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American Morning

TSA Trying to Ensure Safe Passage for Holiday Weekend; Outcome in Ukraine's Highly Contested Presidential Election Expected to be Announced in a Few Hours

Aired November 24, 2004 - 07:00   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. They say getting there's half the fun, right? Well, maybe not this Thanksgiving. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld joining the debate on intel reform. Can he now break the deadlock?
An election crisis in Ukraine raising fears of civil war. Now a new offer on the table there.

And fighting back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He put a gun in my face and threatened to rape my kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: The man taking matters into his own hands when muggers threatened his daughters. We'll meet him, and hear his story and how it ended, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING, with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. Thanksgiving dinners are being planned across the country. Here's a recipe, though, you're not going to like. Snow, rain, high gas prices, throw in a little crowded highways, a dash of a tornado or two. There you go. Yes, that's the recipe for holiday travel this morning. All morning, we've got a lot of time set aside to help you get where you're going. We're going to look at what you can expect on the highways, also get a complete weather forecast for you.

HEMMER: Mix that all up together, right?

Did you mention airports?

O'BRIEN: No, I didn't.

HEMMER: OK, because many are flying today. And at the airports, we're going to take a look at what delays may be out there for you.

Find out also what happens when an airport runs out of airplane fuel. Also talk with a member of the TSA, let you know what's happened on the airports across the country. Stay tuned for that. JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Very hard to get them airborne if there's not gas in them. They tend to just, like, sit.

O'BRIEN: Now we know.

HEMMER: The CBS Evening News without Dan Rather? Is this going to be a good thing for CBS, or a not so good thing for CBS? We will explore this in some detail in a few minutes.

O'BRIEN: All right, Jack, thank you very much.

Headlines now. Heidi Collins at our news desk. Good morning.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, guys. And good morning to you, everybody.

Now in the news this morning, a major new offensive under way in Iraq. About 5,000 U.S. Marines, British troops and Iraqi forces taking part in what's being called Operation Plymouth Rock, in the Babil province, south of Baghdad. A Marine spokesman says it is a, quote, "focused mission," involving precision raised and house-to- house searches. It's the third large-scale largest military offensive this month, aimed at securing the region ahead of January elections.

Less than three hours from now, final results are expected in Ukraine's presidential election. You're looking at some live pictures now of protesters taking to the streets for a third day today, against what they call voter fraud. Once again, some live pictures coming to you this morning. Preliminary results show the Russian-backed Prime Minister Victor Yanukovych in the lead. Rival Viktor Yushchenko is contesting the government of planning to use force against the protesters. U.S. officials are calling for an investigation. We will have more coming up from Kiev in just a moment.

To California now, where Scott Peterson's attorney Mark Geragos is expected to take his appeal to the state supreme court. This, after an appeals court yesterday rejected the defense's bid for a new jury and a change of venue for the penalty phase of Peterson's trial. The judge in the case denied the same request on Monday. Proceedings expected to resume on Tuesday.

And a false alarm for the beef industry. The Agriculture Department says additions testing of a suspected animal shows no signs of mad cow disease. Initial tests had been inconclusive. Last December, a dairy cow in Washington State tested positive for the disease, marking the first time mad cow had been found in the U.S.

Norfolk today. Leave in a couple hours, hoping to get there.

HEMMER: All right, you can take a train there, though, can't you?

COLLINS: I don't know. Unfortunately, I already have the plane ticket.

O'BRIEN: You'll make it. I'm feeling good about it. You're going to make it. You're going to have a nice Thanksgiving.

COLLINS: Thank you so much.

O'BRIEN: I'll be here working. Don't worry about me.

COLLINS: I'll call you.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Heidi. Tell me how your dinner's going.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(TRAFFIC REPORT)

HEMMER: It is a big job today for the TSA. What the Transportation Security Administration is doing now to try and ensure safe passage for the holiday weekend. TSA administrator Admiral Davis Stone is in Orlando, Florida this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID STONE, TSA ADMINISTRATOR: We've been talking with the airlines and anticipate a very robust travel season this holiday season.

HEMMER: So how will the job of TSA change then with those numbers coming through, starting today?

