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American Morning
What Happened in First Moments After Deadly Train Disaster in California?; Three Days Before Elections in Baghdad
Aired January 27, 2005 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
What happened in those first moments after the deadly train disaster in California? Today, a passenger tells of us of a strange sense of calm and order.
Three days before the elections in Baghdad, American troops getting ready for a huge test of strength; so, too, their families here at home.
And 60 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, the survivors still with vivid memories of all it took to keep their hope alive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I always said I'm going to have for breakfast 20 loaves of bread and 5, 000 eggs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Distant memories yet so vivid today on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
HEMMER: Good morning, everybody.
Bill Hemmer along with Carol Costello today.
Soledad is a little bit under the weather. Hope she gets feeling better.
Good morning to you and thanks for helping us out -- Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
No problem.
HEMMER: In a few moments, as tensions grow and insurgents continue to launch attacks in Iraq, more perspective today on the upcoming elections from the wife of a lieutenant colonel serving there. Brenda Miyamasu tells her story from the home front. We'll talk to her in a few moments here.
COSTELLO: Also, it's the first day on the job for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She will talk to members of the State Department this hour and we will have that live.
HEMMER: We expect her there in about 15 minutes, in fact.
Jack Cafferty back to "The File" -- good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Coming up in the "Cafferty File," a guy spends $17, 000 to say he's sorry, PBS is in hot water for a kids show featuring lesbian parents and there is a state where, if you want to teach in the schools, you maybe better be able to speak English. What a novel idea.
HEMMER: Try it.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
COSTELLO: It's time for the headlines right now.
Now in the news, more violence in Iraq, just three days before the national elections. A suicide car bombing left one Iraqi police lieutenant dead and three others injured. The bombing took place earlier this morning in Ba'qubah.
And the Pentagon says it still doesn't know what brought down a Marine helicopter just outside of the Iraqi-Jordanian border. Thirty Marines and a Navy corpsman died in that crash.
A case involving Vice President Dick Cheney is heading back to court. Arguments are expected to be heard today. Public interest groups want the Bush administration to publicly release records from energy task force meetings the vice president headed in 2001. The Supreme Court side-stepped the issue seven months ago, sending the case back to a federal appeals court.
Telephone company AT&T may soon be no more. According to the "Wall Street Journal" and the "New York Times," SBC Communications is seeking to buy AT&T for more than $16 billion. If the reported deal goes through, it would form a largest telephone company in the United States. I think that was a Baby Bell, too.
And in basketball, Maryland handing second ranked Duke its first loss of the season. The Terps' Nik Caner-Medley hitting the long three pointer from the right wing to pull Maryland to victory. The final score, 75-66. Top ranked Illinois and Boston College now the only undefeated teams.
HEMMER: Not bad.
COSTELLO: Not bad at all.
HEMMER: They do it, but not very often, do they now.
COSTELLO: No. HEMMER: Especially this year.
Thank you, Carol.
Back to California now this hour.
Prosecutors there are trying to decide this morning what charges will be leveled against a man accused of causing yesterday's deadly train crash north of L.A. Eleven are dead, 120 others are injured after a train slammed into an SUV on the tracks. It was parked on the tracks by a man who officials say planned to commit suicide, but then, at the last minute, changed his mind. He jumped out of his vehicle, but vehicle did not move.
The officials, speaking in L.A. a short time ago, now say at least one passenger is still missing and they still have "a lot of work to do."
David Morrison was a passenger on the train.
He's live in L.A. there this morning.
And thank you for your time.
I know you were in the third train of the commuter train.
Describe what happened, David, at the point of impact.
DAVID MORRISON, TRAIN CRASH SURVIVOR: Well, basically I was sleeping when I was -- as we were traveling. That's what I usually do at the 5:19 train. But I heard a thud in the front and a scraping sound. And it was, obviously it was when we hit the car and then we were dragging it across the tracks.
It went up for quite a bit of time, probably five to 10 seconds. Then there was another little lurch and I heard a gravel sound, which must have been when we went off the track. And very shortly after that, a minute -- a second or two later -- there was a tremendous bang. The lights went down about 50 percent. I was -- I slid forward and I hit my chest on a table that was in front of me where I was sitting. And then basically everything just stopped.
I was very, very fortunate. I was in the third car, the car third back from the impact, and on the top. And we were the only car that actually stayed upright. So for us, it was just a matter of everyone sort of picked up the things that had flown around and just waited to see what was going on.
HEMMER: Wow. So you get up and you walk out of that train, you look around, and what do you see, David?
