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American Morning
Storms Pound California; Bush Tours Europe
Aired February 23, 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: California on a slippery slope. So many disasters from the rain, so much more rain still to come.
The president is meeting with a tough critic in Germany and finding a key area of agreement.
The Michael Jackson jury falling into place. It's happening faster than anyone expected. So, is the start of the pop star's trial now in sight?
And a shocking case of restaurant rage. Look at that. The high price for cutting in line on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody.
Not a restaurant we want to eat at today, huh? We'll get to that story in a moment.
Also, back to California, too. Folks there hoped the rain would stop today and it might stop today, but not before it rains a whole lot more. Reports of damage still coming in. We'll talk to one couple who almost lost their home as they were sleeping inside of it. Some believe they may get sunshine on Thursday. We'll check it out in a few moments here.
O'BRIEN: Also, how comfortable would you feel landing at an airport if you knew there were no air traffic controllers in the tower? There's a new plan to do just that for a couple of airports during off hours. Airport managers obviously don't like it. Members of Congress don't like it. So just why does the FAA want to do it? We'll take a look at that.
HEMMER: All right, back to "The File" a bit later this hour.
Here's Jack with a preview -- good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Wednesday, "Things People Say," including a tattoo that could prove to be fatal, a 58-year-old Hollywood star on why she doesn't like facelifts and Chris Rock has some advice for Oscar winners when it comes to their acceptance speeches.
O'BRIEN: That's going to be good. CAFFERTY: Remember when he was at the Oscars he hosted where he was talking about it took two limos for Jennifer Lopez to arrive?
HEMMER: Wow!
CAFFERTY: I think it was the Oscars. Remember that?
HEMMER: He's going to make it fun Sunday night.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
O'BRIEN: No question.
CAFFERTY: One for Jennifer and then there was another one.
HEMMER: Yes. Yes.
O'BRIEN: Notice I'm just not going to help you on that one.
CAFFERTY: No, I'm not going there.
O'BRIEN: OK. Good.
CAFFERTY: I just wanted to go up to the edge and see if you knew what was over there.
HEMMER: Oh, yes, we do.
O'BRIEN: That we do.
Thanks, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Visible for miles.
O'BRIEN: Headlines now.
Heidi sitting in for us this morning -- good morning.
HEMMER: Good morning.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
And good morning to you, everybody.
Now in the news this morning, President Bush getting ready to take part in a roundtable discussion with young German leaders in the next half hour. We're going to bring that to you live when it happens.
Earlier, the president gave a toast with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder after wrapping up a news conference.
President Bush said his current trip to Germany is aimed at putting behind past disagreements and moving forward for the good of mankind. A U.S. citizen has been charged with conspiracy and involvement in a possible plot to assassinate President Bush. Ahmed Abu Ali appeared yesterday in district court in Alexandria, Virginia. He spent the last 20 months in custody in Saudi Arabia. Abu Ali is charged with providing material support and resources to al Qaeda. He plans to plead not guilty on all charges.
The death toll rising in Iran as emergency crews pull more bodies from the rubble following a powerful earthquake there. More than 400 people are now dead after the 6.4 quake shook some 40 villages in the southeastern part of the country yesterday. Iranian officials say bad weather is getting in the way of rescue and recovery efforts.
And concerns of lax security at San Francisco International Airport. A former employee is suing the company in charge of airport safety, citing numerous security lapses, including failure to detect weapons and allowing unchecked passengers to board flights. The company, Covenant Aviation Security, calls the claims unsubstantiated and says they come from a disgruntled employee. The TSA has launched its own investigation on that -- back to you.
HEMMER: Thank you, Heidi.
We're going to stay in California now, the southern part of the state.
Waking up today to yet another in a string of destructive storms. One of the hardest hit areas is Highland Park, California.
Chris Lawrence is there this morning with the latest on the damage -- Chris, good morning.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bill, well, this is the last thing anybody wanted to see here this morning. We all knew it was coming back, but the rain has started in the last few minutes here. We got a little bit of a break this morning where we kind of cleared out for a few hours, but now the rain is starting to come down again.
You can see behind me just what this rain does. This ground and some of the slopes so saturated with water that even just a little bit of rain is pushing that mud down the hill and causing a lot of instability in the ground.
You can see this couple's home right here just literally took out about 20 feet of their backyard, just sent it right down the mountain there over the last day. You can see how the gate there is just hanging off. And that ground went clear back another 20 feet from there, just the power of some of that mud when the ground starts to give way.
Now, of course, the family here, everybody was OK. The mother, the father, the kids, everybody OK. But in all, in some of these storms, six people, at least six people have died due to the bad weather.
So that kind of puts some of this damage to the property in some sort of perspective.
As we take a wider look around the area, we can tell you that we've had about six straight days now of rain. It's the third wettest season in history and we've seen in some areas of Los Angeles County more than double the amount of rain that they normally get during this time of year. It's flooded roads and, in fact, even worse, at some times -- at some roads we've seen massive holes where the ground simply gave way.
In other parts of the area, West Hollywood, for example, we're seeing a tremendous amount of damage to some of the homes there. And what we're hearing from some of the firefighters, they're telling us that it's not even safe to really walk around some of these properties. As they are inspecting them, they're seeing chunks of mud still sliding away. Some properties have been yellow tagged, which means the firefighters will allow the family to come back in and maybe grab some stuff, get it out. Other homes, like the one we're standing in right now, have been red-tagged, meaning the ground is so unstable that it's just too dangerous for the family to stay here. Those families have been asked to evacuate the area. Again, right here in this neighborhood alone, four homes have already been red-tagged -- Bill.
