally responsible for the nearly 3,000 deaths on September 11.

Moussaoui will be spending, it's expected, the rest of his life in a super maximum-security prison in Colorado. It's known as the "Alcatraz of the Rockies." He'll be spending time in isolation, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, only allowed out for 1 hour a day when he gets to do some exercise on a dog run. He's only 37 years old. He'll be 38 later on this month.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Alexandria, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: More now on that prison where Moussaoui will likely be going. It's called Super Max, or as Kelli referred to, the "Alcatraz of the Rockies." It's in Florence, Colorado, about 100 miles from Denver.

Inmates kept in 7 by 12-foot soundproof rooms with steel doors. There's a desk, a stool, a bed, all made of poured concrete. Windows look out at the sky or a wall that just slits. And the prison grounds contain motion detectors, laser beams, guard dogs and cameras all surrounded by 12-foot high razor wire fence.

One section is known as Bomber's Row. It includes the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, Shoebomber Richard Reid, Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols, Centennial Olympic Park Bomber Eric Rudolph and Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman accused of masterminding the World Trade Center bombing in '93. Timothy McVeigh was there before his execution -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: It's really nefarious company.

M. O'BRIEN: I should say.

S. O'BRIEN: Reaction to the verdict, split. Carie LeMack's mother was on board one of the American Airline planes that slammed into the World Trade Center on 9/11 and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, of course, led the city through the tragedy. Here's what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, FMR. NEW YORK MAYOR: I was disappointed that they didn't reach a conclusion of death, but I had tremendous respect for the fact that they -- those jurors did their job in the way they saw best.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CARIE LEMACK, MOTHER KILLED ON 9/11: He's going to be in jail for the rest of his life, which is exactly what this man deserves. He's an al Qaeda wannabe and he does not deserve any credit for 9/11 because he was not part of it. And I am so glad the jury recognized that and realized that he just wanted to kill Americans, but he wasn't even skilled enough to be able to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: We're going to talk to Carie LeMack in the 8:00 hour Eastern Time, along with Jerri Smith. Ms. Smith lost her firefighter husband on 9/11.

New warnings have been posted for mass transit systems here in the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security says it has nothing to do with Moussaoui's sentencing. The latest security reminder is apparently linked to suspicious activity at European subway stations about six months ago. A Homeland Security spokesman says there is no specific threat against U.S. mass transit but that security and police should still be on guard.

You want to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: A horrifying hearing in Washington to tell you about this morning, Internet child pornography the focus. By one estimate, there are no less than three million child porn images on the Internet.

And lawmakers heard from one victim, 13-year-old Masha Allen. For five years, she was sexually abused by her -- the man who adopted her in Russia and promised her a better life in the U.S. only to -- of course these are pictures of Nancy Grace. Just want to make that clear. Only -- there she is. There's Masha. Only to post sexually explicit images of her on the Internet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MASHA ALLEN, CHILD PORN VICTIM: He molested me all the time. He made me dress up in adult's clothes and even pretended to marry me. Sometimes he kept me chained in the basement. But because Matthew put my pictures on the Internet, the abuse is still going on. Anyone could see them. People are still downloading them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Lawmakers are pondering a bill called Masha's Law that would raise penalties for anyone who downloads child pornography.

And remember that Homeland Security spokesman snared in a child pornography sting? He is going to face charges in a Florida court this morning. Brian Doyle is accused of soliciting a minor on the Internet. His attorney says he hopes to have Doyle released on bail so he can be examined by psychiatrists -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: There has been an about-face by Mexico's President Vicente Fox. He is now saying no to a bill that critics say would have turned Mexico into a drug haven.

Let's get right to Carol Costello. She is live in the newsroom with this story.

Hey, Carol, good morning.

COSTELLO: Morning, Soledad. Good morning to all of you.

There will be no drug holiday for those looking for drug-fueled good times in Mexico. That proposed law that would have made it legal for anyone to possess about four lines of cocaine or four joints is dead.

The Mexican President, Vicente Fox, said to be on the verge of signing that proposed law, sent it back to his Congress saying, "With sensitivity toward the opinions expressed by various sectors of society, the administration has decided to suggest changes to the content of the bill."

