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American Morning
Examining the Destruction by Hurricane Jeanne; Recovering from the Hurricane; McDonald's Promises to Clean Up the Fats in its Foods
Aired September 27, 2004 - 08:00 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Florida's nightmare continues. Counting the losses now from Jeanne, the fourth hurricane in six weeks to slam into the Sunshine State.
And Jeanne maintaining its intensity, slogging through Georgia now, still a tropical storm.
In Texas, sabotage suspected in a powerful explosion along a gas pipeline.
And learning to read signs from the earth that avert disaster. Scientists carefully watching volcanoes in two states now on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Good Monday morning to you, everybody.
I'm Heidi Collins in for Soledad.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rick Sanchez sitting in for Bill.
Some of the other stories we happen to be following on this day, neither presidential candidate ready to concede any of the swing states, specifically Florida and Ohio we're going to be talking about today. The President and John Kerry making more campaign stops, and not too far apart from each other, by the way. We're going to look at their strategies in the days before their very first debate.
COLLINS: Yes, they've been doing that for a long time now, following each other around the country.
Also, a fight over fat. McDonald's under pressure over its French fries. And we're going to hear from Sanjay about the health effect and from a consumer advocate who says the burger chain has broken an important promise.
SANCHEZ: And let's bring in Jack Cafferty now to see what he's going to catch us up on -- what you got, Jack?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Rick.
I'm Jack Cafferty and I'm not in for anybody.
COLLINS: I was just going to say that, actually.
SANCHEZ: Nice pickup.
CAFFERTY: I'm supposed to be here.
Coming up in "The Cafferty File," we've got a list of books that people think the candidates for president ought to be reading ahead of this election.
And you know those motivational posters that the middle management marmots put up around the office, in the coffee rooms and, you know, inspiring you to do great things? Well, we have our own set.
COLLINS: Oh, no. Well, we will look forward to that, I think.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
COLLINS: OK.
Does it have anything to do with football?
CAFFERTY: No.
COLLINS: No, all right.
CAFFERTY: And stop gloating, Miss. 11 and 2.
COLLINS: We'll get to that later.
CAFFERTY: Actually, now that's a pretty good record.
COLLINS: Well, thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: I've got to admit, that's pretty good.
COLLINS: I appreciate that. Thank you.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
COLLINS: All right, we want to move on now to much more important stuff.
Carol Costello is standing by with the stories now in the news this morning -- Carol, hi.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Heidi.
Thank you.
Private First Class Lynndie England will face a court martial in connection to abuses at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq. No surprise here. The Army's decision coming into CNN just in the past half hour. England will face 19 charges, including conspiracy and assault, in connection with the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners. The trial date has now been set for January 18.
The British embassy in Baghdad is releasing an Arabic language appeal in an effort to win the release of Kenneth Bigley. The British national was kidnapped from his Baghdad home along with two Americans 11 days ago. An Islamic Web site claims Bigley has been killed. But Bigley's brother Paul says he has received information that Bigley is still alive.
Here in the States, officials are reportedly launching a new effort this week aimed at disrupting terrorist plots ahead of the November election. According to the "Washington Post," the strategy includes heavy FBI surveillance and increased checks of terrorism watch lists. A bulletin on the security measures will be sent out to all 50 states and D.C. today.
Texas authorities are looking for a suspect in the sabotaging of an oil pipeline. At least 250 residents were temporarily evacuated yesterday after an explosion 30 miles northeast of Houston. Authorities believe someone used construction equipment to dig around the pipeline, puncturing it and causing the blaze. No injuries reported.
Back to you -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: All right, thanks a lot, Carol.
Jeanne is now a tropical storm, no longer a hurricane. Bringing rain and strong winds, nonetheless, to parts of southern Georgia. The storm hit the Florida east coast Saturday with 120 mile per hour winds. At least four deaths already blamed on the storm. Early damage estimates from Jeanne are in the $5 billion to $9 million range.
Jeanne was the fourth hurricane to hit Florida in the last six weeks; combined with Charley, Frances and Ivan, some of them actually intersecting in the middle of the state. The total damage cost for the State of Florida thus far could top the $20 billion mark, we learned.
Ed Lavandera is in Melbourne, Florida.
He's following this storm and joins us now with the very latest -- hello, Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rick.
Well, we spent the last day traveling down south from Melbourne, checking out the damage along U.S. Highway 1 and the various towns along the way that took the brunt of this hurricane. And as much as we talked about wind and rain and hurricanes, we're reminded that this is the story of people's lives.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): When Hurricane Frances blasted into Vero Beach, David Jenner evacuated his home, but this time he went to sleep in his own bed.
DAVID JENNER, VERO BEACH RESIDENT: Honest to god, no. I slept in there all night.
LAVANDERA: When Jenner woke up Sunday morning, he knew right away Hurricane Jeanne was going to be more destructive than the last storm.
JENNER: When I stepped out of bed and I got over my glasses and I looked down and I was up above my ankles in water and said hmmm, we'd best be getting some flooding.
LAVANDERA: Many roadways in residential neighborhoods along Florida's east coast are under several inches of water.
Steve Sniffin still has three inches of water sitting in his house. With no job and no insurance, he can only count on aid money to help clean up the mess.
STEVE SNIFFIN, VERO BEACH RESIDENT: It's a miserable experience. I don't want to go through it again. This is the second time now, so I've had enough.
LAVANDERA: But just like in previous hurricanes, it was the mobile home parks that suffered the worst damage. 70-year-old Billy Dobbs ventured back into his home Sunday to find the walls of his living room had blown away.
BILLY DOBBS, VERO BEACH RESIDENT: And I thought Frances was bad, had been giving me a little bit of grief. But this is way more than that.