STONE: Well, we're very much focused on making sure we keep a high level of security. As you well know, we've got some additional torso pat-down checks that we implemented as a result of the downing of the two aircraft in Russia. So our screeners have been trained in that procedure. And also we're fully partnered with the travel community to make sure our traveling public knows how best to divest themselves of items before they come to the checkpoint so they can speed up the process.

HEMMER: With these two incidents in Russia, how is that affecting the job or the instruction you give your employees?

STONE: Well, we've really focused intensely making sure that each of our screeners is aware of the proper technique to use for that torso pat-down. We believe it's a very good and effective measure for us. So that training has been fairly intense, as you would expect it to be, to ensure that we do a very professional job, and at the same time, provide a high level of customer service.

HEMMER: That process you're talking about, there have been recent complaints saying -- especially from women travelers, who say the technique has been too aggressive. To them, you say what?

STONE: Well, I say we take each and every one of those complaints very seriously. We want our screeners to have that philosophy, that the person going through that checkpoint should be treated like their mom, and dad, or sister and brother, or husband and wife. So each complaint one of those complaints, we take very, very seriously, and we look at what can be done to remedy whatever the issue is. Keeping in mind that we service roughly 14 million passengers a week. Two million of those go through that selectee process, and we average about 12 complaints a week. So 12 complaints out of the two million passengers gives some context to it. But at the same time, each and every one of those complaints needs to be taken seriously and looked at to see what those factors are that caused the complaint.

HEMMER: As a follow up to that, to those who say you've been overly aggressive, is there any evidence that tells you that their complaint is right?

STONE: You know, I don't believe so. I think we've got exactly the right pulse on that. You need have very robust security in the world that we live in today. In fact, the return to the pre-9/11 levels, we believe, is the result in the confidence in the security of aviation. So we're quite pleased with that. But we know that our job is to continuously improve, and when people point out where we fall short, to immediately take that for action and work on it, then that trust and binding together between our screeners and the traveling public is something that we work on every day.

HEMMER: One other thought on the number of travelers. A front- page article today in the papers across the country, "USA Today," suggesting that the numbers of travelers will exceed the level that we saw prior to September 11th, more than three years ago. Is there a risk at becoming too complacent, now that we're more than three years removed from those events?

STONE: I think there's always that risk. In fact, I was just talking to our screeners here at Orlando yesterday about maintaining that sense of urgency about what we do. We need to get it right every single day, with each of those two millions passengers. And so during the summer, in which we saw the returns of those pre-9/11 levels, I think we did a tremendously good job. We averaged about 11.4 minutes for the average peak wait time at the top 40 airports, where 80 percent of that traveling public goes through. So we're conscious about making sure we deliver a high level of customer service, and also equally so to keep that bar high on security. We think we're doing both, and we couldn't be more pleased to see that return to pre- 9/11 passenger volumes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: David Stone from the TSA. Plan for extra time, we saw that every year. Experts say more than 51,000 flights are expected to be in the air today alone -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, as you heard Chad Meyers mention just a moment ago, at least a dozen twisters touched down in Texas. An elderly woman was killed, three people got hurt when one of the tornadoes hit Harden (ph) County in east Texas. During the storm, there were reports for large hail, some of them the size of tennis balls. It has been pouring rain as well in Texas now for four days. The weather, though, is expected to improve today.

HEMMER: Let's get a break here in a moment. Is the Pentagon holding up Intel reform. We'll have a look at that this morning. More news on this from yesterday. We'll talk about it.

O'BRIEN: Also Ukraine's contested presidential election has demonstrators linking the streets and waiting for an outcome that could come very soon. We've got a live report just ahead from Jill Dougherty.

HEMMER: Also this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was afraid they were going to come back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: After muggers rob a man, threaten his daughters, he fights back, and now he's worried he might be charged. We'll talk about it in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: You're look at a picture of Chicago O'Hare airport. We're keeping an eye on the holiday travel for you this morning, and here's what it looks like there. Not so bad right yet. But they are predicting long lines and long waits in Chicago and elsewhere, as we wait our way through the holiday, and of course some snow predicted as well a little bit later today. In other news, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says he supports the now controversial intelligence reform bill, but Rumsfeld's opinion seems to be at odds with the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. General Richard Myers sent a letter to a House committee objecting to the bill. He says too much power of certain military operations would be taken from the Pentagon and given to a national intelligence director.

