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CNN Saturday Morning News

Al Qaeda In Iraq Responsible For Jordan Bombings; Consumers Wonder Why Fuel Prices High While Oil Company Profits Go Up; Future Of Terrell Owens

Aired November 12, 2005 - 09:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center in Atlanta I'm Betty Nguyen. Good morning everybody. Its 9:00 a.m. right here in Atlanta, 5:0o p.m. in Baghdad. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning everyone. Hi Betty.

NGUYEN: Hey there.

HARRIS: Good to see you. We do this every week. I'm Tony Harris. Thank you for starting your day with us.

Our top story in just a moment, but right now a look at what else is happening in the news. French officials have banned a public gathering through the weekend this after police intercepted Internet and mobile phone text messages allegedly suggesting more rioting. Nearly 3,000 officers are on high alert. Last night marks 16 straight nights of violence in Paris and surrounding areas. Authorities say rioters are upset about unemployment, poverty and discrimination in working class suburbs.

And in Thailand a 1-year-old boy is the country's latest human patient diagnosed with the deadly strain of bird flu. Thai health officials say the boy is hospitalized and recovering in an intensive care ward. He is Thailand's 21st case of human bird flu contraction. Thirteen of those patients had died.

About two hours ago this was the scene outside Charlotte, North Carolina. Ready? Lets do it together now; just a push of a button and the former pillow tech building falls to the ground.

NGUYEN: That is always so interesting to watch.

HARRIS: The North Carolina research campus will be built on this site in the next few years.

NGUYEN: Well there are new developments in this week's Jordan terrorist attacks. Government officials say their investigation confirms al Qaeda in Iraq is responsible for the three hotel bombings and Jordan has identified the suicide bombers as three Iraqi men. They dispute al Qaeda claims that a woman was involved. Fifty-seven people were killed at Wednesday's blast, 90 others wounded. al Qaeda in Iraq is headed by wanted terrorists Abu Musab Al Zarqawi who was born in Jordan.

HARRIS: 6:00 p.m. in Bahrain and that's where Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is right now after making a surprise stop in Iraq yesterday. Rice attended a 36-nation conference there on Middle East democracies. She took aim at Syria over the human rights record calling for the release of political prisoners. Rice's visit to Bahrain is part of a Middle East trip that will also take her to Saudi Arabia and Israel. At some point, Rice is expected to sandwich an unplanned visit into terror-stricken Jordan into her schedule.

NGUYEN: We are going to talk now about violence and diplomacy in Iraq. Four Iraqi women were killed today when a car bomb exploded in a busy Baghdad market, 40 other people wounded. Now the attack comes as U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is in the area. We want to go now to Iraq and get the latest on what is happening there. Annan is there to help boost participation in next month's elections. Let's go now live to Kevin Flower, our Baghdad bureau chief. Kevin, what's the latest on the ground?

KEVIN FLOWER, BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Betty. Kofi Annan, the secretary-general's unannounced visit here to Baghdad today was the first he's made since the 2003 invasion of Iraq and it caps off what has been a week of high-profile visits here. As you mentioned earlier the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made her own surprise visit here yesterday.

Now the diplomats' message? The need for Iraq to push forward on the political process and set aside sectarian differences. This is -- the country is just a month away from elections. National elections that will put in place a four-year permanent government, the hope, of course is the continued progress on the political front, we'll take the steam out of the insurgency here, a need to underscore this morning by yet another deadly attack here in Iraq. This time a car bomb attack hit Baghdad, a remotely detonated car bomb being set off, killing four women and 40 others in a crowded market area of a Shia neighborhood here, Betty.

NGUYEN: Kevin, thank you for the update. We'll be talking with you throughout the day.

I also want to get you updated on stories across America this morning. In Wisconsin, a man recently freed from jail after serving 18 years on a wrongful rape conviction could now face murder charges. Police say human remains were found on his property and prosecutors believe the remains are those of a 25-year-old missing woman who was last seen with the man two weeks ago. He claims that he is being set up.

Evansville, Indiana, this weekend is burring the victims from last Sunday's horrific tornado. Funerals began Thursday with the burial of 4-year-old Isaiah Blalock, one of the youngest of the 22 victims.

