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American Morning
Golden Dome Mosque Attack; Soldiers & Smuggling; Fight Over 9/11 Memorial
Aired June 13, 2007 - 06:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): High alert. Iraq on edge this morning after one of its holiest Shiite shrines is bombed again. Suspicions shift to al Qaeda as U.S. troops brace for a possible storm of revenge attacks today.
Plus, betrayal at the border. Three National Guardsmen trusted to protect America arrested for helping immigrants sneak over the border. The high-tech takedown on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: A lot of news to tell you about this morning.
Good morning to you. Thanks for being with us. It's Wednesday, June the 13th.
I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry.
And we have breaking news out of Iraq to update you now on what went on while you were sleeping.
The U.S. military is now on alert after suspected al Qaeda insurgents used explosives to blow up two towers that were part of the famous Golden Dome shrine area. Lawmakers loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr are now saying that they are suspending their membership in parliament in protest to this attack.
And this is the second time that this mosque has been targeted by terrorists. The dome known as the Golden Dome shattered a year ago. And that attack a flash point for the war. It triggered a wave of sectarian killings that we're still seeing to this day that have left tens of thousands of people dead.
The Iraqi prime minister is also now calling for an indefinite curfew. In fact, I believe it was just put into place moments ago.
Our Paula Hancocks joins me now on the phone from Baghdad.
What is the situation as you're seeing it, Paula?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, it's certainly a more tense atmosphere as there are worries that this will increase the sectarian violence.
Now, we do know that that curfew did go into effect just a couple of minutes ago. It's thought to be going into effect until tomorrow morning. Now, we have heard that the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al- Maliki, is currently meeting with his defense minister, his interior minister, and the president to try and figure out exactly what they should do.
We also heard from Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric, who has called for peaceful protests. He has blamed this particular attack on the U.S. forces, saying it is the fault of the occupation forces. Also, the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani asking for no retribution, no retaliatory attacks to be carried out on any Sunni mosques or any Sunni sites.
Now, at this point, the police say there has been, at least up until the curfew, some increased shooting in certain neighborhoods. But obviously the al-Maliki government hoping that this curfew is going to keep things less tense, certainly in the short term -- Kiran.
CHETRY: You know, a lot of people are wondering, because of the large security presence around that shrine, how insurgents were able to carry off this attack.
HANCOCKS: Well, that's right. There has been a heavy police presence in this particular area since the last attack.
Now, what we heard from one Samarra police official was that at 4:00 this morning local time, insurgents carried out clashes against these particular Iraqi national police. Now, from what we understand from this official, these lasted at least a couple of hours. And then the insurgents were able to get through into the compound and plant these bombs around them and then detonate them, destroying both of the minarets.
But certainly the police presence would have been heavy. And we know that in the next couple of days there was going to be re- enforcements sent to this area as well -- Kiran.
CHETRY: And as we know, I mean, bracing for some of the fallout. And as I understand it, Muqtada al-Sadr, who has considerable influence over his Shiite following, is, it seems, blaming the Americans.
HANCOCKS: That's right, yes. He's saying that no Sunni could have done this, carried out this attack. No Muslim could have carried out this attack.
He is blaming the U.S. forces. He is saying this is the fault of the occupation forces. And he's calling for reconciliation between the Iraqis themselves and to focus on getting rid of the U.S. troops in Iraq, or at least getting a timetable together for actually moving these U.S. troops out.
And as you said just earlier, we also know that he's pulled some of his MPs, he's suspended his 30-member bloc from the government, from the parliament itself. And in a statement it says until all Sunni and Shia mosques are rebuilt.
CHETRY: The question, though, is he saying that American soldiers blew up the minaret? Is that -- is he going as far as to accuse that, or saying that he didn't do enough to stop an attack?
HANCOCKS: Well, it was an official written statement that we got from Muqtada al-Sadr. And what he said in it was this attack was the -- it was the fault of the occupation forces.
Now, he never went as far as to say that he believed these U.S. forces had planted these bombs. But he also said that no Sunni, no Muslim would have carried out this attack. So it's certainly not as clear cut as that. But the actual attack he does blame on the U.S.
CHETRY: All right.
Paula Hancocks, we'll check in with you a little later.
Meanwhile, it should be noted that other Sunni officials are blaming -- other Shiite officials, rather, are blaming Sunni militants linked to al Qaeda for that attack.
We will continue to follow this throughout the morning -- John.