Earlier, I spoke with 9/11 commissioner Bob Kerrey about this issue.

O'BRIEN: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says he supports the now-controversial intelligence reform bill. But Rumsfeld's opinion seems to be at odds with that of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

General Richard Myers sent a letter to a House committee objecting to the bill. He says too much power of certain military operations would be taken from the Pentagon and given to a national intelligence director.

Earlier, I spoke with 9/11 commissioner Bob Kerrey about this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB KERREY, 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: There's no complaint from the military about...

O'BRIEN: So what do you think his motivation is?

KERREY: I just think he's concerned about giving up a little bit of authority.

O'BRIEN: It's a power grab.

KERREY: No, I don't think it's power. I think it's legitimate. I'm sympathetic to it.

I don't understand it because the facts demonstrate otherwise. The military this is the number one customer for intelligence. Everybody knows that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Still unclear whether the stalled legislation will pass when Congress reconvenes on December 6th.

HEMMER: Back from overseas now. The outcome in Ukraine's highly contested presidential election expected to be announce in just a few hours of time. Demonstrators now, in the live picture here, lining the streets in Kiev, for the third straight day, claiming fraudulent voting that continues to plague the balloting.

Jill Dougherty is live there by telephone in Kiev, when again, we expect an official announcement, perhaps in two hours from now.

What's going on there now, Jill?

Good afternoon.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Bill, I can tell you that all across Kiev, that's the capital of Ukraine, there are demonstrations day and night now. The biggest one is taking place down on Independence Square. That's where opposition supporters have been gathering for three days, literally in the tens of thousands, in some cases more than 100,000 people gathering there in support of their candidate, Victor Yushchenko.

And as you said, what they are maintaining, was that this vote was stolen. The Central Election Commission of Ukraine came out a couple of days ago and said, in its initial result, that the government-backed candidate was winning by three percentage points. His name is Viktor Yanukovych. But the exit polls, taken the day of the election, shows the opposition candidate was ahead by 10 to 11 points, so the opposition says it was stolen.

Just a few minutes ago, we were over at the Central Election Committee's headquarters, and they already have demonstrators from both sides, from the opposition, carrying their orange flags, a symbol of their opposition, and the people who support Victor Yanukovych, the government-backed candidate. They have blue and white flags. And last night, a demonstration is going over, a huge one, going over to the presidential administration building.

So right now, what's going to happen? Well, this will be a turning point, when this announcement comes out, the final results. And in a few minutes, we'll be able to speak with the opposition candidate. We'll ask him what he plans to do when those results are announced. And I have to say, Bill, everybody is watching. The United States is watching, the Europeans are watching, the Russians are watching. This is a very important election in this part of the world.

HEMMER: What are they doing with the ballots at this point? Are they actually counting them now, or is that process over at this point?

DOUGHERTY: That process is over, but the problem is, there were areas that supported the government-backed candidate, where traditionally, let's say you had about 70 percent turnout or so. And on the day of this election, they had 95 percent turnout. So there were big question marks raised by that, and a lot of people using absentee ballots and voting numerous times. That was, according to international observers, some of the biggest violations came in that area.

HEMMER: All right, Jill Dougherty by telephone there in Kiev. We do expect an announcement at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time, by the clock, about an hour and 40 minutes from now out of Ukraine -- Soledad.

DOUGHERTY: Still to come this morning, Dan Rather giving up his chair at CBS. So what does that mean for any network? That's next.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: On March 9th, 2005, 24 years to the day that he replaced Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather will step down as anchor of the "CBS Evenings News." Rather made the announcement yesterday, saying he's going to continue to report for "60 Minutes."

"New York Times" reporter Jacques Steinberg covered the controversy over a CBS story about President Bush's military service. He joins us this morning to talk a little bit about that and the fallout, essentially.