That rather confusing statement really means, yes, I listened to you, America. It was music to the ears of San Diego's mayor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR JERRY SANDERS, SAN DIEGO: So I appreciate the fact that they were willing to step back, rethink it and the president took a leadership role in that. I think that's good for both sides of the border.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: It is unusual for the U.S. government to try to influence Mexican legislation, but the push has been on. The latest attempt came Monday when federal officials met with the Mexican ambassador. I think you can say it worked -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I think you can say that.

All right, Carol, thanks -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: A breakthrough for two trapped Australian miners. Rescuers are close to their location, which is more than a half-mile underground, but the tunnel isn't big enough to free them. It's been nine days now and rescuers say it could take another day or so to widen that tunnel.

Let's get right to Jeremy Pudney of our Australian affiliate Channel 10. He's live right outside the mine. Beaconsfield, Australia is the location.

Jeremy, what's going on now?

JEREMY PUDNEY, AUSTRALIA CHANNEL 10 REPORTER: Well, Miles, as you said, drilling continues a half-mile underground to try and free these two trapped miners. It was nine days ago when a rock fall in the gold mine trapped them. It killed one of their work colleagues. Since then, a tunnel has been blasted and now is being drilled towards them, but there's still about 30 or 40 feet for a giant drill to cut through turning rock to dust before rescuers can reach the location of the two men and bring them to the surface.

M. O'BRIEN: Jeremy, tell me this, it's obviously very risky just drilling down toward them, they have to be very precise in how they do the drilling and you know it could create really more problems in trying to rescue them, correct?

PUDNEY: Well that's right. What they've had to do is drill another tunnel towards their location and they'll finish up slightly below them. And then they'll use jackhammers and even hand tools to cut into the area immediately around them.

Now we're trapped -- their life was saved by a safety cage that's only very small, only just big enough to fit the two men inside, and they're very much trapped in that location. They can only crawl around. And so it's rescue crews are hoping to come up alongside that safety cage and free them and get them out.

M. O'BRIEN: So they're in a very small cage, obviously very close quarters. We've been telling people about the fact that they have got food and water and iPods and the like. Do we have any sense of what their spirits are like right now?

PUDNEY: Well their spirits are said to be very high indeed. A small tunnel was drilled through to them so those supplies could be passed through. The last thing that went through was a camping mattress and they were able to get five hours sleep overnight. Their spirits so high that they asked for yogurt for breakfast. They are determined to see their family again. That's really what's keeping them going. And everybody here is hoping to see them soon -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Keep us posted.

Jeremy Pudney of Australia's Channel 10, thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well Congress is trying to fight rising gas prices. The House passed an anti-gouging measure that could mean fines of up to $150 million for big oil companies. President Bush says skyrocketing prices suggest a bigger problem that's facing the nation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Prices of gasoline should serve as a wakeup call to all of us involved in public office that we have got an energy security problem and a national security problem and now is the time to deal with it in a forceful way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Here is the latest CNN gas gauge. The national average is $2.91 for regular unleaded. One of our writers in Atlanta said, though, that he got a gallon of gas for $2.74 and he was absolutely elated, which of course means it's all relative, isn't it? Because, you know what, a year ago it was $2.59 -- no, $2.22 a year ago and just a month ago it was $2.59.

M. O'BRIEN: So if I drive to Atlanta to get $2.74 a gallon, that will work out?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, you're saving. It may -- the math may not work out in your favor on that one.

M. O'BRIEN: I don't think so. All right.

Happening now in America, that big warehouse fire in Brooklyn is finally all but out. It took firefighters about 36 hours to stop this one. The fire broke out Tuesday morning, as we told you right here, and wasn't contained until late yesterday afternoon. Fourteen firefighters suffered minor injuries. Arson is suspected.

A woman who supplied teens with alcohol the day before one of them died in a drunk driving crash was sentenced Wednesday to three years of probation. Autumn Thomas says she gave the teens a bottle of peppermint schnapps in exchange for shoveling snow off her driveway. But a judge ruled there wasn't enough evidence linking the alcohol Thomas admits buying the teens to the deadly crash the next day.

An additional charge added for one of the five teens suspected in a plot to attack a high school in Riverton, Kansas. A 16-year-old boy now facing charges of solicitation to commit first degree murder. Lesser charges for all five teens include making criminal threats. Police were tipped off to the possible shooting plot after it was referenced on that Web site, myspace.com.