LAVANDERA: Despite the sadness many Florida residents are finding as they return home, Kim Moller has found a reason to smile.
KIM MOLLER, VERO BEACH RESIDENT: She stayed here and made it.
LAVANDERA: Her cat, Miss Kitty, survived the storm, even as part of the mobile home she was in collapsed. Moller left for a shelter and had to leave the cat behind.
MOLLER: I didn't want to leave her because I was afraid I'd come back and she wouldn't be here. I'm just glad she is.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA (on camera): Well, now, the sort of great debate begins, which hurricane was worse? Was it Frances or was it Jeanne? Here in Melbourne you find buildings like the one you see behind me that have been destroyed. But as you get further south into towns like Sebastian and Vero Beach and into Fort Pierce, you really see that those towns are the ones that took the brunt of this damage -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: All right, thanks a lot, Ed.
We'll be getting back to you.
Heidi -- back over to you.
COLLINS: Hurricane Jeanne made landfall just before midnight Saturday south of Vero Beach. Intense winds, 120 miles an hour, hit the coast. Waves pounded into homes and ate away at the beach, as the storm surge reached five feet.
Thomas White is the mayor of Vero Beach.
He is joining us now live.
Boy, those pictures not easy to watch, I'm sure, for you, as well, Mr. Mayor.
Tell us, if you could, what sort of damage you're looking at now this morning.
MAYOR THOMAS WHITE, VERO BEACH, FLORIDA: Well, we have a lot of structural damage. Hurricane Frances had taken down a lot of tress, a lot of branches and Hurricane Jeanne has taken out a lot of buildings. We have -- Frances, we have 1,500 units condemned and I'm sure to see that number double after we get done with damage assessment on Jeanne.
COLLINS: When you say that, what runs through your mind, knowing that this is basically a double whammy, hit twice as hard this time around?
WHITE: Absolutely. It's -- it was rough because technically, I mean being Tree City, USA, the trees protected a lot of our homes from Frances. And now the -- and we lost a lot of branches and all the leaves. And now that wind was able to get through and hit the buildings, where we've had blow-throughs where the front door blew open and went right through the back door. We've had a lot of damage.
COLLINS: Now we're looking at just some humongous trees totally uprooted and smashing into homes there that we see.
Flooding I'm sure also a major concern.
Can you give us some perspective on that? l
WHITE: I'm sorry, a major concern on what?
COLLINS: Flooding.
WHITE: I'm having a hard time hearing you.
COLLINS: Tell me what you're seeing as far as the water and the flooding situation in your area.
WHITE: Well, as far as the water situation, we have, on the barrier island we had a storm surge up through east of U.S. 1. The water has been receding pretty good since yesterday. We're trying to get our crews in to clean the debris off the roads so we can make it safe enough for some of the residents -- the ones that evacuated can go back and assess their damage and start repairs immediately.
COLLINS: Mayor White, we've been...
WHITE: But it is definitely...
COLLINS: Yes, sure...
WHITE: Definitely...
COLLINS: I understand.
We've been talking all morning long about the loss of power and how that just complicates things so much more.
Tell us about your city there and how long people are being told they're going to be without power.
WHITE: Well, let me tell you something. The citizens here are troopers. We just lost power from anywhere from a week to up to the storm of Jeanne with no power. And now they're facing this all over again. Now, city utilities, we own our own power company. We have restored some of the power starting yesterday. We have traffic lights working on our state road 60 going in, which is a very fast recovery, because we did a lot of trimming away from -- the trees had hurt our power lines last time.
But we do have a lot of utility poles snapped in half, so we're in the process of getting them repaired. Plus we have a mutual agreement with several other electric companies and they've already arrived to help us get -- restore power to our citizens as fast as possible.
COLLINS: Well, that's some pretty good news there for people there in your area.
Once again, Mayor Thomas White from Vero Beach.
We wish you the very best, sir, and thanks for spending some time with us this morning.
WHITE: We appreciate it.
Thank you so much.
COLLINS: You bet.
We want to turn things over now to Chad Myers.
He's in Melbourne and he's going to give us the very latest from there -- Chad, how do things look where you are?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Things are almost back to normal in some spots, but still 78 percent of Brevard County still without power. So that's less than obviously a quarter of the people back with power here. Talking to a couple of roofing contractors, they're here. A lot of roofing contractors have been moving into Florida. The roofs here won't be fixed, at least all of them, until January. So, that's three months with some folks not even having shingles on their house. And then obviously rain causing more damage after that.
Let me show you what's going on now with the satellite picture and the radar picture and even the warnings now. We still do have tropical storm warnings from Apalachicola to Anclote Key, all the way down across parts of the big bend there of Florida, from Flagler Beach up the South Santee River, all the way up there. Still tropical storm warnings because of rain and wind. And we still have those winds of 45 miles per hour.
Tropical Storm Jeanne not that far from Moultrie, Georgia, just to the north of Tallahassee. It was about 40 miles north of Tallahassee, about three hours ago. Now moving to the north-northwest at 12 miles per hour.
The big, big threat today is going to be the potential for tornadoes. See that big red box? That's a tornado watch box. And there have been tornado warnings this morning. And there will be many more this afternoon, the low country of South Carolina, all the way through the Piedmont to North Carolina and possibly even into Virginia later on today.
There you see the red zone across the Southeast. When a dying tropical storm runs into land and that land gets heated up with sunshine, you get storms to pop up in the afternoon. And some of those storms, Heidi, have spin with them. And that spin will make tornadoes. We saw that, obviously, in Panama City with even some of the fatalities there.
A lot of tornadoes with Ivan, all the way up through the Carolinas and into Virginia. We're expecting similar conditions today in the same area -- back to you.