HEMMER: They do not need more rain, that's for certain.
Chris Lawrence, thanks, there, live in southern California.
What is in the forecast?
Here's Chad Myers looking at that -- Chad, what are you seeing?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, we're actually looking right at his neighborhood here. The next Rad radar circulating around, the upper level low. It's right very close to Long Beach now. You can see the rain is actually moving in the wrong direction. The rain moving this way here, and actually moving from the west to east. So the circulation of this storm is right now right over Los Angeles proper.
And here, from Los Angeles up to Glendale, Chris is right there, right where that rain is now coming back in. You'll notice it's coming back in from the east and there are some yellows and some reds and some oranges in here. There's an awful lot of rain still to come before it moves out tonight. And it will move out tonight. Notice some very heavy rainfall down along Long Beach, Huntington Beach and the like.
When we get back, though, from Los Angeles here, this is what Chris was talking about. The rainy season officially starts somewhere in October, when the first rains start. And then it ends in March, when there's just no more rain and the jet stream moves away.
Look at where we are here. Here's the 2004-2005 season so far. Since October, almost 34 inches of rainfall and the record, set back in 1884, was 38. We've had more rain here, obviously here -- look how long ago these numbers are. It's 115 years since we've had this much rainfall in Los Angeles proper and it's just still coming down.
And there's another storm coming in for next Wednesday and Thursday that could make just as much as this last one did.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: In Highland Park, California, some families have been forced to evacuate their homes, as you heard just moments ago.
One family, Patricia and Robert Prole. They left their home early Tuesday morning after the hillside beneath their property began to crumble away.
They join us from Highland Park this morning.
Patricia, Robert, thanks for being with us.
I hope you guys can hear me.
I know the weather conditions are not the greatest, so thanks for standing by.
Patricia, let's start with you.
I know that you heard the noise, really, before you saw the damage.
What did it sound like?
PATRICIA PROLE, HOME THREATENED IN MUD SLIDES: It sounded, it sounded almost like an earthquake -- thunder rumbling low.
ROBERT PROLE, HOME THREATENED IN MUD SLIDES: The whole house just shook.
R. PROLE: The whole house just shook.
P. PROLE: And the house just shook.
R. PROLE: And the whole back of the house shook.
P. PROLE: We jumped out of bed.
O'BRIEN: And when you jumped out of bed, Patricia, then, and Robert, too, what did you see?
P. PROLE: Well, I wasn't sure if it was thunder, because it had been thundering. And we ran down the hall. We noticed that the house was making a lot of noises, a lot of creaking and settling noises.
R. PROLE: And the dog was going absolutely crazy, so...
P. PROLE: Yes. And we could smell this horrible smell...
R. PROLE: The smell of the...
P. PROLE: ... of wet earth. And it was really powerful and trees, almost. And we thought oh, you know, we had a landslide.
R. PROLE: Yes, and we came outside because obviously it was 1:00 in the morning. So it was very dark out here, like it is now. And my wife ran out to the backyard to see what was going on. And we used to have quite a lot of shrubbery and trees back here. And we just suddenly realized there was nothing there. It was all gone. You could just see just like an abyss.
P. PROLE: It was probably a good 50 feet gone.
R. PROLE: And we just kind of...
O'BRIEN: It must have been just terrifying to see how close it was really coming to your home.
P. PROLE: It was absolutely terrifying.
O'BRIEN: I know that you grabbed the kids...
P. PROLE: It was so scary.
O'BRIEN: ... and you got your stuff together.
R. PROLE: Yes, we...
P. PROLE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: What did you take in the moments before you hopped into your vehicle besides the children?
P. PROLE: The kids' clothes.
R. PROLE: The kids -- I think we managed to pack some clothes. I really want to say that the Los Angeles Fire Department really helped us out.
P. PROLE: They were awesome. They came in here. I called 911. The Fire Department were here and they helped us load up the kids. They helped us pack.
R. PROLE: They got everything.
P. PROLE: They grabbed pictures. They did everything. They have been absolutely amazing.
R. PROLE: We had such a short amount of time. We maybe had 20 minutes. I mean literally like you think, when people say you've got 20 minutes to get out of your house, I mean we got out a safe with the papers that we have in it. We grabbed some pictures off the wall of our kids, the pets, the dog, the cat, my goldfish in my boy's bedroom. And we -- and some clothes. And we just, we left. We just stood outside and just, that was it. We came back yesterday morning and it looks -- my, I think at this point the resignation that we're probably going to lose our house is starting to set in.
O'BRIEN: How does it look, because it's been red-tagged? R. PROLE: It's...
O'BRIEN: And as we've heard, red-tagging means it is unfit to live in. Give me a sense of how it's looking to you.
R. PROLE: Yes. There's a...
P. PROLE: It's got cracks...
R. PROLE: We came yesterday with building safety. The mayor, Antonio via DeLarosa (ph), the councilman here, were really great. They came up and Antonio got some people here immediately to help us out.
We went into the house and there's some pretty substantial cracks running through the center of our house, from the bedroom all the way down the hallway. And the floor is starting to separate. There's big cracks in the front. Basically, there's a huge crack that runs the length of the backyard and you can see the pool is obviously, you know, we swam in that once. I mean the pool is going to be gone probably in the next hour or two. It's moving as we stand here and we're obviously not feeling too safe right now.
O'BRIEN: It's going to slide down.
R. PROLE: And it's...
O'BRIEN: How are the kids doing? I mean you mentioned you grabbed your son's goldfish.
