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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Debate Over Energy Crisis Solution Rages on Capitol Hill
Aired May 17, 2001 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight: warning of an energy crisis, President Bush presents a detailed plan to keep the lights on and gas in your car.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But if we fail to act, this great country could face a darker future.
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BLITZER: But critics are wary of proposals for reviving nuclear power and drilling on public lands.
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SEN. RICHARD GEPHARDT (D-MO), MINORITY LEADER: We think the president's plan makes the wrong choices for America and for the American people.
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BLITZER: I'll discuss the energy crunch with California Governor Gray Davis.
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GOV. GRAY DAVIS (D), CALIFORNIA: But with all due respect, Mr. President, Californians will want to know whether you're going to be on their side.
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BLITZER: Also: three decades after a racial killing, a Pennsylvania mayor is charged with murder.
And, in another courtroom:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DARRYL STRAWBERRY, FORMER BASEBALL PLAYER: This case is about a person who is very sick.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: Ailing and addicted, baseball star Darryl Strawberry asks for help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE FLORENCE FOSTER, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT: You are at bat in the bottom of the ninth with two strikes against you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Good evening, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting tonight from Washington.
For three months Vice President Dick Cheney has chaired a Cabinet-level task force charged with coming up with a new strategy to deal with the nation's energy problems. At the top of the agenda: the escalating cost of gasoline and electricity. The meetings have been held behind closed doors.
Today President Bush announced his proposals, warning the country now faces its worst energy crisis since the 1970s. One thing is already is abundantly clear: the proposals are generating an enormous debate, and that's our top story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): We've seen prices rising at the pump for months, but as the summer holiday season gears up, some optimism from the travel industry.
SANDRA HUGHES, AAA: We expect gasoline prices to actually peak around Memorial Day weekend and then plateau, and even reduce, throughout the rest of the summer as inventories improve around the nation.
BLITZER: Travel industry experts say, even though gas won't be cheap, the vast majority of Americans have no plans to change their travel plans. While they gave their fairly sunny forecast, President Bush painted a darker picture of energy shortages as he shed light on his long-awaited national energy policy.
BUSH: If we fail to act, Americans will face more and more widespread blackouts. If we fail to act, our country will become more reliant on foreign crude oil, putting our national energy security into the hands of foreign nations.
BLITZER: Mr. Bush's plan calls for increased production of oil, gas, coal, and even nuclear energy. It includes controversial oil and gas exploration in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a move environmental groups oppose. To lure their support he's pitching tax credits and other incentives for conservation, energy efficiency and alternative energy sources.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is where we control the hot water heating system... BLITZER: And to highlight that, Mr. Bush toured a Minnesota plant that uses conventional fuels, but also unconventional fuels like wood chips, to produce clean, efficient and affordable energy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: For more on the president's energy plan and the task he faces in selling it, let's go live to CNN senior White House correspondent John King.
John, as you know, a lot of these proposals require legislation. Does the president have the votes in Congress to deliverer?
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's agreement with the Democrats -- despite all this rhetoric today, agreements on many of the proposals. Things like those tax credits for conservation and efficiency, things like money for clean coal technology -- many Democrats from coal states, as well. The big fight is over drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge -- right now the administration acknowledges it is short the votes there -- and some of the other proposals to explore on federal lands.
But Senate Republicans say they're going to move this quickly, have a bill on the president's desk by July Fourth. We'll see what in the president's plan gets knocked out as that debate begins in earnest.
BLITZER: John, I know you saw the latest Gallup Poll, which asks the American people, what are the most important issues facing the country. Look at this: In April energy only ranked at 3 percent, but now, a month later 21 percent -- among the highest, the most important. This is a high-stakes game for the White House. I assume they're nervous about this.
KING: A little nervous. But they believe -- and remember, at the beginning of your piece the travel industry saying gas prices look like they will peak and start to fall around Memorial Day. The White House sees that data, as well. They believe that by the time the president runs for reelection in 2004 he'll have something to show. Gas supplies up, perhaps prices down.
There are already, even before this plan, 600 power plants in the pipeline under construction being permitted. That dates back to the Clinton days. So the Bush administration feels a little nervous about getting this plan through Congress, more comfortable about the long- term. It is Republicans in Congress who have to face the voters in 2002 who are nervous. They say there's not enough in the president's plan to deal with the growing anxiety over gas prices or to deal with the power crunch in California.
BLITZER: John King at the White House, thank you very much.