MORRISON: Well, as I mentioned, on our top -- on the top level where I was, no one was really seriously injured. There was one man with a cut eye. As I started walking down, I realized it was much more violent than I had thought, because the lower levels had -- people who were much more seriously hurt. When I walked out, it was raining, it was dark and people were out there with umbrellas and walking around. What I could see to my left was the first car on fire. And there are, were already people coming and addressing it. I thought they were emergency people, but I found out later that they were some football players who went out there and started dealing with it.
There were emergency people there very, very shortly after we got out. People were walking along the side of the tracks. There were a few people who were sitting down who were clearly, you know, disoriented. There was at least one man that I saw who was laying down on the side of the tracks. I did -- I couldn't tell what his injuries were. There were a few, again, in our train, in our car, basically everyone was safe, or was able to walk out. But surprisingly, there was very little -- there was no commotion, there was very little noise. The -- there weren't any cries or screams for help, which I possibly would have expected. But, again, we came out a little bit late from the car because we basically were -- the car just stopped and we were all fine. So it took us a while before we even left out. And by that time, all the emergency efforts had been -- started to be undertaken to get people out of the train.
HEMMER: How often are you on this train, David?
MORRISON: I started commuting regularly in October, so basically daily from -- since October.
HEMMER: How are you doing today? How are you feeling?
MORRISON: Actually, I'm feeling very well. I was, as I said, I was very, actually very blessed to be up there. It was the absolute best place I could have been in an accident like this. Our car didn't turn over, it just moved slightly off the tracks. Being on the top, there wasn't a lot of place for us to fall around. So I'm doing very well.
HEMMER: Good luck to you and thanks for sharing your story today.
MORRISON: Thank you very much.
HEMMER: It is striking how you describe the fact that there was so little chaos at the moment when you emerged from that car.
And, again, we reported a short time ago, one person still listed as missing.
Much more on this story throughout the day.
David Morrison our guest in L.A.
David, thanks to you, and good luck again -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It's now just three days until Iraqis take to the polls. More than 14 million Iraqis at home are registered to vote and a million Iraqi expatriates are eligible to vote worldwide. The ballot is extensive, including some 18, 000 candidates affiliated with 256 political parties. Voters will elect a 275-member national assembly and 18 provincial councils.
The national assembly will then select a president and two vice presidents. The president will then appoint a prime minister -- are you keeping track? The other major task of the national assembly, to put together a constitution by August, to be approved by the people in October.
Of course, the voting takes place under extremely dangerous circumstances, not just for voters, but also for the troops trying to protect them, troops like Lieutenant Colonel Myles Miyamasu.
He was a guest on AMERICAN MORNING back in August.
How does his family feel as the election approaches?
The colonel's wife Brenda joins us now from Fort Hood.
Good morning.
BRENDA MIYAMASU, HUSBAND SERVING IN IRAQ: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So your husband's stay was extended so he could be in Iraq during the election.
What will that day mean to you and your family?
B. MIYAMASU: The election day will be a wonderful, historical event. The Iraqi people will start forming their new government and that will be a wonderful event for the Iraqi people.
COSTELLO: Brenda, I know that your husband sends a lot of e- mails home and he's a great letter writer.
B. MIYAMASU: Yes.
COSTELLO: What does he tell your kids about election day in Iraq and his service there?
B. MIYAMASU: He tells the children that it is his job to help protect the Iraqi people, particularly the Iraqi children. Our children can focus in on other children's lives and so they appreciate that their dad is making Iraq a better place for the children and the other people in Iraq.
COSTELLO: A lot of troops' tours have been extended. And I like I said, your husband's tour of duty was extended by two months so that he could help out with the Iraqi elections. I want to read to our audience a letter that he sent home, part of it, since he is such a great letter writer.
He says: "We all know that it isn't easy and the sacrifices you are making are immeasurable. Yet when our deployment is over and we can all look back on what each of us has accomplished, all of us will have become much better people because of it. It is a tough price to pay to become the people we are, but it is something that so many citizens in the United States will be grateful for."
What type of a reaction did this have at home?
B. MIYAMASU: It was very uplifting. It was very uplifting to me, his wife, and also to the almost 300 family members that we do communicate with and did read that letter, very, very uplifting. He encouraged us and made everyone smile and just think about the reunion.
COSTELLO: OK, it's time to give you some credit, as well, because I know you're very active in the community there.
How do you comfort other military families at this time?
B. MIYAMASU: We communicate with meetings. We distribute any information that the folks in Iraq may send back here for us. We just offer each other encouragement and support and just, we are any Army family and we do not have the privilege of having our families located close to us, so we rely on our Army family for our support and our encouragement and we help each other out.
COSTELLO: What is the biggest misconception about what you're going through right now?
