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American Morning
President Bush Tries to Set Tone For Second-Term Later Tonight
Aired February 02, 2005 - 09:30 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. We have a busy morning here. We're watching the pope from overseas, and certainly this plane incident from over in New Jersey.
Watching that right now, a small corporate jet crashed in New Jersey. That plane, a twin-engine turbine jet, CL-600 Challenger, taking off from Teterboro Airport, never gained altitude, instead skidding off the end of the runway, through several fences, across a major roadway, into the side of an empty warehouse. That warehouse for women's clothing store known as Strawberry's (ph). It then burst into flames. Obviously videotape here from earlier. That plane was headed for Chicago's Midway Airport. Twelve people listed on board. At least 11 are injured, but we cannot determine just yet if that was people onboard the plane or these were people in vehicles crossing route 46, two listed as missing as well. That plane tagged to a tax consulting firm in Dallas, Texas. The FAA en route to the scene. Traffic heavy in that area. As one can imagine, with the early morning commute.
And earlier, we talked with a witness near that crash site in New Jersey.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw the plane smash into strawberry's. I was at the Bank of America withdrawing money. And once I -- the plane smashed, the front of it just blew, and I was so nervous, instead of making a right to go to the police station out of the bank, I made a left. There was one car involved. That's it. There was red lights -- there was red lights on both sides of 46. It was one car involved. It was going eastbound, but facing westbound. There was a guy on the street, right on the grass of Bank of America. And there was another gentleman holding his hair up -- holding his head up. I don't know where he came from, the car or Strawberry's or whatever, but it's horrifying.
QUESTION: You said you were going to the police station. Are you an officer?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I went into South Hackensack Police Station. I turned around, and I ran in, and they knew nothing about it. I ran in, and I said there's a plane crash, there's a plane crash. And three officers of South Hackensack ran out, and there was nobody there when this happened.
QUESTION: How close is the police station to where the plane...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Um -- half a mile, not even...
QUESTION: Half a mile, OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not even.
QUESTION: Now, you said you saw it head into the building.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
QUESTION: At what point, kelly did you see it, first off, that's the No. 1 question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw the tail of the plane.
QUESTION: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it was -- just the front of it hit the building. It was loud. And I don't believe the plane was on fire beforehand. The front of it, because once the thing crashed, I saw all fire.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: That report from WABC locally here in New York with an eyewitness. There are 11 injured, two missing is what we have at this point.
O'BRIEN: Teterboro of course has turned into one of the nation's busiest small airports. It caters to corporate jet and a lots of folks who are looking to avoid all the hassles and the delays that you get at the larger airports. And that means, of course, many times, you know, titans of industry and celebrities who make their way out of Teterboro, as opposed to going on to JFK, or La Guardia or even Newark Airport.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: We're going leave this story for a minute. More when we get it here on AMERICAN MORNING.
In the meantime, though, want to shift our attention later tonight. It will be the main event in Washington for this country when President Bush tries to set the tone for his second term later tonight with his State of the Union Address.
Dan Bartlett is counselor to the president. I asked him today if the president will answer calls from some Democrats for an exit strategy in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN BARTLETT, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think what they'll hear from President Bush is a strategy for success. We had a very successful election on Sunday in Iraq, where millions of Iraqis stepped forward and said they want to take control of -- in the future of their country. And what we'll do in this new phase, and what President Bush will talk about tonight, is how we can help this new government build the security forces and other mechanisms of government to make sure they are successful in building a democracy.
Now, artificial timetables is exactly the wrong thing to do at this time. What it says to the enemy is, sit down, wait, wait until they're going to leave, and then strike. What we need to have is a strategy for success, and that will be not only focusing on the quantity of security forces, but also the quality of those security, and that's what President Bush will talk about.
HEMMER: Dan, you mentioned success three times in your answer. How far will he go in claiming victory tonight in Iraq?
BARTLETT: Well, there's a lot of work left to be done. There's going to be a lot of tough fighting, as the president has said very clearly to the American people, that these terrorists and Baathists are at a very dead end. They have nothing positive to offer the Iraqi people or the world, and they will probably fight to the death, and it's going to be important that we have the capabilities and focus to make sure we don't let up on fighting the enemy.
There is a lot of -- this is the first step in the process of the Democratic political side of the equation. They have to write a constitution. They have to have a permanent election next year. And we're going to help the Iraqi people, as will the international community, to meet that objective.