R. PROLE: Well, it's...
O'BRIEN: How are they holding up?
R. PROLE: Well, it's, you know...
P. PROLE: They're not doing too well.
R. PROLE: They're young. My girl is five. Matilda is only five and Alex is nine. And I think he kind of understands that, you know, what's kind of going on. He's very, very freaked out. He's trying to be strong, but, I mean, he keeps seeing us kind of, you know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE). It's not so easy to keep it together at the moment. And, you know, we have good family. And we have some good people around us. And we've had a lot of help from some great friends and we'll be OK.
O'BRIEN: We certainly hope so. Gosh, it's terrible to have to see. And these pictures are just unbelievable.
Patricia and Robert, thank you for talking to us.
I know that the area is not so stable, so, you know what? I'm going to wrap up so you guys can head out of there.
P. PROLE: Yes. R. PROLE: Yes...
O'BRIEN: And good luck to you, not only in the next couple of days...
P. PROLE: Thank you.
R. PROLE: Thanks.
O'BRIEN: ... but in the months ahead, as well. And your children, too.
R. PROLE: Thank you very much.
O'BRIEN: Patricia and Robert Prole joining us this meanwhile from Highland Park in California.
R. PROLE: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Wow, what devastation there.
HEMMER: This is a tough, tough time. From California now, let's move to the State of Ohio. The second of two trials in a brutal restaurant beating is scheduled now for mid-March. Court released surveillance videotape shows what happened here. The man being chewed out is Joseph Scarpino. He made a comment about the woman cutting in line. Then her boyfriend, Mark Jones, steps in. He's 6'4," 295 pounds. He starts pummeling Scarpino in front of several customers. Last week, Jones was sentenced to four years in prison for that incident, which happened last summer. Scarpino suffered a broken eye socket, a broken nose, a chipped tooth and a concussion. Wow!
Barry Bonds is talking. In fact, he's talking a lot, but not answering every question. Yesterday, Bonds arrived for spring training in Scottsdale, Arizona. The seven time National League MVP was feisty, avoiding inquiries about his role in baseball's steroid scandal. He was also asked whether or not he believes steroids is a form of cheating.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARRY BONDS, SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS: I don't know what cheating is. I don't think -- I don't know if cheating is going to, if steroids are going to help you in baseball. I just don't believe it. I don't believe steroids can help you, eye-hand coordination, technically hit a baseball. I just don't believe it. And that's just my opinion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Bonds then went on the scold the media and the reporters gathered there for what he describes as its relentless coverage of the issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BONDS: I'm an adult and I take responsibility for what I do. But you know what? I'm not going to allow you guys to ruin my joy.
This is the only business that allows you guys in our office to begin with. You can't just go to Bank of America and walk in the office and start interviewing employees. This is a sports world. What for?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Barry Bonds also says he does not put much stake in a new tell-all book from Jose Canseco, saying that Canseco is just out to "make a buck." A feisty press conference, indeed. Some say it was the most bizarre they've ever attended, actually, in baseball.
O'BRIEN: Yes, it was kind of odd.
HEMMER: A long season for baseball.
O'BRIEN: Well, here's a question for you -- is the FAA sacrificing safety to save money? If some officials have their way, some airplanes could be landing at an airport near you without anyone in air traffic control.
HEMMER: Also in a moment here, a suspect in the killing of a pregnant woman and her 7-year-old son. Police now piecing together the motive behind the crime.
O'BRIEN: And the president sharing his vision of liberty with European leaders. What are they saying? And are they buying what he's selling? Kamber and May is up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Let's talk about Europe now.
And President Bush meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder today. And earlier in the week, it was with the French president, Jacques Chirac. And so far on this trip, there has been both real agreement and agreement to disagree. But tomorrow the president meets with Russia's Vladimir Putin. Could that be the biggest meeting of this entire trip?
Democratic consultant Victor Kamber is with us this morning.
Vic, good morning to you.
VICTOR KAMBER, CARMEN COMMUNICATIONS, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: Good morning.
HEMMER: Former RNC Communications Director Cliff May also back in D.C.
Cliff, good morning to you, as well.
CLIFFORD MAY, FORMER RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, FOUNDATION FOR THE DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: Good morning. HEMMER: Guys, I don't get it. You know, you're reading through all these articles about the trip in Europe so far. The head of NATO says it was an excellent summit among 26 countries. The head of the E.U. says Europe and America have reconnected.
Is it that simple, Victor?
KAMBER: Well, I think the fence mending that's taking place is positive. I think that the animosities that had built, the lack of the kind of foreign policy that the president engaged in in the first four years left many people scratching their heads. I think this reach out by the president -- and I'm not sure he's apologizing, but just the fact he's reaching out, he's connecting, he's talking, he's asking for help, he's sharing ideas, I think has to be a positive.
HEMMER: But did you expect Jacques Chirac to say, and I will quote him now, "America is more realistic, it is progress." That's from the French.
What happened in 2003 and 2004 and the disagreements there?
Cliff? MAY: I'll tell you what happened. And what happened was the end of January, something we debated on this show many times, you had elections that took place in Iraq. And the Europeans thought oh, this is going to be a lot of silliness. And then they saw what everybody else in the world saw -- brave Iraqis by the millions coming out and risking their lives to vote, putting their hand in the ink and saying I don't care if the terrorists know, I wanted to vote today. I think that had an impact psychologically.
I also think the Europeans realize Bush is going to be here for four more years, we've got to work with him.
