Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Stolen Baby Rescued; Harsh Words; Coup In Thailand; Hungary Havoc
Aired September 20, 2006 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From Union, Missouri, with more.
Hello, Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
Well, baby Abby waking up in the comfort of her home surrounded by a loving family, but the last several days have been a tremendous ordeal for them. And right now a woman accused of abducting the baby last Friday is in custody here in Union, Missouri. Authorities say that they believe she was pregnant and had miscarried in her pregnancy, late into that pregnancy and perhaps that had something to do with her motives in this case.
But everything unfolding starting on Sunday when this woman, Shannon Beck, had called her sister-in-law to tell her about this baby that she had had. When the sister-in-law came to visit and took a closer look at the baby, she had noticed that on the forehead, that this birthmark that authorities here had been warning people to be on the lookout for had been covered up with makeup. When she rubbed the makeup away, she saw that birthmark there. And then she confronted Shannon Beck about what was going on.
And then it was yesterday afternoon that the sister-in-law turned the baby over to authorities and back over to the family where in the hospital yesterday afternoon they had a joyous reunion with Baby Abby, who is just now about two weeks old. Doctors took a look at her and said she is safe and sound. She's safe and sound, doing well. And that during her abduction she had been hydrated, and that was one of the key signs they were looking at. So everything looking very good for Baby Abby this morning as she wakes up with her family here in Union, Missouri.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: And we're glad she's safe and sound. Ed Lavandera in Union, thank you very much.
Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the White House says it's looking for a diplomatic solution to the Iran nuclear crisis. But after lisping to a couple of important speeches at the U.N., President Bush and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, don't seem to have found any common ground. CNN's Aneesh Raman joins us this morning. Nice to see you in person for a change, Aneesh.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you. Glad to be here.
S. O'BRIEN: Tell me a little bit about what happened.
RAMAN: Well, on the nuclear issue from Iran's president, no surprise. No deal in the works. No intention by him or his country to suspend their nuclear program. From President Bush, a call to do exactly that. Instead, Iran's president spoke on behalf of the oppressed people around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His excellency, Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
RAMAN, (INAUDIBLE): Perhaps no speech at the U.N. was more anticipated than that of Iran's president. And that's exactly how he wanted it. This week, gracing the cover of "Time" magazine, fresh from a meeting of like-minded leaders in Havana, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the talk of reporters from around the world. Just last year, fresh from his surprise electoral victory, he was relatively unknown. No longer.
PRES. MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRAN, (though translator): Rejection of domination and aggression, defense of the oppressed and longing for peace constitute the legitimate demand of the peoples of the world, particularly the new generations and the spirited youth who aspire to a world free from decadence, aggression and injustice.
RAMAN: But there was more than one Iranian view this day. Outside the U.N. a few hours earlier, a few hundred danced in protest of Ahmadinejad. And speaking, they said, on behalf of those in Iran who cannot, call for Ahmadinejad and the regime he represents to step aside.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The time is up and it is time that Iranians take over the destiny of their own country.
RAMAN: A notion U.S. President Bush was eager to emphasize. In his remarks to the U.N., he spoke not to Iran's government but directly to its people.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You deserve an opportunity to determine your own future, an economy that rewards your intelligence and your talents and a society that allows you to fulfill your tremendous potential. The greatest obstacle to this future is that your rulers have chosen to deny you liberty and to use your nation's resources to fund terrorism and fuel extremism and pursue nuclear weapons.
RAMAN: Iran's government has, of course, denied they are pursuing a nuclear weapon. But what is undeniable is that economic reform, promised by Iran's president on the campaign trail a year ago, has, for the most part, not been delivered. (END VIDEOTAPE)
RAMAN: The strategy from Iran's president turned the debate back to the United States. Whether Iran has a nuclear weapon, that's, of course, Soledad, what the U.S. fears. He said, look, countries that have it, they shouldn't have it. It makes the world worse. And in terms of Iraq, he actually says it's the U.S. and other countries that are destabilizing the country. So Iran's president aggressive against the U.S., but a more passive tone than we've heard before.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, and it's not a big surprise that they don't see eye-to-eye, obviously.
Aneesh Raman, nice to see you in person. Thank you.
RAMAN: Good to see you. Thanks.
S. O'BRIEN: And, of course, you can look for the president's reaction to the Iranian leader's speech this afternoon in "The Situation Room." CNN's Wolf Blitzer is sitting down with President Bush today for an interview. It's going to air at 5:00 p.m. Eastern edition of "The Situation Room."
Iraqi soldiers and police are once again the targets of violence in Iraq. A suicide bomber drove a truck into police headquarters in Baghdad this morning, killed seven officers. Three others died when a bomber targeted their police patrol in the capital. And then last night, a parked car detonated near an army base south of Mosul, killed nearly two dozen people.
