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Al-Masri: Dead or Alive?; Foley Fallout; Foley Scandal Hits Home; Rice in Mideast; Nuclear Standoff

Aired October 05, 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 to you. It is Thursday, October 5. I'm Miles O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.

Here is a look at what is happening this morning.

Conflicting reports on the fate of al Qaeda's leader in Iraq. Arab news reports say Abu Ayyub al-Masri was killed in an overnight raid, but U.S. officials are denying that al-Masri is dead.

M. O'BRIEN: A changing of the guard in Afghanistan today, NATO forces now in control in the eastern part of that country. The U.S. still will contribute more than 13,000 troops to the NATO team.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left Tel Aviv just a short time ago. She met with Palestinian and Israeli leaders to help revive the Mideast peace process. Her next stop being kept a secret.

S. O'BRIEN: The House Ethics Committee is expected to address the Mark Foley page scandal. Meanwhile, rank-and-file Republicans in Congress are reportedly considering asking the House Speaker, Dennis Hastert, to quit his leadership position over the matter.

M. O'BRIEN: In Pennsylvania today, funerals for four of the girls killed in Monday's shootings at an Amish school. A funeral for a fifth girl will be held tomorrow. Five girls are still hospitalized, three in critical condition, two in serious.

Outside Fort Worth, Texas right now, a tense standoff at a house where a man with a gun is holding at least one hostage. Police say it began with a domestic dispute. The suspect shot and wounded at least three people.

S. O'BRIEN: By this afternoon, 12,000 Goodyear workers could be on strike or locked out of their jobs. The Akron, Ohio-based tire maker is in contract talks with its union. The union wants to stop Goodyear from shutting down plants in Texas and in Alabama.

Chad Myers has the day off today, but Rob Marciano is filling in at the CNN Weather Center, got a look at the forecast.

Good morning, -- Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Soledad, back over to you.

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

MARCIANO: You bet.

S. O'BRIEN: The U.S. military is knocking down reports that the new leader of al Qaeda in Iraq has been killed.

CNN's Michael Ware is live for us in Baghdad this morning.

Michael, good morning.

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

You're right, the U.S. military says that it believes that al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri is alive. There had been hope among the military that they had killed him in a recent operation. Some reports say this took place two days ago in the western township of Haditha, but that's yet to be confirmed.

What is confirmed is that an operation did take place. A U.S. military spokesman says several terrorists were killed. And while they originally hoped that al-Masri was one of them, subsequent identification of the bodies now makes it highly unlikely that al- Masri is dead. And, in fact, this military spokesman told CNN that the U.S. military believes that al-Masri is still alive and has not been killed in recent coalition forces operations -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: But, Michael, do they believe that in fact they are getting closer and closer to him?

WARE: Well, the military spokesman did say that the pursuit of al-Masri continues. We continue to get close to him. I mean it's hard to gauge what's real and what's not. We heard on the weekend the Iraqi national security advisor on Sunday saying we are very close to capturing or bringing this man in and killing or bringing this man in in chains. We then saw the U.S. military spokesman, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, express skepticism about that.

I mean this is the great game. I mean the military here is chasing phantoms, so they are very difficult to get a fix on. We saw this with Saddam time and time again while he was on the run. His sons, Udai and Qusai. And how many times the death of Abu Musab al- Zarqawi, the former leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, who was finally killed in June in a U.S. airstrike, there was just countless reports of his capture or death or near capture. This is just part of the spooky game that is pursuing these al Qaeda leaders here in Iraq -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Michael Ware in Baghdad for us.

Thanks, Michael -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Another twist this morning in that congressional page scandal, the Republican leadership in the House in disarray, the speaker of the House fighting for his job, as they try to explain how disgraced former Congressman Mark Foley could have targeted teenage pages for so long. A former Foley chief of staff says he raised warning flags about his former boss as long as two years ago at the highest levels of the House.

CNN's Dana Bash with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): A top Republican congressional aide says he warned the House speaker's chief of staff more than two years ago that Mark Foley was having inappropriate contact with pages. That aide is Kirk Fordham, who, at the time, was Mark Foley's Chief of Staff.

Now all Fordham's attorney will tell CNN is that he had this conversation with the speaker's top aide and it would not give more details about their conversation. But in the statement Fordham says -- quote -- "Even prior to the existence of the Foley e-mail exchanges I had more than one conversation with senior staff at the highest levels of the House of Representatives asking them to intervene when I was informed of Mr. Foley's inappropriate behavior."