ROBERTS: Well, it is still not clear if the Senate will vote on the immigration bill again. During a rare visit to Capitol Hill yesterday, President Bush tried to win over the senators who all but killed the bill last week. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said it was too early to see if the president changed any minds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: We had a very, very good discussion, including some of our members whole are not, shall I say, keen on this measure, and others who are still taking a look at it and trying to decide how they're going to vote. I think a lot of that will depend upon what it looks like in the end. And none of us know that yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Now, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he'll bring the bill back to the floor when Republicans can deliver the votes needed to pass it, but not until then.
Three National Guard soldiers in Texas were assigned to help the Department of Homeland Security guard the border against illegal immigration. Now they're accused of betraying their duty, charged with smuggling illegal immigrants across the border.
CNN's Ed Lavandera reports on the alleged scheme.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The cell phone text message offers First Class Jose Rodrigo Torres a lucrative deal. Federal authorities say last Wednesday Sergeant Julio Cesar Pacheco sent these words: "We need to take 24 people to make that happen, and you will get $3,500. Does that sound good?"
Torres replied, "Twenty-four will be tough to fit, but I'll try." The next day, federal authorities say Torres picked up 24 illegal immigrants in Laredo and drove them in a van north along Interstate 35. According to those authorities, he managed to get beyond a Border Patrol checkpoint with the help of a third National Guardsman, Sergeant Clarence Hodge.
DON DEGABRIELLE, U.S. ATTORNEY: These 24 individuals and Mr. Torres and that van were actually never subjected to the typical immigration check that most people are subject to, that go through the checkpoint.
LAVANDERA: The van kept pushing towards San Antonio, until Border Patrol agents stopped Torres near the small town of Cotulla and discovered the illegal immigrants.
They had done this before. According to court documents, the three men organized about seven other smuggling runs, and more were in the works. The day they were busted, Sergeant Hodge allegedly sent Torres a text message that said, "You want to do one tomorrow? They're supplying the van."
Torres wrote back, "Tell them I'll only do one run at no more than 20 people at $150 a person, and I want to leave at 1930 hours. And I'll go to San Antonio if they want."
DEGABRIELLE: It's unfortunate when members of law enforcement, whose job it is -- is to help us protect the border and maintain border security, are alleged to have violated the very laws that they're helping us to protect.
LAVANDERA: Texas National Guard officials say they're disappointed and that any breach of the public's trust will be thoroughly investigated.
(on camera): Federal authorities won't say if these three men were operating alone or if they were part of a bigger smuggling operation, but in the criminal complaint against the men, three of the illegal immigrants in that van say they were charged up to $2,000 to be smuggled.
(voice-over): The three accused have not entered pleas in court. Federal authorities describe Julio Pacheco as the ring leader, a far cry from the soldier who received the Purple Heart for injuries he suffered in Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: And John, federal authorities, what they won't say is whether or not these three men were operating alone or whether they were part of a bigger smuggling operation. So those questions are still out there. And Pacheco's brother yesterday also told us that, to him, he was still -- still considered him a hero, and that they were asking people not to rush to judgment in this case.
ROBERTS: Well, it's just stunning that National Guard soldiers who are charged with protecting the border could possibly be involved in this.
Hey, Ed, on another matter, this soldier, Lawrence Sprader, who went missing in an orientation exercise down there at Fort Hood, Texas, on Friday, what's the latest with that story?
LAVANDERA: Well, overnight, the worse news possible. Searchers discovered the body of the young soldier on the Fort Hood post.
This is a massive, massive post in the middle of Texas. So there's a lot of rugged terrain in that area. And his body was found late last night.
He had gone missing since Friday, and participating in a navigation exam and test on the post there. His body was found last night, and it's being brought here to Dallas for an autopsy to figure out exactly what happened to him.
ROBERTS: So no early cause of death yet?
LAVANDERA: No, not yet. The only thing -- you know, one of the things that's out there, it's been extremely hot and humid here in the Texas area. Perhaps this was a test that was only supposed to last a day or so.
And since he had been missing since Friday, maybe there was a lack of water, or dehydration issues, or something. Speculation at this point, but probably something that officials will be looking at.
ROBERTS: All right. Ed Lavandera for us from Dallas this morning.
Ed, thanks.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we're moving on right now to the latest information going on and some of the breaking news in the Middle East.
Intense fighting in Gaza continuing again today, and now it's threatening to break up the Palestinian unity government. Militant Hamas fighters captured key Fatah positions today. Leaders from both parties calling for a cease-fire. The fighting though continuing. More than 50 people have now been killed in the past three days of fighting.