What do you think of timing of all of this? Do we read into this announcement that the report that's due out next month is going to be very bad for Dan Rather?

JACQUES STEINBERG, "NEW YORK TIMES" REPORTER: I mean, I don't think anybody knows exactly what's going to be in the report. It's not even finished yet, they're still interviewing. But I think Dan had a very narrow window of time in which he could do this, not only because of the Thanksgiving holiday, but also because Tom Brokaw is leaving next week and the report will probably be delivered in the first two weeks of December. So if he was going to do it, this was really the week to do it.

O'BRIEN: Why important -- I mean, CBS made great pains to say that this was done to avoid -- to put as much distance between the announcement and the report as possible. Why do that?

STEINBERG: Well, I think that you've got -- I mean, here's a 24- year career in the anchor desk, more than 40-year career at CBS News. And in a lot of ways, it's unfortunate that we're even talking about this report and the story, given the breadth of a really enormous career.

O'BRIEN: You interviewed him for almost an hour yesterday. How does he seem to you, given that breadth of his -- the length of his career. And he's not leaving, we should say. I mean, he's leaving the anchor desk but not CBS.

STEINBERG: Yes, I think anybody who knows him knows that he's not going to work any less hard than he is now. He really struck me as being at peace and at ease. He was calmer than I've seen him in a long time, in terms of really being -- have finally found sort of the moment to do this. This has been weighing on him not just for the last few months, but for years, in terms of when would be the appropriate time.

O'BRIEN: Did he seem sad? I mean, you know, a lot of people thought he would make it to the 25-year mark of taking over for Walter Cronkite. Obviously, that amount of time has tremendous weight. It sort of leaves a weird sense of, like, oh, OK, now Dan Rather's announced he's gone and he's leaving.

STEINBERG: One of the things that makes him work so well as a broadcaster is that he shows you his emotions. And yesterday was no different in private. There's certainly a sadness. There's a sadness to be leaving the desk but also to be leaving under these circumstances. And yet, he really seemed more at ease than I expected to find him.

O'BRIEN: Does he have a sense that the last few months have tainted his 20-some odd years in the anchor desk and the 40-year career, or is it a sense of what happened happened and he has to move on?

STEINBERG: I think he sort of doesn't want to go there. I think he really -- I tried to get him, in the interview, to talk -- look back on his various guests, the interviews he was proudest of. He really didn't want to go there. He wanted to talk about what's next and how excited he is to become an investigative reporter again. That's the way he is.

O'BRIEN: He did it so well when he did it and will continue to do it well, I bet. Jacques Steinberg. Nice to see you. Thanks for coming in to talk to us about it -- Bill.

HEMMER: Thank you, Soledad. Back to Jack, "Question of the Day," same topic. What's happening?

CAFFERTY: Excited to become an investigative reporter and give up one of the three most powerful television jobs in the entire world? I find that a little tough to -- the "CBS Evening News" with Dan Rather has been in third place, behind NBC and ABC, for a long time. And that makes it easier for the brass at CBS to put somebody else in the anchor chair. If Rather had been in first place instead of third, my hunch is CBS would have gone to the ends of the earth to keep this from happening. In television, after all, it's all about the ratings. The scandal over the allegedly forged documents have provided a convenient excuse to make the change. Nevertheless, without Rather, the "Evening News" at CBS sails into uncharted waters.

Here's the question: Does Dan Rather's resignation hurt or help CBS? Am@CNN.com.

HEMMER: You know what strikes me -- you know, Jennings, Rather, Brokaw, they've been in that chair more than 20 years individually. And in four months' time, we're going to lose two of the three.

CAFFERTY: That's OK. I mean, it provides job opportunities for someone else. You might think of applying, for example. I can see you over there doing that thing at the Tiffany network.

HEMMER: ... you get back to me on that, will you, promise?

CAFFERTY: Keep the door revolving and give others a chance to earn the big bucks, you know?

HEMMER: All right, I'm pushing the way -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Still to come: the Wednesday edition of "90 second Pop."

(MUSIC)

O'BRIEN: Still recovering from last year's Super Bowl halftime show? This time, don't expect a racy performance like Janet Jackson's.