Now if this is true, it directly contradicts a timeline put out by the House speaker's office over the weekend saying that they only found out about Foley's conduct at the end of 2005 when they were informed that a former page complained because he got a questionable e-mail from Mark Foley.

Now in response to these allegations, the Speaker's Chief of Staff, Scott Palmer, said -- quote -- "What Kirk Fordham said did not happen."

Now while the speaker's office is trying to make the case that Fordham is simply not telling the truth, these new allegations further put the speaker on the defense and also further put into question his political future.

Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Meanwhile, back in the Florida district Foley used to represent in Congress, a lot of confusion and anger. Will this bright red district fall into the hands of the Democrats and will the Foley scandal send ripples across the nation in the midterm elections?

AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken is in West Palm Beach with more.

Good morning, -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, Miles, it is red here, but probably some of that red is from embarrassment. And you used the right word when you said what's going on here is a district that's very confused.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): While the Mark Foley story has serious national political implications, it's having a strong impact here at the local level, too. Certainly now at the parochial school Foley attended during the period of time his lawyer claims he was molested by a clergyman.

A one-time priest and counselor at Cardinal Newman High School, who knows Foley well, told CNN's Rusty Dornin the ex-congressman was a workaholic who showed no signs of ever having been abused.

REV. BILL BROOKS, FORMER SCHOOL COUNSELOR: Perhaps I'm naive, but Mark and I have a very strong relationship that grew as he grew, and especially into politics, I don't know...

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you believe it happened?

BROOKS: It could have happened. I don't know. I can't say it happened or it didn't happen.

FRANKEN: Florida Governor Jeb Bush says Foley's various explanations are really just smokescreens.

GOV. JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: There is no justifiable reason to do what he did. And I'm assuming that part of that is just to provide some cloak of legal protection, which in our country anybody has a right to attempt to do.

FRANKEN: For years, while Foley stayed officially in the closet, his sexual preference was an open secret. His refusal to step out antagonized those who felt it betrayed the gay community.

TONY PLAKAS, GAY RIGHTS SUPPORTER: When you have a politician that can do a lot for themselves and the community around them, you want them to be authentic because you think it makes a place for gays and lesbians to feel comfortable being out.

FRANKEN: The scandal affects politics all over the country, certainly here in the 16th District of Florida, which had been considered safe for Republicans.

Joe Negron, his replacement, was added too late for his name to be on the ballot instead of Foley's. And even the party chairman does not hold out much hope.

SID DINERSTEIN, REP. CHMN., PALM BEACH CO.: It is very possible that there are some voters who would have voted for our side who would say, you know you guys just upset me too much, I feel that there is a certain amount of trust I had in you which maybe at this moment is not deserved. My answer is I understand that.

FRANKEN: Some think there should be signs at polling places to explain that a vote for Mark Foley is not really a vote for Mark Foley.

(END VIDEOTAPE) But election officials point out here that any sign like that would have to be 100 feet from the polling place, so it's going to be quite a surprise if the Republicans are ever able to prevail. But as we found out in the last week, Miles, surprises do happen.

M. O'BRIEN: Surprises do happen. And I think certainly there's enough awareness out there that people know that a vote for Mark Foley is not for Mr. Foley himself. So it will be interesting to see how that plays out.

FRANKEN: Well you remember now we're talking about the state of Florida, and we found out in past elections just how confused things can get.

M. O'BRIEN: Indeed. All right, let's hope there's no chads there, just add another ripple.

All right, Bob Franken in West Palm.

And here's a sign of the times, and perhaps a ripple from that scandal, a Kentucky Congressman, Ron Lewis, has uninvited House Speaker Dennis Hastert to speak at a Republican fund raiser next Tuesday. That said, Lewis says he has no doubt to have any doubt -- he has no doubt -- he doesn't doubt Hastert's story, I should say.

And take a look at these numbers now. This is a new CNN poll on the president's affect on the campaign. Fifty-seven percent of people say they are more likely to vote for a candidate who opposes President Bush, while just 37 percent say they'll go with the president's supporters. The poll done for CNN by Opinion Research Corporation -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Happening in America this morning.

In Ohio, a federal judge has struck down a rule that would have required naturalized citizens to show proof of citizenship to vote. The judge says the rule raised concerns of profiling and would have made naturalized citizens second-class Americans.

