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American Morning

Deadly Mudslide; Submarine Crash; Second-Term Politics

Aired January 11, 2005 - 07:30   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. It's just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
In just a few moments, we're going to talk to one of the first people who was on the scene of that massive mudslide in California. He's an emergency room nurse, who helped rescue two people who were trapped under all of that dirt and debris. He's got some pretty good instincts, fortunately, for those he rescued and saw some pretty amazing things as well. We'll chat with him coming up.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: And also 30 minutes ago, finding out somebody -- they're picking up a sound from someone possibly buried underneath that mud. So fingers are crossed for the rescue effort out there.

Also, this strange submarine accident in the Pacific. It ran into an underwater mountain. The obvious question is: How and why? And why didn't the captain know about it? Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon is watching this. We'll check in with Jamie on this story in a moment here.

O'BRIEN: It's kind of a weird story, for sure.

HEMMER: I'm telling you, yes.

Kelly Wallace has made the short trek across town, with us right here.

Good morning. How are you?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: I ran, I ran, I ran. Exactly. New exercise regime. Good to see you both.

HEMMER: Nice to see you, too.

WALLACE: And good morning, again, everyone.

"Now in the News."

We begin the tsunami disaster. Indonesian officials are opening a second airport near the island of Sumatra to help provide some more relief. They say the landing strip at Banda Aceh facility was being overused by planes carrying food and supplies. A U.S. Navy helicopter taking part in the aid effort crashed yesterday on approach to that airfield. The 10 passengers and crew members on board were treated for minor injuries. Less than three weeks before elections in Iraq, Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi says parts of the country are not stable enough to participate. Speaking at a news conference just about an hour ago, Prime Minister Allawi said there are pockets which will not take part in those elections. But he was quick to say there had been good progress in capturing -- quote -- "evil forces" trying to disturb peace and stability. Allawi also said Iraq's army would increase by about 50,000.

In domestic politics now, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean is expected to make it official today. Sources say Dean will announce he is running for the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The DNC bid, though, would not be a surprise. Dean has been campaigning for the post for the past two months. The announcement is expected this afternoon.

And the search continues this hour for a possible second survivor in an overnight helicopter crash in the Potomac River in the Washington area. Officials say a Medivac chopper carrying three people went down last night, killing at least one on board. Police have been able to locate a second person said to be in critical condition. It is not clear what caused that crash. They're obviously investigating that and continuing the search today.

O'BRIEN: Gosh, let's hope they have good luck there.

WALLACE: Yes, absolutely.

O'BRIEN: It will be good to get good news from that.

WALLACE: A lot of grim news.

O'BRIEN: Oh, it really is. All right, Kelly, thank you very much.

WALLACE: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Well, the search is continuing this morning for as many as 20 people who live north of Los Angeles in Ventura County. Officials there said they may have been buried yesterday when a mudslide rushed down a hill, wiping out everything in its path. Look at these pictures here. Three people were killed in this slide.

Bill Harbison lives in La Conchita. He helped rescue two people. He joins us by phone this morning.

Bill, thanks for being with us. We certainly appreciate it. I want to hear a little bit about your story. You got home late, mostly because you were trapped in your car, sort of, in the wake of another mudslide that affected the traffic flow. When you got home, you were about six or seven hours late, and then you heard a noise. What did you hear?

BILL HARBISON, MUDSLIDE RESCUER: Yes, I was just about to take a tour of the neighborhood, riding my bicycle around to look at the small, little mudslides that had happened overnight. And I had just stepped outside my door, and I heard this noise. It was almost like a pop. And I looked up, and I saw the entire mountainside just come down and just race through part of our little town here.

O'BRIEN: How many homes were in the path of that slide?

HARBISON: Well, probably about 15 or so. It was about two blocks wide and about half a block deep.

O'BRIEN: What did you do?

HARBISON: Well, I immediately raced my bike around the corner and just jumped on in, started calling out for people, climbing through the wreckage, climbing through the mud and all of the rubble, calling out for people until I found a little area that had two women trapped deep within what I guess used to be their homes. And I started calling out for more help.

O'BRIEN: Two women, one I think was kind of a girl and one was a little bit of an older woman. How far apart were they? Were they mother/daughter? Were they in the same house at one point that then got crushed?

HARBISON: Well, you know, I hadn't actually met them before. I think they were neighbors. I don't believe that they were family. And they were maybe 25 feet apart from each other. But they were close enough that I could kind of talk to both of them at the same time while I was working on one, trying to get one free.

O'BRIEN: Could you see them both? Or you could hear where they were?

HARBISON: No, I could just hear where they were. They were completely buried underneath this unbelievable amount of wreckage, broken glass, you know, live power lines.

O'BRIEN: So what did you do?

HARBISON: I just started digging. I called for help, and some other gentleman came and helped me, one of my neighbors here in La Conchita. And we just started bit by bit, you know, tearing boards out of the way, throwing pieces of broken glass, basically digging through people's, what were their prized possessions, just to get to them.

O'BRIEN: How long did it take before you were able to reach them?

HARBISON: You know, I really don't know. It seemed like an eternity to me.