Plus, the Fab Four of that show about nothing are back together, at least for an hour tomorrow night. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired November 24, 2004 - 07:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. They say getting there's half the fun, right? Well, maybe not this Thanksgiving. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld joining the debate on intel reform. Can he now break the deadlock?
An election crisis in Ukraine raising fears of civil war. Now a new offer on the table there.

And fighting back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He put a gun in my face and threatened to rape my kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: The man taking matters into his own hands when muggers threatened his daughters. We'll meet him, and hear his story and how it ended, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING, with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. Thanksgiving dinners are being planned across the country. Here's a recipe, though, you're not going to like. Snow, rain, high gas prices, throw in a little crowded highways, a dash of a tornado or two. There you go. Yes, that's the recipe for holiday travel this morning. All morning, we've got a lot of time set aside to help you get where you're going. We're going to look at what you can expect on the highways, also get a complete weather forecast for you.

HEMMER: Mix that all up together, right?

Did you mention airports?

O'BRIEN: No, I didn't.

HEMMER: OK, because many are flying today. And at the airports, we're going to take a look at what delays may be out there for you.

Find out also what happens when an airport runs out of airplane fuel. Also talk with a member of the TSA, let you know what's happened on the airports across the country. Stay tuned for that. JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Very hard to get them airborne if there's not gas in them. They tend to just, like, sit.

O'BRIEN: Now we know.

HEMMER: The CBS Evening News without Dan Rather? Is this going to be a good thing for CBS, or a not so good thing for CBS? We will explore this in some detail in a few minutes.

O'BRIEN: All right, Jack, thank you very much.

Headlines now. Heidi Collins at our news desk. Good morning.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, guys. And good morning to you, everybody.

Now in the news this morning, a major new offensive under way in Iraq. About 5,000 U.S. Marines, British troops and Iraqi forces taking part in what's being called Operation Plymouth Rock, in the Babil province, south of Baghdad. A Marine spokesman says it is a, quote, "focused mission," involving precision raised and house-to- house searches. It's the third large-scale largest military offensive this month, aimed at securing the region ahead of January elections.

Less than three hours from now, final results are expected in Ukraine's presidential election. You're looking at some live pictures now of protesters taking to the streets for a third day today, against what they call voter fraud. Once again, some live pictures coming to you this morning. Preliminary results show the Russian-backed Prime Minister Victor Yanukovych in the lead. Rival Viktor Yushchenko is contesting the government of planning to use force against the protesters. U.S. officials are calling for an investigation. We will have more coming up from Kiev in just a moment.

To California now, where Scott Peterson's attorney Mark Geragos is expected to take his appeal to the state supreme court. This, after an appeals court yesterday rejected the defense's bid for a new jury and a change of venue for the penalty phase of Peterson's trial. The judge in the case denied the same request on Monday. Proceedings expected to resume on Tuesday.

And a false alarm for the beef industry. The Agriculture Department says additions testing of a suspected animal shows no signs of mad cow disease. Initial tests had been inconclusive. Last December, a dairy cow in Washington State tested positive for the disease, marking the first time mad cow had been found in the U.S.

Norfolk today. Leave in a couple hours, hoping to get there.

HEMMER: All right, you can take a train there, though, can't you?

COLLINS: I don't know. Unfortunately, I already have the plane ticket.

O'BRIEN: You'll make it. I'm feeling good about it. You're going to make it. You're going to have a nice Thanksgiving.

COLLINS: Thank you so much.

O'BRIEN: I'll be here working. Don't worry about me.

COLLINS: I'll call you.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Heidi. Tell me how your dinner's going.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(TRAFFIC REPORT)

HEMMER: It is a big job today for the TSA. What the Transportation Security Administration is doing now to try and ensure safe passage for the holiday weekend. TSA administrator Admiral Davis Stone is in Orlando, Florida this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID STONE, TSA ADMINISTRATOR: We've been talking with the airlines and anticipate a very robust travel season this holiday season.

HEMMER: So how will the job of TSA change then with those numbers coming through, starting today?