In Washington State, a soldier who says she went AWOL after she was sexually harassed is now facing a court-martial. Suzanne Swift refused to serve a second tour in Iraq. She says she was sexually harassed by non-commissioned officers both in Iraq and at Washington's Fort Lewis.

In New York City, the T-shaped steel beam, which is known as the Ground Zero Cross, is moving today. The 20-foot beam is moving three blocks to St. Peter's Church. Meanwhile, New York City's Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been nominated to head the World Trade Memorial Foundation.

In California, federal agents raided two produce companies, they're looking for evidence of criminal action in last month's E. coli outbreak. One woman died, at least 187 others were sickened by tainted spinach. The FBI and the Food and Drug Administration are looking for evidence that the companies didn't take the necessary steps to make sure that their spinach was safe -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come, Secretary of State Rice's meeting with Palestinian President Abbas. We'll tell you what was said about the future of the Hamas-led government.

And China, one of North Korea's closest allies, joining the U.S. in putting Pyongyang on notice not to go ahead with nuclear testing.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: There's a possible shake-up in the Palestinian government. During a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he may dissolve the Hamas-led government.

CNN's Ben Wedeman in Jerusalem for us this morning with some details.

Good morning, -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Soledad.

Well that meeting took place in Ramallah last night. And just before that meeting took place, the Palestinian president said that all attempts at reaching some sort of agreement with Hamas on forming a national unity government had come to naught, had hit a dead end.

Now one of the possibilities he is considering is dissolving the Cabinet and calling early elections, but that could be problematic. A recently published opinion poll said that if elections were held now, that Fatah would only win 32 percent of the vote, compared to Hamas winning 30. So it would really be neck and neck, very little would be resolved.

And that's really the same description we're hearing about the visit by Condoleezza Rice to the Palestinian territories and Israel, she's come away with very little in terms of solid results. She met with the Palestinians. She met with the Israelis. There had been talk before this visit that this was part of a major push by the United States to get the peace process moving again. But now that she's left, there's very little evidence that that process is even alive at this point -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ben Wedeman for us this morning.

Thanks, Ben -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: That nuclear saber rattling by the North Koreans prompting some tough talk this morning. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill says the U.S. is not going to live with a nuclear North Korea. Earlier this week, the Kim Jong-Il regime announced it would test a nuclear bomb.

Meantime, North Korea's neighbors trying to form a united front, hoping to persuade or pressure North Korea to abandon those plans to explode a bomb.

CNN's Jaime FlorCruz with more from Beijing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAIME FLORCRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): North Korea's neighbors are scrambling to find a common strategy just days after North Korea announced it will conduct its first nuclear test. China, South Korea and Japan all joined the U.S. in condemning North Korea's plans, but they remain divided on just how to stop North Korea from going nuclear. The U.S. and Japan wants a tougher stance, but China and South Korea are calling for restraint and the resumption of diplomatic talks. Over the next week, China, South Korea and Japan will hold a series of summit talks, in part to repair their damaged ties, and in part to seek a common approach to North Korea.

Jaime FlorCruz, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: It's almost 18 minutes past the hour. Let's get right to Rob Marciano. He's at the CNN Center with a look at the forecast.

What are you looking at, -- Rob?

MARCIANO: Well temperatures have come down just a little bit since we last talked, Soledad, especially in the New York area.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Back to you guys in New York.

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

MARCIANO: You bet.

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, we're going to take a look at highway safety and what you should know about the safety of side air bags in your car.

And another record high for Wall Street. Is the good news going to continue? We'll take a look this morning.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: If you're shopping for a car, you had best make sure they have side air bags. A new study out today shows they reduce driver deaths in accidents by 52 percent in sport utility vehicles, 37 percent in cars. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says you should ask for those side air bags because they're not standard. They won't be until 2010.

Criminal charges in the Hewlett-Packard case. Andy Serwer is here to give us the latest wrinkle in that story.

Hello, -- Andy.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Hello, Miles.

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has filed criminal charges against five individuals connected to the Hewlett-Packard case, including former HP Chairman Patty Dunn. Also former Chief Ethics Officer Kevin Hunsaker, as well as three outside private detectives, have all been filed -- charges have all been filed against them, including Brian "The Hammer" Wagner, the gentleman who destroyed the computer with the hammer.

There is Patty Dunn there.

Each faces four felony counts, which could mean they would pay $40,000 in fines and spend 12 years in jail.