And -- but the focus now, as we move into the new phase, is what can we do to help the security forces? Which by the way, performed quite well on Sunday. But how can we bolster their efforts? How can we build a chain of command? How can we get more quality officers in the ranks of the Iraqi security forces? That's the focus out of military on the ground, that's the focus of the commander in chief, and he will speak to that tonight.
HEMMER: All right. So Iraq is one issue. Social Security is another big issue later tonight.
A few days ago, we went out and asked Americans about whether or not they believe this is a crisis. Only 18 percent consider it to be a crisis. In addition to that, Senator Harry Reid, on the Democratic side, said he'll fight it. Listen to what he said late yesterday on Capitol Hill:
SEN. HARRY REID (D), MINORITY LEADER: President Bush should forget about privatizing Social Security. It will not happen. The sooner he comes to that realization, the better off we are.
HEMMER: He says it will not happen. Will it?
BARTLETT: Well, I know there's a lot of rhetoric swirling around Capitol Hill right now, and that's to be expected as we embark upon a very difficult issue. But what President Bush will argue tonight is we have an obligation, this generation of leaders, has an obligation to come together and focus on the next generation who need to retire with more security than the current system can offer.
Now there will be a lot of words used -- crisis, problem. What President Bush will do is show that the math speaks for itself. The bottom line is, is that the Social Security system, in 13 years, will be taking in less money than it's paying out. We're going to go into the red. Massive deficits, or tax increases or benefits cuts is the status quo. That's unacceptable for President Bush, and it should be unacceptable to the United States Congress. He's going to work with both Democrats and Republicans to find a way to finally solve this issue once and for all.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Dan Bartlett from the White House earlier today. Stay tuned later tonight for our live special coverage. That starts at 8:00. The address comes your way at 9:00. And tomorrow, AMERICAN MORNING kicks off its coverage in D.C. with Soledad, 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
Here's Soledad now again.
O'BRIEN: Thanks, Bill. Tonight, President Bush gives his first State of the Union Address of his second term. So what do everyday Americans expect to hear? To find out, we decided to revisit some of the folks who took part in our recent series, "What's In It For Me."
Kelly Wallace of course head of that -- good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
When we brought the panel together, we quickly learned they all have very different political views, but they also feel that they want to hear specifics from the president tonight, as well as a focus on healing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know, we're almost home.
WALLACE (voice-over): We brought together Dawn Jimenez (ph), whose husband just returned from Iraq; John Polinger (ph), Middletown, New Jersey's police chief; Roseann Salanitri, a conservative activist; and Alana Reisch (ph), a psychologist from Manhattan, along with her boyfriend, Bob Agnus (ph). Their politics may differ, but over lunch, they all agree the president should try tonight to heal a bitterly divided nation.
ALANA REISCH (ph): Maybe he could speak about the other side. He can't do details, but he could speak about, some of you think this, and some of you think that. We're going to try and work together.
WALLACE (on camera): You're shaking your head, too, Roseann. You agree?
ROSEANN SALANITRI, CONSERVATIVE ACTIVITIES: Absolutely.
WALLACE: What would you want him to say or how could he do it?
SALANITRI: I would like him to let people know that he's not ruling with an iron fist, that his ears are open, he's willing to listen to the opposing sides.
JOHN POLINGER, (ph) POLICE CHIEF: I think the president needs to invite a few people over to the White House more often, to sit down behind closed doors. And I'm talking about Democratic leaders.
DAWN JIMENEZ (ph), MOTHER: I'm going to say this and don't laugh. He needs to go back to his Texas years. You know what he did down there? He was able to bring both parties together. He needs to carry that over to the White House. Go back to your Texas years.
WALLACE (voice-over): There were calls too, for the Democrats to focus on finding common ground.
POLINGER: When you have the Democrats already blasting the president's State of the Union address before he's even given it, it sends a terrible message.
JIMENEZ: Both parties need to take a hard look at themselves and say, we need to come together as one for our country, not for -- divided.
ALANA REISCH, PSYCHOLOGIST: But they have -- the whole idea of the parties is that they have different ideas about the process. Everybody's for our country. But they have different ideas about the process of how to get there.
WALLACE: Debate about the political parties, but not the president's inaugural address.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know the United States will not ignore your oppression.
WALLACE: They all hope to get some clarification tonight.
REISCH: It concerned me greatly, because I don't want him pledging our troops to go impose freedom around the world.