B. MIYAMASU: I really enjoy being an Army wife. I'm very proud of my husband. I'm very proud of the soldiers that work over there and are doing their jobs to fight the global war on terrorism. And I'm just very proud. We chose to live this lifestyle and we just need to remember, it was our choice and it is a life that we enjoy and we're just very proud of him.
COSTELLO: All of us are.
Thank you so much for joining AMERICAN MORNING this morning.
Brenda Miyamasu joining us live from Fort Hood, Texas.
B. MIYAMASU: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Be sure to watch CNN's special coverage, IRAQ AT THE CROSSROADS. Christiane Amanpour and Anderson Cooper are in Iraq, Paula Zahn in New York, for tonight's prime time special. That starts at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
HEMMER: About 12 minutes past the hour, Carol.
We're watching the monitor at the U.S. State Department. We anticipate at any time now, any minute, the newly confirmed U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to appear and speak with her colleagues there at the State Department. And when that happens, we'll get you there live.
In the meantime, it's chilly in the Northeast.
Rob Marciano knows that all too well.
He's working for Chad today -- good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Bill.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: I like those words of wisdom, snow is pretty and less dangerous than ice.
HEMMER: That's right.
COSTELLO: Any moment now, Condoleezza Rice reports for her first official day as secretary of state. We will have that for you live.
HEMMER: And in a moment, a contentious confirmation hearing for Alberto Gonzales. Is it a sign of trouble for this nominee?
Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter is our guest live this hour, as well, to talk about that.
COSTELLO: And the tragedy of the Holocaust has touched millions around the world, even our own CNN family. An emotional journey, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Well, this is a little different welcome than the first time that I came to work at the State Department. Now, that may surprise some of you, but I was, in 1977, an intern in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Now, there's a lesson in that -- be good to your interns.
I want to thank you for this really, really warm welcome. I first want to start by just saying how much I admire and appreciate the leadership of Secretary Colin Powell over the last four years. I've just spoken with him to tell him that.
We've got a lot of challenges ahead of us. This is a really remarkable time in our country's history. The president has set forth a really bold agenda for American foreign policy and the State Department has got to be in the lead in this period in which diplomacy will be so important to solidifying the gains of the last few years and to pressing forward an agenda for a freer and more prosperous world.
I can't think of a better call than to say that America will stand for freedom and for liberty, that America will stand with those who want their aspirations met for liberty and freedom. And I'm going to look, and the president is going to look, to this department to lead that effort and not just to implement policy, but we're going to need ideas, intellectual capital. I need your ideas. My door will be open. Please, understand that this is a time when the history is calling us. And I just look forward to working with each and every one of you toward that end.
The president has laid out a bold agenda and he expects a lot of us. I want you to know, too, that I'm going to be committed to you, the men and women of the foreign service, the civil service and our foreign service nationals abroad, and you, in turn, will be committed and we, in turn, will be committed to carrying out that bold agenda.
I know that this is a profession that demands a lot. It demands a lot from your families. It demands a lot from you. And sometimes it demands the ultimately sacrifice. And I want to start by recognizing that I know that there are memorial plaques here in this hall that commemorate those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and we'll always remember what they did for this country as we go about trying to carry out this extraordinary agenda before us.
I want you to know, too, that I will be committed to making certain that we have the tools that we need to carry out this agenda. I believe in training and I believe in education, continuing education of this diplomatic corps. And I hope to see, over the next several years, an even more diverse diplomatic corps, because one of the wonderful things about America is that we are one America made up of people from all backgrounds and all ethnicities and all religions. It's an extraordinary thing that we really have forged one out of many. And we are going to be a diplomatic corps that embodies that diversity, because it's an extremely important lesson in the world where difference is still a license to kill.
This is a great time for America. It's a great time for the international system. We have allies who we need to unite in this great cause ahead of us and I look forward to working with you to do that.
Now, I want to close with a kind of personal recollection as I start here. And that is that the last time I was in government was actually 1989-1991. And that, too, was an extraordinary time. I was lucky enough to be the White House Soviet specialist at the end of the cold war. It doesn't get much better than that. And I got to participate in German unification and the liberation of Eastern Europe and the peaceful collapse of the Soviet Union.
But, you know, I realize that I was just harvesting good decisions that had been made in 1946 and 1947 and 1948. A lot of those decisions spurred by good work done by this building, the men and women of the State Department.
And those were days when it must have seemed that freedom's march was not assured. You think about it, in 1947, civil wars in Greece and Turkey, and in 1948, the permanent division of Germany, thanks to the Berlin crisis. And in 1949, the Soviet Union explodes a nuclear weapon five years ahead of schedule and the Chinese communists win. It must not have looked like freedom's march was assured.