CEO Mark Hurd was not charged. And the California AG says there is no evidence to charge him, so he is in the clear for now.

M. O'BRIEN: Would there possibly be more charges?

SERWER: You know, you never know with these cases. I mean they'd have to turn up more information. They went through just countless phone calls and e-mails, and we'll get to that a little bit later in the program, talk about some of the details.

In other Silicon Valley skullduggery, Apple Computer had an internal investigation and it has turned up that CEO Steve Jobs apparently did know about backdating of stock options at that company, so he faces potentially some further scrutiny there. It didn't say whether the backdating was improper or whether he knew it was improper, and you can almost say et cetera, et cetera, et cetera here. But the bottom line is that this is not over for Apple Computer and it's not over for Steve Jobs at this point.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones industrials soared to another record yesterday. Get a load of that.

M. O'BRIEN: Not bad.

SERWER: And nothing makes the stock market go up like the stock market going up because people jump on. They saw a new record yesterday and said, boy, I better get in on this action here. And you can look at that.

M. O'BRIEN: Chasing the market they say.

SERWER: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: And if you're getting in for the very first time at this point, you might want to be a little careful. That's not to say it can't keep going up for a long time, but remember it's gone up for awhile.

S. O'BRIEN: It's still a little late in the game.

M. O'BRIEN: Buyer beware.

SERWER: It could be. It could be.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

SERWER: So that's what we've got this morning.

M. O'BRIEN: What else you got coming up?

SERWER: We're going to be talking about GM and Nissan and Renault and those talks which seem to be kaput at this point.

M. O'BRIEN: Kaput, just like that?

SERWER: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you, -- Andy.

SERWER: OK, you're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: Here's a look at some of the most popular stories on CNN.com this morning.

How's this for a paycheck, 200 million buckaroos? The lucky couple is Tim and Kellie Guderian, or Guderian I think it is, of Fort Dodge, Iowa. They're the big winners of that latest Powerball jackpot.

M. O'BRIEN: Wow!

S. O'BRIEN: Remember we were talking about the winners, we didn't know who they were. Well, it's these two.

SERWER: Hello.

M. O'BRIEN: So they're not going to be at work today,...

S. O'BRIEN: No.

M. O'BRIEN: ... boss, OK?

S. O'BRIEN: No, no, they take home 67 million bucks after taxes, though. You win 200, take home 67.

M. O'BRIEN: They did the lump sum. That was good.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, they did.

M. O'BRIEN: That was good.

SERWER: You like that, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Always do the lump sum.

SERWER: I know.

M. O'BRIEN: Always do the lump sum.

SERWER: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: And then check out this. This is red carpet treatment for the Spangler (ph) family from Randolph, Ohio. They were the winners of Disney's "Year of a Million Dreams" celebration prize, a morning all by themselves at Disney World in Florida. That might be a little weird.

SERWER: I was going to say that's...

S. O'BRIEN: All the characters,...

SERWER: Yes, that's kind of got a Walley World feel to it.

S. O'BRIEN: ... all the rides,...

SERWER: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: Wasn't that with John Candy there?

S. O'BRIEN: .... just the family.

SERWER: Experiencing with other people is part of the fun, right?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, well not that many other people, but some wouldn't be bad.

SERWER: Yes, some. Right.

M. O'BRIEN: There's only so much cotton candy and vomit I can take...

S. O'BRIEN: And look at that, Paris Hilton back in the news. Can you believe it? She claims she was hit in the jaw by Shanna Moakler. Shanna Moakler, if you're not following the story, that's the lady on the left there. She's the estranged wife of Travis Barker. He is the drummer for Blink-182.

SERWER: There you go.

S. O'BRIEN: Miss Moakler also recently voted off "Dancing With the Stars." She used to be a former Miss USA. Now here's the real connection, there are some reports that Paris is dating the ex-husband of Shanna, the critical thing there. The publicist claimed that no, in fact they're just friends.

M. O'BRIEN: Is there a give a cat...

S. O'BRIEN: The old just friends.

M. O'BRIEN: ... give a cat.

S. O'BRIEN: I know, I feel like I need to do a graphic for this segment.

SERWER: Yes, right, no, yes, six degrees of, right?

S. O'BRIEN: You're all brought up to speed now in what's happening in Hollywood and around.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you. Things we need to know.