Interstate motorists traveling south of Seattle should be on the lookout for this. That can cause a problem. Rockslides have closed parts of Interstate 90 since last Sunday. The highway has partially reopened but authorities warn of possible traffic jams. There is a makeshift bypass with one lane going each way and Washington has seen, unfortunately, a series of rockslides this year. One of which killed three people.

HARRIS: Well Betty, we've been talking oil and gas prices this morning. There are many questions about big oil companies, recording big profits and consumers seeing big gas bills, but there are few answers. CNN's Lisa Sylvester has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Numbers tell the story. Oil company's summer profits, $33 billion, average oil companies CEOs salary, $8 million. The average price of gasoline a family had to pay at the pump, a record $3.07 a gallon. The industry has not exactly been hurting yet Congress gave oil and gas companies $6 billion in tax breaks in subsidies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's outrageous at a time when oil companies are enjoying record profits the president of the United States signed an energy bill on August 8th that give it is the same price gouging oil companies huge new tax breaks. That's not energy policy. That's political payback.

SYLVESTER: Tucked in the 2005 Energy Bill, $2.5 billion in tax breaks and subsidies for oil exploration and deep water drilling, $1 billion for accelerated depreciation for natural gas pipe lean. A $40 million tax break for oil refinery owners and $1 billion in royalty relief subsidies. The oil and gas industry says the breaks are necessary because a lot of up front investment is need and ExxonMobil's president argues the profits are justified.

LEE RAYMOND, CEO, EXXONMOBIL CORP: Petroleum industry's earnings are at historic highs today, but when you look at our earnings per dollar of revenue, the true apples to apples comparison, we're in line with the average of all U.S. industries.

SYLVESTER: But lawmakers want to know how oil companies that have been crying for help could turn around and have a 75 percent profit increase.

SEN. RON WYDEN, (D) OREGON: Why shouldn't Congress take back the billions of dollars in brand new tax breaks, breaks that you just told me aren't need and use that money to help people that are hurting in our country?

SYLVESTER: Oil companies are still lobbying for more. Opening the Alaskan wild life refuge to drilling, relaxing rules for refinery construction and dodging any new taxes.

How is it that the industry was able to get Congress to pass such a lucrative Energy Bill in the first place? There's another number that might explain it, $54 million. That's the amount of money the oil and gas industry has given in campaign contributions since 2001.

Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Which brings us to our things on the day.

NGUYEN: Roll it.

HARRIS: Only so much on the ground.

NGUYEN: Those are the lyrics. That's the reality of the issue.

HARRIS: It is. So our e-mail question. We are asking you this morning, "What do you think about the oil prices, the gas prices and the profits and all of it this morning? E-mail inbox full like oil executives pockets.

NGUYEN: Oh, Tony!

HARRIS: What, if anything, did you learn from the oil executives testifying on the hill this week? Did you learn anything? Email us your thoughts, here is the address WEEKENDS@CNN.com.

NGUYEN: And I have to tell you this, is weighing heavily toward the folks saying, you know what? I didn't learn anything. If you did learn something let us know, OK? We want to hear from you this morning.

All right. Moving on, you might be dreading your first real heating bill. In our next hour we will take a look at some alternatives that can heat your home or even fuel your cars.

HARRIS: And T.O. is looking for a new T, Terrell Owens. Yes. We'll talk with the young reporter whose interview with T.O. got the wide receiver in plenty of hot water. That's still ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CORRESPONDENT: She is known by some as the woman who broke up the Beatles, by others as a misunderstood artist with a passion for world peace. A superstar in her own right, Yoko Ono married John Lennon in 1969 and gave birth to her son John six years later.

She was by her husband's side when he was gunned down outside of their New York City apartment building in 1908. Since his death, Ono has remained active in causes she views as keeping Lennon's spirit alive. In 2003 she started the Lennon Ono Grant for Peace, which is awarded the people who benefit the human race.

YOKO ONO: On the kind of thing that John would have approved and he would have loved to see happen and I thought it was very important that this award is created.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CORRESPONDENT: Yoko Ono is now 72 years old, a senior citizen with a hippie sensibility. Her song, "Every Man, Every Woman" hit the charts in late 2004. Yoko is also collaborating with former Beatles Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison's widow Olivia to create a new Cirque du Soleil at the Mirage in Las Vegas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Welcome back to CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Betty Nguyen. Let's get your weekend started by getting you caught up with all the top stories today.