Also, more fireworks to tell you about in the Saddam Hussein genocide trial. The former Iraqi dictator kicked out of court this morning after he clashed with the new head judge. The former head judge was replaced overnight because the government felt he was tainted, biased, in favor of Saddam Hussein. That was the judge who had said earlier that Saddam Hussein was not a dictator.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: The six member crew of the space shuttle Atlantis has an extra day in space, but it's not a day off. They're pretty busy up there. Take a look at these live pictures right now. You're looking at the space shuttle's nose from the end of a 100-foot extended robot arm which is conducting a fairly concentrated survey right now. Just looking at little pieces of the heat shield to make sure it's all intact.
Why are they concerned? Why are they having this late, impromptu inspection? Take a look at this pictures from yesterday. It happened in the wee hours of last night as a piece of debris. It's black. No one seems to know the size very much because it's difficult to tell. There's no -- nothing to compare it to. But it came off. It was in close proximity to the shuttle. The question was, could it be possibly part of the heat shield.
Or could it be this? Take a look at this image from a previous inspection in the course of this 10-day long mission. A so-called shim. These shims are used as spacers between those 20,000 or so heat-resistant tiles on a space shuttle. It keeps them apart as they glue them in. They should be removed before flight, but one of them was still there. It's possible in the course of firing some thrusters that that shim came loose. But they want to be certain about that.
Now in the midst of trying to figure out if that is, in fact, a shim or something more serious, another piece of debris was seen nearby. Listen to the commander, Brent Jett, as he radioed that information down to Houston.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRENT JETT, ATLANTIS COMMANDER: OK. We're not joking about this. But Dan was at window one. He looked out. He saw an object floating nearby. We took several pictures of it. It's fairly small.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: Take a look at that picture. You saw it briefly before we went to it. It appears to be a bag of some kind. A baggie. Nevertheless, those two events have NASA worried. They want to make sure that debris shield is intact before they return to earth. The were trying to do it this morning, but the weather, as it turns out, wasn't going to be so good anyway.
Take a look at what they're been doing all morning. We've had a series of inspections. First with the shorter 50-foot robot arm. Now with the 50-foot extension. Just making sure that entire heat shield is intact. NASA wants to get comfortable with that before they send the crew back home. Certainly in the wake of Columbia.
And meanwhile, back at the International Space Station, a little bit of history. The first female space tourist ever docked. That's a Soyuz spacecraft as it comes in for a docking at the space station. Same port where the shuttle was. Kind of busy up there. And a new Anousheh Ansari, for the tune of $20 million, got this amazing ride. There she is as she's greeted by the present space station crew. She's coming in -- no, she's coming in.
S. O'BRIEN: No, she's with a guy.
M. O'BRIEN: She's about to be greeted by . . .
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, she's here in the yellow, right.
M. O'BRIEN: I'm filibustering until she shows up because the tape -- there she is.
S. O'BRIEN: There she is. There she is.
M. O'BRIEN: There she's hugging Jeff Williams and Pavel Vinogradov. And she's an Iranian-American entrepreneur who wrote a check for $20 million.
S. O'BRIEN: Where did she get the money from? Do we know about her?
M. O'BRIEN: She's a telecommunications entrepreneur.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, some big cash.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Big dough. And is a space -- she was the one who funded the prize money for the X PRIZE. Remember the X PRIZE in space venture. The Ansari X PRIZE. So she's up there. She's up there for a week. We're going to talk to her tomorrow.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, how great!
M. O'BRIEN: Exclusive interview from space. We'll have that for you tomorrow.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, fantastic! Has she been interested in space all her life or is this just a . . .
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, all her life.
S. O'BRIEN: Wow! And what a . . .
M. O'BRIEN: Came to America . . .
S. O'BRIEN: You must be really jealous.
M. O'BRIEN: I'm jealous. Jealous is the word. Yes, that's the word.
S. O'BRIEN: All right. Let's move on.
Let's take you to Australia now. Thousands of people turned out to pay a final tribute to Steve Irwin. The man was being remember as being fearless in his life and absolutely tireless in his love of animals. There was a special memorial service held at Irwin's zoo and animal preserve in the town of Beerwah. Among those who shared their memories of Steve was his father, Bob, and his little daughter, Bindi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB IRWIN, STEVE IRWIN'S FATHER: Please don't grieve for Steve. He's at peace now. But I'd like you to grieve for the animals. The animals have lost the best friend they ever had, and so have I.