S. O'BRIEN: Moving from a Hollywood catfight to Washington infighting, lots of finger pointing this morning in the growing Mark Foley e-mail scandal. And many of those fingers are pointing at the House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

Also this morning, confusion in Iraq over the condition of al Qaeda's leader there. That's among our top stories we're looking at just ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning, the House Ethics Committee is expected to address the Mark Foley page scandal. Meanwhile, rank- and-file Republicans in Congress have reportedly considered asking House Speaker Dennis Hastert to quit his leadership position over the matter.

A changing of the guard in Afghanistan today, NATO forces now in control in the eastern part of that country. The U.S. will still contribute more than 13,000 troops to the NATO team.

And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left Tel Aviv just a short while ago. She met with Palestinian and Israeli leaders who are working to revive the Middle East peace process. Secretary Rice's next stop is being kept a secret, at least for now.

Morning. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

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

The leader of al Qaeda in Iraq is apparently still alive despite reports he was killed in a raid near Haditha. The U.S. military says it does not believe that Abu Ayyub al-Masri was killed, but DNA tests are under way to make sure.

CNN's Michael Ware has the latest for us from Baghdad -- Michael.

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Miles, there was speculation raised several hours ago that in fact al-Masri had been killed during a recent U.S. operation. But the U.S. military spokespeople are now saying that no, that, in fact, is not the case. They say that they believe that Abu Ayyub al-Masri has not been killed in recent coalition forces operations.

There was a raid. They say that a number of terrorists were killed. They'd originally hoped that he was one of them, but after examining the bodies and doing identification tests, they no longer believe that, in fact, he was killed.

They're still awaiting the results of DNA reports, according to other reporting. However, they are saying that he is still alive as far as they believe -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Hard to say one way or another, Michael, whether they're getting closer to finding him.

WARE: Miles, it's absolutely impossible. Even U.S. military intelligence admits you really can't tell.

As you go down one path, you find that these phantoms that they're chasing -- and that's very much what this al Qaeda leadership is like -- has gone down another path. I mean, we've seen this circle go round and round, time and time again.

How many reports there were on Zarqawi, the previous al Qaeda leader's death, before it actually happened in June this year? This is just a part of the chasing game that you see here in Iraq, as the U.S. forces try to crack this almost impenetrable al Qaeda network.

As an American commander in Ramadi said, "Al Qaeda works very hard to keep us from understanding its inner machinations." So that's the difficulty that confronts the U.S. forces here -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, and as we found out, it's not as if the death of Zarqawi, his predecessor in that role, really had much of an impact in the violence.

WARE: Absolutely not. I mean, this is one thing that has distinguished Al Qaeda in Iraq, is its ability to replenish, not just leadership, but even rank and file, and entire cell networks. Indeed, what we have learned from the Iraq insurgents, former Ba'athists and members of Saddam's military apparatus, is that, indeed, despite the Americans' recent penetration of the upper tiers, the killing and capturing of al Qaeda leaders, al Qaeda has done two things. It's become larger as it has soaked up local Iraqi guerrilla groups, but also the new breed of leader that has stepped up to replace those taken out by the Americans is tougher, nastier, and harder than the men they've replaced -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Michael Ware in Baghdad.

Thank you very much.

That's the word from Baghdad. Let's get the latest now from top military commanders at the Pentagon. Barbara Starr is there this morning.

Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles.

Well, you know, it's very interesting. Usually the military hedges its bets in these types of matters. But fairly rapidly today the military did put a statement out. A spokesman actually in Baghdad, not here at the Pentagon, said, "There was a raid where we thought he may have been among those killed. We are still doing DNA tests but do not believe -- we do not believe coalition forces have killed al-Masri."

So, that's pretty much definitive word from the U.S. military side of the house. And as you and Michael discussed, the question everybody probably has on their minds, if and when al-Masri is killed, would it strategically make a difference to the situation on the ground in Iraq?

I don't think any U.S. military commander at this point is willing to say that it would make any significant difference, because, of course, now, with the sectarian violence, with the militia movements, you see so much of the fighting decentralized, individual elements around the country with no indication of really centralized command and control in these sectarian and militia attacks. Al-Masri sort of the al Qaeda side of the house. Some links between all of this, but probably not the case that if and when al-Masri is killed, it's going to in and of itself make a substantial difference to the situation on the ground -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.

Thank you -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Now for more on the fallout from the Mark Foley e- mail scandal, the House Ethics Committee is preparing to meet in just a few hours to decide how to proceed with a possible investigation.

CNN's Kyung Lah is live for us in Washington, D.C., this morning.