So I think for all those reasons, he did not apologize. He said look, we want to build freedom and spread freedom and we want your help to do it. Is that so much to ask?
The Europeans kind of think that's wildly idealistic. On the other hand, they may be willing to help a little bit, at least train judges and cops.
HEMMER: You mentioned Iraq in there. Let's talk about Iran.
Here's what the president said when asked about it yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. Having said that, all options are on the table.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Some say he was double speaking there, Victor. But his point is that Iraq had a 10-year track record of political negotiations and with Iran it's just getting started. Is this being handled the way that you expected?
KAMBER: Well, I hope it is. I mean, again, we don't know what's going on in private sessions. But if that's the statement he made, that's what the world wants to hear, is that we're not about to go open up another front, go to war, or if we are, we're not about to do it without the backing of the rest of the world.
I think his reach out to Germany, to France, to the rest of the world, is, as we move forward, to bring democracy to this world, we want to do it hand in hand with our partners. MAY: Here's the secret. In terms of Iran, you've got to play good cop/bad cop. While the Europeans are in there negotiating with the Iranians, they've got to say those crazy Americans, I don't know what they might do, so let's see if we can come to some terms here.
HEMMER: Let's talk about Russia tomorrow.
Cliff, you think this is the most critical meeting to date.
Why? MAY: A lot of reasons. The most important is this, is Vladimir Putin, the president, says he doesn't think the Iranian mullahs are trying to build nuclear weapons. So he's going to give them the technology and the fuel to build nuclear weapons. That is something that is just terrible for us, for the world --
HEMMER: But do you think Vladimir Putin will concede to the American wishes? MAY: I have no idea. Putin, everything Putin is doing is very, it seems to me, to be very dangerous. He's retreated from democracy in terms of the press in Russia that he's now shackled, the judiciary. Russia is going backwards. And he is trying to reestablish the kind of relationships that the old Soviet Union used to have in places like Syria. He's selling them anti-aircraft missiles. He's doing a lot over very bad things. And I think that Bush needs to have a very tough conversation with him.
HEMMER: Victor, you remember the comments that came out of Crawford, Texas when the president said he saw into his soul, meaning Vladimir Putin.
KAMBER: And he saw into his eyes and saw his heart and he believes him to be a man of integrity and honor. I have no idea what's changed. Maybe he's wearing contacts and his eye colors have changed. I have no idea what's going on. Obviously the president has a responsibility to call President Putin on those issues where there's strong disagreement. We shouldn't, however, again, open up another front on our own. We should challenge Russia where we think that there is going to be problems that will not help world peace, but I think we should look more for our mutual solutions to problems, not look to create another front out there.
HEMMER: Vladimir Putin, that meeting happens tomorrow, on Thursday.
Thank you, gentlemen.
We'll speak again.
Nice to see you both.
KAMBER: Thank you MAY: Thanks.
HEMMER: Clifford May, thanks.
O'BRIEN: Any moment now, we're expecting to hear from President Bush. He's attending a roundtable this morning with about 30 young business leaders in Germany. He is expected to make some remarks, as well. We'll bring it to you live as soon as it happens.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back.
Here's Jack, Question of the Day.
CAFFERTY: The Question of the Day, the Supreme Court of the United States agreeing to take up the issue of doctor-assisted suicide. The Bush administration wants to block Oregon's Death With Dignity Act, which allows physicians to prescribe drugs to help terminally ill people commit suicide. The Justice Department argues that prescribing a lethal drug for purposes of suicide is not a legitimate medical purpose under U.S. drug laws.
The question is should doctors, should doctor-assisted suicide be legal?
P.J. in Tacoma, Washington: "Please make it clear that you cannot just move to Oregon and pick up the phone. It requires residency and two doctors to agree that there is no hope, no cure and no possible improvement or remission before the decision is made."
Kerrie in Minnesota writes: "I can sympathize with those suffering from terminal illness. My mother passed away after a long battle a colon cancer. However, as a Christian, I believe god gives life and he is the only one that should be able to take it away."
Tony in Illinois writes: "Well, I suppose it would leave a patient less likely to sue for malpractice."
And John writes from Wisconsin: "Physician assisted suicide? Is that what the Democrats have done by choosing Governor Dean to lead the DNC?
O'BRIEN: Whoa!
HEMMER: It was a serious question, wasn't it?
CAFFERTY: See, Howard Dean is a doctor, you see?
O'BRIEN: Again.
CAFFERTY: So I -- that's...
O'BRIEN: We get the joke.
HEMMER: What do you say, 20, 25 in the State of Oregon...
O'BRIEN: Fewer than 25 every year.
HEMMER: ... since this law was enacted?
CAFFERTY: Fewer than 25...
HEMMER: It goes back about eight years, then?
CAFFERTY: Fewer than 25 per year.
HEMMER: Right. So over a period of seven or eight years, you're talking about 150, 175?
CAFFERTY: Yes.
Also, don't we use -- aren't drugs used for execution purposes when they do like lethal injection? Where does that come in?
HEMMER: When will the court decide on this?
CAFFERTY: They're going to hear the case in October.
"The Cafferty File" will be all over this.
HEMMER: All right.
We'll wait for that.
Thank you, Jack.
Once again, we're waiting to hear from the president. He is in Germany again today. And as soon as his remarks begin at that roundtable in Mainz, Germany, we'll bring it to you live.
Meanwhile, one of the big issues for the president during this trip is Russia and what Russia and some see as a rollback of democracy there. When push comes to shove, will Moscow fall in line? We'll talk to Jamie Rubin about that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired February 23, 2005 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: California on a slippery slope. So many disasters from the rain, so much more rain still to come.