And at a news conference earlier today, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah party said the situation is "madness". The Associated Press reports that Abbas is reaching out to Hamas leaders that are in exile, including Khalid Mashal (ph), trying to see if he has any influence or way to end the fighting. Abbas also describing the situation in the Gaza Strip and the territory as liable to "collapse". Also, in Israel today, politics coming full circle. Former prime minister Ehud Barack winning control of the Labor Party today. You may remember he was swept from power by Ariel Sharon six years ago after the peace deal he dried to get with the Palestinians ended up falling through. He is now in a position to defeat Sharon's successor, Ehud Olmert -- John.
ROBERTS: Now a follow-up to a story that we first told you about last week, the fight over a donation box at the site where Flight 93 went down on September 11th. The state of Pennsylvania is now stepping in and offered to cover any costs.
AMERICAN MORNING'S Alina Cho has been following this story. She joins us now with an update.
And this dispute over this donation box and providing security is not the end of the story. There's a lot more to it as well.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, no. There certainly is. The fight is far from over, John.
You know, as you mentioned, we first told you about this last week. And now Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell is essentially responding to the outrage we saw from some 9/11 family members.
Rendell has signed a bill into law. It essentially renames a road in the area, Route 219, to Flight 93 Memorial Highway.
Now, Rendell also announced a $120,000 grant that will pay for security at the Flight 93 temporary memorial. That's the place, of course, where 40 people died when the plane crashed there on 9/11.
Now, security has been a point of contention. You may remember family members outraged at the man who owns the four-acre crash site and the surrounding land, 273 acres in all. They say land owner Mike Svonavec is demanding $10 million to sell the land. Of course, he disputes that, and told me last week he's actually losing money.
When federal funding ran out for security three months ago, Svonavec said he started paying $10,000 a month out of his own pocket for his own security guards. He says he simply can't afford it.
So, last week, Svonavec set up a donation box -- there you see it -- at the site of the temporary memorial, which only further angered the families. They called it an insult and tacky. The National Park Service, which manages the memorial, has since put a plastic bag over that donation box and is demanding that Svonavec take it down.
Now, Governor Rendell responded by saying, "The families who lost loved ones in this crash should not have to bear the burden of paying for security at this site. The grant also eliminates any need for donation boxes which transformed this hallowed ground into something less dignified."
Now, Patrick White, who represents the families of Flight 93, said this: "We are investigating how we may be able to use the grant, and that will take some time. It is good news, but we still are exploring how we can best utilize those funds."
Remember, this is $120,000.
Now, this is significant, because the families are trying to buy back the land. The land owner, Svonavec, says he won't negotiate with the families because he is in talks with the National Park Service.
Now, keep in mind the reason why all of this is so important is because in order to start building that $58 million permanent memorial and national park, Svonavec has to sell the land first. And John, as you mentioned, so far there is no deal.
So, the security issue for now has been settled, right, with Rendell establishing this $120,000 grant. But the fight over the sale of the land, that is far from done.
ROBERTS: It's a story that's going to continue to go on.
Thanks for bringing up that update. And we trust that you will continue to follow that as well.
CHO: I will.
ROBERTS: Alina Cho, thanks.
CHO: Sure.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Sixteen minutes now after the hour.
Playing with matches is what led to tragedy. Your "Quick Hits" now.
Investigators in Pittsburgh say it was children playing with matches that led to a huge fire that left five of those children dead. Their ages were 3 to 7. Police are now looking for the babysitter the mother claims was supposed to be watching the children at the time.
Duct tape was not an option, so NASA is breaking out the sewing kit to fix a problem on the space shuttle Atlantis. Astronauts will try later on this week to sew a section of the shuttle's thermal blanket back in place.
The area had peeled back during liftoff. The sewing kit is designed to fix spacesuits and comes equipped with stainless steel wire.
But you know, I have enough problem threading a needle with my bear hands. Can you imagine doing it with those gloves on?
(WEATHER REPORT) CHETRY: Well, in the race for president on the GOP side, a major surge for Mitt Romney in New Hampshire. Take a look at this new CNN poll.
It shows Romney leading 28 percent. Behind him, Rudy Giuliani at 20 percent, and John McCain at 20 percent, taking the number two and three spots.
Joining me to discuss is Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley.
Candy, thanks so for being with us.
