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American Morning

Supreme Court Pick; Hurricane Emily; Deadly Heat Wave

Aired July 19, 2005 - 08:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Strong indications this hour President Bush could name a Supreme Court nomination as early as today. We are, of course, live in Washington on this supreme speculation.
Keeping a close eye on Hurricane Emily, meanwhile. Getting stronger and heading toward Mexico. But the U.S. not out of the woods. A live report from the Texas coast ahead.

And blistering heat all across the U.S. Most of the country in the 90s. In some states, temperatures reaching well into the triple digits on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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

O'BRIEN: Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Carol Costello, in for Soledad today.

O'BRIEN: Busy morning. Mounting speculation in Washington this hour that President Bush is poised to announce a nominee for the Supreme Court. We're closely following the story, of course. Ed Henry on Capitol Hill, John King in Washington.

Ed, let's begin with you. Where are the signals coming from? And is it imminent?

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I can't hear him.

O'BRIEN: All right. We're going to go to John King. Apparently we've got some audio problems with Ed, obviously. Let's go to John King first.

John, what are you hearing?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I thought I was the only one who couldn't hear Ed there, Miles.

We are told that the president is very, very close, and we are told by a number of sources inside the White House and very close to the White House that the pick, the president's pick to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor could come as early as today. Now, the president will have some morning meetings today. He also has some time open on his schedule. One source very close to this process told me a short time ago that the president as of late last night had not told anyone he had made his pick, but that he said he was closing in very quickly. This source said the president needed a comfort level, that he reviewed all the rulings, he had reviewed the writings, the synopsis prepared by the White House counsel staff, and he wanted to have a face-to-face meeting with one, maybe two, finalists, and then make his decision. And again, this source telling us it could come as early as today.

Now, of course this is a high-stakes pick for the president, Miles. Justice O'Connor viewed as a swing vote on the court. There are millions and millions of dollars being waited to be spent, groups waiting to spend millions and millions of dollars of a fight on both sides.

It also comes at a time, let's be honest, the president struggling a bit politically. The Iraq war is unpopular. The Social Security initiative is treading water at best right now. There's all these questions about the CIA leak investigation.

So this is a major moment for any president. The first Supreme Court for this president, and because of all those other political factors, this is a huge moment for this president. And we are told that pick could come as early as today, and I was told by a source this morning it will come within the next 72 hours.

O'BRIEN: All right. And just to clarify, he's going to have two more meetings today, or is the pick going to be announced today, or both?

KING: Well, we don't know that. I was told the president would have meetings with at least one finalist, that he will not make a finalist without a face-to-face meeting. Now, could there have been a meeting late last night? Would there be a breakfast meeting this morning? That is what White House officials are being very calm -- very calmly quiet about telling us when the president tells them they can talk, they will.

But we do know the president has gone through an exhaustive volume of research. And this president just wants to have a comfort level, as President Clinton did in making his picks, as past presidents have done, have a face-to-face meeting, make sure he's comfortable with his pick, understanding the stakes.

Whoever this pick is will not only have a confirmation process that will dominate Washington for the next several weeks, perhaps even a few months, but assume that person is confirmed. They will take a seat on the court that has been a swing vote, a key vote on issues like abortion, on issues like the right to die, on issues like property rights, a major issue in the last court case.

So we talk a lot about second-term presidents and their legacy. This is a pick that will have a lot to do with this president's legacy.

O'BRIEN: To say the least. Ed Henry, we have established communication with you once again. Very telling meeting last night in Washington. Senator Arlen Specter went to the White House, and that might have been pretty crucial.

HENRY: Oh, absolutely. He was actually supposed to be at a softball game, believe it or not, on the National Mall with his Senate staff. Instead, as you mentioned, he got called over unexpectedly last night to the White House to meet with the president and guess who? Karl Rove.

We actually got some pictures, as you can see, after the meeting. Senator Specter emerged with the White House deputy chief of staff, who's been in the news a lot lately on other matters, but now also involved heavily, it appears, in the Supreme Court process as well.