The president is meeting with a tough critic in Germany and finding a key area of agreement.
The Michael Jackson jury falling into place. It's happening faster than anyone expected. So, is the start of the pop star's trial now in sight?
And a shocking case of restaurant rage. Look at that. The high price for cutting in line on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody.
Not a restaurant we want to eat at today, huh? We'll get to that story in a moment.
Also, back to California, too. Folks there hoped the rain would stop today and it might stop today, but not before it rains a whole lot more. Reports of damage still coming in. We'll talk to one couple who almost lost their home as they were sleeping inside of it. Some believe they may get sunshine on Thursday. We'll check it out in a few moments here.
O'BRIEN: Also, how comfortable would you feel landing at an airport if you knew there were no air traffic controllers in the tower? There's a new plan to do just that for a couple of airports during off hours. Airport managers obviously don't like it. Members of Congress don't like it. So just why does the FAA want to do it? We'll take a look at that.
HEMMER: All right, back to "The File" a bit later this hour.
Here's Jack with a preview -- good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Wednesday, "Things People Say," including a tattoo that could prove to be fatal, a 58-year-old Hollywood star on why she doesn't like facelifts and Chris Rock has some advice for Oscar winners when it comes to their acceptance speeches.
O'BRIEN: That's going to be good. CAFFERTY: Remember when he was at the Oscars he hosted where he was talking about it took two limos for Jennifer Lopez to arrive?
HEMMER: Wow!
CAFFERTY: I think it was the Oscars. Remember that?
HEMMER: He's going to make it fun Sunday night.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
O'BRIEN: No question.
CAFFERTY: One for Jennifer and then there was another one.
HEMMER: Yes. Yes.
O'BRIEN: Notice I'm just not going to help you on that one.
CAFFERTY: No, I'm not going there.
O'BRIEN: OK. Good.
CAFFERTY: I just wanted to go up to the edge and see if you knew what was over there.
HEMMER: Oh, yes, we do.
O'BRIEN: That we do.
Thanks, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Visible for miles.
O'BRIEN: Headlines now.
Heidi sitting in for us this morning -- good morning.
HEMMER: Good morning.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
And good morning to you, everybody.
Now in the news this morning, President Bush getting ready to take part in a roundtable discussion with young German leaders in the next half hour. We're going to bring that to you live when it happens.
Earlier, the president gave a toast with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder after wrapping up a news conference.
President Bush said his current trip to Germany is aimed at putting behind past disagreements and moving forward for the good of mankind. A U.S. citizen has been charged with conspiracy and involvement in a possible plot to assassinate President Bush. Ahmed Abu Ali appeared yesterday in district court in Alexandria, Virginia. He spent the last 20 months in custody in Saudi Arabia. Abu Ali is charged with providing material support and resources to al Qaeda. He plans to plead not guilty on all charges.
The death toll rising in Iran as emergency crews pull more bodies from the rubble following a powerful earthquake there. More than 400 people are now dead after the 6.4 quake shook some 40 villages in the southeastern part of the country yesterday. Iranian officials say bad weather is getting in the way of rescue and recovery efforts.
And concerns of lax security at San Francisco International Airport. A former employee is suing the company in charge of airport safety, citing numerous security lapses, including failure to detect weapons and allowing unchecked passengers to board flights. The company, Covenant Aviation Security, calls the claims unsubstantiated and says they come from a disgruntled employee. The TSA has launched its own investigation on that -- back to you.
HEMMER: Thank you, Heidi.
We're going to stay in California now, the southern part of the state.
Waking up today to yet another in a string of destructive storms. One of the hardest hit areas is Highland Park, California.
Chris Lawrence is there this morning with the latest on the damage -- Chris, good morning.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bill, well, this is the last thing anybody wanted to see here this morning. We all knew it was coming back, but the rain has started in the last few minutes here. We got a little bit of a break this morning where we kind of cleared out for a few hours, but now the rain is starting to come down again.
You can see behind me just what this rain does. This ground and some of the slopes so saturated with water that even just a little bit of rain is pushing that mud down the hill and causing a lot of instability in the ground.
You can see this couple's home right here just literally took out about 20 feet of their backyard, just sent it right down the mountain there over the last day. You can see how the gate there is just hanging off. And that ground went clear back another 20 feet from there, just the power of some of that mud when the ground starts to give way.
Now, of course, the family here, everybody was OK. The mother, the father, the kids, everybody OK. But in all, in some of these storms, six people, at least six people have died due to the bad weather.
So that kind of puts some of this damage to the property in some sort of perspective.
As we take a wider look around the area, we can tell you that we've had about six straight days now of rain. It's the third wettest season in history and we've seen in some areas of Los Angeles County more than double the amount of rain that they normally get during this time of year. It's flooded roads and, in fact, even worse, at some times -- at some roads we've seen massive holes where the ground simply gave way.
In other parts of the area, West Hollywood, for example, we're seeing a tremendous amount of damage to some of the homes there. And what we're hearing from some of the firefighters, they're telling us that it's not even safe to really walk around some of these properties. As they are inspecting them, they're seeing chunks of mud still sliding away. Some properties have been yellow tagged, which means the firefighters will allow the family to come back in and maybe grab some stuff, get it out. Other homes, like the one we're standing in right now, have been red-tagged, meaning the ground is so unstable that it's just too dangerous for the family to stay here. Those families have been asked to evacuate the area. Again, right here in this neighborhood alone, four homes have already been red-tagged -- Bill.