BINDI IRWIN, STEVE IRWIN'S DAUGHTER: My daddy was my hero. He was always there for me when I needed him. He listened to me and taught me so many things. But most of all, he was fun. I know that daddy had an important job. He was working to change the world so everyone would love wildlife like he did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: Also paying tribute through videotaped messages, Russell Crowe, Australian, actor Kevin Costner and Hue Jackman, another Australian. Irwin died on September 4th during a diving expedition. A stingray barb, you'll remember, went right through his chest.
M. O'BRIEN: Time for a check of the forecast. Chad Myers at the CNN Center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, Pope Benedict is, once again, talking about his controversial comments on Islam. Will it stop the angry protests? We'll take you live to Rome just ahead.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Nic Robertson in Budapest, where there's been a second night of angry demonstrations. Coming up, when AMERICAN MORNING continues, I'll tell you why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Thailand under martial law today. Tanks and soldiers are on the streets. An elected leader under arrest. And a general is running the country after a bloodless coup Tuesday night. CNN's Stan Grant live from Bangkok with more.
Stan.
STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, it sounds a lot more at flash point than it actually is. Yes, there has been tanks and soldiers on the streets. Yes, there has been a coup, but a bloodless coup. They've ousted the prime minister, Taksin Shinawatra.
In fact, while he was overseas in New York, the army has taken charge. The general, General Sondhi, who is running the show here now, has held a news conference saying that he is not in the business of long-term government. He will hand over in two weeks to an interim prime minister. In a year there will be four democratic elections.
He says now Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted prime minister, is en route to London. The generals here are saying that he is free as a Thai citizen to return to Thailand. There will be no repercussions. But he is not free to return as prime minister.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Stan, it looks like business as usual behind you there. I know that Thailand has a long history of coups. Are people just taking this in stride?
GRANT: A long history indeed. In fact, there were 17 coups in 17 consecutive years at one point. The last one about 15 years ago. And talking to people here on the streets, this latest one in their eyes is long overdue. They say the prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, is guilty of corruption. They say that he has divided the country very much on the streets of the capitol here. They're backing fully behind the army.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: And, Stan, as far as the general saying he's there temporarily, can we take that at face value? A lot of generals who say that end up in power for quite some time.
GRANT: They do like power once they get hold of it, don't they? But he is assuring us that he will, indeed, hand over in two weeks. They're looking at a list of names at the moment. From that list they will then draw the name of an interim prime minister and hold four democratic elections in one year.
Now, of course, the contradiction there is that Thaksin Shinawatra will say that he, indeed, is the democratically elected prime minister. He was elected and still has a stronghold, a lot of support particularly in the rural regions of Thailand. All this yet to play out, of course. At the moment, though, we're taking the general on his word, saying that he will hand over. Waiting, also, for a reaction from the king. Very much loved and revered figure here. We haven't heard from him yet. His reaction could very well prove (INAUDIBLE).
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Stan Grant in Bangkok, thank you.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Another night of violent protests in Hungary to tell you about as angry crowds are calling for the resignation of the prime minister despite admitting to telling a very serious lie about the country's economy, which was caught on tape. The prime minister says he's not going anywhere. CNN's Nic Robertson joins us from Budapest. He's got the very latest.
Nic, good morning.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Well the prime minister in that audiotape that was released said he'd lied to the country for a year and a half. Morning, and the evening and at nighttime as well, the people would come out the streets indeed. Outside the parliament where I am now, I can see a demonstration of perhaps several hundred people. It's very peaceful. Last night, though, it was very violent.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON, (voice over): At first, an impasse. Police stand-off from rioters, fire tear gas. It's past midnight in the center of Budapest, on the second night of violent demonstrations, fueled by anger their prime minister, Ferenc Gyurcsany, lied to them. Both sides seeming to get the measure of each other.
Then, the demonstrations have turned much more angry and violent now. There's been tear gassing down the street here. The police are moving in on the road here. They're moving in from the back here. It appears as if they're trying to get around and encircle the crowd.
The crowd pulls back, tortures a police car. These protesters are mostly men, mostly young, mostly very angry. Police on horse back advance. A water cannon fires. The crowd runs again. A violent version of cat and mouse in shoes.
The prime minister's headquarters are down the end of the street there. The police are trying to advance up, firing wave after wave of tear gas, forcing the crowds back. Everyone here, the eyes are streaming, their throats are sore.
But only a few hours earlier, a few miles away outside the parliament, the protest had been far more controlled. Ten thousand people, young and old, men and women, bigger, louder, not as violent as the previous nights. After three days, the protesters, far more focused in their demands, calling the prime minister to quit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have power because of their lies. So we want to -- the prime minister to go away and with the government as well.