The Specter meeting is, of course, fueling even more speculation in addition to the reporting you just heard from John King that perhaps this nomination could in fact be imminent. And, in fact, Senator Specter himself indicated that something was coming soon when CNN producer Laura Bernardini caught up with him later in the night after the White House meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R), PENNSYLVANIA: Well, there are certainly no announcements that I'm going to make here on the softball field. And I'm not going to talk about a timeline either. I did not go to the White House incognito, so it was apparent that I was there. But I'm sure you'll understand that this is the sort of thing I can't talk about, at least this evening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now, Senator Specter has played a role in nine Supreme Court nomination fights already, including the contentious hearings over Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas. He told me yesterday that all of those were rock 'em sock 'em affairs in his mind. And I can tell you, he's already expecting as the Senate judiciary chairman, this one is going to be just as big -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Ed Henry, you've got a long day ahead. We will stay in touch -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Hurricane warnings up this morning along the south Texas coast as residents begin to evacuate inland. The Category 1 storm with 90 mile-per-hour winds is regaining strength in the Gulf of Mexico right now.

It's predicted to be a major hurricane when it reaches the Mexican coast tonight or early tomorrow. The hurricane warning extends from Port Mansfield, Texas, to La Cruz, Mexico.

Emily did considerable damage to the Yucatan coast on Monday. Some big hotels lost roofs. No deaths reported.

By this time tomorrow, heavy winds and drenching rains will be pounding southern Texas. That you can say for sure. Chris Lawrence is in a South Padre Island, Texas.

Chris, are residents evacuating?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some are, Carol. In fact, a judge has ordered people who live in an RV park right there along the coast, they've been ordered to evacuate. Others are taking a wait- and-see approach. A lot people here say since we're not going to get the major hit that they feel they can ride it out.

I mean, you can take a look at there now. The winds are starting to gust a little more. The water churning a lot more than it was this time yesterday morning. And people are starting to take this storm just a little more seriously.

Now, a lot of businesses have been boarding up their windows in anticipation of some of those winds that could really gust up, especially later tonight, into tomorrow morning. Now, even if the winds don't do tremendous damage, the rain could cause just as many problems.

Some of the rain that Emily could bring, it's possible that it could bring flooding to certain areas, especially those valley towns in south Texas. They've flooded before, and a lot of people there are worried that they could also flood again -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Chris Lawrence, live in Texas.

So let's head to the forecast center in Atlanta to check in with Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Out in Arizona, police are blaming the scorching temperatures for at least eight deaths. You had Chad say in Phoenix it's 116 degrees. It's expected to go over 110 degrees today.

We're also watching another development in Phoenix. Firefighters battling a blaze coming to within feet of some homes.

For more, we go to Sarah Carlstrom of Phoenix affiliate KPHO.

Sarah, is that fire contained now?

SARAH CARLSTROM, REPORTER, KPHO: Fortunately, it is contained. And as you mentioned, we've been seeing some very brutal temperatures here.

In the last couple of days we've seen 116, 113 and 110 today. Is the start of our monsoon season, which means we get a lot storm activity, but it doesn't necessarily mean we see a lot of rain.

If you take a look over my shoulder right here, this is what's left from a lightning-sparked blaze last night. It burned about 50 to 100 acres. Right now there's still some patches that are smoking. But for the most part, this fire is out. If you look over the horizon, though, over this ridge right here, you can see the rooftops of several dozen homes. We're told the fire came within 50 feet of these homes. Fortunately, firefighters were able to get it contained.

To the north of where I'm standing, though, is a hospital. Fortunately, the winds were blowing to the south. So it blew the flames away from the hospital, and the hospital was unaffected.

But again, residents here were on standby. They did not have to be evacuated, but this is just the start of what is going to be a very dry season here in Phoenix. Very hot, very challenging for firefighters.

And as you mentioned, eight people died here in over just the last couple of days because of these brutal temperatures. Most of those people were the homeless staying out on the street with no reprieve from these hot temperatures. But again, this fire last night sparked by lightning and was able to be contained without any damage.