HEMMER: They do not need more rain, that's for certain.
Chris Lawrence, thanks, there, live in southern California.
What is in the forecast?
Here's Chad Myers looking at that -- Chad, what are you seeing?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, we're actually looking right at his neighborhood here. The next Rad radar circulating around, the upper level low. It's right very close to Long Beach now. You can see the rain is actually moving in the wrong direction. The rain moving this way here, and actually moving from the west to east. So the circulation of this storm is right now right over Los Angeles proper.
And here, from Los Angeles up to Glendale, Chris is right there, right where that rain is now coming back in. You'll notice it's coming back in from the east and there are some yellows and some reds and some oranges in here. There's an awful lot of rain still to come before it moves out tonight. And it will move out tonight. Notice some very heavy rainfall down along Long Beach, Huntington Beach and the like.
When we get back, though, from Los Angeles here, this is what Chris was talking about. The rainy season officially starts somewhere in October, when the first rains start. And then it ends in March, when there's just no more rain and the jet stream moves away.
Look at where we are here. Here's the 2004-2005 season so far. Since October, almost 34 inches of rainfall and the record, set back in 1884, was 38. We've had more rain here, obviously here -- look how long ago these numbers are. It's 115 years since we've had this much rainfall in Los Angeles proper and it's just still coming down.
And there's another storm coming in for next Wednesday and Thursday that could make just as much as this last one did.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: In Highland Park, California, some families have been forced to evacuate their homes, as you heard just moments ago.
One family, Patricia and Robert Prole. They left their home early Tuesday morning after the hillside beneath their property began to crumble away.
They join us from Highland Park this morning.
Patricia, Robert, thanks for being with us.
I hope you guys can hear me.
I know the weather conditions are not the greatest, so thanks for standing by.
Patricia, let's start with you.
I know that you heard the noise, really, before you saw the damage.
What did it sound like?
PATRICIA PROLE, HOME THREATENED IN MUD SLIDES: It sounded, it sounded almost like an earthquake -- thunder rumbling low.
ROBERT PROLE, HOME THREATENED IN MUD SLIDES: The whole house just shook.
R. PROLE: The whole house just shook.
P. PROLE: And the house just shook.
R. PROLE: And the whole back of the house shook.
P. PROLE: We jumped out of bed.
O'BRIEN: And when you jumped out of bed, Patricia, then, and Robert, too, what did you see?
P. PROLE: Well, I wasn't sure if it was thunder, because it had been thundering. And we ran down the hall. We noticed that the house was making a lot of noises, a lot of creaking and settling noises.
R. PROLE: And the dog was going absolutely crazy, so...
P. PROLE: Yes. And we could smell this horrible smell...
R. PROLE: The smell of the...
P. PROLE: ... of wet earth. And it was really powerful and trees, almost. And we thought oh, you know, we had a landslide.
R. PROLE: Yes, and we came outside because obviously it was 1:00 in the morning. So it was very dark out here, like it is now. And my wife ran out to the backyard to see what was going on. And we used to have quite a lot of shrubbery and trees back here. And we just suddenly realized there was nothing there. It was all gone. You could just see just like an abyss.
P. PROLE: It was probably a good 50 feet gone.
R. PROLE: And we just kind of...
O'BRIEN: It must have been just terrifying to see how close it was really coming to your home.
P. PROLE: It was absolutely terrifying.
O'BRIEN: I know that you grabbed the kids...
P. PROLE: It was so scary.
O'BRIEN: ... and you got your stuff together.
R. PROLE: Yes, we...
P. PROLE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: What did you take in the moments before you hopped into your vehicle besides the children?
P. PROLE: The kids' clothes.
R. PROLE: The kids -- I think we managed to pack some clothes. I really want to say that the Los Angeles Fire Department really helped us out.
P. PROLE: They were awesome. They came in here. I called 911. The Fire Department were here and they helped us load up the kids. They helped us pack.
R. PROLE: They got everything.
P. PROLE: They grabbed pictures. They did everything. They have been absolutely amazing.
R. PROLE: We had such a short amount of time. We maybe had 20 minutes. I mean literally like you think, when people say you've got 20 minutes to get out of your house, I mean we got out a safe with the papers that we have in it. We grabbed some pictures off the wall of our kids, the pets, the dog, the cat, my goldfish in my boy's bedroom. And we -- and some clothes. And we just, we left. We just stood outside and just, that was it. We came back yesterday morning and it looks -- my, I think at this point the resignation that we're probably going to lose our house is starting to set in.
O'BRIEN: How does it look, because it's been red-tagged? R. PROLE: It's...
O'BRIEN: And as we've heard, red-tagging means it is unfit to live in. Give me a sense of how it's looking to you.
R. PROLE: Yes. There's a...
P. PROLE: It's got cracks...
R. PROLE: We came yesterday with building safety. The mayor, Antonio via DeLarosa (ph), the councilman here, were really great. They came up and Antonio got some people here immediately to help us out.
We went into the house and there's some pretty substantial cracks running through the center of our house, from the bedroom all the way down the hallway. And the floor is starting to separate. There's big cracks in the front. Basically, there's a huge crack that runs the length of the backyard and you can see the pool is obviously, you know, we swam in that once. I mean the pool is going to be gone probably in the next hour or two. It's moving as we stand here and we're obviously not feeling too safe right now.
O'BRIEN: It's going to slide down.
R. PROLE: And it's...
O'BRIEN: How are the kids doing? I mean you mentioned you grabbed your son's goldfish.