Good morning, Kyung.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

We're certainly seeing a widening of the scandal from a possible crime to now an alleged cover-up, and this is now reaching to the very top of the House Republican leadership.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAH (voice over): As the unfolding FBI investigation keeps Mark Foley's office under lock and key, the political impact widens. The question, who knew and when about his behavior? The latest to fall, the top aide to New York Republican representative Tom Reynolds.

REP. TOM REYNOLDS (R), NEW YORK: Mr. Fordham believes that this is a distraction by him serving as my chief of staff. I'm accepted his resignation.

LAH: Reynolds' aide is Kirk Fordham, who used to work for Mark Foley. Fordham says he warned senior staff in the GOP before 2005. That accusation pointed squarely at House speaker Dennis Hastert. Amid calls for his resignation, especially from Democrats, Hastert called in to a radio show, blaming political opponents for timing revelations about Foley so close to the election.

REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Somebody held information for one or two years to drop out before a big election.

LAH: Many Republicans are defending the speaker.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Asking for the speaker to resign is absolutely ridiculous. Dennis Hastert is a genuinely good person.

LAH: Others say the priority is an investigation into Foley's conduct. And if there's any cover-up, someone should pay.

REP. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R), TENNESSEE: If anybody participated in a cover-up, whether it was a member, or whether it was a staffer, or whether it was somebody who was holding the e-mails, they -- that individual needs to resign immediately.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: Well, Speaker Hastert was disinvited to at least one campaign stop. With just five weeks left before the midterm elections, this is something that the GOP leadership certainly does not want to deal with. Neither do its candidates, who are getting peppered with questions about the Foley matter -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Kyung Lah for us this morning.

Thanks, Kyung.

So what's the fallout in the disgraced congressman's Florida district? Let's get right to AMERICAN MORNING'S Bob Franken. He's in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Hey, Bob. Good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Otherwise known, Soledad, as Florida 16, the 16th District of Florida, which is about as confused as any area of the country could be, because, of course, not only is it aghast at what it's seeing here, but the people here have some real difficult choices to make at the voting booth. And they're trying to sort things out.

In particular, the accusations that were made by the attorney for Mark Foley the other day, when he talked about Foley's alleged abuse by -- at the hands of some member of the clergy when he was young. Now, the people who are at Cardinal Newman High School, where apparently he was going at the time, say they know of nothing like this, although they can't say for sure.

Meanwhile, the people here are trying to decide how they're going to vote. This has been a very safely Republican district, but now Mark Foley's name will stay on the ballot even though there is another candidate for the Republicans. And the chairman of the Republican Party says he knows that this is going to be an uphill battle, that this is a long shot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SID DINERSTEN, CHAIRMAN, PALM BEACH CO GOP: It is very possible that there are some voters who would have voted for our side, who would say, you know, you guys just upset me too much, I feel that there is a certain amount of trust I had in you which maybe at this moment is not deserved. My answer is, I understand that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: The proposals are out there to put up signs around the polling places to explain to the voters that even though they say they're voting for Mark Foley, they're not really. But election officials say that violates the law. Anything like that would have to be 100 feet from the polling place.

So this safely red district looks like it may, at least temporarily, Soledad, go blue.

S. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken in Florida for us this morning.

Thank you, Bob -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Happening "In America," in Colorado, a footnote to that school shooting that left a 16-year-old girl dead. According to the autopsy, police SWAT teams apparently shot Duane Morrison at least three times. Morrison turned his own gun on himself after killing 16- year-old Emily Keyes.

In Wisconsin, two more teenagers will stand trial in a foiled plot to kill students at a Green Bay high school. Shawn Sturtz and Bradley Netwal were in court yesterday for a preliminary hearing. The third teen accused in the plot, William Cornell, was ordered to stand trial last week.

Two men accused of the shooting of five Duquesne University basketball players in court, now headed for trial. Derek Lee and William Holmes face attempted homicide charges. The shootings on September 17th. The shooting apparently sparked by an argument over a girl after a campus party.

In Washington, the new defense spending bill passed Congress has $20 million set aside to celebrate the end of the Iraq and Afghan wars. The money for what was called the "Commemoration of Success" was also included in last year's budget but went unspent, as violence in Iraq and Afghanistan increased.

Storm damage in Ohio from severe weather. Heavy rain and strong winds brought down power lines near Columbus, left some residents without electricity. There are also hailstorms and some flooding in parts of southern Ohio.