Back to you.

COSTELLO: Sarah Carlstrom of Phoenix affiliate KPHO. Many thanks to you.

O'BRIEN: British Prime Minister Tony Blair held talks today with representatives from Britain's Muslim community. Nearly 25 Muslim leaders attended the meeting at Mr. Blair's 10 Downing Street residence. On the agenda, discussing ways to stop the spread of radical Islam among Muslim youths.

Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson live now at 10 Downing Street.

And Nic, was much accomplished by today's meeting?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there was talk, Miles, of forming a task group. And in British parlance, that means forming a group of people that will look at the issue of how some young people within the Muslim community are (INAUDIBLE) by firebrand clerics.

That was the focus of the meeting for Tony Blair, to appeal to those 25 Muslim community leaders, four of whom are actually members of parliament here, to appeal to them, to ask them to reach out in their community, to open dialogue to help neutralize the very vocal radical clerics and isolate them from the community. He will have also heard as well from some of those Muslim leaders here that the new antiterrorism legislation that's being planned here appeals for him to get the balance of that correct so that young Muslim youths don't feel that they are -- don't feel that they are alienated in their communities here, because the Muslim leaders here say that that could further -- further make this issue of disenchanted, disenfranchised young Muslim youths in Britain who could fall under the influence of these firebrand clerics. They say that could make it worse. So the appeal today to do something to neutralize and remove from -- remove from the communities, if you will, these firebrand clerics -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson at 10 Downing Street. Thank you very much.

Let's check some headlines now. Betty Nguyen at the CNN Center in Atlanta with that.

Betty, good morning.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Miles.

"Now in the News," new developments out of Iraq. There is word that three Sunni members working on a draft of Iraq's new constitution have been killed. That is according to a police source.

The three were apparently ambushed in a Baghdad neighborhood. Word of their deaths coming just hours after reports that Iraq's new constitution could be ready as early as next month -- or this month, rather.

President Bush is hosting Australian Prime Minister John Howard at the White House this morning. The prime minister met Monday with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Now, topping today's agenda, terrorism and trade issues. President Bush and Prime Minister John Howard will hold a news conference, and CNN will bring that to you live at 11:50 Eastern this morning.

The case of the so-called enemy combatant. Jose Padilla is going before the federal appeals court this hour. Padilla has been publicly accused of plotting to detonate a dirty bomb in the U.S.

Now, he has been held without charges since May of 2002. The Justice Department is appealing a February ruling which found that Padilla had to be either charged or released.

And NASA says it will continue to work on the Space Shuttle Discovery until next week. After five days of testing and re-testing, NASA still can't figure out what's wrong with the fuel gauge sensor. The problem could delay the launch until September, but, of course, safety is a priority here -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: You can almost imagine the technicians in there just kind of banging on boxes right now. Come on. Work, work.

COSTELLO: Well, they must be pretty frustrated.

O'BRIEN: Yes, they are. I mean, you know, these boxes are very pristine and well cared for, but they are 20-year-old technology. And so there is an aging issue in all of this.

COSTELLO: Got you. Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, anger and accusation of racism in California. One group's efforts to keep illegal immigrants out of the country stirs up controversy.

O'BRIEN: Also, would you know what to do in the middle of a terror attack on a subway? I'm not sure I'd know what to do. We'll have some tips for you, maybe life-saving tips.

COSTELLO: And we're keeping a close eye on Hurricane Emily. We'll take you live to the National Hurricane Center for the latest on its path.

That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back.

Hurricane Emily is gathering strength, aiming for the Gulf Coast. Warnings extend from Port Mansfield, Texas, to La Cruz, Mexico, as forecasters watch for the storm to make a little bit of a left turn.

Ed Rappaport is deputy director of the National Hurricane Center. He's back with us live from Miami.

Ed, good to have you back with us. Give us an updated position report and whether that turn has started to materialize yet.