Final jury selection and opening statements expected today in the Maryland trial of convicted sniper John Muhammad. After three days, attorneys now just one step away from choosing the 12 jurors and 4 alternates. Muhammad has already been convicted and sentenced to death in Virginia for those D.C. sniper shootings.

In San Diego, state health officials are investigating an incident that could put nearly 300 patients at risk for hepatitis or HIV. The patients underwent stomach reduction surgery at Scripps Memorial Hospital, but one instrument used in the surgeries was not fully clean. The hospital says the patients have a very low risk of infections, however.

And Tiger Woods' father has died. Earl Woods passed away in his California home Wednesday after a long battle with cancer. In a message on his Web site, Tiger said this, "My dad was my best friend and greatest role model and I will miss him deeply." Earl Woods was 74 -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: That's sad news. That's been a tough struggle for him and the whole family for quite awhile.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, it has.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's get to the forecast this morning at 12 minutes past the hour.

Chad, good morning. What are you looking at? What are you starting with?

MYERS: Looking at a big red blob in the center part of the country. Look at that thing. It's basically a big complex of storms.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Back to you guys.

S. O'BRIEN: Sounds pretty good.

MYERS: Yes, it's good.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad, thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Chad.

Still to come, Hollywood's top earners. Stars like Jim Carrey, Nicole Kidman, they rake in some big money. Are they worth it? We'll take a look at that 18 minutes past the hour.

S. O'BRIEN: Then there is a new push to make the popular teen Web site, myspace.com, safer. We'll talk about that 22 minutes past the hour this morning.

But first, the Vatican struggles to deal with the popularity of "The Da Vinci Code."

Here's a look at what else is making news on this Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Checking our top stories, the only person charged in connection with the 9/11 attacks in the U.S. gets a life in prison sentence. Formal sentencing this morning for Zacarias Moussaoui. He's likely headed to a maximum-security prison in Colorado known as the "Alcatraz of the Rockies."

A major earthquake in the South Pacific triggering a tsunami warning. The quake centered off the island nation of Tonga, but no giant waves were reported, thankfully.

The U.S. House passing legislation meant to stop energy companies from price gouging. The bill imposes penalties of up to $150 million for offenders. Of course that's pocket change for the oil companies, isn't it?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it is.

Business news now, oil prices dipping a little bit.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes. Yes, apparently topping out. And we'll talk about that right now. The price of oil slipping to $72 a barrel, this after government reports showed that supplies of gasoline are increasing in the United States. Also, reports saying that usage of gasoline over the past four weeks basically the same as it was last year at the same time. And that is good news. That's why the price of oil is dropping a little bit.

The peak was $75.35 on April 21. Will that be a peak? Interesting question. And if we knew what was going to happen in Iran and Nigeria, we could answer that question. But there is some potential good news because Gulf of Mexico, there is still 300,000 barrels a day. They could get back on-line. That would increase supplies and could help out. So, you know, it's the political questions.

M. O'BRIEN: But we really shouldn't be holding our breath hoping gas prices are going to go down significantly, right?

SERWER: I think that's right. Significantly is the operative word there.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: The Enron trial is winding down, thankfully, I think we can say. We've had a lot of that going on. Defense witnesses testifying yesterday on behalf of Jeffrey Skilling and Ken Lay. Basically the defense now seems to be that there was a run on the bank at this company, that these gentlemen did nothing wrong, that investors panicked. It was the media's fault, the media's fault.

S. O'BRIEN: Again.

M. O'BRIEN: There you go.

S. O'BRIEN: Always at fault.

SERWER: It is. And they said that there were last-minute changes that they made on their financial statement to meet Wall Street's projections. Well that's status quo. That happens all the time.

I don't know, I find that when they talk about a mindset that they had to beat the Street consistently is fishy stuff, doesn't smell good. We'll see what the jury thinks.

Finally, let's talk about stocks, yesterday, drifted down a little bit. We're still near a five-year high, so we can take that. That's just a bit of a breather, especially because I'm proud to report that futures are rocking, rocking.

S. O'BRIEN: I was going to say (mine's) been looking strong.

SERWER: Rocking this morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, 12,000.

SERWER: Yes, all right.

M. O'BRIEN: We're getting there.

Thank you, Andy Serwer.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, -- Andy.

SERWER: OK, you're welcome.

M. O'BRIEN: Thanks for getting up early for us this morning.

SERWER: Yes. Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: We all know that Hollywood superstars, right, can make easily $20 million to $25 million a movie. These are the superstars, not just everybody. Kind of boggles your mind, doesn't it, $25 million a movie?

