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American Morning

U.N. Security Scare; Hurricane Proofing

Aired August 12, 2005 - 07:29   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. It is just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Coming up, a security scare at the United Nations.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Exactly what was a man doing with a knife, two guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition? We're live at the U.N. with the latest.

O'BRIEN: My guess is he was doing nothing good, certainly.

COSTELLO: That's right.

O'BRIEN: We'll talk about that ahead in just a moment.

First, though, a check of the headlines with Fredricka Whitfield. She's at the CNN center in Atlanta.

Good morning -- Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you all.

"Now in the News."

Court hearings will be held in Ohio today for a fugitive couple accused in the shooting death of a prison guard. George and Jennifer Hyatte are facing first-degree murder charges in the courthouse shooting. They're expected to be extradited to Tennessee.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says he has no regrets about his plans to evacuate settlers from Gaza and parts of the West Bank. The comments coming one day after tens of thousands of anti-pullout protesters flooded Tel Aviv. The withdrawal is set to begin next week.

Today, New York City's Fire Department is releasing records from 9/11. Included will be radio transmissions between emergency officials from that day and hundreds of pages of oral histories from firefighters.

Baltimore Orioles first baseman Rafael Palmeiro is waiting to get back on the playing field after a 10-day suspension for using steroids. Palmeiro watched from the dugout last night as his team beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 4-2. Palmeiro was said -- or has said rather, he doesn't know how the steroids got into his system. Congress is investigating. And Topical Storm Irene could become a hurricane as early as today. The storm is moving at nearly 60 miles per hour outside of Bermuda. It could potentially make landfall along the East Coast early next week. We'll check in with Chad straight ahead for the very latest -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right, Fred. Thanks a lot.

Well, a court hearing is set this morning for a California man arrested after a security scare at the United Nations. New York City police say 59-year-old Vernon Welker tried to enter the U.N. parking lot on Thursday with a car full of weapons.

CNN U.N. producer Liz Neisloss is live at the U.N. for us this morning.

Liz -- good morning to you.

What do we know now about this incident?

LIZ NEISLOSS, CNN SENIOR U.N. PRODUCER: Well, Soledad, a car full of weapons exactly seems to be a revolver, a rifle, a very large knife and 200 rounds of ammunition. As one security guard here at the U.N. told me, that could certainly take out a lot of people.

I have to say it is not clear that his intention was to come to the United Nations. Vernon Welker of Salton City, California, was arrested as he tried to enter a parking garage, which is located across the street from the United Nations. This is a private parking garage. But with a trunk full of weapons, certainly security at the U.N. has been alerted -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: How were they able to determine what he had in his trunk. What is security like, not only at the U.N., but that private garage across the street?

NEISLOSS: Well, post-September 11, you can imagine security has been very much tightened up. At the garages where I myself have parked across the street, I can tell you security has been beefed up. It is a private garage, but they look into every car. They inspect every car going in.

In the case of Mr. Welker, I believe Secret Service were called, and they detained him until New York City Police could get there.

But at the United Nations, security since September 11 has clearly been stepped up, in particular, since an incident after September 11 when a man jumped a fence in front of the United Nations and was able to take shots at the building. There is a fence that is now being reinforced outside the U.N. You see now the scene outside the U.N. back in 2002 when this gentleman took shots at the U.N. Shots did hit the building. He was detained there by Secret Service, as you can see. He was protesting human rights conditions in North Korea.

But it was only after that time that the U.N. decided that they did need to beef up the fence around the building, put on a bulletproof shield or bullet shatterproof shield on the building.

So a few steps have been taken. We are expecting, in just about a month, more than 170 world leaders to come to the U.N. So certainly, security will be very much tighter then -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Yes, one would think. All right, thanks a lot. Liz Neisloss for us at the U.N. this morning -- Carol.

COSTELLO: As anti-Iraq war sentiment grows, both among the public and in Washington, former President Clinton is staying cautious in his criticism. He spoke exclusively to CNN on Thursday, answering questions about the war and his wife's plans for the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I thought that we should not have gone in there until we let the U.N. inspectors finish their job. That was, after all, the understanding the Senate had when it was asked to vote, the Congress, to give the president authority to go in. But that's really not relevant anymore. We did what we did. We are where we are.

Fifty-eight percent of the Iraqis showed up to vote, 1,800-plus brave Americans have given their lives there. Thousands and thousands of Iraqis that have died in fighting the insurgency and trying to give their country a future.