POLINGER: He has an opportunity to say, look, I told you that we should do this. I stuck to my guns. It has worked out. We're going where we need to go and to reassure the world that we're not expanionists.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: And tomorrow, we'll tell you what our panel thought of the speech because we're bringing them all together to watch and then we're going to ask them what they think and we'll hear their thoughts in the morning.
O'BRIEN: I think it's been fascinating, really to follow them, not only through their stories about what's in it for me, when they really laid out what they want, just, sort of, out of the administration as a whole, but to continue to follow them. It's been really great.
WALLACE: It is. And also, we sat there for 2 1/2 hours talking about issues. So there's a real desire to talk about these issues and they're game to come back tonight and listen and talk some more.
O'BRIEN: And I think you're right. I think not only among those folks, but among the American populous in general, after 9/11. People know what they're talking about. They're educated, they're interested on these issues. Kelly, great job. Thank you very much. As always, nice to see you.
Tomorrow morning, I'm going to be in Washington, D.C. for reaction to the president's plan. We're live starting 7:00 a.m. Eastern, right here, of course, on AMERICAN MORNING.
HEMMER: Soledad, three big stories this a.m. The State of the Union address just one. Also, keeping a very close watch on the health of Pope John Paul II. Live in Rome for the latest there. And breaking news from New Jersey, a corporate jet crashing into a warehouse upon takeoff. There is word of two people missing. The latest on that story as well as we continue after a break here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Again, watching the scene in New Jersey. Jason Carroll just arriving near the crash site. Edge of the runway. Jason, good morning out there. What do you have for us?
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Bill.
As you said, we are standing just near the edge of the runway at Teterboro Airport. There are a number of emergency crews that are here. From what we know, the accident happened just at around 7:15 this morning. The midsized aircraft, according to the FBA a twin engine jet, failed to gain altitude as it was trying to take off. It skidded down the runway through a fence across route 46, which is a highway that runs through here. It crashed into the Strawberry clothing warehouse and then burst into flames.
We are told, as it crossed Route 46, it appears to have clipped a car. At least two motorists taken to the hospital. Their conditions at this point unknown. 12 people were on board the plane. New Jersey state police confirm that there are 11 injuries. They would not confirm whether or not there are fatalities. At this point, two people are missing.
The jet is a CL-600, it's midsized private jet. It was en route to Chicago's Midway airport. We are told that there should be a flight data recorder on board. That, of course, is the device that records all the mechanical information. It is unclear at this point if there is a voice recorder on board. That, of course, is the device that records all the conversations between the pilot and the control tower.
NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board Investigators, are en route. They, of course, will be looking at possible causes of the accident, including whether or not it was engine failure, tire failure, whether or not ice, weather, played some sort of a role. Of course, ice would be something that could prevent liftoff. Of course, they'll also be looking at the possibility of pilot error.
One of the first things that they'll be doing is looking for eyewitnesses to the crash, interviewing them to see what information they have, what information they can provide. One eyewitness who was inside the warehouse says that the plane hit just before the shift was starting, which is obviously good news for the people who were there inside the warehouse. One man who was inside the warehouse, who was his office, received minor injuries. He was taken to hospital.
At this point, we are waiting for a press conference. That is scheduled to begin at just about 10:00. And as soon as we have information from that, we'll be sure...
HEMMER: All right, Jason, thanks for that. Again, just to add: 11 injured, 2 missing, at this point. Jason Carroll there on the scene in New Jersey. More when we get it. Here's Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Vatican sources say that Pope John Paul II spent a peaceful night in the hospital and that he'll remain there for a few more days. CNN senior international correspondent Walt Rodgers is in Rome with new developments for us this morning. Good morning to you, Walt.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Soledad. The good news from Rome is that his holiness, Pope John Paul II, after spending a night in the hospital last night, it's been reported that his condition has stabilized. There is, according to Vatican officials, no reason to be alarmed, although he's expected to be in hospital for what the Vatican says will be a few days.
Shortly before 11:00 last night, Rome time, his holiness was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. The Gemelli Polyclinic, not far from the Vatican, and there the whole tenth floor was devoted to his holiness. It was apparently a complication of influenza. That is, the pope -- the Vatican had announced the pope had flu on Monday of this week and then suddenly last night, his holiness had difficulty breathing. There was inflammation of the wind pipe and the larynx was having spasms.