ROBERTSON: Even as the demonstrators called for him to step down, not far away, in a secure TV station, the prime minister upped the ante, refusing to go.
FERENC GYURCSANY, HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER: The majority of the people are supporting us.
ROBERTSON: So you won't step down?
GYURCSANY: Pardon?
ROBERTSON: So you won't step down?
GYURCSANY: I won't.
ROBERTSON: In interview after interview, he defended the revelation he lied to the country, claiming lying is endemic in the political elite and that only he can fix the country's broken economy.
GYURCSANY: Many believe that I am the only one who is able to fool (ph) through program and to execute these changes.
ROBERTSON: At the peaceful rally, a growing acceptance the prime minister may, as he predicts, be able to live through this political storm.
Do you think they will? Do you think the prime minister will resign?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
ROBERTSON: With more demonstrations planned, the violent crowd seems to be putting their faith in their muscle. The city seems far from peace.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: Well in the demonstrations, about 50 people were injured. The police say they have arrested 98 demonstrations overnight. Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: The pictures are pretty amazing.
Nic Robertson for us this morning in Hungary, in Budapest. Thanks, Nic.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Ford on the financial ropes, trimming jobs, closing plants to save money. So why is it still paying one person $25,000 a day? Andy, "Minding Your Business."
And later, Baby Abby safe and sound and her suspected kidnapper behind bars. Why did it happen in the first place? We'll ask the sheriff ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Ford is taking additional steps now to get rid of more workers. Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business."
Hello, Andy.
ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.
A lot of auto news to get to this morning.
Wall Street wants Ford to go faster, faster, faster, and the automaker seems to be complying. We told you the other day, of course, about it wanting to shed all kinds of jobs, hourly workers and white collar jobs. Now we're learning this morning that the company's offering generous separation packages to white collar workers. Offering them three to 13 months' severance. Wants to get them off the books by February 28th.
On the other hand, offering generous retention packages to those employees, those salaried employees that it wants to keep. So it's really going through the ranks and trying to identify the people who are good and the people who they consider to be bad. Which is their propagative.
M. O'BRIEN: They have to give retention packages because they're afraid they're going to bail in the midst of all this?
SERWER: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, because people always bail because they could go somewhere else.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, sure.
SERWER: Because they know when the ship is listing, shall we say.
Now Ford is also paying a board member, John Bond, $25,000 a day . . .
M. O'BRIEN: A day!
SERWER: To consult with Bill Ford, the former CEO and a member of the Ford family, helping him in financial matters. It's capped at $262,000 a year. He can only do this job for 10 days or so a year.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, I see. I see.
SERWER: He advises Bill Ford before board meetings. He's a banker, so presumably . . .
S. O'BRIEN: Isn't he on the board, though? So wouldn't his job be to advise -- I mean, that's why he's on the board -- for free?
SERWER: See, this is where I'm coming off, you know.
S. O'BRIEN: I mean for whatever he gets paid?
SERWER: Like I thought you were supposed to give your advice for -- as a board member.
M. O'BRIEN: This is special advice. Extra special advice.
SERWER: Do I get extra special money for extra special advice that I give?
M. O'BRIEN: Absolutely. You are worth $25,000 a hit.
SERWER: You know, Soledad, I always say this, how do I get that gig, right? We should have a department of that.
M. O'BRIEN: I'm going to start writing checks to you.
SERWER: Daimler Chrysler cutting deliveries. Of the big three, we thought this was the healthiest one. And they have been. But they're getting hit by the big slowdown in Detroit too. Dieter Zetsche, the CEO -- you remember him with the big mustache, Dr. Z., did the commercials -- saying we were too optimistic. They're making to many SUVs and pickups as well. They're going to be cutting deliveries to dealers by 24 percent. That means temporary plant shutdowns later this year, which, obviously, is going to affect workers here and in Europe.
Toyota has sales plans to sell 9.8 million vehicles by 2008. Just to give you some perspective there. They sold 8.13 in 2005. GM sold 9.1. And they're expected to surpass GM over the next couple of years. So that looks like a given at this point.
M. O'BRIEN: It's happening before our eyes, isn't it?
SERWER: It sure is. Continues to do that.
M. O'BRIEN: There's a train wreck coming. We're watching it.
All right, what's next? SERWER: We're going to be talking about Thailand. You heard about the coup there overnight and companies that are impacted by that here in the United States. We'll get to that.
S. O'BRIEN: That's a crazy story, isn't it.
SERWER: It is. Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: All right. Thanks.
Ahead this morning, we're also going to be talking about that E. Coli outbreak, now across 22 states. We'll tell you about how it's now exposed a huge hole in food safety. We'll take a look at how we keep our produce safe. That's all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning.