The president's energy plan, of course, does not lack critics. Congressional Democrats who've been pushing their own energy proposals want to pull the plug on the Bush agenda, but Republicans vow quick action. CNN congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl joins us now, live from Capitol Hill -- Jon.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Democrats started attacking the White House energy plan even before it was announced, but as the Democrats and their allies in the environmental community tried to defeat this plan on Capitol Hill, they first want to make the president and his fellow Republicans pay a political price for high energy prices.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): The environmental group Greenpeace protested the White House's energy plan by dumping a truckload of coal on the vice president's doorstep.
ANDREA DURBIN, GREENPEACE, USA: This plan is a dirty solution. It provides dirty answers and it takes us backwards.
KARL: Across town, a coalition of more moderate environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council, also vowed to defeat the plan, launching a 12-city advertising campaign.
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NARRATOR: Bush's big supporters clean up, while we're cleaned out.
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KARL: The theme was echoed on Capitol Hill, where Democrats set up a war room and promised an all-out drive to defeat the central elements of Bush energy plan. Virtually every attack included a reminder of the administration's ties to the energy industry.
REP. RICHARD GEPHARDT (D-MO), MINORITY LEADER: We think the president's plan makes the wrong choices for America and for the American people. It was crafted behind closed doors with a lot of input from energy executives.
REP. BRIAN BAIRD (D), WASHINGTON: George bush, Dick Cheney, and their merry band of oil CEO's are Robin Hoods in reverse.
SEN. PAUL WELLSTONE (D), MINNESOTA: I'm not a Senator for oil companies. He may be a president for oil companies. I'm a Senator from Minnesota.
KARL: Democratic strategists believe an energy crunch will hurt this president the way energy crisis in the 1970s hurt President Carter. But Republicans, who are by and large lining up in support of the Bush plan, say Democrats will suffer if they stand in the way.
SEN. FRANK MURKOWSKI (R), ALASKA: If they vote against it, and you've got $3 a gallon gasoline, and their constituents are saying, oh, you didn't vote for any relief, well, we're going to hold you accountable.
KARL: Democrats declared some aspects of the Bush plan, including drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, dead on arrival, an assessment Republican leaders privately agree with. Democrats also continued to slam the president for doing nothing in the short-term about high gasoline prices.
But they had little to offer in the way of immediate solutions besides investigating potential price gouging by oil companies.
SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D), MINORITY LEADER: I think there has to be an investigation as to why the prices are high. We can't possibly solve a problem we don't understand. Why are prices going up as high as they are? Why are the oil companies making the profits they are?
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KARL: As John King mentioned, the harsh rhetoric today obscures the fact that there are significant areas of agreement on issues ranging from tax incentives for alternative energy and renewable energy, to also questions like increasing the number of electrical power lines and natural gas pipelines -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jon Karl on Capitol Hill, thank you very much.
California is at ground zero of the energy crunch, suffering through rolling blackouts and soaring electricity rates. Under fire at home for his handling of the situation, Democratic Governor Gray Davis of California accuses the White House of ignoring what he calls his state's "energy calamity."
Governor Davis joins me now live from Sacramento.
Governor, the White House, the administration makes the point that California simply has not been able to keep supply up with demand. At a time of growing demand California, for more than a dozen years, has built no energy plants. Isn't California largely responsible for its own problems?
DAVIS: Well, there's no question that that was a problem. In the 12 years before I was governor, not a single major power plant was built.
But we're taking a different path. We've licensed 15 new plants, 10 are under construction as I speak to you, Wolf; four will be up in- line this summer; four more next summer. So we will be out of this problem by the end of 2003. I'm doing my part in building plants, no state in America is doing more. Plus, we're already the most energy efficient state in America, so in conservation, no state is doing more.
What I need from the president is some relief from the astronomical prices that Californians are paying for electricity. In '99, we paid $7 billion for electricity; last year we paid $27 billion. The estimate this year is it may double again; that's just not right. BLITZER: Yes, following some of the critical words that you made against the administration, Vice President Dick Cheney was critical of you earlier this week. In an interview with CNN's Lou Dobbs, listen to what the vice president said about you:
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RICHARD CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Once they saw that they did have problems, which over a year ago they were well aware of, they avoided dealing with it until it reached the point now where prices are skyrocketing. They're having rolling blackouts and they've bankrupted one of the two big utilities in the state. Now, I think the governor should really focus on California problems and not try to throw the blame elsewhere.
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BLITZER: How critical are you of the administration for not, supposedly, coming to California's assistance?