U.N. Secretary Kofi Annan is in Baghdad this morning calling for political and community leaders to include all Iraqi citizens in the transition to a new government. The people will vote in elections starting next month.

Just a few hours ago the Jordanian government confirmed that al Qaeda is responsible for this week's hotel bombings in Amman. A highly-placed source in Jordan tells CNN the bombers were all men in spite of al Qaeda claims that a woman was involved.

And updating the French riots that have gone on now for 16 straight nights. Police are banning outdoor events this weekend after they claimed they intercepted Internet and text messages calling for more riots.

This morning a lot of folks are waking up to some cooler temperatures. I was just in New York, I know it's cold there, but when I got here I thought what is happening to Atlanta, hot Atlanta no more.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: All right.

Pirates, cars and babies. You want to know about them so we'll bring you the 411 from our dot.com desk. The most popular story, they're all involved. That's next.

And stay tuned for our next hour CNN SATURDAY MORNING as we introduce you to some terrific teenagers making their mark all around the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Take a look at our e-mail question, once again, boy, this is really getting folks fired up this morning. So we want to hear what you think, what, if anything, did you learn from the oil executives' hearing on the hill this week? Talking about record oil profits. Did you learn anything or it was just grandstanding and show boating? E-mail us, WEEKENDS@CNN.com. We'll put it on the air. Tony.

HARRIS: The controversy has been brewing around (INAUDIBLE) and Terrell Owens for a few years, but it all came to a head when he sat down with 19-year-old Graham Bensinger. The young sportscaster interviewed Owens about football and the future not knowing that very interview would dictate T.O.'s future in a big way. Here's the most controversial part of Grant's interview with Owen's T.O appears to criticizes his quarterback Donovan McNabb.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GRAHAM BENSINGER, ESPN (voice-over): Your friend Michael Irwin recently said that if Brett Favre was the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles they'd be undefeated right now. What do you think of that comment?

TERRELL OWENS, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: That's a good assessment. I would agree with that.

BENSINGER: How so?

OWENS: I just feel like just by what he brings to the table. I mean, he's the guy, obviously a number of commentator who will say he's a warrior, he plays with injuries. I just feel like, you know, him being knowledgeable about the quarterback position, you know, I just feel like we'd probably be in a better situation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Graham johns us now from Syracuse, New York. Wow! Graham, good to see you.

BENSINGER: Nice to see you, too. Glad I could join you.

HARRIS: Walk us through this. How'd you get this interview? How did you land it?

BENSINGER: Well I guess first persistence and hard work, but it all started off. I met Terrell my sophomore year in high school at a celebrity basketball game during Super Bowl week in San Diego and I had him on my show two or three times a year. Ever since then he joined me last year, the Saturday before the Super Bowl and then I spoke to him about two weeks ago following the Eagles, Chargers game when he scored his hundredth passing touchdown reception.

And he obviously hasn't done much in terms of media recently other than Talking to Michael Irvin at the beginning of the year and he also has a weekly radio show, which he's contractually obligated to do, but because of my prior relationship with him, he agreed to come down again on camera.

HARRIS: Did he come into the interview with an agenda or did you just happen to ask questions that struck a nerve with him?

BENSINGER: I think I just happened to ask questions. Look, my job is a journalist to come up with the questions, conduct the interview and I posed the questions to him and then the balls in his court. He can go any which way with it he chooses. The bottom line is Terrell's the type of person who is blatantly honest.

If he believes something he is going to tell you how he feels for better or worse. I happen to respect that in him. A lot of other people don't like it. A lot of people think he should keep his mouth shut and play football. But if you ask him a question he will tell you exactly how he feels, but obviously doing so has this ramifications.

HARRIS: Are you surprised by the punishment heaped on him by the Eagles?

BENSINGER: Well I certainly was surprised that something he said in the interview I conducted with him essentially resulted in him being suspended by the Philadelphia Eagles for the rest of the season, but that said, it was sort of the tipping point. It was the final straw. There's been so much bad blood and so much frustration between him and the Eagles organization dating back to the off season and then the pre-season and then there was an apparent scuffle last week. It was the final straw.

HARRIS: How did the Eagles find out about the tape?

BENSINGER: Well, following the interview with him Thursday night, which I conducted at his Morristown, New Jersey house for ESPN. They led with the interview on the 11:00 "SportsCenter." So I would guess that would be how they found out about the tape.