Chad Myers is off. Rob Marciano is in. Good morning, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Miles.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, with three separate school shootings in the past week, are schools in your area doing enough to keep your children safe? We'll tell you what the government's doing ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Four of those little Amish girls who were killed in that schoolhouse ambush will be laid to rest in simple ceremonies today. The fifth will be buried tomorrow. The Amish community in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is asking the media to respect the families' privacy, to keep their distance, as well.

CNN's Allan Chernoff has more for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: A solemn day in Lancaster County. Funerals for four of the girls killed in Monday's schoolhouse shooting are scheduled today. They'll be held at their homes.

This entire community is in a state of collective grief. Mourners by the hundreds have been visiting the families' homes. And they say that the families are devastated, but nonetheless, coping. Coping because of the very tight-knit nature of their communities, and also because of their belief in the will of god, and their belief in the importance of forgiveness, no matter how heinous the crime.

Allan Chernoff, CNN, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Now, those shootings, along with two other shootings in the last week, has put school violence right back in the national spotlight. The White House is now convening a summit on school safety.

CNN's Brianna Keilar has details for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Three schools in Colorado, Wisconsin and a sleepy Amish community in Pennsylvania, all targets of deadly attacks in the past week. This spate of recent school shootings has prompted the Bush administration to organize a conference of education and law enforcement experts to discuss how the federal government can address the problem.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our schoolchildren should never fear their safety when they enter into a classroom.

KEILAR: Since the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, schools across the country have installed security cameras, restricted access to campus, and put emergency call buttons in classrooms. School administrators and psychologists suggest limiting kids' exposure to news coverage of the violence, but stress the importance of discussing the topic with children.

DR. DEBORAH BEIDEL, HERSHEY MEDICAL CENTER: They should start out by asking what the children have heard, and then follow up with questions such as, "Would you like to talk about this? Do you have any questions that we might want to discuss together?"

KEILAR: Experts say it's important to make kids understand, despite the uptick in school shootings, they are still rare occurrences.

JOSEPH TECCE, BOSTON COLLEGE SOCIOLOGIST: Parents can tell their children these are unusual circumstances, they don't happen every day. Don't go to school expecting it to happen. Go to school zeroing in on your studies.

KEILAR (on camera): A White House spokesperson says the conference on school safety will convene next Tuesday, and will likely include groups like the National Parent Teacher Association, as well as school principals and the FBI.

Brianna Keilar, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, a blunt warning from the U.S. to North Korea about their nuclear plans. We'll tell you what was said.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Here's a look now at stories that CNN correspondents around the world are covering today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ben Wedeman in Jerusalem.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has finished her visit to Israel and the Palestinian areas. In Ramallah, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas told her he's run into a dead end trying to form a unity government with Hamas. In Jerusalem, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert promised he would ease the Israeli stranglehold on Palestinian areas. Crossings into Gaza, for example, will be opened more often and longer.

But none of the fundamental problems besetting Palestinians and Israelis has been resolved. Secretary Rice will probably be back here again and again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAIME FLORCRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jaime FlorCruz in Beijing.

North Korea's neighbors are all rushing to form a united front against North Korea's plans to conduct a nuclear test. China, South Korea and Japan all joined the United States in strongly condemning the plan. Even China, which is North Korea's strongest ally in the region, was quick to urge restraint.

It's not clear when North Korea will actually conduct a test. For now, North Korea's neighbors are giving its tough talk, hoping to talk North Korea out of going nuclear.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello. I'm Nic Robertson in London.

Today in Afghanistan, NATO expands its control in the country, taking command of an additional 12,000 U.S. troops, expanding its total control in the east and the south. It now has under its command 32,000 troops. About another 8,000 U.S. troops remain under U.S. command in the hunt for al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Today, British prime minister Tony Blair said the fight in Afghanistan was vital for global security.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: For more on these stories or any of our stop stories, you can go right to our Web site at CNN.com.

We've got this news just in to CNN. In Culpeper County, Virginia, they are closing all of the schools there, both the public schools and the private schools, while law enforcement officials do searches of school buildings.

Apparently just before midnight there was a phone call about a nonspecific bomb threat. They're not exactly revealing the contents of that threat. Apparently no specific target was named but they have now closed the Culpeper County, Virginia, schools while law enforcement officials search those schools looking for a bomb.

We'll obviously continue to update you on this story as our morning continues -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Up next, Andy "Minding Your Business".