DAVIS: Well, here are the facts: in April of 1999, four months into my governorship, well before this problem was in the newspapers, we started licensing power plants and we've been doing it -- just yesterday we licensed our 15th plant. So we have 10 under construction, no state has more licensed; we're doing our part to build power.
The energy -- the federal government, however, under deregulation, has the exclusive power to curb temporary -- on a temporary basis, the wholesale energy costs. Texas, this year, adopted price relief until 2003; we're just asking to be treated as well as Texas is being treated because we are witnessing a massive transfer of wealth from California to Houston.
BLITZER: Governor, the issue of price controls, though -- that the administration, the president, the vice president, they make the point they've never worked. President Nixon tried it with beef and with oil, it didn't work then, it will only make matters worse.
You don't accept that point.
DAVIS: No. I am not -- I am a pro-business Democrat. I am not for price controls over the long haul. But we had them in place for three months last fall, they were working fine, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under President Clinton lifted the controls and the price shot up to $1,500 dollars from $250, where it was before.
What's happening now is the energy companies have an incentive to withhold power, wait until the last minute, drive up their price; and just last week we had to pay Reliant, also from Houston, $1,900 dollars two days in a row for our last 100 megawatts of power. So there is a huge transfer of wealth going to Houston, even though the product is not getting any better and the service is not getting any better.
BLITZER: How difficult of a summer do you expect Californians to have?
DAVIS: We are doing all we can to build our way out of this and conserve our way out of it. My problem is I need some temporary relief, so do the governors of Oregon and Washington. And I think the president can find a way, if he puts his mind to it, to give us some form of relief. I don't care how he does it. But it's not right to bleed this state dry, which has disproportionately contributed to America's economic growth over the last two years, because it's not making America richer, it's just making Houston richer.
BLITZER: Governor Gray Davis, thanks very much for joining us.
DAVIS: Thank you.
BLITZER: Later this evening we'll have a special one-hour long report on the energy crunch. That's at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, 7:00 p.m. Pacific.
Feeling low because of high gasoline prices? We'll tell you how to drive your energy blues away. But first, race riots and a brutal killing. Decades later, a mayor and his city are forced to confront the past.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. Just two days after winning nomination for another term, a Pennsylvania mayor is charged in the a three- decade-old racial killing. CNN's Patty Davis has the story.
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PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The mayor of York, Pennsylvania in handcuffs, as he turned himself in. The charge: criminal homicide. At question, Charlie Robertson's role, if any, in the murder more than 30 years ago of Lillie Belle Allen, a black woman who was visiting York.
MAYOR CHARLIE ROBERTSON, YORK, PENNSYLVANIA: A grand jury can indict a ham and egg sandwich, or a ham and cheese sandwich, and when you open it up, it's nothing but baloney.
DAVIS (on camera): According to the court affidavit, Allen was riding in a car here on Newberry Street in July, 1969. The car stalled and she got out to take over driving. That's when she was fatally shot in the chest.
(voice-over): The criminal complaint, prompted by new evidence, alleges Mayor Robertson, then a York police officer, incited violence among white gangs one day before the murder, saying -- quote -- "If I weren't a cop, I would be leading commando raids against blacks." One of five other men charged in the slaying claims Robertson gave him the ammunition he used to fire on Allen's car. Robertson denies that, but he admits he was a racist in 1969, a time when racial hatred was rampant in York.
ROBERTSON: ... back in those days of '69, while York was going through riots -- and also, Detroit was being burned down, just like our city was burned down -- it had a factor.
DAVIS: Robertson says racial sensitivity training changed him. But some in York aren't so sure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Once a racist, always a racist!
DAVIS: His supporters, though, stand behind him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going on Charlie's word that he is not guilty. But what more can you do but to believe in someone's word?
DAVIS: After 30 years, many just want answers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just good, I think, for the community to see that people, if they were involved in these crimes, will be brought to justice.
DAVIS: Despite the specter of looming charges, Robertson won the Democratic nomination for his third term just days ago, narrowly defeating a black city councilman. Robertson says he won't give up his job as mayor of York while he faces the charges. And he says he'll keep on campaigning.
Patty Davis, CNN, York, Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And this note: Mayor Robertson will appear live on CNN tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. Eastern.
In other news, grappling with cancer and drug addiction, and perhaps his own personal demons, former baseball slugger Darryl Strawberry today was in a Florida courtroom -- again.
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BLITZER (voice-over): Darryl Strawberry could have been sent to prison. Instead, he'll get yet another chance at a drug treatment center.