So he's on top in New Hampshire, he's on top in Iowa, and he's also on top, as we've seen, in the money making. So is there some secret behind this recent surge for Romney?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: No secret. You may have hit on it right there. Twenty-four million dollars in the first quarter, and he's been spending some of it.
As far as we can tell, at least $700,000 worth of advertisement from Mitt Romney have gone into the New Hampshire market. It's probably more than the $700,000. A little difficult sometimes to keep track of it.
So, there has been that. And it has boosted his name recognition, which was already pretty good, because he obviously was the governor of neighboring Massachusetts. So there is that.
There is also the fact that apparently he had a pretty strong debate. These numbers are post-debate. And people are beginning to feel comfortable with him. Now, not so comfortable, because one of the other numbers in that poll was that only 7 percent of the New Hampshire primary -- Republican primary voters say that they've actually decided for sure on who they're going to vote for. So...
CHETRY: Right. It certainly is still early.
CROWLEY: Absolutely.
CHETRY: There is a huge undecided column still.
And also, I want to get your take on this. While it paints a rosy picture for Romney, in that very same poll, when asked who people thought had the best shot at actually winning the general election, the numbers change a little bit. Let's take a look.
They believe that if they were picking the candidate that could beat the Democratic nominee, it would be Giuliani by 31 percent, Romney at 25 percent, and then McCain down there at 14 percent.
CROWLEY: Well, and this is -- you know, the polls are really interesting, because as you say, those other numbers show a number of things. They certainly found Romney to be the most likable. But when you ask who is the most electable, you see they have Rudy Giuliani. Who is the person that speaks their mind? John McCain comes out on top.
So again, that just speaks to the fluidity of the race. Nobody ought to get very comfortable.
CHETRY: Right. Does it also speak to the pro-choice stand of Rudy Giuliani? A lot of people are saying he's going to have trouble getting through the GOP primary, but in the general election, his chances would be much better.
CROWLEY: Absolutely. And they look at Rudy Giuliani and know that he puts several Democratic states in play, New York, California, perhaps New Jersey. So that contributes to that whole electability thing.
CHETRY: Candy Crowley, senior political correspondent in our D.C. bureau.
Thank you.
CROWLEY: Sure.
ROBERTS: A messy divorce hurting book sales. Some "Quick Hits" for you now.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
ROBERTS: Ali Velshi here "Minding Your Business".
Mortgage rates on the way up.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, we've been following this, the subprime mortgage situation all these months. And if you're one of these people who got caught in having a low adjustable mortgage that was going up, and you've been talking about getting into a fixed rate, you might want to think about doing that now.
Mortgage rates, fixed mortgage rates, are on their way up. For the first time in 11 months, the 10-year treasury was up fairly substantially. Take a look at this.
The treasury is where mortgage rates are set, fixed mortgage rates. This is not -- you know, we talk about the Fed. That doesn't affect your fixed mortgage rates.
The 30-year fixed is now 6.61 percent. A 15-year fixed is 6.28 percent. So there's not much of a spread there.
The one-year ARM is actually down a little bit to 5.48 percent. It might be good for you, but remember, that's where some people got caught, because they took these one-year ARMs, or even five-year ARMs, and then they adjusted to higher rates. The issue here is that people are a little bit worried about where this economy is going. We saw that in the stock market. It's been another rough day on the stock market yesterday.
The Dow was down more than 100 points. And it is all related to interest rates, whether the Fed will increase interest rates, things like that -- 129 points lower on the Dow. We've got -- what is that -- the S&P down 16 points and the -- or the Nasdaq down 16 points, the S&P...
CHETRY: Well, you had it right.
VELSHI: The other way around. The other way around.
CHETRY: Either way, not a good day.
VELSHI: All the major markets were down.
What you need to think about is not just your investments and whether you want to act on that, but let's take a look at those mortgage rates.
If you've been debating whether or not you want to make that switch -- and it's a personal decision -- at least talk to somebody about this and think about whether it's time to get into a fixed mortgage. The one advantage of fixed mortgages is you always know how much it's going to cost you.
CHETRY: Very true. Good advice.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks.
CHETRY: Thanks.
ROBERTS: Earmarks, otherwise known as pork, those little pet projects that members of Congress love to slip into bills, Democrats screamed about them when Republicans were in charge. Well, now the tables have been turned.
Coming up, we'll tell you how.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. A live picture right now from the windy city, although it's not too windy today, only a four-mile per hour winds at current time. It's 65 degrees in Chicago right now and it is shaping up to be a scorcher, 88 degrees, bright sunshine. I don't know. Is it too early to take a dip in Lake Michigan?