A mortar attack and a truck bombing in Baghdad to tell you about. Four police officers are dead, 11 more wounded. Seven civilians wounded in the two attacks.
A U.N. summit on Darfur is opening this morning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Sudan is rejecting a new U.N. peacekeeping proposal to stop the violence there. Yesterday, President Bush called the situation genocide. He called on the U.N. to take action.
And the first woman space tourist arrived at the International Space Station this morning. She is a telecommunications millionaire. Her name is Anousheh Ansari (ph). She was welcome on board. You can see right there, with hugs. Look at that grin on her face. She's going to spend eight days in the station, return when the current crew flies back to Russia.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Think of the frequent flyer mileage she gets.
S. O'BRIEN: What is that? You do the math.
M. O'BRIEN: Billions and billions, I guess. I don't know.
S. O'BRIEN: You know, she's a gagillionaire. She doesn't need the miles.
M. O'BRIEN: She doesn't need it.
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back everyone. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.
S. O'BRIEN: The White House says it is looking for a diplomatic solution for the Iran nuclear crisis, but listening to two very important speeches at the U.N., President Bush and the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, you can tell there doesn't seem to be any common ground. White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux has a look for us this morning.
Nice to see you in person. Good morning.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Great to see you, Soledad.
Of course, this is really a kind of typical good cop/bad cop strategy. President Bush is really emphasizing tough economic sanctions against Iran. But quietly the Europeans have been talking to the Iranian regime. President Bush says, I am not going to meet with the Iran leader until he abandons his nuclear ambitions and yesterday he was true to his word.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice over): It was billed as a heavyweight match. In one corner, the man representing what Iran calls the Great Satan. In the other corner, a leader of what the U.S. calls the Axis of Evil.
As it turned out, the two were never in the same ring. They did not even bump into each other in the busy hallways. Anticipating President Bush would single out Iran during his address to the U.N. General Assembly, Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was a no-show for the public scolding.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Iran must abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions.
MALVEAUX: But the tone of Mr. Bush's address to the international body, and specifically to Iran, was noticeably more measured compared to years before. Four years ago, the president warned the General Assembly the U.S. would go to war with Iraq with or without the U.N.'s approval. Now he highlighted the diplomatic track he's taking with Iran.
BUSH: We look to the day when you can live in freedom. And America and Iran could be good friends and partners in the cause of peace.
MALVEAUX: The president's address was the culmination of a series of speeches a PR campaign, aimed at taking the focus off the unpopular Iraq war and on to the broader war on terror. Mr. Bush's speech on spreading democracy was targeted directly to the people of the Middle East.
BUSH: We must support the dreams of good and decent people who are working to transform a trouble region.
MALVEAUX: Mr. Bush specifically called on the international community to support the fledgling democracies in Iraq, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Authority.
But is the president's audience still listening? Some political analysts believe the Bush administration's foreign policy, particularly the war in Iraq, has contributed to the chaos in the Middle East. And the president has little credibility on the world stage.
FREDERICK BARTON, CNTR. FOR STRATEGIC & INT'L STUDIES: One of the dangers for President Bush is that he has not really established an international audience. And he does not have a group of people who really find him credible.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: President Bush and many other world leaders were noticeably absent from his speech, of the Iranian leader. White House officials say that the president did not watch that address. He was at a reception. But they were following his words very closely. But they, Soledad, of course, are trying to downplay the significance of last night's speech.
S. O'BRIEN: Not a big shocker there. Let me ask you about the Palestinian Authority president, Abbas. It's going to be a meeting between President Bush and Abbas today. Why now? It comes out of nowhere, in a way?
MALVEAUX: It's really interesting because this happens periodically. President Bush essentially says I'm recommitting myself to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, because the people he's turning to, these world leaders, particularly the Arab allies, are saying if look, if you are serious about Middle East peace, the real source of instability is the unresolved Palestinian/Israeli conflict. If you want our help on Iraq, on Iran, deal with this first.
S. O'BRIEN: Huh, we'll see how that goes, too. All right, Suzanne Malveaux, great to have you.
MALVEAUX: Great to be here.
S. O'BRIEN: We love that.
You can look for the president's reaction to the Iranian leader's speech this afternoon. In "The Situation Room", CNN's Wolf Blitzer is going to sit down with President Bush today. You'll see that at 5:00 p.m. Eastern in "The Situation Room".
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: The pope is still trying to undo the mess he made with those remarks about Islam last week. Speaking to a crowd during his weekly Vatican audience, he said he was misunderstood. CNN's Alessio Vinci is live from Rome, with more -- Alessio.
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Hello, Miles.