But they somehow pulled themselves together, people like Truman and Acheson and Marshall, and, of course, on Capitol Hill, Senator Vandenberg. And they created a policy and a set of institutions that gave us a lasting peace.
While no one might have been able at that time to imagine a democratic Germany or a democratic Japan, when President Bush now sits across from Chancellor Schroeder or from Prime Minister Koizumi, he sits across not just from a friend, but a democratic friend.
I know that there are those who wonder whether democracy can take hold in the rocky soil of the West Bank or in Iraq or in Afghanistan. I believe that we as Americans who know how hard the path to democracy is have to believe that it can. And we have to make it so that we work with those who want to achieve those aspirations, so that one day a future president is sitting across from the democratic president or prime minister of many a Middle Eastern country, of many a country that has not yet known democracy.
That's our charge. That's our calling. I know that you will work hard on behalf of it and so will I.
And now I'll go try to find my office, if you don't mind.
Thank you.
HEMMER: Her first day on the job now underway.
Condoleezza Rice says she was an intern back there in 1977 at the Department of State. But many times she punctuated her remarks by saying history is calling us today.
Andrea Koppel is at the State Department.
Dana Bash is at the White House.
First to Andrea.
The first order of business overseas could be what for Condoleezza Rice -- Andrea?
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the White House has already announced, Bill, that Secretary Rice's first diplomatic mission will take place early next month. She's going to head off to some European capitals and then she's going to go over to Israel and the Palestinian territories. As you know, a top priority of this administration is trying to seize upon what it sees as a big opportunity now that Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, is dead. They see that the new Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, is somebody that they can do business with. And so that is her first order of business.
HEMMER: All right, Andrea.
To the White House now.
Andrea Koppel, thanks for that there.
Let's get to Dana Bash at the White House -- and, Dana, it is interesting to note that Dr. Rice will be on all the morning talk shows come Sunday. This is a time when Iraqis will go to vote on that day.
What does that signal coming off the sometimes contentious debate and her nomination on Capitol Hill?
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it does seem to signal, Bill, that despite the fact that the Democrats absolutely used the Rice nomination as sort of a tool to protest what they say was the failed policy in Iraq, the White House still sees her as somebody who is a very credible spokesperson. She is going to be the lead person, we're told, on Sunday, the day of the Iraqi elections, to talk about what we heard from the president in this briefing room yesterday, that the administration thinks that it's a very important time and that it is just the first step in the path to a democracy that they are insisting, quite optimistically, is going to happen.
So, despite the fact that Democrats voted -- 13 Democrats voted against her, Bill, that was the most votes against a secretary of state in about 180 years -- that's quite a long time -- they did that just for symbolic reasons.
This White House still thinks of her and intends to put her out there as their top spokesperson, obviously. She is somebody who is the most, the closest person to the president when it comes to foreign policy. That's why she's there.
HEMMER: Three days.
Yes, three days away and counting now for the vote.
Thanks for that, Dana, at the White House, and Andrea Koppel before Dana back at the Department of State.
"America will stand for liberty and freedom, " so says the newly confirmed secretary of state, and encouraging her own colleagues, "I need your ideas" and her office will be open. The first day on the job now underway -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I like how she ended things, now I've got to go find my office.
HEMMER: Yes.
COSTELLO: That was cool.
Alberto Gonzales passed his first test in the Senate, but is there trouble ahead? Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter our guest. That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Good morning, everybody.
Welcome back.
Carol Costello along with me today.
Soledad is out today.
Good morning to you.
COSTELLO: Good morning.
HEMMER: 8:30 outside, where it's chilly. And it's only going to get colder, as a matter of fact.
COSTELLO: What, it's like 13 degrees?
HEMMER: Yes, I know.
COSTELLO: It's balmy.
HEMMER: I'm telling you, wait until February. It's going to still be cold.
The next big confirmation test for the White House said to be Alberto Gonzales for attorney general. Democrats voting against his nomination in the Judiciary Committee 10-8 along party lines. The chairman of that committee is a Republican, Arlen Specter. He's my guest in a moment and we'll ask why the two sides can or cannot get together on this in a moment -- Carol, switching to that.
COSTELLO: Yes, just -- why can't we all get along?
HEMMER: We'll find out.
COSTELLO: Also, 60 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, a look at the ceremonies today. We'll also hear from survivors, their memories of what they endured at the concentration camp.
But first, the headlines.
Now in the news, newly appointed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice just wrapping up remarks to the State Department workers a few moments ago. Rice now is the 66th U.S. secretary of state and the first African-American woman to hold that post. Rice was actually sworn in yesterday but there will be another ceremony tomorrow. She's already expected to travel to the Middle East as early as next month.