So more or less as a precautionary measure, according to Vatican officials, his holiness, John Paul II was taken to the hospital, where he's expected to be for a few days. But apparently there's not any reason for the great alarm which many of us experienced last night. As I say, his holiness is resting, but no one here seems overly alarmed that this condition's going to be deteriorate. Now, of course, he is in frail health and is 84 years old -- he'll be 85 in May. But this -- the news from Rome today looks pretty good -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Very good. Walt Rodgers for us this morning. Walt, thank you for that update. Appreciate it.
HEMMER: Let's use it as a backdrop to bring our doctor back in, Sanjay Gupta, CNN center. What's next now, Sanjay, an 84-year-old man who looks to be improving again, as we've reported?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what's next, I think immediately, Bill, is that he's probably going to be able to leave the hospital within the next several days. Certainly, though, the flu in an 84-year-old is not something to be dealt with lightly. We talked so much, you and I, about the flu, and about the thousands of people who can die from this. The typical profile of someone who does not do well with the flu is someone who is elderly and has significant medical problems, like the pope, for example.
So I think he's going to need to be observed for some time. It does look like he got through this episode rather well, is not going to need to be in the intensive-care unit. He is eating and drinking now. That is significant to medical professionals, because that means that the spasm that Walt Rodgers was just talking about, at the upper end of his airway, has probably cleared up. He wouldn't be able to eat and drink if it hadn't. So everything looks favorable -- Bill.
HEMMER: Do you know -- you've been reporting on this since the word broke late yesterday afternoon, early evening. Has he had a flu shot?
GUPTA: He has had a flu shot. We looked into that as well. Certainly, he falls into the high-risk category. It was absolutely mandatory that someone like him get a flu shot. Again, you and I talk about that. It's worth pointing out, an 84-year-old man with significant medical problems like this, Parkinson's, arthritis, unable to stand on his own, in part, because of those two previous diseases, he should get a flu shot for sure -- Bill.
HEMMER: And word out of Italy is they have a bad case, a bad bout of the flu circulating throughout that country, and he comes in contact with a lot of people every day.
GUPTA: Shaking a lot of hands, touching a lot of people, absolutely. He should have gotten it. He did get it. And it's probably a good thing that he did. Even though he sounds like he has symptoms of flu, hard to say if that would have been much worse if he didn't get that flu shot -- Bill.
HEMMER: He is intrepid, to say the least, huh, nine operations, a bullet wound in 1981, been through a lot. Thank you, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thank you.
HEMMER: Here's Soeldad.
O'BRIEN: The pope's health, of course, one of our top stories this morning. Another top story, that corporate jet crash in New Jersey this morning. Details are still coming in, two people missing, 11 injured. The latest on that's ahead as we continue right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Back to Jack, who's got the Question of the Day.
Good morning, again.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: How you doing? Semi-serious, I guess. What do you think about this idea that Bill Clinton might become the next U.N. Secretary General? Kofi Annan has asked him to be a special envoy to kind of head up the relief effort for the tsunami victims, and there have been rumors around that he might be in line for the top job when Annan's deal expires next year. So we though we'd ask that this morning.
Angela in Costa Rica writes, "Clinton made a fool of us all when he was in the White House with his lies and affair. Why give him the opportunity to make Americans look bad again with such an important position within the United Nations? This is a ridiculous idea."
David in Dallas writes, "Bill Clinton's driven by service, his intellect and his desire to build a superior legacy. His mid to slightly liberal point of view is very much in sync with the world in general and is well regarded. He would do a very good job. Unfortunately, I doubt the Bush administration would let something like this happen."
And finally, Preston in, Tampa, Florida -- "Clinton running the U.N.? Hey, a brand-new nest of interns."
O'BRIEN: It's really not the United States turn, right? nations take turns. I think it's Asia's turn to put up -- apparently, there's a number of Asian candidates for the U.N.
CAFFERTY: Well, in that case, never mind.
O'BRIEN: No, I'm just saying, I mean, he's have to break in front of a lot of people -- you know, if you were to get it, which would be kind of interesting.
CAFFERTY: Got out of Arkansas and became president, didn't he?
O'BRIEN: Some might say that would be good training for what he'd have to do at the U.N. All right, Jack, thanks.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
HEMMER: Going to get a break here. Next hour, Rick and Daryn continuing coverage of what's happening out of New Jersey. We'll get a break here on AMERICAN MORNING. Back in a moment here, right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired February 2, 2005 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. We have a busy morning here. We're watching the pope from overseas, and certainly this plane incident from over in New Jersey.
