Scooter Libby on His Way to His First Court Appearance in CIA Leak Case; Former FEMA Chief's E-Mails
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: New pictures just in. That's Lewis "Scooter" Libby this morning on his way to his first court appearance in the CIA leak case. We've got a live report just ahead. And a developing story that we're following. The European Union says it will investigate those reports of secret CIA prisoners in Eastern Europe. Two months after Katrina, we're learning what the former FEMA chief was saying in e-mails the day the storm hit. And it's bizarre. We're live in New Orleans on this</s>AMERICAN MORNING. ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Welcome, everybody, on a Thursday. A beautiful day. You saw the Statue of Liberty. It looks just gorgeous. Miles is in the Algiers section of New Orleans today. And I know your focus, Miles, is the recovery there and also these weird, I mean bizarre e-mails that we're now learning about from the former FEMA chief -- Miles.</s>MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, Soledad. We're here because this is the two month mark since Katrina; actually, nine weeks and some change. I'm standing right on the levee in Algiers. It's across the Mississippi River. That's the French Quarter over there and, of course, downtown New Orleans, and the river right there. This side of the river, Algiers, was more or less spared serious damage, certainly when you compare it to what happened across the river. We've been here all week taking a look at some of the neighborhoods and it's really been a wild roller coaster ride. We began right across the way there in the French Quarter, right off of Canal Street, made our way after that up toward the 17th Street Canal and the breached levee there. And we're going to talk a little bit more about levees today and exactly why they failed. In addition to, perhaps, some incompetence and lack of funding, there might have been some corruption involved as those levees were built. We went to St. Bernard Parish yesterday, the most heavily devastated area here. Still really on its knees. And finally this morning, we came to Algiers, where, in many respects, people believe a kernel of economy opportunity exists, and, really, the growth of the city might kind of emanate from here in the future because things did a little better here. So we'll talk about those e-mails, we'll talk about the levees and why, in many respects, the way these levees are run might make them inherently weak. That's all coming up -- Soledad.</s>S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles, thanks. We'll get to that in just a little bit. First, though, to Washington, D.C. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the vice president's former chief of staff, on his way to court this morning. He was the chief of staff until Friday, when he submitted his resignation. Today he's going to be charged for his actions during the CIA leak investigation. AMERICAN MORNING'S Bob Franken live outside the courthouse in Washington for us -- hey, Bob, good morning.</s>BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. Certainly not a good day for Lewis "Scooter" Libby. The cameras were there as he left his house to go and face the slow grinding wheels of justice here at the federal courthouse. This is the arraignment where he is going to enter his plea. And we're hearing that we can expect a not guilty plea from him. No surprise there. He is charged with several counts that allege that he lied during the investigation into the leaks that publicly identified Valerie Plame as a CIA undercover operative. The charges include obstruction of justice, perjury and lying, making false statements, which means telling the investigators something other than the truth. He's going to be making his plea this morning. The charges just really open up other possibilities. They oftentimes raise more questions than they provide answers. He is not charged with the underlying crime that caused this investigation, which would make it illegal under certain circumstances to publicly identify somebody who is an undercover agent for the government. He is charged with, during the course of the investigation, participating in what amounts to an alleged cover-up. As I said, there are a number of questions that are still unanswered, including any role of Vice President Cheney. It is possible that his former boss may be called to testify if and when the trial begins -- Soledad.</s>S. O'BRIEN: And, also, I guess, any role for Karl Rove. He's not indicted, but he's certainly not out of the woods yet, is he?</s>FRANKEN: He's not out of the woods. The special prosecutor made it a point last week to say that even though the grand jury, his grand jury had terminated, he would continue to investigate the possibility that Rove may have also not allegedly told the truth to people during this investigation. That is still open. What happened is Rove's attorney came up with some extenuating circumstances that he hopes convinces the special prosecutor that he should not move against the president's chief political adviser -- Soledad.</s>S. O'BRIEN: All right, Bob Franken with an investigation involving the White House. Thanks, Bob. We'll talk more about the White House. Kelly has got a look at what the president is doing today and more -- good morning again.