COLLINS: Wow.
Well, yes, we certainly do remember that.
Chad Myers, thanks so much for the warning.
MYERS: OK.
SANCHEZ: You know, they didn't catch a lot of breaks in Florida but they may have caught one, at least with this storm. It came in at low tide, not high tide. So it could have been three feet higher when it came across with that storm surge he was explaining.
COLLINS: Thank goodness, huh?
SANCHEZ: Still to come, the Army tries to shore up recruiting. That means possible changes in store for U.S. troops serving overseas.
COLLINS: Also ahead, countdown to the first presidential debate. Have the tables been turned on President Bush when it comes to Iraq?
SANCHEZ: And did McDonald's break a promise to its customers? We're going to take a look at this.
This is AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
I'm Rick Sanchez.
Here's something we all need to consider. Two years ago, McDonald's pledged to reduce the amount of -- ready for the term, you may have heard it before -- trans fatty acids in its food. Well, the company has yet to deliver on that promise. Now last week, the Center for Science in the Public Interest called them on it.
This is a full page "New York Times" ad that they put in telling McDonald's what they hadn't done.
Michael Jacobson is the executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. He had his hand in this.
And we're also going to be joined by our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta at the CNN Center.
First, the background on what it is that we're talking about, Dr. Gupta.
So fill us in. Get our viewers to understand what these trans fatty acids are.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Rick.
A lot of confusion sometimes among the different kind of fats.
First of all, the saturated kind of fats are the ones that are bad for you. Unsaturated fats are going to be better for you. Saturated better, unsaturated better. Everybody needs a little bit of fat in their diet.
Trans fat is when they take an unsaturated fat and they sort of saturate it a little bit. Think about products like margarine or shortening, things that are typically liquid that turn into solid.
I've got some examples over here. Shortening, obviously, is a -- one of the products people think of; margarine, as well; the McDonald's French fries, you have all kinds of cookies and crackers. I don't know if you can see those products, maybe not. But cookies, crackers, all sorts of different processed foods are going to be the types of foods that you typically think of when you think of trans fats -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: They clog -- why do the bad ones clog our arteries and the good ones don't? Is there a simple explanation so we can hone in on this?
GUPTA: Yes. Saturated fats are going to be worse. Trans fats are sort of like saturated fats, so they're more likely to saturate in your blood vessels, increase your bad cholesterol specifically. They also lower your good cholesterol, to some extent. So sort of a double whammy.
The bottom line, Rick, they increase your risk of heart disease, which is why people make a big deal about it.
SANCHEZ: All right, let's bring in Michael Jacobson now.
And Dr. Gupta, if you would, stick around. If you want to join us on this.
Again, Mr. Jacobson, you're with the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
You're joining us from Washington.
Before we get to the first question to you, let me, in fairness, say what McDonald's is saying.
This is a statement that they've issued. Here it is: "McDonald's continues to work hard to achieve our goals for reducing trans fats -- trans fatty acids. Our customers trust McDonald's to do the right thing and expect us to get it right for them and that is what we are doing. The change has taken longer than anticipated, but we're continuing with ongoing tests. As previously stated, TFA information has been added to our nutritional information materials, including our Web site, in store nutrition brochures and tray liners beginning next month."
So there you have it. McDonald's is saying look, we're doing the best we can.
Why this guerrilla tactic against McDonald's? Why pointing them out and putting these front page ads on?
MICHAEL JACOBSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CSPI: I don't question McDonald's sincerity. But two years ago, McDonald's said it was going to switch to healthier oils. And I can't imagine that they made that announcement, that generated front page national news, without having done all the tests that need to be done.
SANCHEZ: So that's why you're calling them specifically and not the other companies who are also using these oils, hydrogenated oils?
JACOBSON: That's right. McDonald's was going to one up those other companies, do a better job. The other companies, like Burger King and Wendy's, as well as many packaged food companies, have not announced that they're going to switch. But McDonald's announced it and they should stick to their word.
SANCHEZ: McDonald's... JACOBSON: Now, if you want to have -- if you want to go to a McDonald's and avoid trans fat, you have to go to Denmark. Denmark has essentially banned the partially hydrogenated oil that provides the trans fat. An all the companies -- McDonald's, Burger King and all the packaged food companies -- have stopped using partially hydrogenated oils. And McDonald's is using a far better oil in Denmark than they are here in the United States.
SANCHEZ: But wait, no. They say that they're actually already making inroads with their chicken items, all their fried chicken tenders and...
JACOBSON: Not much. I think they've cut down a little on the breading or done a slight improvement. But...
SANCHEZ: Isn't part of the problem, though, that they can't make a food taste the same way and they're afraid they're going to lose recover and this is a company that's already had its problems in the last couple of years?
JACOBSON: I have no idea what the problem is, that they see -- the Danes seem to continue eating McDonald's French fries, even with a healthy vegetable oil. So I don't know what it is, whether it's some technical problem in the production. Remember, these fries are chopped and partially fried back in Idaho or some place and then they're frozen. Then they're brought to the restaurants and they're fried again. And so somewhere in the process apparently McDonald's is having a problem.
SANCHEZ: Michael Jacobson, thank you so much, sir, for taking time to talk to us.
JACOBSON: Thank you.
And people should avoid that trans fat.
SANCHEZ: We certainly understand that message -- Heidi, over to you.
COLLINS: All right.
Still to come this morning, nature's beauty and fury, as well, all wrapped up in one explosive package. It's red hot Hawaii, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Today scientists in Washington State are collecting data at Mount St. Helens, a dormant volcano that could soon come to life. Hundreds of earthquakes have struck the mountain since Thursday and seismologists warn that a small explosion could occur. The quakes were tiny at first, but they may have been growing in magnitude and frequency. An explosion could affect a five mile radius north of the volcano.