Watching that right now, a small corporate jet crashed in New Jersey. That plane, a twin-engine turbine jet, CL-600 Challenger, taking off from Teterboro Airport, never gained altitude, instead skidding off the end of the runway, through several fences, across a major roadway, into the side of an empty warehouse. That warehouse for women's clothing store known as Strawberry's (ph). It then burst into flames. Obviously videotape here from earlier. That plane was headed for Chicago's Midway Airport. Twelve people listed on board. At least 11 are injured, but we cannot determine just yet if that was people onboard the plane or these were people in vehicles crossing route 46, two listed as missing as well. That plane tagged to a tax consulting firm in Dallas, Texas. The FAA en route to the scene. Traffic heavy in that area. As one can imagine, with the early morning commute.
And earlier, we talked with a witness near that crash site in New Jersey.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw the plane smash into strawberry's. I was at the Bank of America withdrawing money. And once I -- the plane smashed, the front of it just blew, and I was so nervous, instead of making a right to go to the police station out of the bank, I made a left. There was one car involved. That's it. There was red lights -- there was red lights on both sides of 46. It was one car involved. It was going eastbound, but facing westbound. There was a guy on the street, right on the grass of Bank of America. And there was another gentleman holding his hair up -- holding his head up. I don't know where he came from, the car or Strawberry's or whatever, but it's horrifying.
QUESTION: You said you were going to the police station. Are you an officer?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I went into South Hackensack Police Station. I turned around, and I ran in, and they knew nothing about it. I ran in, and I said there's a plane crash, there's a plane crash. And three officers of South Hackensack ran out, and there was nobody there when this happened.
QUESTION: How close is the police station to where the plane...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Um -- half a mile, not even...
QUESTION: Half a mile, OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not even.
QUESTION: Now, you said you saw it head into the building.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
QUESTION: At what point, kelly did you see it, first off, that's the No. 1 question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw the tail of the plane.
QUESTION: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it was -- just the front of it hit the building. It was loud. And I don't believe the plane was on fire beforehand. The front of it, because once the thing crashed, I saw all fire.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: That report from WABC locally here in New York with an eyewitness. There are 11 injured, two missing is what we have at this point.
O'BRIEN: Teterboro of course has turned into one of the nation's busiest small airports. It caters to corporate jet and a lots of folks who are looking to avoid all the hassles and the delays that you get at the larger airports. And that means, of course, many times, you know, titans of industry and celebrities who make their way out of Teterboro, as opposed to going on to JFK, or La Guardia or even Newark Airport.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: We're going leave this story for a minute. More when we get it here on AMERICAN MORNING.
In the meantime, though, want to shift our attention later tonight. It will be the main event in Washington for this country when President Bush tries to set the tone for his second term later tonight with his State of the Union Address.
Dan Bartlett is counselor to the president. I asked him today if the president will answer calls from some Democrats for an exit strategy in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN BARTLETT, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think what they'll hear from President Bush is a strategy for success. We had a very successful election on Sunday in Iraq, where millions of Iraqis stepped forward and said they want to take control of -- in the future of their country. And what we'll do in this new phase, and what President Bush will talk about tonight, is how we can help this new government build the security forces and other mechanisms of government to make sure they are successful in building a democracy.
Now, artificial timetables is exactly the wrong thing to do at this time. What it says to the enemy is, sit down, wait, wait until they're going to leave, and then strike. What we need to have is a strategy for success, and that will be not only focusing on the quantity of security forces, but also the quality of those security, and that's what President Bush will talk about.
HEMMER: Dan, you mentioned success three times in your answer. How far will he go in claiming victory tonight in Iraq?
BARTLETT: Well, there's a lot of work left to be done. There's going to be a lot of tough fighting, as the president has said very clearly to the American people, that these terrorists and Baathists are at a very dead end. They have nothing positive to offer the Iraqi people or the world, and they will probably fight to the death, and it's going to be important that we have the capabilities and focus to make sure we don't let up on fighting the enemy.
There is a lot of -- this is the first step in the process of the Democratic political side of the equation. They have to write a constitution. They have to have a permanent election next year. And we're going to help the Iraqi people, as will the international community, to meet that objective.