There now are terrorists operating there, and there is a clear majority of people operating in Iraq, who are supporting the idea that their country should be free, independent and at peace. They're trying to come up with a constitution, and we're trying to train the security and the military forces.

So I think that's what I hope we can do and do it successfully. And if we can do that, then our people can come home.

My answer is whether it was a mistake or not, we are where we are, and we ought to try to make this strategy succeed. I support the strategy. It's the only option that will get us out in an honorable way, having made these sacrifices mean something.

I'm really proud of the job she did as senator. And according to all of the surveys, so are all New Yorkers. I think they know she's been a good senator. She's been a good senator for Republicans and Independents and Democrats and for every section of the state. And I think the people will support her service in the election next year.

We have a rule in our family that I always followed and now she does: Don't look past the next election or you might not get past the next election.

So I'm convinced in my own mind she hasn't decided on that. I believe I would know if she had. And I don't want her to even think about it. I want her to focus on getting re-elected and on doing her job as a senator. There will be lots of time to think about that down the road. I just don't think she should do that. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN's Candy Crowley said he could dance on the head of a pin.

Senator Hillary Clinton, by the way, is a heavy favorite to win re-election in 2006 for senator. And the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows the senator is far and away the early frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008.

O'BRIEN: Well, a year ago, Hurricane Charley slammed into Punta Gorda in Florida at 150 miles an hour. Today, there are still signs of destruction everywhere, but Charley taught many homeowners some important lessons.

Susan Candiotti has the story of one couple determined to build a hurricane-resistant home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're so lucky. We are so lucky.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Lucky, because they're getting a brand new home for a fraction of the cost.

JIM MINARDI, REBUILDING HIS HOME: Well, some say, well, how do you guys rate? But I say, it's that good clean living.

CANDIOTTI: A year ago, Jim Minardi and Teresa Fogalini's (ph) home in Punta Gorda was destroyed by Hurricane Charley. And a non- profit group teamed up with home fixer upper Bob Vila to build them a state-of-the-art, disaster-resistant house called Code Plus.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Code Plus construction is what we're all about, because we want to shoot for quality, not what rules may or may not require.

CANDIOTTI: Their new home goes beyond the building code.

(on camera): One of the main changes has to do with how higher up you are than before. How was it the last time?

MINARDI: Well, before, we were four feet lower. We were at the same elevation as the sea wall. It's a big margin of safety for us.

CANDIOTTI (voice over): That will help prevent flooding. A concrete stone wall around the foundation will stave off erosion.

(on camera): How did they better anchor the tiles than before?

MINARDI: Every tile is double screwed to the entire roof.

CANDIOTTI (voice over): As for protecting all the glass...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are no longer required to have storm shutters. CANDIOTTI (on camera): No shutters anymore?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No shutters. These are double-pane, impact-resistant. To be able to have all of these windows without having to deal with shutters, and we have such a beautiful view, that was just so important to us.

MINARDI: The biggest advantage of this door is that it opens outwards.

CANDIOTTI (voice over): To lessen the pressure from hurricane- force winds pushing in. On the side of the house...

(on camera): Now, you might think this is an air conditioning unit, but it's not. It's a generator.

No. It's a generator, and it's permanently installed, and it's far superior to the temporary types.

CANDIOTTI (voice over): It can keep the house running when power goes out for weeks at a time.

MINARDI: Having lived through Charley in the most devastating aspects of it, who would want to live in a house or stay in a house that's just built to the minimum standards?

CANDIOTTI: Jim and Teresa will foot part of the sizable bill for their new home, perhaps a small price to pay for a better chance at surviving another major hurricane with their home intact.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Punta Gorda, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Anybody can get free advice on ways to protect their home from hurricane damage by checking out flash.org on the Internet.

It's time to get right to Chad Myers.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: You know how we always whine about pollution in our own country, Chad?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

COSTELLO: You know, smog? Well, take a look at what it looks like in Indonesia. A thick, choking haze has blanketed the Malaysian peninsula. This air pollution is the result of several forest fires on the island of Sumatra. The pollution index is so high in some areas Malaysia had to declare a state of emergency. The air makes your eyes burn. And this, of course, is a picture that demonstrates just how bad it is. That's just awful, isn't it?