And some scientists predict Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano is just about ready to erupt, as well. "National Geographic" takes you to the rim of the volcano in its October issue.
Bill Hemmer spoke with Editor-In-Chief Bill Allen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: This is a wonderful topic because it holds so much mystery and so much danger, too, for that matter.
The first pictures we're going to look at is Kilauea.
BILL ALLEN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC": Yes.
HEMMER: When we watch this videotape and see the pictures, explain what's happening inside of this.
ALLEN: Well, this is the longest running eruption of a volcano anywhere on the planet at this point. And we had Frans Lanting, the photographer, go in and try and bring back some pictures of what's going on with this creation of the newest land on earth. We have hot lava coming up. This is molten rock shooting up out, making lava rivers.
HEMMER: The volcano next to Kilauea is Mauna Loa, expected to erupt any day. Is that right?
ALLEN: It could. They're starting to find this rumbling in the basement about 25 to 35 miles below the surface at this point. And as that sort of increases in the number of earthquakes and they can see that the earthquakes are getting closer and closer to the surface, that's when an eruption may be imminent.
HEMMER: What are the early signs, though? I mean before you mentioned the basement.
ALLEN: Right.
HEMMER: That's what you talk about, below the earth's surface.
ALLEN: Right. Well, there are a lot of earthquakes. When they begin to get earthquake swarms, a lot more earthquakes happening all of the time, then you will see this is probably an indication that something is going on, that this massive molten rock is probably moving up the tube toward the surface. And there are tilt meters. And when they see on this -- if the lava tube is here and they see it going like that, that means this force and the lava is moving up. And they'll say like wait a minute. Something is going on.
HEMMER: 1983.
ALLEN: Yes?
HEMMER: You were in Hawaii. There was an eruption at that point.
Based on what you experienced firsthand, how can you relay that to us? ALLEN: It was the most exciting thing that I've ever done in 35 years at "National Geographic" of being in the field. It's the kind of thing where you feel the creation of new earth and you're going I am really present at the creation of something here. This is the way the planet must have been billions of years ago.
And you have this sense of the sound and the smells, the sound like a volcano or, in this case, a jet engine roaring. And you have the smell of sulfur all around you. And you have this glow and the feel of the heat and the heat rushing by you in these rivers of lava. And you can't believe that this is actually molten rock.
HEMMER: Yes. You're right, you do love it.
ALLEN: I do, indeed love it.
HEMMER: Nice to see you.
ALLEN: It's good to see you, Bill.
HEMMER: Bill Allen from "National Geographic." You the same. And the October issue, it's on newsstands quite soon.
ALLEN: Right.
HEMMER: Thank you, Bill.
ALLEN: Thank you.
HEMMER: Now, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: I was just saying during the break, it's too bad that volcanoes are so beautiful, because obviously it's very, very frightening. Deadly.
SANCHEZ: It's kind of like the eye of a hurricane, which is beautiful in its own right.
COLLINS: True. No kidding.
SANCHEZ: Jack is here and we're talking about something that's going to happen Thursday, kind of like the A and B squads having a scrimmage of Yale, right, the Yalies versus (INAUDIBLE)?
CAFFERTY: Yes, well, more or less. And just about as secretive as the Skull & Bones thing, too.
The presidential debates, if you want to call them that, get under way Thursday. But it remains to be seen whether they're really going to be worth watching. The reason for that is that the debates are very tightly choreographed these days, unlike when the League of Women Voters ran the show. Some outfit called the Commission for Presidential Debates -- now doesn't that sound official and objective and neutral? You know who it is? It's the Republican and Democratic Parties. Vernon Jordan and Jim Baker sat down in secret and negotiated the rules for these debates. All the questions are scripted, all of the responses will probably be -- I mean it's just, it's a nightmare. It's not a debate at all. It's a charade. They should call these the presidential charades.
Anyway, the question is how important is the presidential debate to you?
Jeannette in South Windsor, Connecticut: "Presidential debates would be enormously important. To watch the candidates think on their feet, listen to their answers and to each other's questions, to hear the issues drilled in a cogent way. Too bad we're not having any debates."
Kimberly in Manassas, Virginia: "Sure, the debates are important. It's very important to make sure that Bush looks smarter than he is."
A cheap shot. We'll find one against Kerry before we get off the air.
Tom in Portland, Oregon: "Once upon a time when the League of Women Voters sponsored the debates, they meant something. No more. It seems that both parties are content with an uniformed electorate. Perhaps if we could really find out what the parties are up to, we would vote them both out of office."
That's probably exactly what they're afraid of.
And Karen in Michigan writes: "Presidential debates, like everything else for sale on television in America, are wrapped in a pretty package, advertised as a product you can't live without and they're sure to be a disappointment when they arrive."
COLLINS: I'm wondering who should run them, you know, or at least who should look over them. Because obviously, at least from the viewers this morning, they're not very happy with what they're seeing so far.
CAFFERTY: Well, I mean, but what's wrong with putting them at a table with a moderator and saying, you know, here are the issues, what do you think about this and that, let them question each other, answer each other's questions and let them argue and fight...
SANCHEZ: And aren't the candidates...
CAFFERTY: I mean let's have an honest discussion.
SANCHEZ: Aren't the candidates ultimately responsible and not the parties? Aren't they the head of their respective parties?
CAFFERTY: Well, you can bet that these things wouldn't be done this way if it wasn't agreed upon by Messrs. Kerry and Bush.
COLLINS: And those time constraints, always time constraints that we're so familiar with on this show, too. Still ahead this morning, city living is tough, but the suburbs might be worse for your health. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is back with that story.