This morning at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI did not offer that outright apology that some of the Muslim leaders were waiting for in the Middle East. Again, as you said, the pope said that his words were simply misunderstood.
He also said the theme of his lecture, that controversial lecture, when he made those remarks about Islam -- was not Islam -- but rather the relationship between faith and reason. And in no way, what he said about Islam express his own conviction over that religion.
If anything, the pope added this morning, saying he hoped these words would constitute an encouragement to open a dialogue over the role of religion, any religion, for that matter, in the modern world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POPE BENEDICT XVI (through translator): This quote, unfortunately, was able to perhaps be misunderstood. For the attentive reader of my words, it would be clear that I did not in anyway wish to make my own the negative words, which were pronounced by the medieval emperor in this dialogue, and that his contained polemic did not express my personal convictions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VINCI: The Vatican has taken unusual steps in trying to quell this controversy. This is the fourth time the Vatican over the last week has come back on this issue, twice Vatican officials last week. On Sunday the pope offered an apology for the reaction that his words have caused; and again this morning during the general audience. Even Sunday's apology appeared, translated in Arabic, on the front page of the Vatican official newspaper.
The Vatican has instructed its nuncios, or it's ambassadors, in Muslim countries to meet with both religious and political leaders to explain exactly the pope's words. Those words, by the way, were also translated into Arabic, and made available not just to the Arabic press in Rome, but also to the embassies in the Middle East.
One question the Vatican has not answered yet, is if the pope does not want to be associated with those comments, then why did he actually use them? One thing I asked the top official here, on inter- religious dialogue at the Vatican, he basically had no comment. He said it is important to look toward the future and not toward the past -- Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Alessio Vinci, in Rome. Thank you very much.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Happening in America this morning, Pittsburgh police looking for a second suspect in the Duquesne University shootings; 18-year-old William Holmes is considered armed and dangerous. There's his picture there. And 18-year-old Brandon Baines was arraigned on five charges of attempted homicide yesterday. Two of the five wounded Duquesne basketball players are still hospitalized.
In South Carolina, another arrest in the case of that 14-year-old girl who text messaged her mother with her captor's cell phone, after days in an underground bunker. Well the suspect, Vinson Filyaw's mother has been arrested now. Her name is Ginger Cobb. She is 55 years old. She is accused of helping her son hide from the police and providing him with supplies. Filyaw is charged with kidnapping and rape.
In Colorado police are trying to figure out the identity of a woman whose body was found in suburban Denver. The woman was apparently tied to a vehicle and dragged for more than a mile. Her face was unrecognizable. Police are hoping, though, that her fingerprints will eventually lead to her identity.
Follow up on a story we told you about yesterday. The couple from Maine who police say kidnapped their daughter to take her for an abortion, well, they are out on bail this morning. The two have been ordered to stay away from her 19-year-old daughter, surrender their passports. They face kidnapping charges. Apparently, the girl told police the parents were furious because the father of her unborn child is black.
In Chicago, a member of The Flying Wallendas is back on high wire, after he was left paraplegic by a fall that happened more than 40 years ago. Mario Wallenda rode a specially constructed sky cycle -- that's pretty cool -- right across the Chicago River on Tuesday. Lots of people lining the river and nearby bridges to watch the 66 year old cross, which he did, very safely.
And start spreading the news. There's a little good news for New Yorkers. The FBI says the Big Apple is the safest of the nation's largest cities.
Huh! Gonna brag on that a little bit. According to a federal report, there was about one crime reported for every 37 residents. The city that has the highest crime rate is Dallas.
M. O'BRIEN: Who knew?
A terrible five-day ordeal is over for the family of 12-day-old Abby Woods. Police returned the baby to her mother and arrested a woman who lives nearby. The woman had a recent miscarriage after carrying a baby full term, and apparently saw the "It's a girl" sign at Abby's house.
Joining me now from Union, Missouri, is Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke, and Kenny Ochsenbine, baby Abby's grandfather.
Good to have you both with us.
Kenny, I'd just like to begin with you, if I may. How is the baby doing? How is the family doing? I assume there's a lot of euphoria in the household.
KENNY OCHSENBINE, BABY ABBY'S GRANDFATHER: Oh, everybody's doing fine now. Like I said, emotions are flying. Everybody is just happy that Abby was able to come home safe, and be with Stephanie.
M. O'BRIEN: What was that like when you got the word that she was safe and sound and coming in your direction?
OCHSENBINE: Relief. Relief, and we were all ecstatic, and even the sheriff. And we were just glad she's back home. M. O'BRIEN: Kenny, you must have, at times, thought the worst on this situation. Had you gone there?