ED RAPPAPORT, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: The center now is about 250 miles offshore to the east-southeast of Brownsville, Texas, and still moving to the west-northwest. We haven't seen that turn occur yet, but we are forecasting, as you said, a bend to the left right at the last minute. And, in fact, if you look at our forecast, you can see how that would take the center just south of the border.

Now, the problem is, of course, if the turn doesn't occur, and the center comes close to the border, and the hurricane-force winds should extend out mostly on the north side, it would come into south Texas. So there is a hurricane warning in effect there.

Now, even if the turn does occur, there's going to be some impact on south Texas. I'd like to show you an experimental graphic that we have, and let's see if I can do that here. There we go.

This color scheme shows the probability of at least sustain sustained tropical storm-force winds. And what it indicates now is even if that track does bend back to the west, that the Brownsville area, South Padre Island area, has at least a 70 to 80 percent chance of sustained tropical storm-force winds, perhaps hurricane-force gusts.

O'BRIEN: And Ed, what's that other storm doing out there?

RAPPAPORT: Well, we have a storm in the eastern Pacific. It's moving parallel to the coast, and probably moving away later on. O'BRIEN: We haven't talked much about that one. All right.

Well, that's interesting, and I think that the lesson to take away from this is that if you're in southern Texas, South Padre Island, this is something that you shouldn't just discount.

I want to bring in Chad Myers, who's in the weather center.

Chad, do you have a question?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We just got a new vortex aircraft recon message that said the wind speeds now, flight level, at 96 miles per hour, but the pressure has also dropped. Something else, Ed, I wanted to talk to you about.

We have this picture here of the buoy that's out about 150 miles from South Padre. Waves just got to 22 feet at that buoy. So this is going to have a pretty significant storm surge somewhere, right?

RAPPAPORT: Well, the waves will generate or help generate a little bit of the surge. But the strongest of the surge is going to be very near the center and just to the north of where the center comes ashore. Perhaps seven to 10-foot surge, and then tapering off, off to the north. And then, of course, to the south as well.

And you're right. The aircraft came in with a pressure a little bit lower. The pressure has been going down about a millibar per hour. And if that continued for the last 18 hours or so before landfall, that would equate to about a category and a half, perhaps, of strengthening, which would put Emily at the upper end of Category 2 or maybe Category 3 at landfall.

MYERS: Ed, I've been talking about Monterey, Mexico, most of the morning, very concerned. Four million people in that city. They really could get some flooding. They're surrounded by mountains there.

RAPPAPORT: That's right. And there was a very significant flood event back with Hurricane Gilbert, which had a somewhat similar track back in the late '80s. And there was a large loss of life because of all the rain that fell in an area that normally is dry. The riverbeds can't hold that much water in that area.

O'BRIEN: Ed, you know, that's -- that's a lesson we have learned this hurricane season many times. You know, we focus so much on that landfall, but these storms can still do an awful lot of damage way, way, way inland, can't they?

RAPPAPORT : That's right. Historically, particularly in the United States, the greatest loss of life has come from storm surge.

In recent years, though, we've been lucky with regard to storm surge. And most of the loss of life has shifted to inland counties from freshwater flooding. And that's the same risk they're going to have in south Texas, and particularly northeastern Mexico.

O'BRIEN: Ed Rappaport, thanks, as always.

Chad Myers, appreciate your insights as well.

Stay with us all morning for continued coverage, of course, of Hurricane Emily. CNN is your hurricane headquarters -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Still to come, would you know what to do if a terrorist attack struck your train, bus or building? After a break, precautions you might want to consider to be ready in the case of an emergency.

Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now for a CNN "Security Watch." This morning we're looking at some of the precautions you could take and tactics you could use in the case of a terrorist attack. Jeff Beatty is the president of Total Security US and a former CIA counterterrorism officer.

Welcome.

JEFF BEATTY, TOTAL SECURITY US: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Why don't we start with buildings first. And these are some of the safety tips that you gave us previously. You say, know the exits and carry a flashlight and a compass.

BEATTY: There are a number of things that you could have in your desk if you're in a large building. A flashlight is a good thing to have before an incident.