Also ahead, you can rebuild a house after a hurricane like Jeanne, but how do you rebuild your psyche storm after storm? A look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired September 27, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Florida's nightmare continues. Counting the losses now from Jeanne, the fourth hurricane in six weeks to slam into the Sunshine State.
And Jeanne maintaining its intensity, slogging through Georgia now, still a tropical storm.
In Texas, sabotage suspected in a powerful explosion along a gas pipeline.
And learning to read signs from the earth that avert disaster. Scientists carefully watching volcanoes in two states now on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Good Monday morning to you, everybody.
I'm Heidi Collins in for Soledad.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rick Sanchez sitting in for Bill.
Some of the other stories we happen to be following on this day, neither presidential candidate ready to concede any of the swing states, specifically Florida and Ohio we're going to be talking about today. The President and John Kerry making more campaign stops, and not too far apart from each other, by the way. We're going to look at their strategies in the days before their very first debate.
COLLINS: Yes, they've been doing that for a long time now, following each other around the country.
Also, a fight over fat. McDonald's under pressure over its French fries. And we're going to hear from Sanjay about the health effect and from a consumer advocate who says the burger chain has broken an important promise.
SANCHEZ: And let's bring in Jack Cafferty now to see what he's going to catch us up on -- what you got, Jack?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Rick.
I'm Jack Cafferty and I'm not in for anybody.
COLLINS: I was just going to say that, actually.
SANCHEZ: Nice pickup.
CAFFERTY: I'm supposed to be here.
Coming up in "The Cafferty File," we've got a list of books that people think the candidates for president ought to be reading ahead of this election.
And you know those motivational posters that the middle management marmots put up around the office, in the coffee rooms and, you know, inspiring you to do great things? Well, we have our own set.
COLLINS: Oh, no. Well, we will look forward to that, I think.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
COLLINS: OK.
Does it have anything to do with football?
CAFFERTY: No.
COLLINS: No, all right.
CAFFERTY: And stop gloating, Miss. 11 and 2.
COLLINS: We'll get to that later.
CAFFERTY: Actually, now that's a pretty good record.
COLLINS: Well, thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: I've got to admit, that's pretty good.
COLLINS: I appreciate that. Thank you.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
COLLINS: All right, we want to move on now to much more important stuff.
Carol Costello is standing by with the stories now in the news this morning -- Carol, hi.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Heidi.
Thank you.
Private First Class Lynndie England will face a court martial in connection to abuses at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq. No surprise here. The Army's decision coming into CNN just in the past half hour. England will face 19 charges, including conspiracy and assault, in connection with the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners. The trial date has now been set for January 18.
The British embassy in Baghdad is releasing an Arabic language appeal in an effort to win the release of Kenneth Bigley. The British national was kidnapped from his Baghdad home along with two Americans 11 days ago. An Islamic Web site claims Bigley has been killed. But Bigley's brother Paul says he has received information that Bigley is still alive.
Here in the States, officials are reportedly launching a new effort this week aimed at disrupting terrorist plots ahead of the November election. According to the "Washington Post," the strategy includes heavy FBI surveillance and increased checks of terrorism watch lists. A bulletin on the security measures will be sent out to all 50 states and D.C. today.
Texas authorities are looking for a suspect in the sabotaging of an oil pipeline. At least 250 residents were temporarily evacuated yesterday after an explosion 30 miles northeast of Houston. Authorities believe someone used construction equipment to dig around the pipeline, puncturing it and causing the blaze. No injuries reported.
Back to you -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: All right, thanks a lot, Carol.
Jeanne is now a tropical storm, no longer a hurricane. Bringing rain and strong winds, nonetheless, to parts of southern Georgia. The storm hit the Florida east coast Saturday with 120 mile per hour winds. At least four deaths already blamed on the storm. Early damage estimates from Jeanne are in the $5 billion to $9 million range.
Jeanne was the fourth hurricane to hit Florida in the last six weeks; combined with Charley, Frances and Ivan, some of them actually intersecting in the middle of the state. The total damage cost for the State of Florida thus far could top the $20 billion mark, we learned.
Ed Lavandera is in Melbourne, Florida.
He's following this storm and joins us now with the very latest -- hello, Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rick.
Well, we spent the last day traveling down south from Melbourne, checking out the damage along U.S. Highway 1 and the various towns along the way that took the brunt of this hurricane. And as much as we talked about wind and rain and hurricanes, we're reminded that this is the story of people's lives.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): When Hurricane Frances blasted into Vero Beach, David Jenner evacuated his home, but this time he went to sleep in his own bed.
DAVID JENNER, VERO BEACH RESIDENT: Honest to god, no. I slept in there all night.
LAVANDERA: When Jenner woke up Sunday morning, he knew right away Hurricane Jeanne was going to be more destructive than the last storm.
JENNER: When I stepped out of bed and I got over my glasses and I looked down and I was up above my ankles in water and said hmmm, we'd best be getting some flooding.
LAVANDERA: Many roadways in residential neighborhoods along Florida's east coast are under several inches of water.
Steve Sniffin still has three inches of water sitting in his house. With no job and no insurance, he can only count on aid money to help clean up the mess.
STEVE SNIFFIN, VERO BEACH RESIDENT: It's a miserable experience. I don't want to go through it again. This is the second time now, so I've had enough.
LAVANDERA: But just like in previous hurricanes, it was the mobile home parks that suffered the worst damage. 70-year-old Billy Dobbs ventured back into his home Sunday to find the walls of his living room had blown away.
BILLY DOBBS, VERO BEACH RESIDENT: And I thought Frances was bad, had been giving me a little bit of grief. But this is way more than that.
LAVANDERA: Despite the sadness many Florida residents are finding as they return home, Kim Moller has found a reason to smile.