O'BRIEN: Do you think he's working, or do you think he's just going across the street? COSTELLO: Well, he's doing outdoor work, and he has to use that paraphernalia to manage to do that.

O'BRIEN: Wow!

COSTELLO: Isn't that something?

O'BRIEN: That's terrible.

COSTELLO: It's the same thing in China. The pollution is so bad in China that you just go outside and your eyes just start dripping because it hurts. And, of course, you can't breathe very well either.

O'BRIEN: Yes, and it's not good for your insides either.

COSTELLO: No.

O'BRIEN: All right. Still to come this morning, one drug company decides some of its commercials are not ready for primetime. Andy is going to explain as he minds your business just ahead.

COSTELLO: And "The Sopranos" won't get whacked from HBO's schedule, not quite yet anyway. Find out how long Tony and the gang are sticking around in "90-Second Pop." That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Look at it there. That is the Mars orbiter. The launch, so far, a success. You'll recall it was weather that delayed it yesterday. They pushed it back, and then finally just canceled it for the day or altogether. But now, as you can see from these live pictures here coming to us from the Kennedy Space Center, it's looking pretty good.

COSTELLO: It's looking beautiful.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: I bet Miles is watching that, don't you think?

O'BRIEN: I hope Miles is, like, sleeping in, because he's on vacation.

COSTELLO: You know he's on the phone with NASA.

O'BRIEN: He's TiVoing it and...

SERWER: He's watching.

O'BRIEN: ... simultaneously chatting with his friends at NASA about how beautiful it looks.

SERWER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Of course, lots of things for this orbiter to do in addition to getting better pictures and better depth of pictures and what they call better bandwidth of some of those pictures, get more information about Mars, figure out if, in fact, humans will be able to get to the red planet anytime soon.

COSTELLO: That would be something. And if life existed on Mars, because can't this probe see down into the soil in depth?

O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: Or the little green men. Is that what you're talking about?

COSTELLO: Griggling (ph) life.

O'BRIEN: Not that kind.

SERWER: Right, Carol.

O'BRIEN: Let's relive the moment, shall we? This is, just a few moments ago, the Mars orbiter taking off. I see why Miles likes this stuff. This is pretty cool.

COSTELLO: Yes.

O'BRIEN: It looks great.

COSTELLO: Yes, and he's always able to get a front row seat.

O'BRIEN: You know, we have a pretty good seat right here, too. That looks great. I think it's a 14-day mission.

SERWER: Two weeks to Mars.

O'BRIEN: Fourteen days to get into location.

SERWER: Right, right.

O'BRIEN: A four-year mission overall...

SERWER: Right, right.

O'BRIEN: ... where they're going to continue to monitor what's happening on the red planet. So that's pretty cool.

COSTELLO: And you're going to be talking to the astronauts later, too.

O'BRIEN: Yes, you know, exactly, from Kennedy Space Center and even, you know, more news, to chat with them about their return. I'm curious to know how they feel. What's it like to have been in zero gravity for the longest time? I mean, is it like hopping off a boat after you've been on a boat for a couple of days?

SERWER: Relief. I think they feel a lot of relief.

O'BRIEN: You feel as if the world is moving.

COSTELLO: Well, you're weightless for all that time.

O'BRIEN: Right.

SERWER: Yes.

COSTELLO: And then you hit the Earth's atmosphere, and you must feel so heavy.

O'BRIEN: Right. But what does that feel like? Are you just slogging around. Or, like, you know, after you get off a boat you're sort of...

SERWER: Sea legs and all of that? Or space legs?

O'BRIEN: Right.

SERWER: Who knows?

O'BRIEN: We'll talk to them, and I'm looking forward to that. That will be a lot of fun.

SERWER: Right.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk business news, though, first, shall we?

SERWER: Let's do that.

O'BRIEN: The drug maker Pfizer is doing a little about-face. They recognized that those Viagra ads are maybe a little too spicy for the kiddies.

SERWER: That's right. I think, Soledad, if you've ever sat through a Viagra ad with your entire family, it's not comfortable, because the big kids know what it's about, the little kids don't.

Pfizer is doing a little self-policing and saying we'll only market that drug during primetime hours, not during family hours.

And some other self-policing by the drug giant says it will not promote any new drug until it's been on the market for six months at least. Of course, there has been a lot of criticism over advertising and marketing by drug companies. They spend $4 billion a year now on drug advertising. That's up 60 percent from 2000.