STONE: Well, we're very much focused on making sure we keep a high level of security. As you well know, we've got some additional torso pat-down checks that we implemented as a result of the downing of the two aircraft in Russia. So our screeners have been trained in that procedure. And also we're fully partnered with the travel community to make sure our traveling public knows how best to divest themselves of items before they come to the checkpoint so they can speed up the process.

HEMMER: With these two incidents in Russia, how is that affecting the job or the instruction you give your employees?

STONE: Well, we've really focused intensely making sure that each of our screeners is aware of the proper technique to use for that torso pat-down. We believe it's a very good and effective measure for us. So that training has been fairly intense, as you would expect it to be, to ensure that we do a very professional job, and at the same time, provide a high level of customer service.

HEMMER: That process you're talking about, there have been recent complaints saying -- especially from women travelers, who say the technique has been too aggressive. To them, you say what?

STONE: Well, I say we take each and every one of those complaints very seriously. We want our screeners to have that philosophy, that the person going through that checkpoint should be treated like their mom, and dad, or sister and brother, or husband and wife. So each complaint one of those complaints, we take very, very seriously, and we look at what can be done to remedy whatever the issue is. Keeping in mind that we service roughly 14 million passengers a week. Two million of those go through that selectee process, and we average about 12 complaints a week. So 12 complaints out of the two million passengers gives some context to it. But at the same time, each and every one of those complaints needs to be taken seriously and looked at to see what those factors are that caused the complaint.

HEMMER: As a follow up to that, to those who say you've been overly aggressive, is there any evidence that tells you that their complaint is right?

STONE: You know, I don't believe so. I think we've got exactly the right pulse on that. You need have very robust security in the world that we live in today. In fact, the return to the pre-9/11 levels, we believe, is the result in the confidence in the security of aviation. So we're quite pleased with that. But we know that our job is to continuously improve, and when people point out where we fall short, to immediately take that for action and work on it, then that trust and binding together between our screeners and the traveling public is something that we work on every day.

HEMMER: One other thought on the number of travelers. A front- page article today in the papers across the country, "USA Today," suggesting that the numbers of travelers will exceed the level that we saw prior to September 11th, more than three years ago. Is there a risk at becoming too complacent, now that we're more than three years removed from those events?

STONE: I think there's always that risk. In fact, I was just talking to our screeners here at Orlando yesterday about maintaining that sense of urgency about what we do. We need to get it right every single day, with each of those two millions passengers. And so during the summer, in which we saw the returns of those pre-9/11 levels, I think we did a tremendously good job. We averaged about 11.4 minutes for the average peak wait time at the top 40 airports, where 80 percent of that traveling public goes through. So we're conscious about making sure we deliver a high level of customer service, and also equally so to keep that bar high on security. We think we're doing both, and we couldn't be more pleased to see that return to pre- 9/11 passenger volumes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: David Stone from the TSA. Plan for extra time, we saw that every year. Experts say more than 51,000 flights are expected to be in the air today alone -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, as you heard Chad Meyers mention just a moment ago, at least a dozen twisters touched down in Texas. An elderly woman was killed, three people got hurt when one of the tornadoes hit Harden (ph) County in east Texas. During the storm, there were reports for large hail, some of them the size of tennis balls. It has been pouring rain as well in Texas now for four days. The weather, though, is expected to improve today.

HEMMER: Let's get a break here in a moment. Is the Pentagon holding up Intel reform. We'll have a look at that this morning. More news on this from yesterday. We'll talk about it.

O'BRIEN: Also Ukraine's contested presidential election has demonstrators linking the streets and waiting for an outcome that could come very soon. We've got a live report just ahead from Jill Dougherty.

HEMMER: Also this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was afraid they were going to come back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: After muggers rob a man, threaten his daughters, he fights back, and now he's worried he might be charged. We'll talk about it in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: You're look at a picture of Chicago O'Hare airport. We're keeping an eye on the holiday travel for you this morning, and here's what it looks like there. Not so bad right yet. But they are predicting long lines and long waits in Chicago and elsewhere, as we wait our way through the holiday, and of course some snow predicted as well a little bit later today. In other news, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says he supports the now controversial intelligence reform bill, but Rumsfeld's opinion seems to be at odds with the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. General Richard Myers sent a letter to a House committee objecting to the bill. He says too much power of certain military operations would be taken from the Pentagon and given to a national intelligence director.