HARRIS: How do you feel -- it's kind of a loaded question, but how do you feel about your role in a situation that has led to the suspension of, you know one of the top stars in the National Football League. I know it's a loaded question, but take it on.

BENSINGER: Well as you know, as a journalist, your job is to pose questions. Your job is to ask the questions and then the subject you're interviewing can go with it any which way you like. A lot of people were asked me well is he mad at you? Why would he be mad at me? My job is to simply ask the questions.

HARRIS: Graham good to see you. Thanks for taking the time.

BENSINGER: Oh, any time. My pleasure.

HARRIS: OK. Keep getting those interviews. We'll have you on a lot. All right Graham thanks.

NGUYEN: All right. High drama on the high seas and from supermodel to super mom, just a few of the stories users at CNN.com are taking a look at this morning. Veronica De La Cruz at the Dot.com desk joins us now with what else people are clicking on. Boy, these are some good stories.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good stories and let's start with the high drama on the high seas because everyone's talking about those pirate attacks, right? Those pirate attacks have been happening on these cruise ships. Well people at CNN.com are interested in how they are being stopped and, of course, the cruise ships let's talk about that.

The cruise ships turned in opposite directions but also they use an ear splitting device which basically sounds like a painfully loud acoustic bang and Chris Lawrence has that story and he shows us how this device works and I had a chance to listen to it in his report. And I understand fully why ...

NGUYEN: Your ears are still ringing.

DE LA CRUZ: Exactly my ears are still ringing.

We are receiving a lot clicks this morning Betty. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has a warning out there for women who are using the patch. Ortho Evra has issued a statement saying its popular method of birth control puts its users at greater risk for blood clots and other serious side effects.

And finally from watching warnings on birth control to watching that baby weight. Just weeks after giving birth, supermodel Heidi Klum had to do this. She had to walk the runway for the Victoria's Secret fashion show. It sounds scary enough as it is, right?

NGUYEN: Yes. Just weeks of having a baby.

DE LA CRUZ: But just weeks afterwards. Klum and her husband singer Seal have just welcomed a fourth addition to their family a baby boy named Henry.

NGUYEN: I wish we would have had the video. Because you can see right there, she looks great.

DE LA CRUZ: I'm trying to stall here because I know she comes up any time now. That's her behind the scene, right.

NGUYEN: But you have to see her walking down the runway.

DE LA CRUZ: There she is. Look that.

NGUYEN: Look at that, I mean many of us want to just look like that pre-baby, not post-baby. That's one hot mama right there.

DE LA CRUZ: That is so unfair!

NGUYEN: How does she do it?

DE LA CRUZ: Tony.

HARRIS: Too bad she couldn't be any better looking.

NGUYEN: He wants us to keep rolling the video over and over again.

DE LA CRUZ: To find these most popular pieces of video you guys, CNN.com/video is the place.

NGUYEN: All right. And we'll have the workout while we're reading the stories to be in shape like Heidi Klum. Thank you.

HARRIS: On emails, want to do that? The inbox is packed full. We can squeeze some room in there for yours if you write us. Here is the question "What if anything did you learn from the oil executives hearing on the hill this week?"

And this from Sashi who writes, "I learned they're every bit ...

NGUYEN: Yes Bill.

HARRIS: Every bit as conclusive as the tobacco execs who testified that tobacco caused no health damage.

Anyone else have the feeling of deja vu all over again. Anyone?

NGUYEN: Anyone.

All right. Well Bill writes, "I learned that figures don't lie, but liars figure that the rest of us can or cannot tell the difference." Very interesting from Bill from New York.

We have one more from Texas. Eli writes, "The one thing I learned is that politician do not miss a chance to score points with their constituents. What a charade! What happened to capitalism?"

All right. So let us know what you think about this. Apparently a lot of folks are not really enlightened too much about what was said on Capitol Hill. Some think it's just a bunch of show boating.

HARRIS: Yes, send us your e-mails at WEEKENDS@CNN.com. Straight ahead, "OPEN HOUSE" talking about sweet incentives like golf club memberships.

NGUYEN: Not bad.

HARRIS: Sellers are offering to seal the deal.

NGUYEN: And next hour, you might think that she's distracted or just rude, right? Well, she's really robbing the bank. We'll tell you all about the search for this cell phone bandit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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