Good morning, Andy.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE": Good morning, Miles.

The proposed GM-Renault-Nissan alliance is off. But is a Ford- Nissan-Renault alliance in the cards?

We'll explore that coming up.

M. O'BRIEN: Also ahead, HIV outrage. AIDS activists say a new public awareness campaign is a giant step backwards.

Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: A look now at some of the stories we're working on for you this morning.

The Foley scandal might have House Speaker Dennis Hastert's job on the line. We're going to have more in a report from Capitol Hill this morning.

And is he alive or is he dead? Conflicting reports on the fate of al Qaeda's leader in Iraq.

After three school shootings in just the past week, one lawmaker has got a new idea to make schools safer: have teachers carry guns. We'll tell you about that story.

And in Texas, a tense hostage situation is under way right now. There are SWAT teams surrounding a house where a man is holding at least one person hostage.

Severe storms in central Ohio to tell you about. It's peppering the area with hail the size of ping pong balls.

We'll update all those stories ahead.

M. O'BRIEN: That's some hail.

The Renault Alliance. Well, it wasn't a very good car in the early '80s, and it wasn't a very good idea, apparently, for GM.

Andy Serwer is here with more.

Hello, Andy.

SERWER: Hello, Miles.

That's right. These talks between GM, Nissan and Renault went on for three months. And yesterday, GM announced the talks about a proposed alliance between the three automakers were off, dead.

The reasons, GM says, is because Renault-Nissan wanted too large a share of any benefits or profits in such an alliance, number one. Number two, Renault-Nissan would be acquiring a large stake in GM, and GM didn't think that was a good idea, either. This is a victory of sorts for GM's CEO, Rick Wagoner, who had objected to this idea, and didn't think it was a good idea. And it's a defeat for Kirk Kerkorian, the billionaire investor in GM who owns a 9.9 stake in the automaker.

News of this leaked out during the day, during trading hours yesterday. GM's stock down just a fraction. But Ford's stock was up. That's because there was talk on Wall Street that now Nissan and Renault might team up with Detroit's other troubled automaker, that being Ford.

There had been speculation about this kind of an alliance previously in August. And it also apparently is the case, some say, that Ford might be a better fit with Nissan and Renault, if only because Ford might be more willing to do a deal and possibly is in deeper hot water.

So...

M. O'BRIEN: A little more desperation there.

What is in it for Nissan and Renault in doing these deals?

SERWER: Well, it gets more of a global reach. Obviously the exposure in North America is tremendous. And then there are the personal ambitions of Nissan Renault chief Carlos Ghosn, who may want to ultimately take over either GM -- that's not going to happen now -- or Ford, become the CEO there.

Obviously Ford has a CEO at this point. So that would be very far off.

But this is the kind of speculation that we're dealing with. And it's definitely a fluid situation there in Detroit.

M. O'BRIEN: I should say.

What's next?

SERWER: Next we're going to be talking about Hewlett-Packard. Criminal charges have been filed there. Who exactly has been charged? We'll tell you coming up.

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

SERWER: Thanks.

S. O'BRIEN: A look at the weather now with Rob Marciano. He's filling in for Chad this morning at the CNN Center.

Hey, Rob.

MARCIANO: Hi, Soledad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MARCIANO: The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING begins right now.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dana Bash on Capitol Hill, where House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office, there are warnings that his office was warned long ago about the allegations against Mark Foley. And that is raising new questions about Dennis Hastert's political future.

FRANKEN: I'm Bob Franken in West Palm Beach, Florida, the district of congressman Mark Foley -- former congressman Mark Foley -- where the cliche has been turned on its head. It is now (INAUDIBLE) politics are only partly local.

M. O'BRIEN: The state of al Qaeda's leader in Iraq -- conflicting reports this morning whether a raid killed the top terror leader. We'll try to sort that one out for you.

S. O'BRIEN: And FBI agents raid two California food companies as part of that contaminated spinach investigation. We'll tell you what they found all ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien.

Thanks for being with us.

We start with the growing congressional page scandal. The House Ethics Committee set to meet this morning, and House Speaker Dennis Hastert under even more scrutiny as we speak.

CNN Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash live from Capitol Hill with more -- Dana.

BASH: Well, Miles, anxiety around the country among Republicans was already palpable, but now there are new questions about whether or not the House speaker's office was warned long ago about Mark Foley's questionable conduct.

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