KIM MOLLER, VERO BEACH RESIDENT: She stayed here and made it.
LAVANDERA: Her cat, Miss Kitty, survived the storm, even as part of the mobile home she was in collapsed. Moller left for a shelter and had to leave the cat behind.
MOLLER: I didn't want to leave her because I was afraid I'd come back and she wouldn't be here. I'm just glad she is.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA (on camera): Well, now, the sort of great debate begins, which hurricane was worse? Was it Frances or was it Jeanne? Here in Melbourne you find buildings like the one you see behind me that have been destroyed. But as you get further south into towns like Sebastian and Vero Beach and into Fort Pierce, you really see that those towns are the ones that took the brunt of this damage -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: All right, thanks a lot, Ed.
We'll be getting back to you.
Heidi -- back over to you.
COLLINS: Hurricane Jeanne made landfall just before midnight Saturday south of Vero Beach. Intense winds, 120 miles an hour, hit the coast. Waves pounded into homes and ate away at the beach, as the storm surge reached five feet.
Thomas White is the mayor of Vero Beach.
He is joining us now live.
Boy, those pictures not easy to watch, I'm sure, for you, as well, Mr. Mayor.
Tell us, if you could, what sort of damage you're looking at now this morning.
MAYOR THOMAS WHITE, VERO BEACH, FLORIDA: Well, we have a lot of structural damage. Hurricane Frances had taken down a lot of tress, a lot of branches and Hurricane Jeanne has taken out a lot of buildings. We have -- Frances, we have 1,500 units condemned and I'm sure to see that number double after we get done with damage assessment on Jeanne.
COLLINS: When you say that, what runs through your mind, knowing that this is basically a double whammy, hit twice as hard this time around?
WHITE: Absolutely. It's -- it was rough because technically, I mean being Tree City, USA, the trees protected a lot of our homes from Frances. And now the -- and we lost a lot of branches and all the leaves. And now that wind was able to get through and hit the buildings, where we've had blow-throughs where the front door blew open and went right through the back door. We've had a lot of damage.
COLLINS: Now we're looking at just some humongous trees totally uprooted and smashing into homes there that we see.
Flooding I'm sure also a major concern.
Can you give us some perspective on that? l
WHITE: I'm sorry, a major concern on what?
COLLINS: Flooding.
WHITE: I'm having a hard time hearing you.
COLLINS: Tell me what you're seeing as far as the water and the flooding situation in your area.
WHITE: Well, as far as the water situation, we have, on the barrier island we had a storm surge up through east of U.S. 1. The water has been receding pretty good since yesterday. We're trying to get our crews in to clean the debris off the roads so we can make it safe enough for some of the residents -- the ones that evacuated can go back and assess their damage and start repairs immediately.
COLLINS: Mayor White, we've been...
WHITE: But it is definitely...
COLLINS: Yes, sure...
WHITE: Definitely...
COLLINS: I understand.
We've been talking all morning long about the loss of power and how that just complicates things so much more.
Tell us about your city there and how long people are being told they're going to be without power.
WHITE: Well, let me tell you something. The citizens here are troopers. We just lost power from anywhere from a week to up to the storm of Jeanne with no power. And now they're facing this all over again. Now, city utilities, we own our own power company. We have restored some of the power starting yesterday. We have traffic lights working on our state road 60 going in, which is a very fast recovery, because we did a lot of trimming away from -- the trees had hurt our power lines last time.
But we do have a lot of utility poles snapped in half, so we're in the process of getting them repaired. Plus we have a mutual agreement with several other electric companies and they've already arrived to help us get -- restore power to our citizens as fast as possible.
COLLINS: Well, that's some pretty good news there for people there in your area.
Once again, Mayor Thomas White from Vero Beach.
We wish you the very best, sir, and thanks for spending some time with us this morning.
WHITE: We appreciate it.
Thank you so much.
COLLINS: You bet.
We want to turn things over now to Chad Myers.
He's in Melbourne and he's going to give us the very latest from there -- Chad, how do things look where you are?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Things are almost back to normal in some spots, but still 78 percent of Brevard County still without power. So that's less than obviously a quarter of the people back with power here. Talking to a couple of roofing contractors, they're here. A lot of roofing contractors have been moving into Florida. The roofs here won't be fixed, at least all of them, until January. So, that's three months with some folks not even having shingles on their house. And then obviously rain causing more damage after that.
Let me show you what's going on now with the satellite picture and the radar picture and even the warnings now. We still do have tropical storm warnings from Apalachicola to Anclote Key, all the way down across parts of the big bend there of Florida, from Flagler Beach up the South Santee River, all the way up there. Still tropical storm warnings because of rain and wind. And we still have those winds of 45 miles per hour.
Tropical Storm Jeanne not that far from Moultrie, Georgia, just to the north of Tallahassee. It was about 40 miles north of Tallahassee, about three hours ago. Now moving to the north-northwest at 12 miles per hour.
The big, big threat today is going to be the potential for tornadoes. See that big red box? That's a tornado watch box. And there have been tornado warnings this morning. And there will be many more this afternoon, the low country of South Carolina, all the way through the Piedmont to North Carolina and possibly even into Virginia later on today.
There you see the red zone across the Southeast. When a dying tropical storm runs into land and that land gets heated up with sunshine, you get storms to pop up in the afternoon. And some of those storms, Heidi, have spin with them. And that spin will make tornadoes. We saw that, obviously, in Panama City with even some of the fatalities there.
A lot of tornadoes with Ivan, all the way up through the Carolinas and into Virginia. We're expecting similar conditions today in the same area -- back to you.
COLLINS: Wow.
Well, yes, we certainly do remember that.
Chad Myers, thanks so much for the warning.