Earlier, I spoke with 9/11 commissioner Bob Kerrey about this issue.

O'BRIEN: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says he supports the now-controversial intelligence reform bill. But Rumsfeld's opinion seems to be at odds with that of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

General Richard Myers sent a letter to a House committee objecting to the bill. He says too much power of certain military operations would be taken from the Pentagon and given to a national intelligence director.

Earlier, I spoke with 9/11 commissioner Bob Kerrey about this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB KERREY, 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: There's no complaint from the military about...

O'BRIEN: So what do you think his motivation is?

KERREY: I just think he's concerned about giving up a little bit of authority.

O'BRIEN: It's a power grab.

KERREY: No, I don't think it's power. I think it's legitimate. I'm sympathetic to it.

I don't understand it because the facts demonstrate otherwise. The military this is the number one customer for intelligence. Everybody knows that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Still unclear whether the stalled legislation will pass when Congress reconvenes on December 6th.

HEMMER: Back from overseas now. The outcome in Ukraine's highly contested presidential election expected to be announce in just a few hours of time. Demonstrators now, in the live picture here, lining the streets in Kiev, for the third straight day, claiming fraudulent voting that continues to plague the balloting.

Jill Dougherty is live there by telephone in Kiev, when again, we expect an official announcement, perhaps in two hours from now.

What's going on there now, Jill?

Good afternoon.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Bill, I can tell you that all across Kiev, that's the capital of Ukraine, there are demonstrations day and night now. The biggest one is taking place down on Independence Square. That's where opposition supporters have been gathering for three days, literally in the tens of thousands, in some cases more than 100,000 people gathering there in support of their candidate, Victor Yushchenko.

And as you said, what they are maintaining, was that this vote was stolen. The Central Election Commission of Ukraine came out a couple of days ago and said, in its initial result, that the government-backed candidate was winning by three percentage points. His name is Viktor Yanukovych. But the exit polls, taken the day of the election, shows the opposition candidate was ahead by 10 to 11 points, so the opposition says it was stolen.

Just a few minutes ago, we were over at the Central Election Committee's headquarters, and they already have demonstrators from both sides, from the opposition, carrying their orange flags, a symbol of their opposition, and the people who support Victor Yanukovych, the government-backed candidate. They have blue and white flags. And last night, a demonstration is going over, a huge one, going over to the presidential administration building.

So right now, what's going to happen? Well, this will be a turning point, when this announcement comes out, the final results. And in a few minutes, we'll be able to speak with the opposition candidate. We'll ask him what he plans to do when those results are announced. And I have to say, Bill, everybody is watching. The United States is watching, the Europeans are watching, the Russians are watching. This is a very important election in this part of the world.

HEMMER: What are they doing with the ballots at this point? Are they actually counting them now, or is that process over at this point?

DOUGHERTY: That process is over, but the problem is, there were areas that supported the government-backed candidate, where traditionally, let's say you had about 70 percent turnout or so. And on the day of this election, they had 95 percent turnout. So there were big question marks raised by that, and a lot of people using absentee ballots and voting numerous times. That was, according to international observers, some of the biggest violations came in that area.

HEMMER: All right, Jill Dougherty by telephone there in Kiev. We do expect an announcement at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time, by the clock, about an hour and 40 minutes from now out of Ukraine -- Soledad.

DOUGHERTY: Still to come this morning, Dan Rather giving up his chair at CBS. So what does that mean for any network? That's next.

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O'BRIEN: On March 9th, 2005, 24 years to the day that he replaced Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather will step down as anchor of the "CBS Evenings News." Rather made the announcement yesterday, saying he's going to continue to report for "60 Minutes."

"New York Times" reporter Jacques Steinberg covered the controversy over a CBS story about President Bush's military service. He joins us this morning to talk a little bit about that and the fallout, essentially.

What do you think of timing of all of this? Do we read into this announcement that the report that's due out next month is going to be very bad for Dan Rather?