ROBERTS: Probably a little bit chilly, but you can see there though that famous lake fog there. You can tell that is going to be a really hot, humid day. CHETRY: That will all burn off. And welcome back by the way. Thanks so much for being with us on this Wednesday, June 13th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: And I'm John Roberts. Good morning to you. We begin with a developing story that we're following for you this morning. The United States launching another war of words with Iran. Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns told CNN in the last few hours that the United States now has irrefutable evidence that Iran is arming the Taliban.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICHOLAS BURNS, U.S. UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE: It's certainly coming from the government of Iran. It's coming from the Iranian revolutionary guard corps command, which is a basic unit of the Iranian government. That is the organization that is supplying arms to all the other different militant groups in the Middle East.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Let's bring in our Barbara Starr on this. She's following the story from the Pentagon this morning. Barbara, we first got wind of this a couple weeks ago, suspicions more than anything. But now the government is saying, irrefutable evidence, they're going a lot further out on this.
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, John. You know, we've seen so much about Iranian weapons inside Iraq, now Afghanistan. What U.S. commanders and NATO commanders in Afghanistan say is in the last two months, they have intercepted two convoys in western Afghanistan, not that far from the Iranian border, full of Iranian weapons. They have found projectiles, those armor penetrating bombs inside Afghanistan. They found weapons in these convoys. They even found plastic explosives they say disguised to look like American C-4 plastic explosives all coming in from Iran. As Mr. Burns says, they believe it's from the Iranian revolutionary guard corps. But the key question always remains, is that under the orders of the central government of Iran? That's the tie that the U.S. wants to make. John?
ROBERTS: Barbara, back over the weekend, Senator Joe Lieberman made some news by saying the United States should attack Iran because of its involvement in Iraq. Now it appears that Iran is involved in Afghanistan, is there any talk there at the Pentagon of launching some sort of strike against them?
STARR: No, there isn't. There's probably a pretty central reason why. We go back to this question of who's behind all this Iraq revolutionary guard corps, which is a paramilitary organization, not directly tied by some accounts to the central government. Some people believe it is. U.S. policy regarding Iran really remains to try and get the people of Iran to be disenchanted, if you will, with their government. The thinking by the U.S. military is, if they were to do an air strike that might only push the Iranian people more into support of their government, not the goal that they really want to have at this point. And very tough, John, at the end of the day to find a target list, who exactly do you go bomb, John?
ROBERTS: That's always the problem when talking about that. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon this morning. Barbara, thanks.
CHETRY: And now breaking developments out of Iraq this morning. A curfew is now into effect. It is now in effect. It was put into effect about 30 minutes ago on fears of reprisal attacks after insurgents blew up the last remaining minarets, the towers of the Shiite shrine known as the golden dome in Samarra. The last time the golden dome was attacked, it started a wave of sectarian violence a year ago. Joining us to talk more about this latest incident is retired U.S. Army Colonel Jeffrey McCausland. Thanks so much for being with us this morning Colonel. The last thing I'm sure anyone wants to hear about today is this latest attack on this mosque, a flash point in the sectarian violence. How could this happen?
COL. JEFFREY McCAUSLAND, U.S. ARMY (RET): That's the question I'm sure that U.S. security forces, Iraqi security forces are trying to figure out. Apparently, there were attacks by al Qaeda forces against the Iraqi security forces around the mosque. Obviously it's a focal point because it's so important to the Shia faith, but obviously it was a breakdown in security resulting in this attack and now a fear perhaps increased sectarian violence.
CHETRY: And the other question is, I mean apparently Iraqi leaders in the wake of the attack a year ago said if this happens again and if this mosque is attacked again, we are afraid of what the outcome will be in terms of unleashing another wave of attacks. What role did the U.S. military have in trying to keep this area stable and safe?
McCAUSLAND: The U.S. had a great role in doing that. Obviously we've been trying to pass some of these requirements back to the Iraqi security forces. I'm not quite sure what the composition was around the mosque, but it was a combined security force. The other problem is there are some in Iraq who actually blame the United States for this attack either because of a lapse of security or, frankly, there are even some who believe that the United States is behind these attacks in an effort in some misguided way they believe the U.S. wants to increase inter sectarian violence.
CHETRY: Right and that's the claims I guess made in some sort of written statements by Muqtada al Sadr. Other Shiite leaders, though, are squarely blaming Sunni-backed insurgents. In this framework, what about the talk of possibly arming some Sunnis? It was something that was talked about among the U.S. military commanders there as a way to get al Qaeda rooted out.