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Aired January 27, 2005 - 08:00 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.
What happened in those first moments after the deadly train disaster in California? Today, a passenger tells of us of a strange sense of calm and order.
Three days before the elections in Baghdad, American troops getting ready for a huge test of strength; so, too, their families here at home.
And 60 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, the survivors still with vivid memories of all it took to keep their hope alive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I always said I'm going to have for breakfast 20 loaves of bread and 5, 000 eggs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Distant memories yet so vivid today on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
HEMMER: Good morning, everybody.
Bill Hemmer along with Carol Costello today.
Soledad is a little bit under the weather. Hope she gets feeling better.
Good morning to you and thanks for helping us out -- Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
No problem.
HEMMER: In a few moments, as tensions grow and insurgents continue to launch attacks in Iraq, more perspective today on the upcoming elections from the wife of a lieutenant colonel serving there. Brenda Miyamasu tells her story from the home front. We'll talk to her in a few moments here.
COSTELLO: Also, it's the first day on the job for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She will talk to members of the State Department this hour and we will have that live.
HEMMER: We expect her there in about 15 minutes, in fact.
Jack Cafferty back to "The File" -- good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Coming up in the "Cafferty File," a guy spends $17, 000 to say he's sorry, PBS is in hot water for a kids show featuring lesbian parents and there is a state where, if you want to teach in the schools, you maybe better be able to speak English. What a novel idea.
HEMMER: Try it.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
COSTELLO: It's time for the headlines right now.
Now in the news, more violence in Iraq, just three days before the national elections. A suicide car bombing left one Iraqi police lieutenant dead and three others injured. The bombing took place earlier this morning in Ba'qubah.
And the Pentagon says it still doesn't know what brought down a Marine helicopter just outside of the Iraqi-Jordanian border. Thirty Marines and a Navy corpsman died in that crash.
A case involving Vice President Dick Cheney is heading back to court. Arguments are expected to be heard today. Public interest groups want the Bush administration to publicly release records from energy task force meetings the vice president headed in 2001. The Supreme Court side-stepped the issue seven months ago, sending the case back to a federal appeals court.
Telephone company AT&T may soon be no more. According to the "Wall Street Journal" and the "New York Times," SBC Communications is seeking to buy AT&T for more than $16 billion. If the reported deal goes through, it would form a largest telephone company in the United States. I think that was a Baby Bell, too.
And in basketball, Maryland handing second ranked Duke its first loss of the season. The Terps' Nik Caner-Medley hitting the long three pointer from the right wing to pull Maryland to victory. The final score, 75-66. Top ranked Illinois and Boston College now the only undefeated teams.
HEMMER: Not bad.
COSTELLO: Not bad at all.
HEMMER: They do it, but not very often, do they now.
COSTELLO: No. HEMMER: Especially this year.
Thank you, Carol.
Back to California now this hour.
Prosecutors there are trying to decide this morning what charges will be leveled against a man accused of causing yesterday's deadly train crash north of L.A. Eleven are dead, 120 others are injured after a train slammed into an SUV on the tracks. It was parked on the tracks by a man who officials say planned to commit suicide, but then, at the last minute, changed his mind. He jumped out of his vehicle, but vehicle did not move.
The officials, speaking in L.A. a short time ago, now say at least one passenger is still missing and they still have "a lot of work to do."
David Morrison was a passenger on the train.
He's live in L.A. there this morning.
And thank you for your time.
I know you were in the third train of the commuter train.
Describe what happened, David, at the point of impact.
DAVID MORRISON, TRAIN CRASH SURVIVOR: Well, basically I was sleeping when I was -- as we were traveling. That's what I usually do at the 5:19 train. But I heard a thud in the front and a scraping sound. And it was, obviously it was when we hit the car and then we were dragging it across the tracks.
It went up for quite a bit of time, probably five to 10 seconds. Then there was another little lurch and I heard a gravel sound, which must have been when we went off the track. And very shortly after that, a minute -- a second or two later -- there was a tremendous bang. The lights went down about 50 percent. I was -- I slid forward and I hit my chest on a table that was in front of me where I was sitting. And then basically everything just stopped.
I was very, very fortunate. I was in the third car, the car third back from the impact, and on the top. And we were the only car that actually stayed upright. So for us, it was just a matter of everyone sort of picked up the things that had flown around and just waited to see what was going on.
HEMMER: Wow. So you get up and you walk out of that train, you look around, and what do you see, David?