O'BRIEN: Rescue workers showed up. What were they able to do? Did you have them out by then? Did you have them kind of out by then?

HARBISON: Yes. The first one, the young girl, I was able to -- we were able to pull her out. And she was fabulous. She was able to help out quite a bit in getting herself out once we were able to remove quite a bit of the wreckage. And so, I put her on my back and carried her out piggyback, and handed her off to someone else.

And then jumped back in, looking for another woman, and this time a couple of law enforcement officers were with me helping. And we were just digging and digging, and I finally found the second woman, got down to her, was actually able to, you know, look her in the eyes, make eye contact, and hold her hand and say I'm here. We're not going to leave you. We're going to get you out.

And right around that time, the professionals, the rescue team had come, fire department with all of their tools and all of their training and good equipment. I wasn't exactly dressed for the occasion.

O'BRIEN: Yes, I would imagine, since you had just planned a little bike ride around. First, tell me the condition of this older woman. What kind of shape was she in? It sounds like the girl was in pretty good shape if she could help in her own rescue.

HARBISON: Yes, the young girl, she was penned in pretty -- you know, she was very contorted in the position that she was in, the young girl. And then the other woman, she was laying flat on her back. And her only complaint at the time was leg pain, you know, no difficulty breathing or anything. She was having a lot of leg pain and some numbness in one of her legs.

O'BRIEN: Did you have any warning? I mean, this is obviously an area where in the past there had been a big mudslide. But was there any indication that things could get very bad and maybe people should get out of the neighborhood?

HARBISON: No. This came without warning. I mean, obviously, there was the slide 10 years ago, and that one, they did have warning for. They kind of knew that that one was going to happen, and it happened a lot slower, actually. That slide, I'm told, people could outrun as it was coming down. The one yesterday just happened so quickly it was over in about 15 seconds.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense what was the neighborhood looks like for those of us who fortunately have never been in a mudslide or any kind of landslide. It's hard to get a good picture in our heads of what the neighborhood looks like right now.

HARBISON: Well, it used to be a cute, little seaside community here, but just has a giant tear right down the middle of it with, you know, probably 50 feet deep with dirt in the back, you know, spreading halfway through the town, basically. But just rubble and the remains of what used to be people's homes.

O'BRIEN: I know you've been evacuated and moved to Ventura. That's why we're talking to you from Ventura when you actually live in La Conchita. What did you take with you? How was that evacuation?

HARBISON: You know, I was just told that everybody needs to evacuate. And I was a bit -- quite a bit shaken by that point. I think I just kind of wandered around my house in the dark for a little while, thinking, 'What does one take?' I actually just moved to La Conchita about a month ago. I just purchased my first home. And so a lot of my stuff is still packed. So I wasn't quite sure what to grab. I wasn't sure what was in a box anymore, so I just kind of grabbed some clothes and went.

O'BRIEN: Well, a terrible story to have to talk about, Bill. But I tell you, I bet your neighbors are never happier that you moved to town. Bill Harbison, a La Conchita resident talking about saving two of his neighbors from the mudslides there. Bill, thank you very much.

Some more incredible pictures to show you now. These ones are from Santa Clarita in California. A mobile home fell right into the rushing water of the Santa Clara River. Officials say a five-foot wash of water overran the retaining wall there. The homeowner fortunately wasn't injured. Parts of Southern California have now seen 26 inches of rain since just Thursday.

HEMMER: That's in Southern California it's rain. In Northern California it's snow and more snow on the way. A dozen feet fell in some parts over the past few days. That was on top of what was already on the ground to begin with.

Our meteorologist, Rob Marciano, is back with us live in Squaw Valley, California where guess what? It's snowing already.

Rob -- good morning.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Bill.

And it continues to come down. You know, we got up this morning, looked out the window, and said, man, it didn't snow that much. Well, the reason being is they don't just plow the snow here. They literally have to remove it. So what you see around me is pretty much what's fallen in the last two days or even last night.

For instance, right behind me is actually a dump truck. And they'll get front loaders in here and actually pick the snow up, put it on a dump truck, and take it to other spots of town. There are literally signs in town, instead of saying "no parking," it says "no snow dumping." They can't find places to put the snow.

Look at this. This is just from the last couple of days and snow banks up to my waist for sure. This is a veranda, or an outdoor patio, that during the springtime, you know, folks come out here and enjoy a nice lunch or something . Look at the snow on this table right here. I mean, this is easily a foot and a half of snow. And this was clear last night when we went to bed, which was about six or seven hours ago. So, this has fallen only in the last six or seven hours.

Pan out and look at the rest of the veranda. Is this not a spooky sight? Think a couple decades back, a little movie starring Jack Nicholson, huh? This is kind of freaking me out this morning.

Snow continues to come down heavily. Avalanche is going to continue to be a concern. Now avalanche warnings have been extended into Utah and also into Colorado. Snowing at about an inch an hour. That could increase. You look at a foot and a half here, you can bet there's two to three feet up to the top of the mountain. So, there will be avalanche control measures in effect today. You'll begin to hear the explosions when the ski patrollers get up in a couple hours.

Good news, I-80 is still open. Chains are required. That's a major thoroughfare, so folks can get in and out of here. And right now the airport is open.