OCHSENBINE: I myself tried to keep a positive attitude. I believe in God, and I prayed and prayed and prayed. And the whole family has prayed and everybody's prayed. And I believed that God was going to bring her back, so He succeeded.
M. O'BRIEN: Sheriff, I want to turn it over to you for a moment. The suspect, Shannon Beck, in custody this morning. What do we know about her? What do you allege the motive to be?
SHERIFF GARY TOELKE, FRANKLIN CO., MISSOURI: We don't know a lot at this point. In fact, we think the name may be correct. We're trying to verify that. She's lived in the area for a little while. I'm not sure where she's originally from. We did arrest her back in 2004. But other than that we don't really know a whole lot right now.
We've got quite a bit of work to do on the case yet before it's closed. We're going to try to serve a search warrant this morning. We've obviously got to contact some other people that may be witnesses in this thing. It's not finished yet.
M. O'BRIEN: What was she arrested for in 2004?
TOELKE: It was a hold for another agency. I'm not sure what the actual charge was. Here again, we'll try to find that out this morning
M. O'BRIEN: But basically what do you allege? She had had a miscarriage late in her pregnancy. And the motive was to replace the baby she lost? Is that what you're alleging?
TOELKE: That's what we assume. That's kind of a typical trait for somebody that does something like this. In fact, we had announced that earlier in some of the press releases, that people should be aware of that. That looks like this is what this case was.
M. O'BRIEN: The "It's a girl" sign, "It's a boy" signs, you see them all over the place. Would you advise parents not to put them up in this day and age?
TOELKE: Well, you know, everybody is happy when a new one is born, but you have announcements in the newspaper, websites, hospitals sometimes post pictures. They are obviously limited information on there. But it was a potential problem in this case. So, you just kind of have to gauge from there. I probably wouldn't do it myself, no. If I lived in a rural area especially.
M. O'BRIEN: What charges will the suspect face? Have you got than far yet?
TOELKE: We are going to be applying this morning. The prosecutor will make the ultimate decision, but we're going to apply for kidnapping, burglary in the first degree and first degree assault. M. O'BRIEN: Kenny, final words from you. Any words of wisdom or advice to others about this? I was just talking to the sheriff about those signs, for example. What's the moral of this story, if there is one?
OCHSENBINE: The only thing I can say is don't advertise. That's all I can say. Don't advertise.
M. O'BRIEN: I bet you'll be keeping that baby nice and close to you from here on out.
OCHSENBINE: I imagine she'll be pretty close for a while.
M. O'BRIEN: I suspect so. Kenny Ochsenbine, Gary Toelke, thanks both for being with us this morning. We're glad it ended this way.
TOELKE: Thank you.
M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: They're never going to let go of that little baby, now.
M. O'BRIEN: No, hanging on tight.
S. O'BRIEN: That's such good news, isn't it?
Let's talk about the recent e. Coli outbreak. It's exposing big food problems with food safety. Ahead this morning, we'll tell you why critics say the government is just not doing enough to prevent another outbreak.
Then later, a young woman finds her biological father and learns, in fact, she's a princess. Well, now, an entire village is counting on her. We'll tell you her story just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: You can add Colorado to the list of states affected by that strain of e. Coli bacteria that's been linked to fresh spinach. More than 100 people across 22 states have been sickened by that tainted produce. One confirmed death. Our Consumer Affairs Correspondent Greg Hunter joins us to shed a little light on exactly how they regulate this industry.
I would think it's pretty straightforward. Good morning.
GREG HUNTER, CNN CONSUMER AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Good morning.
Do you think the government has tons of people out checking to see if your produce is fresh and safe? Think again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTER (voice over): Gwen Wellborn is one of more than 100 people who recently got sick after eating e. Coli-contaminated spinach.
GWEN WELLBORN, E. COLI VICTIM: I said try everything you can. I don't care what it is. Try to save me.
HUNTER: Her lungs are now badly damage and her kidneys shutting down. Wellborn is just one example of why food safety is so critical. The recent spinach outbreak is another in a long line of severe problems involving produce.
In 2003, 650 people got sick and four died from contaminated raw onions served in Chi Chi's, a national restaurant chain. Three years later you may ask is our produce any safer?
CAROLINE SMITH DEWAAL, CTR. FOR SCIENCE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST: Produce outbreaks are growing in terms of the absolute number of outbreaks occurring each year. Also they're larger than other types of outbreaks, for example, from meat, poultry or seafood.
HUTNER: There are not mandatory safeguards in place to protect people form things like e. Coli, just voluntary guidelines from the FDA. Things like farm water must not contain runoff from cattle pastures. Farm workers must use bathrooms and wash their hands. Farm equipment should be kept clean. Sounds like common sense. But should these voluntary guidelines be mandatory? The FDA says commercial buyers already insist on it.