R. PROLE: Well, it's...
O'BRIEN: How are they holding up?
R. PROLE: Well, it's, you know...
P. PROLE: They're not doing too well.
R. PROLE: They're young. My girl is five. Matilda is only five and Alex is nine. And I think he kind of understands that, you know, what's kind of going on. He's very, very freaked out. He's trying to be strong, but, I mean, he keeps seeing us kind of, you know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE). It's not so easy to keep it together at the moment. And, you know, we have good family. And we have some good people around us. And we've had a lot of help from some great friends and we'll be OK.
O'BRIEN: We certainly hope so. Gosh, it's terrible to have to see. And these pictures are just unbelievable.
Patricia and Robert, thank you for talking to us.
I know that the area is not so stable, so, you know what? I'm going to wrap up so you guys can head out of there.
P. PROLE: Yes. R. PROLE: Yes...
O'BRIEN: And good luck to you, not only in the next couple of days...
P. PROLE: Thank you.
R. PROLE: Thanks.
O'BRIEN: ... but in the months ahead, as well. And your children, too.
R. PROLE: Thank you very much.
O'BRIEN: Patricia and Robert Prole joining us this meanwhile from Highland Park in California.
R. PROLE: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Wow, what devastation there.
HEMMER: This is a tough, tough time. From California now, let's move to the State of Ohio. The second of two trials in a brutal restaurant beating is scheduled now for mid-March. Court released surveillance videotape shows what happened here. The man being chewed out is Joseph Scarpino. He made a comment about the woman cutting in line. Then her boyfriend, Mark Jones, steps in. He's 6'4," 295 pounds. He starts pummeling Scarpino in front of several customers. Last week, Jones was sentenced to four years in prison for that incident, which happened last summer. Scarpino suffered a broken eye socket, a broken nose, a chipped tooth and a concussion. Wow!
Barry Bonds is talking. In fact, he's talking a lot, but not answering every question. Yesterday, Bonds arrived for spring training in Scottsdale, Arizona. The seven time National League MVP was feisty, avoiding inquiries about his role in baseball's steroid scandal. He was also asked whether or not he believes steroids is a form of cheating.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARRY BONDS, SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS: I don't know what cheating is. I don't think -- I don't know if cheating is going to, if steroids are going to help you in baseball. I just don't believe it. I don't believe steroids can help you, eye-hand coordination, technically hit a baseball. I just don't believe it. And that's just my opinion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Bonds then went on the scold the media and the reporters gathered there for what he describes as its relentless coverage of the issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BONDS: I'm an adult and I take responsibility for what I do. But you know what? I'm not going to allow you guys to ruin my joy.
This is the only business that allows you guys in our office to begin with. You can't just go to Bank of America and walk in the office and start interviewing employees. This is a sports world. What for?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Barry Bonds also says he does not put much stake in a new tell-all book from Jose Canseco, saying that Canseco is just out to "make a buck." A feisty press conference, indeed. Some say it was the most bizarre they've ever attended, actually, in baseball.
O'BRIEN: Yes, it was kind of odd.
HEMMER: A long season for baseball.
O'BRIEN: Well, here's a question for you -- is the FAA sacrificing safety to save money? If some officials have their way, some airplanes could be landing at an airport near you without anyone in air traffic control.
HEMMER: Also in a moment here, a suspect in the killing of a pregnant woman and her 7-year-old son. Police now piecing together the motive behind the crime.
O'BRIEN: And the president sharing his vision of liberty with European leaders. What are they saying? And are they buying what he's selling? Kamber and May is up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Let's talk about Europe now.
And President Bush meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder today. And earlier in the week, it was with the French president, Jacques Chirac. And so far on this trip, there has been both real agreement and agreement to disagree. But tomorrow the president meets with Russia's Vladimir Putin. Could that be the biggest meeting of this entire trip?
Democratic consultant Victor Kamber is with us this morning.
Vic, good morning to you.
VICTOR KAMBER, CARMEN COMMUNICATIONS, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: Good morning.
HEMMER: Former RNC Communications Director Cliff May also back in D.C.
Cliff, good morning to you, as well.
CLIFFORD MAY, FORMER RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, FOUNDATION FOR THE DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: Good morning. HEMMER: Guys, I don't get it. You know, you're reading through all these articles about the trip in Europe so far. The head of NATO says it was an excellent summit among 26 countries. The head of the E.U. says Europe and America have reconnected.
Is it that simple, Victor?
KAMBER: Well, I think the fence mending that's taking place is positive. I think that the animosities that had built, the lack of the kind of foreign policy that the president engaged in in the first four years left many people scratching their heads. I think this reach out by the president -- and I'm not sure he's apologizing, but just the fact he's reaching out, he's connecting, he's talking, he's asking for help, he's sharing ideas, I think has to be a positive.
HEMMER: But did you expect Jacques Chirac to say, and I will quote him now, "America is more realistic, it is progress." That's from the French.
What happened in 2003 and 2004 and the disagreements there?
Cliff? MAY: I'll tell you what happened. And what happened was the end of January, something we debated on this show many times, you had elections that took place in Iraq. And the Europeans thought oh, this is going to be a lot of silliness. And then they saw what everybody else in the world saw -- brave Iraqis by the millions coming out and risking their lives to vote, putting their hand in the ink and saying I don't care if the terrorists know, I wanted to vote today. I think that had an impact psychologically.
I also think the Europeans realize Bush is going to be here for four more years, we've got to work with him.