And, Bill, once we get through today -- we'll probably get another foot today. Once we get through today, it look likes we'll be dry for an extended period of time. So that's good news.

HEMMER: Well, that it would be good news, huh? Get to the rental shop and get yourself a shining right, Rob? Because you're living it right now.

MARCIANO: That's right.

HEMMER: Thanks, Rob, in Squaw Valley -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Navy investigators now know what a nuclear attack submarine hit on Saturday, killing one seaman and injuring many more. What they don't know yet is who might be to blame.

The details of the investigation now from CNN senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Despite what appears to be a freak collision with an uncharted, undersea mountain, the nuclear submarine, USS San Francisco, was able to return to its home port of Guam under its own power Monday, its nuclear reactor and inner hull undamaged.

Navy officials say the accident occurred Friday in open ocean about 350 miles southeast of Guam as the submarine was en route from Guam to Brisbane, Australia.

Sources say the fast-attack submarine was cruising at high speed, 33 knots, or 38 miles per hour, at a depth of between 400 and 500 feet, where the ocean was thought to be 1,000 feet deep.

Suddenly, violently, the submarine collided with what Navy officials say may have been an uncharted, undersea mountain. The impact brought the submarine to an almost dead stop and tossed the 137 crewmembers around the cramped vessel.

Twenty-four-year-old Machinist Mate Second Class Joseph Ashley was killed when he was slammed against a bulkhead, sources say. And 23 other crewmembers suffered cuts, bruises, sprains and broken bones.

The damage to the submarine was substantial. The section of the bow containing the sonar dome was flooded, but officials say the inner hull was not breached. So no water entered the crew area, and the sub's design with two hulls in watertight compartments kept it from sinking.

U.S. submarines normally run silent and deep, blind to objects ahead of them unless they make noise and can be heard on passive sonar. Officials say the ship's avometer looks down, tracking the depth to the ocean floor, but would not provide enough warning to avoid a steep, unexpected, underwater mountain.

No action has been taken against the sub's skipper, Commander Kevin Mooney, while an investigation tries to determine exactly what the submarine hit and whether the accident was preventable.

(on camera): While it's in the long tradition of the Navy to hold a captain responsible for whatever happens to his ship, if it turns out the undersea obstruction was not on the charts and there was no navigational error made, the skipper could face no disciplinary action.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Navy officials say they do not believe the recent earthquake and tsunami in Asia could have changed the ocean floor some 3,500 miles away.

HEMMER: Let's get a break here. In a moment, can you name the best company in America to work for? Andy can. He's "Minding Your Business" with that answer in a moment here.

O'BRIEN: Also, the president's approval rating is in positive territory. But is that a letdown anyway? Carlos Watson has some analysis ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: The latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll numbers are out about President Bush's approval rating. And with just over a week before his second-term inauguration, 52 percent surveyed approve of the way that the president is doing his job. That number down 3 percentage points since November.

CNN political analyst Carlos Watson joins us from Los Angeles.

Hey, Carlos, good morning to you.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, Soledad, welcome back.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. Let's get right to the numbers. Fifty-two percent, it's in the positive territory. Why are those numbers not so strong?

WATSON: Well, in some ways, they're good. They're certainly up from where the president was right before his election, which was 48 percent. But they're not as high as most re-elected presidents in modern time. You saw Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan both in the 62 percent approval range January after their election. Actually, LBJ and Eisenhower were north of 70 percent, 71 and 73 percent respectively. So, the numbers are a little bit lower.

The one thing to note, though, is that President Bush has been a very effective legislative president, getting a lot through the Congress, even when his approval numbers were lower and, frankly, when he had smaller majorities. So, I wouldn't worry too much about this if I were him in terms of enacting his proposals.

O'BRIEN: How about these numbers? If you look at how the president reacted to the tsunami in Asia, 75 percent approve, 20 percent disapprove. Considering that essentially the U.S. role has been just to support and give help and give money, is that 75 percent a strong number or a weak number?

WATSON: Certainly a strong number and certainly an approval -- rather, improvement over where the number would have stood immediate immediately after when we were perceived as stingy by much of the world.

One other thing to note about the tsunami crisis is that while it's been a natural disaster, it may have had a policy catalyst role, if you will.

You'll see a number of new discussions in the Congress. One, more conversation about the issue of human trafficking. Two, you'll see some discussion about changing our relationship with Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world. And, three, interestingly enough, what does foreign aid mean? Does it just mean sending money? Or it does mean sending people? You'll see those conversations come out of it.

So, the fact that so many Americans have been paying attention to this and give the president high marks may ultimately have policy implications in 2005.

O'BRIEN: Interesting. Let's talk about Social Security, shall we? The question was: How is Bush handling Social Security? Forty- one percent say they approve, 52 percent, though, say they disapprove. When you consider that all he's really done is to talk about what he's going to do about Social Security, he hasn't actually done anything yet on it, what do you think of those numbers?

WATSON: A lot of work to do. Actually interesting a lot of work to do on two fronts, Soledad. On one, with the public, he's got to convince the public that there's a real problem here worth addressing. Only 18 percent of Americans say that there's a crisis, although another 53 percent say there are major problems. So he needs to switch those numbers.