And -- but the focus now, as we move into the new phase, is what can we do to help the security forces? Which by the way, performed quite well on Sunday. But how can we bolster their efforts? How can we build a chain of command? How can we get more quality officers in the ranks of the Iraqi security forces? That's the focus out of military on the ground, that's the focus of the commander in chief, and he will speak to that tonight.
HEMMER: All right. So Iraq is one issue. Social Security is another big issue later tonight.
A few days ago, we went out and asked Americans about whether or not they believe this is a crisis. Only 18 percent consider it to be a crisis. In addition to that, Senator Harry Reid, on the Democratic side, said he'll fight it. Listen to what he said late yesterday on Capitol Hill:
SEN. HARRY REID (D), MINORITY LEADER: President Bush should forget about privatizing Social Security. It will not happen. The sooner he comes to that realization, the better off we are.
HEMMER: He says it will not happen. Will it?
BARTLETT: Well, I know there's a lot of rhetoric swirling around Capitol Hill right now, and that's to be expected as we embark upon a very difficult issue. But what President Bush will argue tonight is we have an obligation, this generation of leaders, has an obligation to come together and focus on the next generation who need to retire with more security than the current system can offer.
Now there will be a lot of words used -- crisis, problem. What President Bush will do is show that the math speaks for itself. The bottom line is, is that the Social Security system, in 13 years, will be taking in less money than it's paying out. We're going to go into the red. Massive deficits, or tax increases or benefits cuts is the status quo. That's unacceptable for President Bush, and it should be unacceptable to the United States Congress. He's going to work with both Democrats and Republicans to find a way to finally solve this issue once and for all.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Dan Bartlett from the White House earlier today. Stay tuned later tonight for our live special coverage. That starts at 8:00. The address comes your way at 9:00. And tomorrow, AMERICAN MORNING kicks off its coverage in D.C. with Soledad, 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
Here's Soledad now again.
O'BRIEN: Thanks, Bill. Tonight, President Bush gives his first State of the Union Address of his second term. So what do everyday Americans expect to hear? To find out, we decided to revisit some of the folks who took part in our recent series, "What's In It For Me."
Kelly Wallace of course head of that -- good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
When we brought the panel together, we quickly learned they all have very different political views, but they also feel that they want to hear specifics from the president tonight, as well as a focus on healing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know, we're almost home.
WALLACE (voice-over): We brought together Dawn Jimenez (ph), whose husband just returned from Iraq; John Polinger (ph), Middletown, New Jersey's police chief; Roseann Salanitri, a conservative activist; and Alana Reisch (ph), a psychologist from Manhattan, along with her boyfriend, Bob Agnus (ph). Their politics may differ, but over lunch, they all agree the president should try tonight to heal a bitterly divided nation.
ALANA REISCH (ph): Maybe he could speak about the other side. He can't do details, but he could speak about, some of you think this, and some of you think that. We're going to try and work together.
WALLACE (on camera): You're shaking your head, too, Roseann. You agree?
ROSEANN SALANITRI, CONSERVATIVE ACTIVITIES: Absolutely.
WALLACE: What would you want him to say or how could he do it?
SALANITRI: I would like him to let people know that he's not ruling with an iron fist, that his ears are open, he's willing to listen to the opposing sides.
JOHN POLINGER, (ph) POLICE CHIEF: I think the president needs to invite a few people over to the White House more often, to sit down behind closed doors. And I'm talking about Democratic leaders.
DAWN JIMENEZ (ph), MOTHER: I'm going to say this and don't laugh. He needs to go back to his Texas years. You know what he did down there? He was able to bring both parties together. He needs to carry that over to the White House. Go back to your Texas years.
WALLACE (voice-over): There were calls too, for the Democrats to focus on finding common ground.
POLINGER: When you have the Democrats already blasting the president's State of the Union address before he's even given it, it sends a terrible message.
JIMENEZ: Both parties need to take a hard look at themselves and say, we need to come together as one for our country, not for -- divided.
ALANA REISCH, PSYCHOLOGIST: But they have -- the whole idea of the parties is that they have different ideas about the process. Everybody's for our country. But they have different ideas about the process of how to get there.
WALLACE: Debate about the political parties, but not the president's inaugural address.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know the United States will not ignore your oppression.
WALLACE: They all hope to get some clarification tonight.
REISCH: It concerned me greatly, because I don't want him pledging our troops to go impose freedom around the world.