MYERS: OK.
SANCHEZ: You know, they didn't catch a lot of breaks in Florida but they may have caught one, at least with this storm. It came in at low tide, not high tide. So it could have been three feet higher when it came across with that storm surge he was explaining.
COLLINS: Thank goodness, huh?
SANCHEZ: Still to come, the Army tries to shore up recruiting. That means possible changes in store for U.S. troops serving overseas.
COLLINS: Also ahead, countdown to the first presidential debate. Have the tables been turned on President Bush when it comes to Iraq?
SANCHEZ: And did McDonald's break a promise to its customers? We're going to take a look at this.
This is AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
I'm Rick Sanchez.
Here's something we all need to consider. Two years ago, McDonald's pledged to reduce the amount of -- ready for the term, you may have heard it before -- trans fatty acids in its food. Well, the company has yet to deliver on that promise. Now last week, the Center for Science in the Public Interest called them on it.
This is a full page "New York Times" ad that they put in telling McDonald's what they hadn't done.
Michael Jacobson is the executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. He had his hand in this.
And we're also going to be joined by our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta at the CNN Center.
First, the background on what it is that we're talking about, Dr. Gupta.
So fill us in. Get our viewers to understand what these trans fatty acids are.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Rick.
A lot of confusion sometimes among the different kind of fats.
First of all, the saturated kind of fats are the ones that are bad for you. Unsaturated fats are going to be better for you. Saturated better, unsaturated better. Everybody needs a little bit of fat in their diet.
Trans fat is when they take an unsaturated fat and they sort of saturate it a little bit. Think about products like margarine or shortening, things that are typically liquid that turn into solid.
I've got some examples over here. Shortening, obviously, is a -- one of the products people think of; margarine, as well; the McDonald's French fries, you have all kinds of cookies and crackers. I don't know if you can see those products, maybe not. But cookies, crackers, all sorts of different processed foods are going to be the types of foods that you typically think of when you think of trans fats -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: They clog -- why do the bad ones clog our arteries and the good ones don't? Is there a simple explanation so we can hone in on this?
GUPTA: Yes. Saturated fats are going to be worse. Trans fats are sort of like saturated fats, so they're more likely to saturate in your blood vessels, increase your bad cholesterol specifically. They also lower your good cholesterol, to some extent. So sort of a double whammy.
The bottom line, Rick, they increase your risk of heart disease, which is why people make a big deal about it.
SANCHEZ: All right, let's bring in Michael Jacobson now.
And Dr. Gupta, if you would, stick around. If you want to join us on this.
Again, Mr. Jacobson, you're with the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
You're joining us from Washington.
Before we get to the first question to you, let me, in fairness, say what McDonald's is saying.
This is a statement that they've issued. Here it is: "McDonald's continues to work hard to achieve our goals for reducing trans fats -- trans fatty acids. Our customers trust McDonald's to do the right thing and expect us to get it right for them and that is what we are doing. The change has taken longer than anticipated, but we're continuing with ongoing tests. As previously stated, TFA information has been added to our nutritional information materials, including our Web site, in store nutrition brochures and tray liners beginning next month."
So there you have it. McDonald's is saying look, we're doing the best we can.
Why this guerrilla tactic against McDonald's? Why pointing them out and putting these front page ads on?
MICHAEL JACOBSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CSPI: I don't question McDonald's sincerity. But two years ago, McDonald's said it was going to switch to healthier oils. And I can't imagine that they made that announcement, that generated front page national news, without having done all the tests that need to be done.
SANCHEZ: So that's why you're calling them specifically and not the other companies who are also using these oils, hydrogenated oils?
JACOBSON: That's right. McDonald's was going to one up those other companies, do a better job. The other companies, like Burger King and Wendy's, as well as many packaged food companies, have not announced that they're going to switch. But McDonald's announced it and they should stick to their word.
SANCHEZ: McDonald's... JACOBSON: Now, if you want to have -- if you want to go to a McDonald's and avoid trans fat, you have to go to Denmark. Denmark has essentially banned the partially hydrogenated oil that provides the trans fat. An all the companies -- McDonald's, Burger King and all the packaged food companies -- have stopped using partially hydrogenated oils. And McDonald's is using a far better oil in Denmark than they are here in the United States.
SANCHEZ: But wait, no. They say that they're actually already making inroads with their chicken items, all their fried chicken tenders and...
JACOBSON: Not much. I think they've cut down a little on the breading or done a slight improvement. But...
SANCHEZ: Isn't part of the problem, though, that they can't make a food taste the same way and they're afraid they're going to lose recover and this is a company that's already had its problems in the last couple of years?
JACOBSON: I have no idea what the problem is, that they see -- the Danes seem to continue eating McDonald's French fries, even with a healthy vegetable oil. So I don't know what it is, whether it's some technical problem in the production. Remember, these fries are chopped and partially fried back in Idaho or some place and then they're frozen. Then they're brought to the restaurants and they're fried again. And so somewhere in the process apparently McDonald's is having a problem.
SANCHEZ: Michael Jacobson, thank you so much, sir, for taking time to talk to us.
JACOBSON: Thank you.
And people should avoid that trans fat.
SANCHEZ: We certainly understand that message -- Heidi, over to you.
COLLINS: All right.
Still to come this morning, nature's beauty and fury, as well, all wrapped up in one explosive package. It's red hot Hawaii, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Today scientists in Washington State are collecting data at Mount St. Helens, a dormant volcano that could soon come to life. Hundreds of earthquakes have struck the mountain since Thursday and seismologists warn that a small explosion could occur. The quakes were tiny at first, but they may have been growing in magnitude and frequency. An explosion could affect a five mile radius north of the volcano.