But, No. 2, he's got to convince, particularly Republicans from the Northeast, that it's worth dealing with this issue, and that they won't get attacked in the 2006 elections. You saw Rob Simmons, a Republican congressman from Connecticut, essentially voice what a number of Republicans are thinking, which is, this isn't worth the risk. Let's hold off. Let's let someone else deal with this down the road.

O'BRIEN: All right. Well, obviously, lots for the president to do as he starts his second term. Carlos Watson, as always, nice to see you. Thanks, Carlos.

WATSON: Good to see you. Take care.

O'BRIEN: Thanks.

HEMMER: Well, if you don't like your job, Andy has the list of the best companies in America. He's "Minding Your Business" right after this on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. Word is in from "Fortune" magazine. The list is out. Which companies are the best companies to work for in this country? Andy Serwer says Time Warner may be at the top. Is it? Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: No.

HEMMER: No?

SERWER: No, it's not, I'm sorry.

HEMMER: That's a bit of a disappointment.

SERWER: But you might have figured that out or CNN or -- yes.

Let's talk about the markets, first of all...

HEMMER: We'll do.

SERWER: ... because we had a bit of an upper yesterday. Surprise, surprise, because we haven't had a great track record this year. Dow up 17 points. It almost repeated the pattern where the market went up early in the day and then retreated late in the day. But we managed to hold on.

This morning, though, maybe not such good news, because Alcoa reported after the bell weaker-than-predicted profits. So futures are down this morning.

So, what is the best company in America to work for? Well, here's my "Fortune" magazine, which is just out. And it has the answer. Dilbert knows. Get this. A supermarket chain, Wegmans Markets, this is a company based in Rochester, New York, 89 years old, 67 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Virginia. Here's why. They provide college tuition. They have a high retention rate. And you can see, they really like feedback from employees.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Just like here.

SERWER: Just like here. It's just like here.

HEMMER: Do they act on it?

SERWER: Yes, they do. They really, really do. It's actually a pretty good company, apparently.

And as far as what are the other ones in the top five? As far as the big companies go, you can see here Starbucks famously provides health care coverage, even for part-time employees. Hypnotherapy, is even covered there, Jack, you'll be happy to know.

Valero Energy in San Antonio, bonuses for all. The people on the line get -- the top executives don't get bonuses unless everyone gets bonuses.

Whole Foods, they have a disclosure report with all salaries, which is pretty interesting. Top salaries are capped at 14 times the average worker salary.

HEMMER: So, Cisco is No. 4, too. They've been there for a while.

SERWER: Yes, they have. And CNN s not No. 6.

O'BRIEN: Shocking.

HEMMER: Thank you, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: Jack has the "Question of the Day" this morning.

Hello.

CAFFERTY: Good morning.

In the end, it took 224 pages to describe how CBS News blew it big-time when it came to the President Bush National Guard story. Four people have now lost their jobs. Dan Rather is leaving the anchor chair of the "CBS Evening News." That broadcast rating is already in third place. It fell further as a result of the report.

Media credibility overall has been declining, according to a study by the Pew Research Center. And this probably won't help.

The question this morning is: How much confidence do you have in the mainstream news media?

David from Ames, Iowa, writes: "It seems the major network news organizations have sold out and will only report those stories that sell. If I could get the German news channels in this country, the only American news I would watch would be your segment each morning."

Thank you, David. I had to read that. SERWER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Jane in Taylorsville, North Carolina: "Confidence in the news media? I have far less than I did before CBS News was forced to destroy the careers of those on its staff who exposed President Bush's military record. Let's see, who's still standing? Rush Limbaugh? Bill O'Reilly?"

We get this one: "When a story is prefaced by confidential information from a reliable source or reliable information from a confidential source, my antennas go up. However, when I hear 'story confirmed by CNN,' I'll go with the most trusted name in news every time.

That's from Wolf Blitzer wrote that one.

SERWER: Thank you, Wolf.

CAFFERTY: Thank you, Wolf. I'll go back to bed.

Candace in Philadelphia writes: "Quite honestly, my faith in the mainstream news media is pretty low. During the election process recently, it seemed every anchor's personal opinion was glaringly obvious in attitude, facial expression and outright comment. And anchor's opinion is not news."

And Paul in Hellertown writes: "One mistake in 20 years under Dan Rather's watch isn't half bad. Besides, Jack, you screw up every day, and we still like you."

HEMMER: Come on, name it!

CAFFERTY: Oh, no, he's right. He's absolutely right. I make so many mistakes every day that I can't even keep track of them.

HEMMER: Well, we're not counting either.

CAFFERTY: No.

O'BRIEN: All right, Jack, thanks.

CAFFERTY: I liked the letter from Wolf Blitzer.

HEMMER: Yes, that was nice.

CAFFERTY: It was him to get up early and write in.

O'BRIEN: He's so sweet. Thoughtful.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Thank you Jack.

CAFFERTY: All right.

O'BRIEN: Today's top stories straight ahead this morning, including the brutal storm out West. In the midst of a devastating mudslide, a dramatic rescue. It happened, though, not just once, it happened twice. We'll show you the pictures and explain just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.