Another marketing story concerning 7-Eleven, Soledad. This concerns youth and tobacco. They are going to try to do some things to make it harder for young people to buy cigarettes at 7-Eleven. In fact...

O'BRIEN: They already I.D. teenagers.

SERWER: They do. They're going to make it a little bit tougher. You know, tobacco accounts for over 29 percent of sales at 7-Eleven, and they're going to be placing tobacco away from products that are geared towards young people. No more vending machines and also no more signs pointing to the outside if the 7-Elevens happen to be near schools. So some good stuff there.

COSTELLO: So our kids are so much safer this morning from everything.

SERWER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: I haven't seen a cigarette vending machine.

SERWER: I know. I haven't seen a vending machine in a long time.

O'BRIEN: I mean, I thought they all were kept behind the counters. But maybe that's...

SERWER: Yes. Well, we're going to get rid of vending machines. They don't exist anymore anyway.

O'BRIEN: That's right.

SERWER: We'll be a little careful of that one.

O'BRIEN: That's going to be -- and we can do it right away.

SERWER: Right, yes. They're gone.

O'BRIEN: See? Done.

SERWER: They're gone.

O'BRIEN: That was easy.

SERWER: Yes, it was.

O'BRIEN: Let's move on to the next thing.

SERWER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Andy, thanks.

Still to come this morning, some "90-Second Pop." The fat lady hasn't sung just yet on "The Sopranos." Find out why the hit show is going to be around a little bit longer than expected. That's up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is "90-Second Pop" for a Friday with the stars. Bradley Jacobs from "Us Weekly." Amy Barnett from "Teen People." And Christopher John Farley from "TIME" magazine.

Welcome to you all. Good morning. We have a lot to talk about this morning. Let's talk first about "The Sopranos," because it's going to be around for eight more episodes. And I can just hear fans cheering, although I thought the audience had started to go down for "The Sopranos." CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, you know, what's that line from "The Godfather?" Just when you thought you were out, they pull you back in. I mean, one thing you have to realize is that when you should get out. I mean, "Godfather" 1, terrific. "Godfather" 2, terrific. "Godfather" 3, not so terrific. So I hope "The Sopranos" can keep the quality going. With that said, you know, "Six Feet Under," I thought that was over with, too, and that's gotten even better in these last final episodes. So maybe this will be also very good.

COSTELLO: Now, see, a lot of people disagree. They think it's gotten too morose.

BRADLEY JACOBS, "US WEEKLY": Oh, I think it's really heating up.

AMY BARNETT, "TEEN PEOPLE": Well, I think they needed those next eight episodes just to gruesomely kill off every last one of the characters in this series. They couldn't do it in 12 episodes. They needed eight more. At the end of it, only Carmela is going to be left standing and maybe Dr. Nelson.

COSTELLO: I love that.

JACOBS: This reminds me of NBC. Remember when NBC had lost "Seinfeld," and they just kept renewing "Friends" and paying those actors millions and millions of dollars to keep "Friends" on the air? And now look at what's happened at NBC. So, HBO has lost "Sex and the City" and "Six Feet Under." And sure, "Deadwood" is doing OK, but "The Sopranos" is still their only huge show. So they are just going to extend this thing as long as they can.

COSTELLO: You'd think they would be planning years in advance to replace the show, wouldn't you?

JACOBS: Television is hard.

COSTELLO: But it never seems they do.

JACOBS: I mean, it's just hard to create really good quality shows.

COSTELLO: And that's very kind of you to say. It really is.

Let's talk about Martha Stewart, because this woman is more popular than ever. It didn't matter that, like, she went to jail, and then she violated her parole and has to wear the ankle bracelet longer. Let's look at this poll that we have. We have some numbers, don't we? There they are. Fifty-two percent have a favorable opinion of Martha Stewart, 31 percent unfavorable, and 17 percent say no.

BARNETT: It cracks me up, because Martha Stewart is learning now what rappers have known for a long time, which is that jail time just increases your relevance to the buying public. I think that, you know, in Martha Stewart's case it wasn't, of course, you know, street cred (ph) that she gained. It was just some humanity, you know.

Oh, let's say she gained street cred (ph), because I like that.

BARNETT: Well, OK. Well, yes, I hear, though, that on the first episode on "The Apprentice" she's going to get shot nine times by Donald Trump. But the thing is, I mean, she went to jail. She made a mistake, and she went to jail. She took her punishment like a woman. And she wasn't the snob that everybody thought she was going to be. She was really, you know, kind and welcoming to her inmates so much so that they knitted her a poncho when she got out.