McCAUSLAND: That certainly seems to be the policy, particularly when you talk about areas like al Anbar we're seeing some of the Sunni sheik and their tribes turn against al Qaeda. That's a pretty dicey proposition because there's a fear that if you do that, those people can then turn right around and attack U.S. forces as they have done in the past in some cases. Or perhaps you're simply arming the Sunnis now for an eventual confrontation with the Shias in an all out civil war. So it's a pretty fine line we've got to walk in trying to do that.
CHETRY: We will be watching the developments all day today and as we said, a curfew in effect right now. It's been in effect for 30 minutes after the news of this is certainly getting out on the Iraqi street today. Colonel Jeff McCausland, U.S. Army retired, thank you.
McCAUSLAND: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Thirty six minutes after the hour now. Stable after a tough delivery, your quick hits now. In Arizona the mother of sextuplets is doing well after suffering acute heart failure shortly after the delivery. The babies have also improved, breathing on their own now. Five of the six had been on ventilators. The other set of sextuplets born in Minnesota are still in critical condition.
It was an accident, that's what police have concluded about a bizarre incident in PawPaw (ph), Michigan where a man in a wheelchair got caught on the front grille of a semi and pushed down the road at up to 50 miles an hour. The driver of the truck will not face criminal charges. Amazingly, the man in the wheelchair was not hurt.
Democrats promised to shine a light on how Congress spreads money around. But critics are now saying those same Democrats are trying to keep us in the dark on all of this. We'll talk to the Democratic leader in the House, Steny Hoyer, about that coming up. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN.
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ROBERTS: Forty minutes after the hour. Welcome back to the most news in the morning here on CNN. Democrats have had control of Congress for nearly six months now. So how well are they living up to their campaign promises especially when it comes to the topic of earmarks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D) HOUSE SPEAKER: Today the American people voted for change and they voted for Democrats to take our country in a new direction.
ROBERTS: The '06 election provided a mandate, according to the new Democratic leadership, to create the most honest, open Congress in history especially when it came to so-called earmarks, those pet projects lawmakers just love to put into spending bills. They're better known inside the beltway as pork. Who could forget the $74 million on peanut storage that was attached to the recent Iraq funding bill but ultimately taken out? Advocacy groups want and Democrats promised all earmarks and their sponsors would be disclosed before the bill was voted on by the House and Senate.
RYAN ALEXANDER, PRES., TAXPAYERS FOR COMMON SENSE: Leaving aside all the political power games, the public has a right to know, the public has a right to know what we're trying to spend their money on.
ROBERTS: But Congressman David Obey, Democratic chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, recently announced that earmarks would only be added after the bill was debated and voted on in the conference committee, in negotiations frequently conducted at the 11th hour and always behind closed doors.
ALEXANDER: Their behavior isn't better than the last Congress. In some ways it's worse because we know they have those requests. We know they have more than 30,000 letters asking for specific earmarks. And they're not letting us see them.
ROBERTS: Obey is hoping that this will be a one-time only process to clear a backlog and that beginning next year, earmarks will be fully disclosed before a bill is voted on. But is it too little too late? According to a recent "LA Times" poll, just 27 percent of Americans approve of the way Congress is doing its job. That's the lowest in more than a decade.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And joining us now is the Democratic majority leader in the House, Congressman Steny Hoyer. He joins us from Capitol Hill. Congressman Hoyer, thanks for being with us, appreciate it.
REP. STENY HOYER HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: Good morning, glad to be with you.
ROBERTS: The question people are asking today is, what happened to the Democrat's promise to shed light on earmarks because this plan that is announced by David Obey seems to do exactly the opposite.
HOYER: I think it does not do either the opposite and I think it follows our pledge. It is unfortunate that we are way behind schedule because of the necessity to pass nine of the 11 appropriation bills that were left on the table when the Republicans left town in December. So that was one of our first orders of business. Then we had to pass the supplemental appropriation for Iraq which took a very substantial time and substantial staff time. Then as you have seen there are 3 2,000 requests that were mentioned a little earlier. We adopted a rule that said before we ultimately adopt any of those earmarks, we're going to put them on paper, have members certify they have no financial interest, which of course led to indictments and incarcerations in the past Congress and move forward with full knowledge of the public and full opportunity for people to see what we're voting on.
ROBERTS: But the original plan is --
HOYER: John, let me finish.
ROBERTS: Sure.