Aired January 11, 2005 - 07:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. It's just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
In just a few moments, we're going to talk to one of the first people who was on the scene of that massive mudslide in California. He's an emergency room nurse, who helped rescue two people who were trapped under all of that dirt and debris. He's got some pretty good instincts, fortunately, for those he rescued and saw some pretty amazing things as well. We'll chat with him coming up.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: And also 30 minutes ago, finding out somebody -- they're picking up a sound from someone possibly buried underneath that mud. So fingers are crossed for the rescue effort out there.

Also, this strange submarine accident in the Pacific. It ran into an underwater mountain. The obvious question is: How and why? And why didn't the captain know about it? Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon is watching this. We'll check in with Jamie on this story in a moment here.

O'BRIEN: It's kind of a weird story, for sure.

HEMMER: I'm telling you, yes.

Kelly Wallace has made the short trek across town, with us right here.

Good morning. How are you?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: I ran, I ran, I ran. Exactly. New exercise regime. Good to see you both.

HEMMER: Nice to see you, too.

WALLACE: And good morning, again, everyone.

"Now in the News."

We begin the tsunami disaster. Indonesian officials are opening a second airport near the island of Sumatra to help provide some more relief. They say the landing strip at Banda Aceh facility was being overused by planes carrying food and supplies. A U.S. Navy helicopter taking part in the aid effort crashed yesterday on approach to that airfield. The 10 passengers and crew members on board were treated for minor injuries. Less than three weeks before elections in Iraq, Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi says parts of the country are not stable enough to participate. Speaking at a news conference just about an hour ago, Prime Minister Allawi said there are pockets which will not take part in those elections. But he was quick to say there had been good progress in capturing -- quote -- "evil forces" trying to disturb peace and stability. Allawi also said Iraq's army would increase by about 50,000.

In domestic politics now, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean is expected to make it official today. Sources say Dean will announce he is running for the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The DNC bid, though, would not be a surprise. Dean has been campaigning for the post for the past two months. The announcement is expected this afternoon.

And the search continues this hour for a possible second survivor in an overnight helicopter crash in the Potomac River in the Washington area. Officials say a Medivac chopper carrying three people went down last night, killing at least one on board. Police have been able to locate a second person said to be in critical condition. It is not clear what caused that crash. They're obviously investigating that and continuing the search today.

O'BRIEN: Gosh, let's hope they have good luck there.

WALLACE: Yes, absolutely.

O'BRIEN: It will be good to get good news from that.

WALLACE: A lot of grim news.

O'BRIEN: Oh, it really is. All right, Kelly, thank you very much.

WALLACE: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Well, the search is continuing this morning for as many as 20 people who live north of Los Angeles in Ventura County. Officials there said they may have been buried yesterday when a mudslide rushed down a hill, wiping out everything in its path. Look at these pictures here. Three people were killed in this slide.

Bill Harbison lives in La Conchita. He helped rescue two people. He joins us by phone this morning.

Bill, thanks for being with us. We certainly appreciate it. I want to hear a little bit about your story. You got home late, mostly because you were trapped in your car, sort of, in the wake of another mudslide that affected the traffic flow. When you got home, you were about six or seven hours late, and then you heard a noise. What did you hear?

BILL HARBISON, MUDSLIDE RESCUER: Yes, I was just about to take a tour of the neighborhood, riding my bicycle around to look at the small, little mudslides that had happened overnight. And I had just stepped outside my door, and I heard this noise. It was almost like a pop. And I looked up, and I saw the entire mountainside just come down and just race through part of our little town here.

O'BRIEN: How many homes were in the path of that slide?

HARBISON: Well, probably about 15 or so. It was about two blocks wide and about half a block deep.

O'BRIEN: What did you do?

HARBISON: Well, I immediately raced my bike around the corner and just jumped on in, started calling out for people, climbing through the wreckage, climbing through the mud and all of the rubble, calling out for people until I found a little area that had two women trapped deep within what I guess used to be their homes. And I started calling out for more help.

O'BRIEN: Two women, one I think was kind of a girl and one was a little bit of an older woman. How far apart were they? Were they mother/daughter? Were they in the same house at one point that then got crushed?

HARBISON: Well, you know, I hadn't actually met them before. I think they were neighbors. I don't believe that they were family. And they were maybe 25 feet apart from each other. But they were close enough that I could kind of talk to both of them at the same time while I was working on one, trying to get one free.

O'BRIEN: Could you see them both? Or you could hear where they were?

HARBISON: No, I could just hear where they were. They were completely buried underneath this unbelievable amount of wreckage, broken glass, you know, live power lines.

O'BRIEN: So what did you do?

HARBISON: I just started digging. I called for help, and some other gentleman came and helped me, one of my neighbors here in La Conchita. And we just started bit by bit, you know, tearing boards out of the way, throwing pieces of broken glass, basically digging through people's, what were their prized possessions, just to get to them.

O'BRIEN: How long did it take before you were able to reach them?

HARBISON: You know, I really don't know. It seemed like an eternity to me.

O'BRIEN: Rescue workers showed up. What were they able to do? Did you have them out by then? Did you have them kind of out by then?