JACQUES STEINBERG, "NEW YORK TIMES" REPORTER: I mean, I don't think anybody knows exactly what's going to be in the report. It's not even finished yet, they're still interviewing. But I think Dan had a very narrow window of time in which he could do this, not only because of the Thanksgiving holiday, but also because Tom Brokaw is leaving next week and the report will probably be delivered in the first two weeks of December. So if he was going to do it, this was really the week to do it.

O'BRIEN: Why important -- I mean, CBS made great pains to say that this was done to avoid -- to put as much distance between the announcement and the report as possible. Why do that?

STEINBERG: Well, I think that you've got -- I mean, here's a 24- year career in the anchor desk, more than 40-year career at CBS News. And in a lot of ways, it's unfortunate that we're even talking about this report and the story, given the breadth of a really enormous career.

O'BRIEN: You interviewed him for almost an hour yesterday. How does he seem to you, given that breadth of his -- the length of his career. And he's not leaving, we should say. I mean, he's leaving the anchor desk but not CBS.

STEINBERG: Yes, I think anybody who knows him knows that he's not going to work any less hard than he is now. He really struck me as being at peace and at ease. He was calmer than I've seen him in a long time, in terms of really being -- have finally found sort of the moment to do this. This has been weighing on him not just for the last few months, but for years, in terms of when would be the appropriate time.

O'BRIEN: Did he seem sad? I mean, you know, a lot of people thought he would make it to the 25-year mark of taking over for Walter Cronkite. Obviously, that amount of time has tremendous weight. It sort of leaves a weird sense of, like, oh, OK, now Dan Rather's announced he's gone and he's leaving.

STEINBERG: One of the things that makes him work so well as a broadcaster is that he shows you his emotions. And yesterday was no different in private. There's certainly a sadness. There's a sadness to be leaving the desk but also to be leaving under these circumstances. And yet, he really seemed more at ease than I expected to find him.

O'BRIEN: Does he have a sense that the last few months have tainted his 20-some odd years in the anchor desk and the 40-year career, or is it a sense of what happened happened and he has to move on?

STEINBERG: I think he sort of doesn't want to go there. I think he really -- I tried to get him, in the interview, to talk -- look back on his various guests, the interviews he was proudest of. He really didn't want to go there. He wanted to talk about what's next and how excited he is to become an investigative reporter again. That's the way he is.

O'BRIEN: He did it so well when he did it and will continue to do it well, I bet. Jacques Steinberg. Nice to see you. Thanks for coming in to talk to us about it -- Bill.

HEMMER: Thank you, Soledad. Back to Jack, "Question of the Day," same topic. What's happening?

CAFFERTY: Excited to become an investigative reporter and give up one of the three most powerful television jobs in the entire world? I find that a little tough to -- the "CBS Evening News" with Dan Rather has been in third place, behind NBC and ABC, for a long time. And that makes it easier for the brass at CBS to put somebody else in the anchor chair. If Rather had been in first place instead of third, my hunch is CBS would have gone to the ends of the earth to keep this from happening. In television, after all, it's all about the ratings. The scandal over the allegedly forged documents have provided a convenient excuse to make the change. Nevertheless, without Rather, the "Evening News" at CBS sails into uncharted waters.

Here's the question: Does Dan Rather's resignation hurt or help CBS? Am@CNN.com.

HEMMER: You know what strikes me -- you know, Jennings, Rather, Brokaw, they've been in that chair more than 20 years individually. And in four months' time, we're going to lose two of the three.

CAFFERTY: That's OK. I mean, it provides job opportunities for someone else. You might think of applying, for example. I can see you over there doing that thing at the Tiffany network.

HEMMER: ... you get back to me on that, will you, promise?

CAFFERTY: Keep the door revolving and give others a chance to earn the big bucks, you know?

HEMMER: All right, I'm pushing the way -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Still to come: the Wednesday edition of "90 second Pop."

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O'BRIEN: Still recovering from last year's Super Bowl halftime show? This time, don't expect a racy performance like Janet Jackson's.

Plus, the Fab Four of that show about nothing are back together, at least for an hour tomorrow night. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

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