MORRISON: Well, as I mentioned, on our top -- on the top level where I was, no one was really seriously injured. There was one man with a cut eye. As I started walking down, I realized it was much more violent than I had thought, because the lower levels had -- people who were much more seriously hurt. When I walked out, it was raining, it was dark and people were out there with umbrellas and walking around. What I could see to my left was the first car on fire. And there are, were already people coming and addressing it. I thought they were emergency people, but I found out later that they were some football players who went out there and started dealing with it.
There were emergency people there very, very shortly after we got out. People were walking along the side of the tracks. There were a few people who were sitting down who were clearly, you know, disoriented. There was at least one man that I saw who was laying down on the side of the tracks. I did -- I couldn't tell what his injuries were. There were a few, again, in our train, in our car, basically everyone was safe, or was able to walk out. But surprisingly, there was very little -- there was no commotion, there was very little noise. The -- there weren't any cries or screams for help, which I possibly would have expected. But, again, we came out a little bit late from the car because we basically were -- the car just stopped and we were all fine. So it took us a while before we even left out. And by that time, all the emergency efforts had been -- started to be undertaken to get people out of the train.
HEMMER: How often are you on this train, David?
MORRISON: I started commuting regularly in October, so basically daily from -- since October.
HEMMER: How are you doing today? How are you feeling?
MORRISON: Actually, I'm feeling very well. I was, as I said, I was very, actually very blessed to be up there. It was the absolute best place I could have been in an accident like this. Our car didn't turn over, it just moved slightly off the tracks. Being on the top, there wasn't a lot of place for us to fall around. So I'm doing very well.
HEMMER: Good luck to you and thanks for sharing your story today.
MORRISON: Thank you very much.
HEMMER: It is striking how you describe the fact that there was so little chaos at the moment when you emerged from that car.
And, again, we reported a short time ago, one person still listed as missing.
Much more on this story throughout the day.
David Morrison our guest in L.A.
David, thanks to you, and good luck again -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It's now just three days until Iraqis take to the polls. More than 14 million Iraqis at home are registered to vote and a million Iraqi expatriates are eligible to vote worldwide. The ballot is extensive, including some 18, 000 candidates affiliated with 256 political parties. Voters will elect a 275-member national assembly and 18 provincial councils.
The national assembly will then select a president and two vice presidents. The president will then appoint a prime minister -- are you keeping track? The other major task of the national assembly, to put together a constitution by August, to be approved by the people in October.
Of course, the voting takes place under extremely dangerous circumstances, not just for voters, but also for the troops trying to protect them, troops like Lieutenant Colonel Myles Miyamasu.
He was a guest on AMERICAN MORNING back in August.
How does his family feel as the election approaches?
The colonel's wife Brenda joins us now from Fort Hood.
Good morning.
BRENDA MIYAMASU, HUSBAND SERVING IN IRAQ: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So your husband's stay was extended so he could be in Iraq during the election.
What will that day mean to you and your family?
B. MIYAMASU: The election day will be a wonderful, historical event. The Iraqi people will start forming their new government and that will be a wonderful event for the Iraqi people.
COSTELLO: Brenda, I know that your husband sends a lot of e- mails home and he's a great letter writer.
B. MIYAMASU: Yes.
COSTELLO: What does he tell your kids about election day in Iraq and his service there?
B. MIYAMASU: He tells the children that it is his job to help protect the Iraqi people, particularly the Iraqi children. Our children can focus in on other children's lives and so they appreciate that their dad is making Iraq a better place for the children and the other people in Iraq.
COSTELLO: A lot of troops' tours have been extended. And I like I said, your husband's tour of duty was extended by two months so that he could help out with the Iraqi elections. I want to read to our audience a letter that he sent home, part of it, since he is such a great letter writer.
He says: "We all know that it isn't easy and the sacrifices you are making are immeasurable. Yet when our deployment is over and we can all look back on what each of us has accomplished, all of us will have become much better people because of it. It is a tough price to pay to become the people we are, but it is something that so many citizens in the United States will be grateful for."
What type of a reaction did this have at home?
B. MIYAMASU: It was very uplifting. It was very uplifting to me, his wife, and also to the almost 300 family members that we do communicate with and did read that letter, very, very uplifting. He encouraged us and made everyone smile and just think about the reunion.
COSTELLO: OK, it's time to give you some credit, as well, because I know you're very active in the community there.
How do you comfort other military families at this time?
B. MIYAMASU: We communicate with meetings. We distribute any information that the folks in Iraq may send back here for us. We just offer each other encouragement and support and just, we are any Army family and we do not have the privilege of having our families located close to us, so we rely on our Army family for our support and our encouragement and we help each other out.
COSTELLO: What is the biggest misconception about what you're going through right now?