POLINGER: He has an opportunity to say, look, I told you that we should do this. I stuck to my guns. It has worked out. We're going where we need to go and to reassure the world that we're not expanionists.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: And tomorrow, we'll tell you what our panel thought of the speech because we're bringing them all together to watch and then we're going to ask them what they think and we'll hear their thoughts in the morning.
O'BRIEN: I think it's been fascinating, really to follow them, not only through their stories about what's in it for me, when they really laid out what they want, just, sort of, out of the administration as a whole, but to continue to follow them. It's been really great.
WALLACE: It is. And also, we sat there for 2 1/2 hours talking about issues. So there's a real desire to talk about these issues and they're game to come back tonight and listen and talk some more.
O'BRIEN: And I think you're right. I think not only among those folks, but among the American populous in general, after 9/11. People know what they're talking about. They're educated, they're interested on these issues. Kelly, great job. Thank you very much. As always, nice to see you.
Tomorrow morning, I'm going to be in Washington, D.C. for reaction to the president's plan. We're live starting 7:00 a.m. Eastern, right here, of course, on AMERICAN MORNING.
HEMMER: Soledad, three big stories this a.m. The State of the Union address just one. Also, keeping a very close watch on the health of Pope John Paul II. Live in Rome for the latest there. And breaking news from New Jersey, a corporate jet crashing into a warehouse upon takeoff. There is word of two people missing. The latest on that story as well as we continue after a break here on AMERICAN MORNING.
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HEMMER: Again, watching the scene in New Jersey. Jason Carroll just arriving near the crash site. Edge of the runway. Jason, good morning out there. What do you have for us?
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Bill.
As you said, we are standing just near the edge of the runway at Teterboro Airport. There are a number of emergency crews that are here. From what we know, the accident happened just at around 7:15 this morning. The midsized aircraft, according to the FBA a twin engine jet, failed to gain altitude as it was trying to take off. It skidded down the runway through a fence across route 46, which is a highway that runs through here. It crashed into the Strawberry clothing warehouse and then burst into flames.
We are told, as it crossed Route 46, it appears to have clipped a car. At least two motorists taken to the hospital. Their conditions at this point unknown. 12 people were on board the plane. New Jersey state police confirm that there are 11 injuries. They would not confirm whether or not there are fatalities. At this point, two people are missing.
The jet is a CL-600, it's midsized private jet. It was en route to Chicago's Midway airport. We are told that there should be a flight data recorder on board. That, of course, is the device that records all the mechanical information. It is unclear at this point if there is a voice recorder on board. That, of course, is the device that records all the conversations between the pilot and the control tower.
NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board Investigators, are en route. They, of course, will be looking at possible causes of the accident, including whether or not it was engine failure, tire failure, whether or not ice, weather, played some sort of a role. Of course, ice would be something that could prevent liftoff. Of course, they'll also be looking at the possibility of pilot error.
One of the first things that they'll be doing is looking for eyewitnesses to the crash, interviewing them to see what information they have, what information they can provide. One eyewitness who was inside the warehouse says that the plane hit just before the shift was starting, which is obviously good news for the people who were there inside the warehouse. One man who was inside the warehouse, who was his office, received minor injuries. He was taken to hospital.
At this point, we are waiting for a press conference. That is scheduled to begin at just about 10:00. And as soon as we have information from that, we'll be sure...
HEMMER: All right, Jason, thanks for that. Again, just to add: 11 injured, 2 missing, at this point. Jason Carroll there on the scene in New Jersey. More when we get it. Here's Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Vatican sources say that Pope John Paul II spent a peaceful night in the hospital and that he'll remain there for a few more days. CNN senior international correspondent Walt Rodgers is in Rome with new developments for us this morning. Good morning to you, Walt.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Soledad. The good news from Rome is that his holiness, Pope John Paul II, after spending a night in the hospital last night, it's been reported that his condition has stabilized. There is, according to Vatican officials, no reason to be alarmed, although he's expected to be in hospital for what the Vatican says will be a few days.
Shortly before 11:00 last night, Rome time, his holiness was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. The Gemelli Polyclinic, not far from the Vatican, and there the whole tenth floor was devoted to his holiness. It was apparently a complication of influenza. That is, the pope -- the Vatican had announced the pope had flu on Monday of this week and then suddenly last night, his holiness had difficulty breathing. There was inflammation of the wind pipe and the larynx was having spasms.