Know all the exits. If you haven't done a drill at the company or at your office, suggest to the authorities that do you a drill. Hey, let's do a drill, so we know how to get out.

We have evidence that showed in the World Trade Center the companies that did evacuation drills did incredibly well in a crisis.

COSTELLO: How do you know if you should evacuate?

BEATTY: Well, I think the first thing every citizen needs to remember is they are responsible for their own life and their own safety. If they see something that they think is unsafe, get out. You know, do not stay in.

Make the call yourself. You basically say, do I think it's safer to evacuate or stay? Is there likely to be a fire? Do I have to contend with that?

And then, based upon that decision, that assessment, take action. But reassess as you move through.

You may move three floors and then find out I need to reassess because maybe now I need to stay put. I'm down below the fifth floor where I can be reached by a ladder, and it looks a little bad below me.

COSTELLO: You know, you say carry a flashlight and a compass, but not many people do that. I mean, I have this device here. You wear it on your head.

It's a flashlight. Let me turn it on. And that would be great to have. But I just don't know many people who carry this. And if you carry a compass, you should kind of know which way you should go, because not many people know where north is right off the bat.

BEATTY: Carol, that looks really good on you, that headlight. I think it would be a regular feature. But you don't need to wear a headlight if you have, for instance, a little penlight on your key chain. Or, a lot of people don't realize that their cell phone in an emergency, hit the screen, it provide ps enough light in a really dark situation to give you some visibility for five or 10 feet.

COSTELLO: OK. Let's move on to buses right now. You say people should educate themselves and should get off if they see something suspicious. How do you know if something's suspicious, though?

BEATTY: Good point. I think the best example I can give you of that is what happened in London.

We heard the tragic reports that afterwards, several individuals reported that this individual on the bus who later exploded the bomb was acting nervous, was acting fidgety, was spending a lot of time going into his backpack and appeared to be working with something in his backpack. Those types of behaviors would make me want to get off the bus and immediately call authorities, and give authorities an opportunity to resolve the incident before it manifested itself.

And we've soon that work. We've actually trained with a lot people in this country last year, where we successfully prevented incidents because alert passengers provided a tip in time.

COSTELLO: Let's get on to subways now. You say get prepared by reading the emergency instructions, carrying a small flashlight, becoming familiar with your surroundings and carrying change for a payphone.

BEATTY: You know, to change is a good thing. We have saying at Total Security that, cash is king in a crisis. The other thing people should carry is some cash with them at all times.

What if ATMs go down? What if we're in a general large attack or the infrastructure goes down? Have a little bit of cash with you, in addition to change. Change to make phone calls, cash to buy what you need, gas to go someplace if you can't use your credit card at the gas pump.

But the most important thing to remember in the subway is that third rail, which may still have power to it. You -- again, do the assessment. Is it safer to stay still, is it safer to leave? If you leave be aware that... COSTELLO: Yes, but how can you do that? I mean, the first thing I would want to do if the worst happens in a subway car is get the hell out of there. But how do you know where it's safe to stand or run?

BEATTY: That goes back to the very first point you mentioned, Carol. The most important thing anyone can do who rides mass transit is to familiarize yourself with the emergency instructions that are there.

The FTA and every transit property tells you in advance how to save your life. Just read the instructions. Most people don't.

COSTELLO: OK. Let's talk about cell phones, because this is kind of a nifty idea. You say you should put ICE -- ICE in your cell phone. Explain.

BEATTY: ICE is an acronym for incase of emergency, call so and so. This gives people -- god forbid you should be a casualty of some sort, this gives people that find you the ability to reach out to people and say, hey, we have your loved one here, come to such and such hospital.

But, you know, high-tech is good, but low-tech works, too. When you buy a wallet, there's normally a little card in there that says, in case of emergency, contact so and so. So it could be that your cell phone gets damaged in the attack. Have that little card in your wallet as a backup.

COSTELLO: Will do. Something simple we can do. Former CIA counterterrorism officer, Jeff Beatty. Thank you for being with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

BEATTY: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: And stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security. We'll be back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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