B. MIYAMASU: I really enjoy being an Army wife. I'm very proud of my husband. I'm very proud of the soldiers that work over there and are doing their jobs to fight the global war on terrorism. And I'm just very proud. We chose to live this lifestyle and we just need to remember, it was our choice and it is a life that we enjoy and we're just very proud of him.
COSTELLO: All of us are.
Thank you so much for joining AMERICAN MORNING this morning.
Brenda Miyamasu joining us live from Fort Hood, Texas.
B. MIYAMASU: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Be sure to watch CNN's special coverage, IRAQ AT THE CROSSROADS. Christiane Amanpour and Anderson Cooper are in Iraq, Paula Zahn in New York, for tonight's prime time special. That starts at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
HEMMER: About 12 minutes past the hour, Carol.
We're watching the monitor at the U.S. State Department. We anticipate at any time now, any minute, the newly confirmed U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to appear and speak with her colleagues there at the State Department. And when that happens, we'll get you there live.
In the meantime, it's chilly in the Northeast.
Rob Marciano knows that all too well.
He's working for Chad today -- good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Bill.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: I like those words of wisdom, snow is pretty and less dangerous than ice.
HEMMER: That's right.
COSTELLO: Any moment now, Condoleezza Rice reports for her first official day as secretary of state. We will have that for you live.
HEMMER: And in a moment, a contentious confirmation hearing for Alberto Gonzales. Is it a sign of trouble for this nominee?
Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter is our guest live this hour, as well, to talk about that.
COSTELLO: And the tragedy of the Holocaust has touched millions around the world, even our own CNN family. An emotional journey, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Well, this is a little different welcome than the first time that I came to work at the State Department. Now, that may surprise some of you, but I was, in 1977, an intern in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Now, there's a lesson in that -- be good to your interns.
I want to thank you for this really, really warm welcome. I first want to start by just saying how much I admire and appreciate the leadership of Secretary Colin Powell over the last four years. I've just spoken with him to tell him that.
We've got a lot of challenges ahead of us. This is a really remarkable time in our country's history. The president has set forth a really bold agenda for American foreign policy and the State Department has got to be in the lead in this period in which diplomacy will be so important to solidifying the gains of the last few years and to pressing forward an agenda for a freer and more prosperous world.
I can't think of a better call than to say that America will stand for freedom and for liberty, that America will stand with those who want their aspirations met for liberty and freedom. And I'm going to look, and the president is going to look, to this department to lead that effort and not just to implement policy, but we're going to need ideas, intellectual capital. I need your ideas. My door will be open. Please, understand that this is a time when the history is calling us. And I just look forward to working with each and every one of you toward that end.
The president has laid out a bold agenda and he expects a lot of us. I want you to know, too, that I'm going to be committed to you, the men and women of the foreign service, the civil service and our foreign service nationals abroad, and you, in turn, will be committed and we, in turn, will be committed to carrying out that bold agenda.
I know that this is a profession that demands a lot. It demands a lot from your families. It demands a lot from you. And sometimes it demands the ultimately sacrifice. And I want to start by recognizing that I know that there are memorial plaques here in this hall that commemorate those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and we'll always remember what they did for this country as we go about trying to carry out this extraordinary agenda before us.
I want you to know, too, that I will be committed to making certain that we have the tools that we need to carry out this agenda. I believe in training and I believe in education, continuing education of this diplomatic corps. And I hope to see, over the next several years, an even more diverse diplomatic corps, because one of the wonderful things about America is that we are one America made up of people from all backgrounds and all ethnicities and all religions. It's an extraordinary thing that we really have forged one out of many. And we are going to be a diplomatic corps that embodies that diversity, because it's an extremely important lesson in the world where difference is still a license to kill.
This is a great time for America. It's a great time for the international system. We have allies who we need to unite in this great cause ahead of us and I look forward to working with you to do that.
Now, I want to close with a kind of personal recollection as I start here. And that is that the last time I was in government was actually 1989-1991. And that, too, was an extraordinary time. I was lucky enough to be the White House Soviet specialist at the end of the cold war. It doesn't get much better than that. And I got to participate in German unification and the liberation of Eastern Europe and the peaceful collapse of the Soviet Union.
But, you know, I realize that I was just harvesting good decisions that had been made in 1946 and 1947 and 1948. A lot of those decisions spurred by good work done by this building, the men and women of the State Department.
And those were days when it must have seemed that freedom's march was not assured. You think about it, in 1947, civil wars in Greece and Turkey, and in 1948, the permanent division of Germany, thanks to the Berlin crisis. And in 1949, the Soviet Union explodes a nuclear weapon five years ahead of schedule and the Chinese communists win. It must not have looked like freedom's march was assured.