HOYER: Because the problem is, as Mr. Obey has pointed out, because we had to do so much backlog left from the last Congress, we were unable to vet properly and certify properly the 32,000 requests. Neither the Republican side nor the Democratic side staff were prepared to do that at this point in time. But we had to move ahead with the appropriations bill. So what we're going to do, in August, long before these bills are adopted and before we leave for the August break, there will be a full listing of all add on projects that are suggested and will be supported by the committee. There will be more than 30 to 40 days for the public to see those, discuss them and put in their support or opposition to them.
ROBERTS: It's still different though than the original plan which was to shine the light of day on them before they made it to the floor. Here's what Congressman Obey said the other day talking about them in the conference committee. Say, quote, the only real opportunity you have to prevent something stupid from happening is to have the protection of the staff who know the most about these programs and can fight something if they think it smells. The "Wall Street Journal" in an editorial wonders who that staff is saying, quote, these are the same appropriation employees whose job it is to tend to the needs of members, keep them happy and make sure that they get enough pork in various spending bills so that they vote aye and the bill is passed on the House floor. So who are the people who are going to be vetting these earmarks?
HOYER: The American public because as I just said John, they're going to be on a list, available to the public, available to all the members, Republicans and Democrats on both sides of the aisle, unlike for instance some of the projects like the bridge to nowhere which nobody knew about until months and months after it was passed. They're going to be able to see them, discuss them, talk to their member about them, groups and individuals are going to be able to see them and every member is going to be able to see them before we ultimately pass those bills. We think that's a step in the right direction. But it is not far enough. We adopted a rule that said, as I said, you have to certify there's no financial interest, members' names have to be attached to the requests that are made and they have to be fully vetted. That's going to happen. It's late in the process. We regret that. Let me say something, John. What we saw on the floor last night was we have the homeland security bill on the floor. That bill deals with border security, adding 3,000 agents. It deals with homeland security. It deals with customs and immigration being beefed up. It deals with cargo and ports made safer.
ROBERTS: Congressman, we're running out of time here.
HOYER: The debate that's going on is not on that at all. As a matter of fact, we think this bill is going to be supported by a substantial number of Republicans as well as Democrats.
ROBERTS: Congressman Steny Hoyer, House majority leader, thanks for joining us. Appreciate it.
HOYER: Thank you.
CHETRY: Forty six minutes past the hour now. Reynolds Wolf is here keep track of our forecast for us today. Could be some rain in New York.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Very similar to what we had yesterday where I think umbrella sales were probably off the charts.
CHETRY: It was like a lake.
WOLF: Indeed it was and we may see more of the same thing. In fact, take a look at live Doppler radar that we have right now in New York showing some scattered showers out in Long Island, up near New Haven, some activity there as well, nothing severe at this point, but certainly a wet commute for you as you're driving into the city. A little bit farther to the south it's dry for now. However, later on we may be seeing more of that develop. Already raining pretty hard just to the southwest of Tampa, St. Petersburg. Much of those showers will be moving on shore, could see some strong storms near alligator alley, also on the I-4 corridor, maybe even up towards Orlando before the day is out. All of that is due to a stationary front and it is anything but stationary. This system is making its way across the central plains however is going to drop anchor that frontal boundary is going to slow down and that rain will begin to pile up through the Dakotas, south into Kansas. In fact, the latest computer models indicate we could see anywhere from three to six, maybe even as much as eight inches of rainfall from Fargo southward to Sioux falls and that is going to be an area of big concern for us. But no worries. We're going to keep you posted on throughout much of the day.
CHETRY: Sounds good Reynolds. Thanks.
Some quick hits now and a big step forward for Eunice Kennedy Shriver, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says that his mother-in-law is recovering after a series of strokes. She's once again talking and going to church. Shriver is 85 years old and the sister of President John F. Kennedy.
There's also a new study out that's suggesting a drug to treat diabetes may incidentally help people slim down. It's called Symlin (ph). People involved in the study injected it before every meal and they found that they ate fewer calories and had less of an urge to binge on junk food.