HARBISON: Yes. The first one, the young girl, I was able to -- we were able to pull her out. And she was fabulous. She was able to help out quite a bit in getting herself out once we were able to remove quite a bit of the wreckage. And so, I put her on my back and carried her out piggyback, and handed her off to someone else.

And then jumped back in, looking for another woman, and this time a couple of law enforcement officers were with me helping. And we were just digging and digging, and I finally found the second woman, got down to her, was actually able to, you know, look her in the eyes, make eye contact, and hold her hand and say I'm here. We're not going to leave you. We're going to get you out.

And right around that time, the professionals, the rescue team had come, fire department with all of their tools and all of their training and good equipment. I wasn't exactly dressed for the occasion.

O'BRIEN: Yes, I would imagine, since you had just planned a little bike ride around. First, tell me the condition of this older woman. What kind of shape was she in? It sounds like the girl was in pretty good shape if she could help in her own rescue.

HARBISON: Yes, the young girl, she was penned in pretty -- you know, she was very contorted in the position that she was in, the young girl. And then the other woman, she was laying flat on her back. And her only complaint at the time was leg pain, you know, no difficulty breathing or anything. She was having a lot of leg pain and some numbness in one of her legs.

O'BRIEN: Did you have any warning? I mean, this is obviously an area where in the past there had been a big mudslide. But was there any indication that things could get very bad and maybe people should get out of the neighborhood?

HARBISON: No. This came without warning. I mean, obviously, there was the slide 10 years ago, and that one, they did have warning for. They kind of knew that that one was going to happen, and it happened a lot slower, actually. That slide, I'm told, people could outrun as it was coming down. The one yesterday just happened so quickly it was over in about 15 seconds.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense what was the neighborhood looks like for those of us who fortunately have never been in a mudslide or any kind of landslide. It's hard to get a good picture in our heads of what the neighborhood looks like right now.

HARBISON: Well, it used to be a cute, little seaside community here, but just has a giant tear right down the middle of it with, you know, probably 50 feet deep with dirt in the back, you know, spreading halfway through the town, basically. But just rubble and the remains of what used to be people's homes.

O'BRIEN: I know you've been evacuated and moved to Ventura. That's why we're talking to you from Ventura when you actually live in La Conchita. What did you take with you? How was that evacuation?

HARBISON: You know, I was just told that everybody needs to evacuate. And I was a bit -- quite a bit shaken by that point. I think I just kind of wandered around my house in the dark for a little while, thinking, 'What does one take?' I actually just moved to La Conchita about a month ago. I just purchased my first home. And so a lot of my stuff is still packed. So I wasn't quite sure what to grab. I wasn't sure what was in a box anymore, so I just kind of grabbed some clothes and went.

O'BRIEN: Well, a terrible story to have to talk about, Bill. But I tell you, I bet your neighbors are never happier that you moved to town. Bill Harbison, a La Conchita resident talking about saving two of his neighbors from the mudslides there. Bill, thank you very much.

Some more incredible pictures to show you now. These ones are from Santa Clarita in California. A mobile home fell right into the rushing water of the Santa Clara River. Officials say a five-foot wash of water overran the retaining wall there. The homeowner fortunately wasn't injured. Parts of Southern California have now seen 26 inches of rain since just Thursday.

HEMMER: That's in Southern California it's rain. In Northern California it's snow and more snow on the way. A dozen feet fell in some parts over the past few days. That was on top of what was already on the ground to begin with.

Our meteorologist, Rob Marciano, is back with us live in Squaw Valley, California where guess what? It's snowing already.

Rob -- good morning.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Bill.

And it continues to come down. You know, we got up this morning, looked out the window, and said, man, it didn't snow that much. Well, the reason being is they don't just plow the snow here. They literally have to remove it. So what you see around me is pretty much what's fallen in the last two days or even last night.

For instance, right behind me is actually a dump truck. And they'll get front loaders in here and actually pick the snow up, put it on a dump truck, and take it to other spots of town. There are literally signs in town, instead of saying "no parking," it says "no snow dumping." They can't find places to put the snow.

Look at this. This is just from the last couple of days and snow banks up to my waist for sure. This is a veranda, or an outdoor patio, that during the springtime, you know, folks come out here and enjoy a nice lunch or something . Look at the snow on this table right here. I mean, this is easily a foot and a half of snow. And this was clear last night when we went to bed, which was about six or seven hours ago. So, this has fallen only in the last six or seven hours.

Pan out and look at the rest of the veranda. Is this not a spooky sight? Think a couple decades back, a little movie starring Jack Nicholson, huh? This is kind of freaking me out this morning.

Snow continues to come down heavily. Avalanche is going to continue to be a concern. Now avalanche warnings have been extended into Utah and also into Colorado. Snowing at about an inch an hour. That could increase. You look at a foot and a half here, you can bet there's two to three feet up to the top of the mountain. So, there will be avalanche control measures in effect today. You'll begin to hear the explosions when the ski patrollers get up in a couple hours.

Good news, I-80 is still open. Chains are required. That's a major thoroughfare, so folks can get in and out of here. And right now the airport is open.