DR. ROBERT BRACKETT, FDA: Many of the buyers of these products already have specifications that they require good agricultural practices and good manufacturing practices, and have that written right into their guidelines. Whether or not the government has required this, in real life, they're expected to have this by the purchasers.
HUNTER: But are voluntary guidelines really enough to protect the public from getting sick?
DEWAAL: The FDA is relying on the produce industry to police itself. They've implemented no mandatory standards. They're relying on voluntary guidance and letters to the industry to control what is a growing public health problem.
HUNTER: Is produce being inspected by the government anywhere in the food chain, from far fields to store shelves? According to consumer advocacy group, CSPI, not regularly.
DEWAAL: USDA regulates meat and poultry products. And they have federal inspectors in those plants every single day, but FDA almost never visits a farm, or even the processing plants that produce the fresh lettuce, and the vegetables and spinach that we're consuming every day.
HUNTER: Resources for inspections are a problem, and the FDA agrees there is need for improvement.
BRACKETT: We are doing more. Now, could more be done? Absolutely. And we're insisting that more be done in the future. But what we're trying to do is get a good science-based way -- or exact points -- where these improvements can be made.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Well, that doesn't sound really comforting as someone who eats vegetables and has her kids eat vegetables. No one is watching this at all?
HUNTER: At the government level, not really. They don't send out inspectors, they don't do tests for e. Coli and salmonella. They can do a good job. Many of them do, do a good job. That's why experts say, hey many of them do a good job. But when you have a voluntary standard, that means some people aren't going to volunteer.
S. O'BRIEN: Is the problem getting worse? I mean, have you seen those numbers of cases, outbreaks grow over time?
HUNTER: According to the CSPI, and the FDA, say more people eating fruits and vegetables, the problem is growing. And the outbreaks -- this is the headline -- the outbreaks with vegetables and produce, and things like, that are big. They're bigger than poultry, fish and meat, according to the CSPI.
S. O'BRIEN: Wow, bigger than all the other categories.
HUNTER: They're big, huge!
S. O'BRIEN: All right, that's scary. Thanks, Greg Hunter.
Your first report aired on "Paula Zahn Now". And of course, you can catch Paula, weeknights, at 8 p.m. Right here on CNN.
M. O'BRIEN: Up next, Andy "Minding Your Business".
What's you got, Andy?
ANDY SERWER, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Miles, one night in Bangkok, the coup in Thailand rattles financial markets around the globe. Are American workers there at risk? Talk about that coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Well, there is a coup underway in Thailand -- actually, it looks like it's pretty much over at this point. But is it affecting business there? Andy Serwer has more on that.
SERWER: This is a story everyone on Wall Street and companies around the globe are watching. I'll tell you why in a second here.
The coup in Thailand rattled financial markets yesterday, including here in the United States. Stocks dropped rather precipitously in the afternoon, recovered a little bit. And the reason why is back in 1997, the currency there, the bat, dropped dramatically and it started a worldwide financial contagion that spread, first to other Asian countries, and then to countries around the globe. So people are concerned about the snow ball effect. The stock market there was closed by the people who perpetrated, I guess, the coup.
Now, there are American businesses there, thousands and thousands of Americans. By all measures, apparently people are OK. Ford has a big plant there, three hours away from Bangkok, 2300 employees there. Ford says that everything is A-OK. They make Ford Ranger and Ford Everest there. Tyco, the big conglomerate also has operations in Thailand. They have 1600 employees there. Apparently, things are A-OK there.
S. O'BRIEN: There has been a lot of support on the ground from this coup. People saying they really did not like the leader they had. And when he was here at the U.N., they ringed the presidential palace and took it over. But I've heard and read a lot of very positive comments from people who live there, who say he was a bad guy, he had to go.
SERWER: Right. And you've got to be a pretty bad guy when you have a military coup and people are saying this is a good thing.
S. O'BRIEN: Right, people on the ground are sort of cheering for it.
SEWER: By all measures, apparently the situation is stable and it's business as usual. And, of course, that's good news, especially for the people in Thailand.
S. O'BRIEN: OK, taking it in stride. What do you got next?
SERWER: We're going to be talking about Ericsson the Swedish telecom company and how it may benefit from a national security here program here to protect our national borders.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you, Andy.
S. O'BRIEN: We're going to take a look at the day's top story straight ahead, including this terrific story. It's about a young woman who was adopted, wanted to search out her roots. Turns out she's a princess. We'll tell you how she found her birth father, how she discovered a tiny village in Sierra Leone. All that's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