And there's new hope now for catching a killer in women. Elizabeth Cohen joins us next with the symptoms that could be signs of ovarian cancer. Straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Breaking news now. We want to return to our top story in Iraq. The U.S. military an alert after suspected al Qaeda insurgents used explosives to hit two minarets near the famous golden dome shrine in Samarra. This was the one that was bombed in February 2006 that ignited all of the sectarian violence in Iraq. Lawmakers loyal to Muqtada al Sadr says that it has suspended its membership in parliament. That is, the Muqtada al Sadr bloc has suspended its membership in the parliament. It's the second time that the mosque as we said has been hit by terrorists. Karl Penhaul is outside of Baquba, Iraq. He's been on an embed with U.S. forces. Baquba is a little ways away from Samarra, but not that far. He joins us now on the telephone. Karl, what have you heard about this bombing from American commanders?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in the last few moments we've been talking to General Benjamin Nixon. He is the commander of the multinational division north and that includes the area of Samarra. He is the U.S. forces commander for this region. Now, he says that he believes they've got all the evidence so far that this was an inside job. He explained to me that he believes that members of the Iraqi security forces who were guarding the golden mosque site in Samarra have either assisted or directly took part in helping those al Qaeda insurgents place the explosives in the minaret and detonating them. He told me there was no evidence at all that this was an attack using mortars or anything of the like and said, in his words, that this was an inside job.
He went on to explain to me that the mosque has two security cordons. The first security cordon is a mixed security cordon of Iraq security forces, both Shia and Sunni Muslims in that security cordon. The inner security cordon is made up of only Shia Muslims who are part of a mosque security service. So far he says that investigations going on to see at what level security was breached to allow this to take place. He says that so far also 15 suspects have been arrested, 15 members of the security forces that were guarding that site have been arrested and that U.S. explosives experts are en route to the site to check out the exact details of how the blast was detonated.
In addition to all this, General Nixon said that an additional Iraqi army brigade would be sent to Samarra to keep the peace in that town. So far he says, he has seen no signs of a flare up of sectarian clashes in that town.
ROBERTS: That's good to know. It's John, Karl. Let me ask you this question about this idea of an inside job. If you say that there are two security cordons, one is mixed Sunni and Shia and then there is an interior cordon that's made up of Shiites, I expect that if there was any type of inside involvement it would be among the Sunnis in the outer cordon as the Sunnis are sometimes sympathetic to al Qaeda, not the Shiites?
PENHAUL: That certainly would seem to be the indication, John, although what General Nixon did say was hold on, be patient. We are carrying out thorough investigations here. As I say, the initial reaction has been the arrest of 15 members of the security detail. General Nixon didn't tell me what specific religion those men were. But he said the investigations were ongoing, both those investigations and also a more forensic investigation by U.S. explosives experts. So in the coming hours, I would hope that we would get some more details specifically on that question for you, John.
ROBERTS: All right, Karl Penhaul with some good information filling in some of the blanks this morning from Baquba which is about 40 miles away from Samarra. He's been embedded with U.S. forces. Karl, we'll let you keep working your sources. We'll get back to you a little bit later on, thanks.
CHETRY: They call it the silent killer because until now, doctors thought there were no early warning signs of ovarian cancer. A woman wouldn't know she had the disease until the cancer was advanced and therefore making it much more deadly. But now a new study shows it may not be true and that it's leading to new recommendations for women and their doctors. CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is live from CNN center today with details on this new information. Hi, Elizabeth. Good to see you.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. In today's "New York Times" they're reporting that new guidelines will come out about what women and their doctors should watch for to help prevent ovarian cancer. Here are some of the signs that women and doctors need to watch out for, feeling of pelvic pressure, also a feeling of indigestion and abdominal swelling and pain. When you hear this list, you probably think, gosh, well, I felt all three of those things at various times. That's where this gets very tricky. These are very common symptoms. But what these guidelines are saying is doctors and women need to take them seriously.
CHETRY: It's because if they are available to diagnose early it is highly treatable. There's a high survival rate. So what should women do if they feel these type of symptoms, go to their OB/GYN?
COHEN: Right, they should go to their OB/GYN and they should indicate that they're having them and part of these guidelines really in many ways are for doctors. They're have just been too many stories of doctors ignoring the symptoms, sort of patting women on the head, telling them not to worry about them. In many ways what these guidelines are saying is, is that doctors need to pay attention, do the right tests. One study found, Kiran, that one-third of women who showed up with these symptoms they did not get the tests they were supposed to get.
CHETRY: So they are recommending a more aggressive approach to finding this cancer early.
COHEN: That's right.
CHETRY: Elizabeth Cohen, medical correspondent, thank you. And we're going to be back in just a moment.
ROBERTS: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, border beware. How the men meant to protect the U.S. border from illegal smugglers crossover and become smugglers themselves. How did it happen? And who are the men responsible? Next, on AMERICAN MORNING.
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