So more or less as a precautionary measure, according to Vatican officials, his holiness, John Paul II was taken to the hospital, where he's expected to be for a few days. But apparently there's not any reason for the great alarm which many of us experienced last night. As I say, his holiness is resting, but no one here seems overly alarmed that this condition's going to be deteriorate. Now, of course, he is in frail health and is 84 years old -- he'll be 85 in May. But this -- the news from Rome today looks pretty good -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Very good. Walt Rodgers for us this morning. Walt, thank you for that update. Appreciate it.
HEMMER: Let's use it as a backdrop to bring our doctor back in, Sanjay Gupta, CNN center. What's next now, Sanjay, an 84-year-old man who looks to be improving again, as we've reported?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what's next, I think immediately, Bill, is that he's probably going to be able to leave the hospital within the next several days. Certainly, though, the flu in an 84-year-old is not something to be dealt with lightly. We talked so much, you and I, about the flu, and about the thousands of people who can die from this. The typical profile of someone who does not do well with the flu is someone who is elderly and has significant medical problems, like the pope, for example.
So I think he's going to need to be observed for some time. It does look like he got through this episode rather well, is not going to need to be in the intensive-care unit. He is eating and drinking now. That is significant to medical professionals, because that means that the spasm that Walt Rodgers was just talking about, at the upper end of his airway, has probably cleared up. He wouldn't be able to eat and drink if it hadn't. So everything looks favorable -- Bill.
HEMMER: Do you know -- you've been reporting on this since the word broke late yesterday afternoon, early evening. Has he had a flu shot?
GUPTA: He has had a flu shot. We looked into that as well. Certainly, he falls into the high-risk category. It was absolutely mandatory that someone like him get a flu shot. Again, you and I talk about that. It's worth pointing out, an 84-year-old man with significant medical problems like this, Parkinson's, arthritis, unable to stand on his own, in part, because of those two previous diseases, he should get a flu shot for sure -- Bill.
HEMMER: And word out of Italy is they have a bad case, a bad bout of the flu circulating throughout that country, and he comes in contact with a lot of people every day.
GUPTA: Shaking a lot of hands, touching a lot of people, absolutely. He should have gotten it. He did get it. And it's probably a good thing that he did. Even though he sounds like he has symptoms of flu, hard to say if that would have been much worse if he didn't get that flu shot -- Bill.
HEMMER: He is intrepid, to say the least, huh, nine operations, a bullet wound in 1981, been through a lot. Thank you, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thank you.
HEMMER: Here's Soeldad.
O'BRIEN: The pope's health, of course, one of our top stories this morning. Another top story, that corporate jet crash in New Jersey this morning. Details are still coming in, two people missing, 11 injured. The latest on that's ahead as we continue right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
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O'BRIEN: Back to Jack, who's got the Question of the Day.
Good morning, again.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: How you doing? Semi-serious, I guess. What do you think about this idea that Bill Clinton might become the next U.N. Secretary General? Kofi Annan has asked him to be a special envoy to kind of head up the relief effort for the tsunami victims, and there have been rumors around that he might be in line for the top job when Annan's deal expires next year. So we though we'd ask that this morning.
Angela in Costa Rica writes, "Clinton made a fool of us all when he was in the White House with his lies and affair. Why give him the opportunity to make Americans look bad again with such an important position within the United Nations? This is a ridiculous idea."
David in Dallas writes, "Bill Clinton's driven by service, his intellect and his desire to build a superior legacy. His mid to slightly liberal point of view is very much in sync with the world in general and is well regarded. He would do a very good job. Unfortunately, I doubt the Bush administration would let something like this happen."
And finally, Preston in, Tampa, Florida -- "Clinton running the U.N.? Hey, a brand-new nest of interns."
O'BRIEN: It's really not the United States turn, right? nations take turns. I think it's Asia's turn to put up -- apparently, there's a number of Asian candidates for the U.N.
CAFFERTY: Well, in that case, never mind.
O'BRIEN: No, I'm just saying, I mean, he's have to break in front of a lot of people -- you know, if you were to get it, which would be kind of interesting.
CAFFERTY: Got out of Arkansas and became president, didn't he?
O'BRIEN: Some might say that would be good training for what he'd have to do at the U.N. All right, Jack, thanks.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
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HEMMER: Going to get a break here. Next hour, Rick and Daryn continuing coverage of what's happening out of New Jersey. We'll get a break here on AMERICAN MORNING. Back in a moment here, right after this.
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