JACOBS: Yes.

BARNETT: She came out. She lost a grillion (ph) pounds, and she looks fabulous. What's not to like?

COSTELLO: So now she's on her gazillion-dollar estate, riding around in a gazillion-dollar vehicle and petting her llamas.

(CROSSTALK)

FARLEY: All of this is really good news for one person, former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers. When he comes out of jail 25 years from now, he'll be the most popular man in America.

COSTELLO: Maybe she could invite him on her show.

FARLEY: Maybe she could.

COSTELLO: I mean, do you really think her show is going to be successful? Soledad is excited to see it.

JACOBS: Oh, yes, everybody is excited to see it. "The Apprentice," Martha Stewart, you're talking about. She has two shows, you know. But "The Apprentice" Martha Stewart...

COSTELLO: Soledad...

O'BRIEN: I am dying to see it.

BARNETT: I wonder what her catch phrase is going to be. That's what I want to know.

COSTELLO: I don't know. But...

BARNETT: That's not a good thing.

COSTELLO: As Soledad said, she thinks it's, like, going to be a train wreck, and it would be interesting to watch. What do you guys think?

BARNETT: I think it's going to be fabulous. I'm going to be glued to it. You know, Martha Stewart is fascinating. She's just like this fascinating, iconic, you know, American pop culture figure now. And I want to see what she does with the show.

COSTELLO: And she can bake a mean pie. Let's talk about Simon Cowell and this show "Million Dollar Idea." The show has yet to come out. But Simon Cowell says he came up with this idea, but maybe not.

JACOBS: Here's the story. Back in 2002, a couple of producers in Minnesota created this local show called "Million Dollar Idea," in which inventors competed for cash prizes to help their projects along. And it did really well. It ended up syndicated in a lot of markets.

And the two producers ended up in March of 2004 pitching it to ABC. They wanted to present a national version of this show. They gave ABC a lot of information, basically a blueprint to how to do the show. And ABC said thank you, but no thank you.

Cut to last month when ABC announced that they were going to do a show with Simon Cowell called "Million Dollar Idea."

COSTELLO: The same title?

JACOBS: And they say -- Simon Cowell said that he claims that he pitched them this show in a two-minute cell phone conversation. So now those producers are suing ABC, saying...

COSTELLO: We have the lawsuit.

JACOBS: There's the lawsuit.

COSTELLO: It's thick too. This is the lawsuit. And this is the line in the lawsuit that I loved. The plaintiff's dream turned to nightmare virtually overnight, when the man the press has dubbed "king of cruel" announced that he and some Hollywood giants were teaming up to produce their own hijacked version of "Million Dollar Idea."

BARNETT: Wow!

FARLEY: Now would be a good time for me to tell you that Simon Cowell and I are actually launching "90-Second Pop" on ABC. And we think it's a different idea from what you do here. But he may add an extra two seconds just to sort of, you know, get into stuff that's a little more...

BARNETT: Ninety-two second pop.

COSTELLO: Ninety-two second pop, right.

FARLEY: Yes, 92 second pop. So it's a totally different idea.

BARNETT: I just find it incredibly ironic that the whole premise of this show is to give the little guy a leg-up in business, you know. And, of course, what ABC and Simon Cowell are doing is kind of stomping on the little guys that started the show.

COSTELLO: Allegedly doing.

BARNETT: Allegedly, right. Allegedly doing this. They're stomping on the little guys that allegedly, you know, came up with the idea for the original show.

COSTELLO: Yes, because we did ask ABC for a comment. It hasn't seen the lawsuit. But if you want a copy, we have it, ABC.

JACOBS: The best detail, too, of the lawsuit is that one of the producers was being interviewed on a morning show in February of this year. The anchor said, your show is about finding the next post-it, right? And then in July of this year, ABC said in their press materials, this show is going to be about finding the next post-it.

COSTELLO: Oh. So this will be exciting to watch. And, of course, we'll be watching it. Bradley Jacobs, Amy Barnett, Christopher John Farley, thank you all for playing this morning -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Carol, thanks.

Ahead this morning, the entire crew of the space shuttle Discovery will join us live. We're going to ask them about the just- completed mission and find out what they think about the decision to ground the shuttle fleet. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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