And, Bill, once we get through today -- we'll probably get another foot today. Once we get through today, it look likes we'll be dry for an extended period of time. So that's good news.

HEMMER: Well, that it would be good news, huh? Get to the rental shop and get yourself a shining right, Rob? Because you're living it right now.

MARCIANO: That's right.

HEMMER: Thanks, Rob, in Squaw Valley -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Navy investigators now know what a nuclear attack submarine hit on Saturday, killing one seaman and injuring many more. What they don't know yet is who might be to blame.

The details of the investigation now from CNN senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Despite what appears to be a freak collision with an uncharted, undersea mountain, the nuclear submarine, USS San Francisco, was able to return to its home port of Guam under its own power Monday, its nuclear reactor and inner hull undamaged.

Navy officials say the accident occurred Friday in open ocean about 350 miles southeast of Guam as the submarine was en route from Guam to Brisbane, Australia.

Sources say the fast-attack submarine was cruising at high speed, 33 knots, or 38 miles per hour, at a depth of between 400 and 500 feet, where the ocean was thought to be 1,000 feet deep.

Suddenly, violently, the submarine collided with what Navy officials say may have been an uncharted, undersea mountain. The impact brought the submarine to an almost dead stop and tossed the 137 crewmembers around the cramped vessel.

Twenty-four-year-old Machinist Mate Second Class Joseph Ashley was killed when he was slammed against a bulkhead, sources say. And 23 other crewmembers suffered cuts, bruises, sprains and broken bones.

The damage to the submarine was substantial. The section of the bow containing the sonar dome was flooded, but officials say the inner hull was not breached. So no water entered the crew area, and the sub's design with two hulls in watertight compartments kept it from sinking.

U.S. submarines normally run silent and deep, blind to objects ahead of them unless they make noise and can be heard on passive sonar. Officials say the ship's avometer looks down, tracking the depth to the ocean floor, but would not provide enough warning to avoid a steep, unexpected, underwater mountain.

No action has been taken against the sub's skipper, Commander Kevin Mooney, while an investigation tries to determine exactly what the submarine hit and whether the accident was preventable.

(on camera): While it's in the long tradition of the Navy to hold a captain responsible for whatever happens to his ship, if it turns out the undersea obstruction was not on the charts and there was no navigational error made, the skipper could face no disciplinary action.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Navy officials say they do not believe the recent earthquake and tsunami in Asia could have changed the ocean floor some 3,500 miles away.

HEMMER: Let's get a break here. In a moment, can you name the best company in America to work for? Andy can. He's "Minding Your Business" with that answer in a moment here.

O'BRIEN: Also, the president's approval rating is in positive territory. But is that a letdown anyway? Carlos Watson has some analysis ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: The latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll numbers are out about President Bush's approval rating. And with just over a week before his second-term inauguration, 52 percent surveyed approve of the way that the president is doing his job. That number down 3 percentage points since November.

CNN political analyst Carlos Watson joins us from Los Angeles.

Hey, Carlos, good morning to you.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, Soledad, welcome back.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. Let's get right to the numbers. Fifty-two percent, it's in the positive territory. Why are those numbers not so strong?

WATSON: Well, in some ways, they're good. They're certainly up from where the president was right before his election, which was 48 percent. But they're not as high as most re-elected presidents in modern time. You saw Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan both in the 62 percent approval range January after their election. Actually, LBJ and Eisenhower were north of 70 percent, 71 and 73 percent respectively. So, the numbers are a little bit lower.

The one thing to note, though, is that President Bush has been a very effective legislative president, getting a lot through the Congress, even when his approval numbers were lower and, frankly, when he had smaller majorities. So, I wouldn't worry too much about this if I were him in terms of enacting his proposals.

O'BRIEN: How about these numbers? If you look at how the president reacted to the tsunami in Asia, 75 percent approve, 20 percent disapprove. Considering that essentially the U.S. role has been just to support and give help and give money, is that 75 percent a strong number or a weak number?

WATSON: Certainly a strong number and certainly an approval -- rather, improvement over where the number would have stood immediate immediately after when we were perceived as stingy by much of the world.

One other thing to note about the tsunami crisis is that while it's been a natural disaster, it may have had a policy catalyst role, if you will.

You'll see a number of new discussions in the Congress. One, more conversation about the issue of human trafficking. Two, you'll see some discussion about changing our relationship with Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world. And, three, interestingly enough, what does foreign aid mean? Does it just mean sending money? Or it does mean sending people? You'll see those conversations come out of it.

So, the fact that so many Americans have been paying attention to this and give the president high marks may ultimately have policy implications in 2005.

O'BRIEN: Interesting. Let's talk about Social Security, shall we? The question was: How is Bush handling Social Security? Forty- one percent say they approve, 52 percent, though, say they disapprove. When you consider that all he's really done is to talk about what he's going to do about Social Security, he hasn't actually done anything yet on it, what do you think of those numbers?

WATSON: A lot of work to do. Actually interesting a lot of work to do on two fronts, Soledad. On one, with the public, he's got to convince the public that there's a real problem here worth addressing. Only 18 percent of Americans say that there's a crisis, although another 53 percent say there are major problems. So he needs to switch those numbers.