So I think for all those reasons, he did not apologize. He said look, we want to build freedom and spread freedom and we want your help to do it. Is that so much to ask?
The Europeans kind of think that's wildly idealistic. On the other hand, they may be willing to help a little bit, at least train judges and cops.
HEMMER: You mentioned Iraq in there. Let's talk about Iran.
Here's what the president said when asked about it yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. Having said that, all options are on the table.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Some say he was double speaking there, Victor. But his point is that Iraq had a 10-year track record of political negotiations and with Iran it's just getting started. Is this being handled the way that you expected?
KAMBER: Well, I hope it is. I mean, again, we don't know what's going on in private sessions. But if that's the statement he made, that's what the world wants to hear, is that we're not about to go open up another front, go to war, or if we are, we're not about to do it without the backing of the rest of the world.
I think his reach out to Germany, to France, to the rest of the world, is, as we move forward, to bring democracy to this world, we want to do it hand in hand with our partners. MAY: Here's the secret. In terms of Iran, you've got to play good cop/bad cop. While the Europeans are in there negotiating with the Iranians, they've got to say those crazy Americans, I don't know what they might do, so let's see if we can come to some terms here.
HEMMER: Let's talk about Russia tomorrow.
Cliff, you think this is the most critical meeting to date.
Why? MAY: A lot of reasons. The most important is this, is Vladimir Putin, the president, says he doesn't think the Iranian mullahs are trying to build nuclear weapons. So he's going to give them the technology and the fuel to build nuclear weapons. That is something that is just terrible for us, for the world --
HEMMER: But do you think Vladimir Putin will concede to the American wishes? MAY: I have no idea. Putin, everything Putin is doing is very, it seems to me, to be very dangerous. He's retreated from democracy in terms of the press in Russia that he's now shackled, the judiciary. Russia is going backwards. And he is trying to reestablish the kind of relationships that the old Soviet Union used to have in places like Syria. He's selling them anti-aircraft missiles. He's doing a lot over very bad things. And I think that Bush needs to have a very tough conversation with him.
HEMMER: Victor, you remember the comments that came out of Crawford, Texas when the president said he saw into his soul, meaning Vladimir Putin.
KAMBER: And he saw into his eyes and saw his heart and he believes him to be a man of integrity and honor. I have no idea what's changed. Maybe he's wearing contacts and his eye colors have changed. I have no idea what's going on. Obviously the president has a responsibility to call President Putin on those issues where there's strong disagreement. We shouldn't, however, again, open up another front on our own. We should challenge Russia where we think that there is going to be problems that will not help world peace, but I think we should look more for our mutual solutions to problems, not look to create another front out there.
HEMMER: Vladimir Putin, that meeting happens tomorrow, on Thursday.
Thank you, gentlemen.
We'll speak again.
Nice to see you both.
KAMBER: Thank you MAY: Thanks.
HEMMER: Clifford May, thanks.
O'BRIEN: Any moment now, we're expecting to hear from President Bush. He's attending a roundtable this morning with about 30 young business leaders in Germany. He is expected to make some remarks, as well. We'll bring it to you live as soon as it happens.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back.
Here's Jack, Question of the Day.
CAFFERTY: The Question of the Day, the Supreme Court of the United States agreeing to take up the issue of doctor-assisted suicide. The Bush administration wants to block Oregon's Death With Dignity Act, which allows physicians to prescribe drugs to help terminally ill people commit suicide. The Justice Department argues that prescribing a lethal drug for purposes of suicide is not a legitimate medical purpose under U.S. drug laws.
The question is should doctors, should doctor-assisted suicide be legal?
P.J. in Tacoma, Washington: "Please make it clear that you cannot just move to Oregon and pick up the phone. It requires residency and two doctors to agree that there is no hope, no cure and no possible improvement or remission before the decision is made."
Kerrie in Minnesota writes: "I can sympathize with those suffering from terminal illness. My mother passed away after a long battle a colon cancer. However, as a Christian, I believe god gives life and he is the only one that should be able to take it away."
Tony in Illinois writes: "Well, I suppose it would leave a patient less likely to sue for malpractice."
And John writes from Wisconsin: "Physician assisted suicide? Is that what the Democrats have done by choosing Governor Dean to lead the DNC?
O'BRIEN: Whoa!
HEMMER: It was a serious question, wasn't it?
CAFFERTY: See, Howard Dean is a doctor, you see?
O'BRIEN: Again.
CAFFERTY: So I -- that's...
O'BRIEN: We get the joke.
HEMMER: What do you say, 20, 25 in the State of Oregon...
O'BRIEN: Fewer than 25 every year.
HEMMER: ... since this law was enacted?
CAFFERTY: Fewer than 25...
HEMMER: It goes back about eight years, then?
CAFFERTY: Fewer than 25 per year.
HEMMER: Right. So over a period of seven or eight years, you're talking about 150, 175?
CAFFERTY: Yes.
Also, don't we use -- aren't drugs used for execution purposes when they do like lethal injection? Where does that come in?
HEMMER: When will the court decide on this?
CAFFERTY: They're going to hear the case in October.
"The Cafferty File" will be all over this.
HEMMER: All right.
We'll wait for that.
Thank you, Jack.
Once again, we're waiting to hear from the president. He is in Germany again today. And as soon as his remarks begin at that roundtable in Mainz, Germany, we'll bring it to you live.
Meanwhile, one of the big issues for the president during this trip is Russia and what Russia and some see as a rollback of democracy there. When push comes to shove, will Moscow fall in line? We'll talk to Jamie Rubin about that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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