And some scientists predict Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano is just about ready to erupt, as well. "National Geographic" takes you to the rim of the volcano in its October issue.
Bill Hemmer spoke with Editor-In-Chief Bill Allen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: This is a wonderful topic because it holds so much mystery and so much danger, too, for that matter.
The first pictures we're going to look at is Kilauea.
BILL ALLEN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC": Yes.
HEMMER: When we watch this videotape and see the pictures, explain what's happening inside of this.
ALLEN: Well, this is the longest running eruption of a volcano anywhere on the planet at this point. And we had Frans Lanting, the photographer, go in and try and bring back some pictures of what's going on with this creation of the newest land on earth. We have hot lava coming up. This is molten rock shooting up out, making lava rivers.
HEMMER: The volcano next to Kilauea is Mauna Loa, expected to erupt any day. Is that right?
ALLEN: It could. They're starting to find this rumbling in the basement about 25 to 35 miles below the surface at this point. And as that sort of increases in the number of earthquakes and they can see that the earthquakes are getting closer and closer to the surface, that's when an eruption may be imminent.
HEMMER: What are the early signs, though? I mean before you mentioned the basement.
ALLEN: Right.
HEMMER: That's what you talk about, below the earth's surface.
ALLEN: Right. Well, there are a lot of earthquakes. When they begin to get earthquake swarms, a lot more earthquakes happening all of the time, then you will see this is probably an indication that something is going on, that this massive molten rock is probably moving up the tube toward the surface. And there are tilt meters. And when they see on this -- if the lava tube is here and they see it going like that, that means this force and the lava is moving up. And they'll say like wait a minute. Something is going on.
HEMMER: 1983.
ALLEN: Yes?
HEMMER: You were in Hawaii. There was an eruption at that point.
Based on what you experienced firsthand, how can you relay that to us? ALLEN: It was the most exciting thing that I've ever done in 35 years at "National Geographic" of being in the field. It's the kind of thing where you feel the creation of new earth and you're going I am really present at the creation of something here. This is the way the planet must have been billions of years ago.
And you have this sense of the sound and the smells, the sound like a volcano or, in this case, a jet engine roaring. And you have the smell of sulfur all around you. And you have this glow and the feel of the heat and the heat rushing by you in these rivers of lava. And you can't believe that this is actually molten rock.
HEMMER: Yes. You're right, you do love it.
ALLEN: I do, indeed love it.
HEMMER: Nice to see you.
ALLEN: It's good to see you, Bill.
HEMMER: Bill Allen from "National Geographic." You the same. And the October issue, it's on newsstands quite soon.
ALLEN: Right.
HEMMER: Thank you, Bill.
ALLEN: Thank you.
HEMMER: Now, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: I was just saying during the break, it's too bad that volcanoes are so beautiful, because obviously it's very, very frightening. Deadly.
SANCHEZ: It's kind of like the eye of a hurricane, which is beautiful in its own right.
COLLINS: True. No kidding.
SANCHEZ: Jack is here and we're talking about something that's going to happen Thursday, kind of like the A and B squads having a scrimmage of Yale, right, the Yalies versus (INAUDIBLE)?
CAFFERTY: Yes, well, more or less. And just about as secretive as the Skull & Bones thing, too.
The presidential debates, if you want to call them that, get under way Thursday. But it remains to be seen whether they're really going to be worth watching. The reason for that is that the debates are very tightly choreographed these days, unlike when the League of Women Voters ran the show. Some outfit called the Commission for Presidential Debates -- now doesn't that sound official and objective and neutral? You know who it is? It's the Republican and Democratic Parties. Vernon Jordan and Jim Baker sat down in secret and negotiated the rules for these debates. All the questions are scripted, all of the responses will probably be -- I mean it's just, it's a nightmare. It's not a debate at all. It's a charade. They should call these the presidential charades.
Anyway, the question is how important is the presidential debate to you?
Jeannette in South Windsor, Connecticut: "Presidential debates would be enormously important. To watch the candidates think on their feet, listen to their answers and to each other's questions, to hear the issues drilled in a cogent way. Too bad we're not having any debates."
Kimberly in Manassas, Virginia: "Sure, the debates are important. It's very important to make sure that Bush looks smarter than he is."
A cheap shot. We'll find one against Kerry before we get off the air.
Tom in Portland, Oregon: "Once upon a time when the League of Women Voters sponsored the debates, they meant something. No more. It seems that both parties are content with an uniformed electorate. Perhaps if we could really find out what the parties are up to, we would vote them both out of office."
That's probably exactly what they're afraid of.
And Karen in Michigan writes: "Presidential debates, like everything else for sale on television in America, are wrapped in a pretty package, advertised as a product you can't live without and they're sure to be a disappointment when they arrive."
COLLINS: I'm wondering who should run them, you know, or at least who should look over them. Because obviously, at least from the viewers this morning, they're not very happy with what they're seeing so far.
CAFFERTY: Well, I mean, but what's wrong with putting them at a table with a moderator and saying, you know, here are the issues, what do you think about this and that, let them question each other, answer each other's questions and let them argue and fight...
SANCHEZ: And aren't the candidates...
CAFFERTY: I mean let's have an honest discussion.
SANCHEZ: Aren't the candidates ultimately responsible and not the parties? Aren't they the head of their respective parties?
CAFFERTY: Well, you can bet that these things wouldn't be done this way if it wasn't agreed upon by Messrs. Kerry and Bush.
COLLINS: And those time constraints, always time constraints that we're so familiar with on this show, too. Still ahead this morning, city living is tough, but the suburbs might be worse for your health. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is back with that story.
Also ahead, you can rebuild a house after a hurricane like Jeanne, but how do you rebuild your psyche storm after storm? A look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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