</s>KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he is on the road. Good morning again, Soledad. And hello, everyone. President Bush and the first lady heading to Argentina for the Summit of the Americas. These are some new pictures of the president leaving the White House just a short time ago. The two day summit focusing on poverty and economic development. The president expected to face some tough resistance to his ideas, pushing free trade. European Union officials are calling for an investigation after a report that the CIA may be holding terror suspects in secret prisons in Eastern Europe. The prisons were reportedly set up after the September 11 attacks in about eight countries. French officials are desperately -- turning gears here -- French officials deeply trying to halt rioting in several Paris suburbs. Hundreds of young people clashing with police again for the seventh straight night. Police say at least four vehicles were set on fire and 15 people were arrested. The riots stem from anger and frustration with poverty and unemployment. The prime minister and several community leaders are planning to meet today. And fears of bird flu prompting one London-based airline to take some action. Virgin Atlantic Airlines said it is getting a stockpile of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu just in case. The company's chairman said airline workers would be the on the front lines of a possible pandemic. Virgin says it is also taking a closer look at other options to protect workers and passengers in the event of any outbreak. So what's your weather going to look like on this Thursday? We check in with Jacqui Jeras at the CNN Center with the latest. Looking pretty good for a good part of the country, right -- Jacqui?</s>JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, especially the eastern two thirds look great.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit more, Miles, about these e- mails that are pretty surprising, I think, from the former FEMA Director Mike Brown. They've just been made public, and, in fact, Congressman Melancone. I may be mangling his name. Melancone, is that right? Has posted them on his...</s>M. O'BRIEN: I think it's Melancone. I think it's Melancone. Yes.</s>S. O'BRIEN: He put them on his Web site, basically...</s>M. O'BRIEN: And...</s>S. O'BRIEN: And now you can read sort of the -- what was going on behind-the-scenes as Michael Brown is e-mailing his chief of staff and also e-mailing the only FEMA representative who is down in New Orleans. Let's go through the first one, the day the storm hit, actually. Here's one. He e-mails: "Can I quit now? Can I come home?" And I think that that is an e-mail, I believe this is the one that's going to his chief of staff. And, you know, you've got to say, who knows if he's being sarcastic? Who knows exactly the tone and the joke or whatever behind this e-mail? And obviously it's unclear at the point in the storm -- there was a point where nobody really knew how bad it was in New Orleans and the whole Gulf region. But I think some more of these e-mails are really...</s>M. O'BRIEN: Yes, I mean, how many times have you misinterpreted an e-mail that was meant as humor? It happens all the time. And this one, that, of all the ones I've seen this morning, that could be one that was a bit of sarcasm and not meant in a serious way. The other one, though...</s>S. O'BRIEN: And that...</s>M. O'BRIEN: ... was too...</s>S. O'BRIEN: Hey, Miles, let me just interrupt you there, because I went to Cindy Taylor...</s>M. O'BRIEN: Yes?</s>S. O'BRIEN: ... the FEMA director, I think she's the deputy director of...</s>M. O'BRIEN: Of public affairs.</s>S. O'BRIEN: ... director of public affairs, by the way. We just want to fix that.</s>M. O'BRIEN: Right. Now, this next one, he apparently sent to an acquaintance. And I don't know what the back story of this conversation is very well. But basically he said: "I'm trapped now. Please rescue me." And, once again, that's probably something on the sarcastic side, a little bit of sarcasm or a little bit of hyperbole or something. And then finally, this -- this is the one that really gets me, though, this morning. This comes from a FEMA employee. And this FEMA employee is offering help directly to the administrator, Mike Brown: "Mike, Mickey and other medical equipment people have a 42-foot trailer full of beds, wheelchairs, oxygen, concentrators, etc. They're wanting to take them where they can be used, but they need direction. If you could have someone contact him and let him know if he can be of service, he would appreciate it. We know you're busy, but they really want to help." Four days later, four days, Mike Brown says, "Can we use these people?" to another person...</s>S. O'BRIEN: Now, keep in mind, that's September 2nd, was when the first e-mail was sent. So that's days after the hurricane struck. That offer of service, it's clearly desperate and people are now saying oh, gosh, here's what we have to help. And then -- so you're talking about four days later. September 6 is when he says, "Can we use these people?" By September 6th, it had become so clear just in how many ways they needed to use those people, and many more people.</s>M. O'BRIEN: Well, one thought here. This is somebody going straight to the top here. He was out of the chain of command. I'm sure he was getting swamped with e-mails, he might not have seen it. Should that have gone up through other channels? I don't know. I'm just trying to -- you know, it's very difficult to get in the middle of an e-mail chain and figure out what was going on -- Soledad.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Yes, but it raises lots of questions, certainly. I mean it raises a ton of questions. And this is just a small sampling of some of these e-mails that are, again, on the congressman's Web site, now just being made public.</s>M. O'BRIEN: And he's still on the payroll. Mike Brown still on the payroll, through the end of this month. We, all of us taxpayers, are paying his salary of $148,000.</s>S. O'BRIEN: We'll leave it at that. Miles, thanks. Coming up this morning, I'm going to talk to former President Jimmy Carter. He says there is a moral crisis here in America and it's hurting out nation. It's the subject, in fact, of a new book he's written. That's just ahead. We're with the former president in just a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.