But they somehow pulled themselves together, people like Truman and Acheson and Marshall, and, of course, on Capitol Hill, Senator Vandenberg. And they created a policy and a set of institutions that gave us a lasting peace.
While no one might have been able at that time to imagine a democratic Germany or a democratic Japan, when President Bush now sits across from Chancellor Schroeder or from Prime Minister Koizumi, he sits across not just from a friend, but a democratic friend.
I know that there are those who wonder whether democracy can take hold in the rocky soil of the West Bank or in Iraq or in Afghanistan. I believe that we as Americans who know how hard the path to democracy is have to believe that it can. And we have to make it so that we work with those who want to achieve those aspirations, so that one day a future president is sitting across from the democratic president or prime minister of many a Middle Eastern country, of many a country that has not yet known democracy.
That's our charge. That's our calling. I know that you will work hard on behalf of it and so will I.
And now I'll go try to find my office, if you don't mind.
Thank you.
HEMMER: Her first day on the job now underway.
Condoleezza Rice says she was an intern back there in 1977 at the Department of State. But many times she punctuated her remarks by saying history is calling us today.
Andrea Koppel is at the State Department.
Dana Bash is at the White House.
First to Andrea.
The first order of business overseas could be what for Condoleezza Rice -- Andrea?
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the White House has already announced, Bill, that Secretary Rice's first diplomatic mission will take place early next month. She's going to head off to some European capitals and then she's going to go over to Israel and the Palestinian territories. As you know, a top priority of this administration is trying to seize upon what it sees as a big opportunity now that Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, is dead. They see that the new Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, is somebody that they can do business with. And so that is her first order of business.
HEMMER: All right, Andrea.
To the White House now.
Andrea Koppel, thanks for that there.
Let's get to Dana Bash at the White House -- and, Dana, it is interesting to note that Dr. Rice will be on all the morning talk shows come Sunday. This is a time when Iraqis will go to vote on that day.
What does that signal coming off the sometimes contentious debate and her nomination on Capitol Hill?
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it does seem to signal, Bill, that despite the fact that the Democrats absolutely used the Rice nomination as sort of a tool to protest what they say was the failed policy in Iraq, the White House still sees her as somebody who is a very credible spokesperson. She is going to be the lead person, we're told, on Sunday, the day of the Iraqi elections, to talk about what we heard from the president in this briefing room yesterday, that the administration thinks that it's a very important time and that it is just the first step in the path to a democracy that they are insisting, quite optimistically, is going to happen.
So, despite the fact that Democrats voted -- 13 Democrats voted against her, Bill, that was the most votes against a secretary of state in about 180 years -- that's quite a long time -- they did that just for symbolic reasons.
This White House still thinks of her and intends to put her out there as their top spokesperson, obviously. She is somebody who is the most, the closest person to the president when it comes to foreign policy. That's why she's there.
HEMMER: Three days.
Yes, three days away and counting now for the vote.
Thanks for that, Dana, at the White House, and Andrea Koppel before Dana back at the Department of State.
"America will stand for liberty and freedom, " so says the newly confirmed secretary of state, and encouraging her own colleagues, "I need your ideas" and her office will be open. The first day on the job now underway -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I like how she ended things, now I've got to go find my office.
HEMMER: Yes.
COSTELLO: That was cool.
Alberto Gonzales passed his first test in the Senate, but is there trouble ahead? Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter our guest. That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Good morning, everybody.
Welcome back.
Carol Costello along with me today.
Soledad is out today.
Good morning to you.
COSTELLO: Good morning.
HEMMER: 8:30 outside, where it's chilly. And it's only going to get colder, as a matter of fact.
COSTELLO: What, it's like 13 degrees?
HEMMER: Yes, I know.
COSTELLO: It's balmy.
HEMMER: I'm telling you, wait until February. It's going to still be cold.
The next big confirmation test for the White House said to be Alberto Gonzales for attorney general. Democrats voting against his nomination in the Judiciary Committee 10-8 along party lines. The chairman of that committee is a Republican, Arlen Specter. He's my guest in a moment and we'll ask why the two sides can or cannot get together on this in a moment -- Carol, switching to that.
COSTELLO: Yes, just -- why can't we all get along?
HEMMER: We'll find out.
COSTELLO: Also, 60 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, a look at the ceremonies today. We'll also hear from survivors, their memories of what they endured at the concentration camp.
But first, the headlines.
Now in the news, newly appointed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice just wrapping up remarks to the State Department workers a few moments ago. Rice now is the 66th U.S. secretary of state and the first African-American woman to hold that post. Rice was actually sworn in yesterday but there will be another ceremony tomorrow. She's already expected to travel to the Middle East as early as next month.
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