But, No. 2, he's got to convince, particularly Republicans from the Northeast, that it's worth dealing with this issue, and that they won't get attacked in the 2006 elections. You saw Rob Simmons, a Republican congressman from Connecticut, essentially voice what a number of Republicans are thinking, which is, this isn't worth the risk. Let's hold off. Let's let someone else deal with this down the road.

O'BRIEN: All right. Well, obviously, lots for the president to do as he starts his second term. Carlos Watson, as always, nice to see you. Thanks, Carlos.

WATSON: Good to see you. Take care.

O'BRIEN: Thanks.

HEMMER: Well, if you don't like your job, Andy has the list of the best companies in America. He's "Minding Your Business" right after this on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. Word is in from "Fortune" magazine. The list is out. Which companies are the best companies to work for in this country? Andy Serwer says Time Warner may be at the top. Is it? Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: No.

HEMMER: No?

SERWER: No, it's not, I'm sorry.

HEMMER: That's a bit of a disappointment.

SERWER: But you might have figured that out or CNN or -- yes.

Let's talk about the markets, first of all...

HEMMER: We'll do.

SERWER: ... because we had a bit of an upper yesterday. Surprise, surprise, because we haven't had a great track record this year. Dow up 17 points. It almost repeated the pattern where the market went up early in the day and then retreated late in the day. But we managed to hold on.

This morning, though, maybe not such good news, because Alcoa reported after the bell weaker-than-predicted profits. So futures are down this morning.

So, what is the best company in America to work for? Well, here's my "Fortune" magazine, which is just out. And it has the answer. Dilbert knows. Get this. A supermarket chain, Wegmans Markets, this is a company based in Rochester, New York, 89 years old, 67 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Virginia. Here's why. They provide college tuition. They have a high retention rate. And you can see, they really like feedback from employees.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Just like here.

SERWER: Just like here. It's just like here.

HEMMER: Do they act on it?

SERWER: Yes, they do. They really, really do. It's actually a pretty good company, apparently.

And as far as what are the other ones in the top five? As far as the big companies go, you can see here Starbucks famously provides health care coverage, even for part-time employees. Hypnotherapy, is even covered there, Jack, you'll be happy to know.

Valero Energy in San Antonio, bonuses for all. The people on the line get -- the top executives don't get bonuses unless everyone gets bonuses.

Whole Foods, they have a disclosure report with all salaries, which is pretty interesting. Top salaries are capped at 14 times the average worker salary.

HEMMER: So, Cisco is No. 4, too. They've been there for a while.

SERWER: Yes, they have. And CNN s not No. 6.

O'BRIEN: Shocking.

HEMMER: Thank you, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: Jack has the "Question of the Day" this morning.

Hello.

CAFFERTY: Good morning.

In the end, it took 224 pages to describe how CBS News blew it big-time when it came to the President Bush National Guard story. Four people have now lost their jobs. Dan Rather is leaving the anchor chair of the "CBS Evening News." That broadcast rating is already in third place. It fell further as a result of the report.

Media credibility overall has been declining, according to a study by the Pew Research Center. And this probably won't help.

The question this morning is: How much confidence do you have in the mainstream news media?

David from Ames, Iowa, writes: "It seems the major network news organizations have sold out and will only report those stories that sell. If I could get the German news channels in this country, the only American news I would watch would be your segment each morning."

Thank you, David. I had to read that. SERWER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Jane in Taylorsville, North Carolina: "Confidence in the news media? I have far less than I did before CBS News was forced to destroy the careers of those on its staff who exposed President Bush's military record. Let's see, who's still standing? Rush Limbaugh? Bill O'Reilly?"

We get this one: "When a story is prefaced by confidential information from a reliable source or reliable information from a confidential source, my antennas go up. However, when I hear 'story confirmed by CNN,' I'll go with the most trusted name in news every time.

That's from Wolf Blitzer wrote that one.

SERWER: Thank you, Wolf.

CAFFERTY: Thank you, Wolf. I'll go back to bed.

Candace in Philadelphia writes: "Quite honestly, my faith in the mainstream news media is pretty low. During the election process recently, it seemed every anchor's personal opinion was glaringly obvious in attitude, facial expression and outright comment. And anchor's opinion is not news."

And Paul in Hellertown writes: "One mistake in 20 years under Dan Rather's watch isn't half bad. Besides, Jack, you screw up every day, and we still like you."

HEMMER: Come on, name it!

CAFFERTY: Oh, no, he's right. He's absolutely right. I make so many mistakes every day that I can't even keep track of them.

HEMMER: Well, we're not counting either.

CAFFERTY: No.

O'BRIEN: All right, Jack, thanks.

CAFFERTY: I liked the letter from Wolf Blitzer.

HEMMER: Yes, that was nice.

CAFFERTY: It was him to get up early and write in.

O'BRIEN: He's so sweet. Thoughtful.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Thank you Jack.

CAFFERTY: All right.

O'BRIEN: Today's top stories straight ahead this morning, including the brutal storm out West. In the midst of a devastating mudslide, a dramatic rescue. It happened, though, not just once, it happened twice. We'll show you the pictures and explain just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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