FOSTER: You are at bat in the bottom of the 9th, with two strikes against you. You have proven that you are a winner on the field. Now you must prove that you are a winner off the field.
BLITZER: Strawberry stood accused of violating his probation on drug charges, for the fifth time. However it all ends, it was a storybook beginning.
Drafted No. 1 in the country right out of high school, Strawberry hit the big leagues with a bang, lighting up New York with his long home runs, and helping to lift the Mets to a world championship.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gone!
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BLITZER: But it was career interrupted by a series of troubles with the law, and the league. Then, the remarkable comeback, this time with the Yankees. He was a key player on the 1996 championship team, and it was smooth sailing, until he was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1998. That was followed by a cocaine conviction, and earlier this year, his skipping out of drug treatment for a four-day binge.
DARRYL STRAWBERRY, FORMER BASEBALL PLAYER: This case is not about Darryl Strawberry the baseball star. This case is about a person who is very sick. Very -- is very sick, for a very long time, and needs a great deal of help.
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BLITZER: And so the 39-year-old Strawberry will get yet another at-bat in rehab.
In Colorado, a new report is out with the recommendations in the wake of the Columbine school tragedy.
And a little "eggcitement" for an ex-president.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
In other news tonight, starting a statewide hotline to report threats and creating emergency crisis plans in Colorado schools are among the recommendations made in the wake of the Columbine High School shooting. A task force released its findings today on the attack, criticizing authorities for their handling of the shooting, and offering suggestions on how to prevent similar tragedies. 13 people were killed in the 1999 attack.
The solicitor general nominee, who argued president Bush's election case during the Florida recount battle, failed to win approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee today. The panel deadlocked along party lines, nine to nine, over the nomination of Theodore Olson. It was the first time that's happened for a Bush nominee. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott is still likely to bring the nomination to the Senate floor.
He's no longer the president, but Bill Clinton still has his share of critics. The former president was hit by an egg today while visiting Poland's capital. A 19-year-old man was detained.
Quite a different scene in Wales. Britain's deputy prime minister, John Prescott, slugged a man who threw an egg at him.
Stretching your gas dollar. You want a car that gets 50 to 80 miles per gallon?
On the "Leading Edge" tonight, we'll show you a high-tech vehicle that could save you a small fortune at the pump. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Tonight on the "Leading Edge," if you cringe every time you fill up your gas tank, there's a high-tech solution to the skyrocketing prices: hybrid cars.
CNN science correspondent Ann Kellan looks at how these alternative vehicles work.
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ANN KELLAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Other than our presence, it's a typical weekday: up early, she's a lawyer. He's a computer consultant. She's in third grade. Finish the chores, eat a little breakfast, head out the door.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, you got everything? You put her lunch in there, right?
KELLAN: What's not typical is the five-seat Toyota Prius, Geoff Forman and his family drive. It's a hybrid. It runs on electricity and gasoline.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here is the internal combustion engine. This is the hybrid system. Back here is where the battery is.
KELLAN: They love it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn the ignition to the "on" position. The computer boots up. This is the gear shift. You just pull that down, and you get to go.
KELLAN: Unlike normal cars, this car gets better mileage in stop-and-go traffic with its electric motor than on the highway, when its gas engine is often need.
(on camera): I think people think "electric car" they think, "plug it in."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Yes, that is not how this car works. You go to any gas station. You put regular gas in it. And if you are like me, you know, you go every two weeks. Best I have ever gotten is 56 miles a gallon, and the lowest I have ever gotten was about 36 miles a gallon.
KELLAN: What about resale on these cars?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be difficult, perhaps initially, for me to recoup all the cost, but can you tell me what the price of gas is going to be in three years? I don't know.
KELLAN: (voice-over): Ann Kellan, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Please stay with CNN throughout the night. Actor Gary Busey and "The Weakest Link's" Anne Robinson are Larry King's guests at the top of the hour. Up next, Greta Van Susteren. She's standing by to tell us what she has -- Greta.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST, "THE POINT": Wolf, you talked about the indictment of the mayor in York, well, we are going to bring on a newspaper man from York who is going to tell us all about the community reaction as well what's going on in York. Plus, a terrible story out of Washington, D.C., a woman is missing, a young college intern. We will talk about that, plus we'll have one of her friends joining us from California -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Greta, thanks very much, sounds pretty good. Thanks to everyone for watching. "THE POINT WITH GRETA VAN SUSTEREN" begins right now.
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