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, let's try it on for size sometime...

S. O'BRIEN: And...

M. O'BRIEN: ... just one movie. Could do one movie for that.

S. O'BRIEN: This thing doesn't work like that.

"Entertainment Weekly" is taking a look at which stars are actually worth the money. For example, Jim Carrey makes 25 million bucks a picture, Nicole Kidman makes $15 million a picture, yet they're dubbed risk because they have had big box office flops.

SERWER: Yes, you're only as good as your last movie.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, you are.

M. O'BRIEN: What have you done for me lately, huh?

S. O'BRIEN: And whatever your agent can negotiate. Big stars, though, or you know really smaller stars, but stars like Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams, they only get paid per movie a couple mil each.

M. O'BRIEN: Only.

S. O'BRIEN: Well in Hollywood standards, that's actually kind of low.

SERWER: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: And they are dubbed bargains.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Well there you have it.

S. O'BRIEN: See, but what happens is, I'm not the business guy, but what happens is they move up the ladder and start charging more.

SERWER: Right. Right. Yes,...

M. O'BRIEN: A little economics model there. Yes.

SERWER: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Maybe I could be the business guy.

SERWER: Could be, but you can be the business gal.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: OK.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, severe weather ripping through the Midwest. We'll have today's forecast at about five minutes from now and for you, the home viewer, it's free. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Some of the most popular stories to tell you about on CNN.com this morning.

Massachusetts wants the popular networking Web site, myspace.com, to raise its minimum age for users from 14 to 18. The state's attorney general says myspace has not taken sufficient steps to make sure that the Web site is actually safe for kids.

A New Jersey couple welcoming their second set of triplets. My goodness! The older children, the older three are 2 years old. So if you do the math, that means they got six kids under 2. They go through about 40 diapers and 3 dozen bottles per day.

M. O'BRIEN: Wow!

S. O'BRIEN: Asked if she was prepared, the mother said, "I think so."

And nearly 80 people who were convicted of sedition...

M. O'BRIEN: Who would be prepared?

S. O'BRIEN: ... of sedition -- really -- during World War I have been pardoned, finally. The governor says it's about 80 years too late. One man who spent nearly three years in prison because he said World War I was a rich man's war and we have no business in it.

That's some of the stories we're seeing on CNN.com this morning -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. We have some wild weather to tell you about in the Midwest. Take a look at these pictures. Hail falling in Kansas last night, although it looks like rain from here. There you go. There's -- well that looks like snow. Anyway, wild nonetheless. Similar storms pounded Missouri, Texas and Arkansas. And there you go, there's some hail.

And of course you know what size they are, right, -- Chad Myers?

MYERS: That's not -- that's less than a penny.

M. O'BRIEN: You know you -- that -- it says here in the script golf balls, but I don't see golf balls.

MYERS: That wasn't a golf ball.

M. O'BRIEN: Absolutely not.

MYERS: Not yet.

M. O'BRIEN: Not even a ping pong ball.

MYERS: No, not yet.

M. O'BRIEN: OK.

MYERS: But if we keep this tape rolling, you might see...

M. O'BRIEN: Eventually they'll get bigger.

MYERS: You never know. They get bigger and bigger.

M. O'BRIEN: Eventually we'll hit that shot with the Titlist right in the middle, right?

MYERS: Exactly.

M. O'BRIEN: Which is the...

MYERS: Because they're at a driving range.

M. O'BRIEN: ... routine thing. That's right.

Good morning.

MYERS: Good morning, everybody.

(WEATHER REPORT)

For your "Hurricane 101" for today, did you know that you could go on the Weather Service Web site and find all the buoys across the country? Well we think why do you think you want to see that? Well click on that little buoy right there, it looks like this.

Guess what it will do? It will give you the wind direction, wind speed, wind gusts, the waves, pressure and the water temperature. And that's pretty important when it comes to hurricanes. When we're doing forecasting, at least -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: That is interesting.

MYERS: Yes, it is.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad, thank you.

MYERS: You bet.

S. O'BRIEN: We're going to take a look at the morning's top stories straight ahead, including how the Vatican is dealing or maybe not dealing with the massive popularity of "The Da Vinci Code." A report from Rome at 45 minutes after the hour. Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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