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CNN Live Sunday
Mechanics Strike at Northwest Airlines Continues
Aired August 21, 2005 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR, CNN LIVE SUNDAY: Two U.S. embassy staffers in Afghanistan were slightly wounded today when a roadside bomb hit their convoy outside Kabul. To the south, four U.S. soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb. Three others were wounded while trying to rescue their comrades.
In Iraq, another U.S. soldier was killed today by a roadside bomb. The military says it happened in a town near Tikrit.
And Pope Benedict XVI is back home at the Vatican, following a four day world youth day celebration in Cologne, Germany. It was his first trip abroad and his first visit to his homeland since becoming pope. About one million people attended today's final mass.
Our top story this hour, as the weekend nears an end and business travelers prepare to head back to the skies Monday, a big question mark looms over the nation's fourth largest air carrier. Northwest Airlines is battling through a mechanics strike by using replacement workers, but it's not clear how well the airline will be able to handle the fast approaching weekday rush. For the latest, let's join CNN's JJ Ramberg in New York. What does it look like JJ?
JJ RAMBURG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Suzanne. Well, so far Northwest is reporting very few cancellations. They're saying most of the flights are on time and also we haven't heard any reports of any incidents happening on the picket lines. There were two complications yesterday. One was a flight that landed in Detroit and the tires blew. Another one was some smoke in an aircraft that was flying to Pittsburgh and had to go back to Detroit. That was because of its problem with an air conditioning unit. But Northwest is saying neither of those incidents have anything to do with a strike.
Northwest has been planning on the possibility of this strike for 18 months. So they have mechanics that they've brought on. They've also trained some management to go ahead and take over the jobs of some of the striking workers. The unions say that Northwest is not going to be keeping up - be able to keep up with these flight schedules with these temporary workers. Northwest says that they think that they can. That said, they did suspend their daily on time performance report and that is going to make it a little bit more difficult to really determine the impact of this strike. The true test as you said is going to be tomorrow. That's when business travelers start traveling again. Also, Northwest went to its fall schedule early. That means they have about 17 percent less seats. So they'll have less planes flying. That means those planes will be more full and so the true test will be tomorrow. We'll see what happens. Suzanne? MALVEAUX: Does it look like they're going to have cancellations or delays tomorrow? Is there any indication that that's the direction they're going?
RAMBURG: As of right now, it looks like everything is going to be going as scheduled.
MALVEAUX: OK. Great, JJ, thanks again, appreciate it. Keep an eye on that.
Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein vows to sacrifice himself for the cause of Palestine and Iraq. Two Jordanian newspapers have published a letter Hussein sent to an old friend through the International Red Cross. Hussein writes, quote, in our glorious nation, my soul and what I have been born on is to be sacrificed to it. Hussein is awaiting trial on charges of massacring fellow Muslims. If convicted, he could get the death penalty.
And for the second straight week, negotiators in Baghdad are facing a Monday deadline to approve a draft constitution for Iraq. Committee members have spent the past week working on several key sticking points. Role of Islam in Iraqi law remains a stumbling block, along with the dispute over Federalism. The Kurds and some Shiites want autonomy within their respective regions. Sunnis and some Shiites favor a stronger central government. For more on the progress toward a draft constitution, we turn to CNN's Aneesh Raman in Baghdad.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With just hours to go until another constitutional deadline, no clear sense on whether a compromise has been achieved. Earlier, CNN spoke to Iraq's president of the national assembly Dr. Hachim al-Hassani. He said an agreement had been reached on one issue, the role of Islam.
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HACHIM AL-HASSANI, IRAQI NATL ASSEMBLY SPEAKER: What we have agreed upon is that Islam will be a main source of legislation, and also anything that contradicts the principle and provisions of Islam will not be accepted.
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RAMAN: Such wording will raise concern among Iraq's secular politicians and among women's groups who had long championed for Islam to be a source of Iraqi law, one of many, to ensure that their rights are kept intact. The U.S. had also been pushing for that, but had softened its stance in recent days, hoping for compromise but pushing the principles of democracy be in the constitution as well.
The other issue, that of Federalism, could be an impasse in these discussions. The Kurds have long had an autonomous region in the country's north. They want nothing less in the new Iraq. But the Sunnis and some Shia are hoping the conversation is either sidelined until a new government comes into office or are calling for a unified one Iraq. That could be what derails this process. And as the national assembly confronts yet again the possibility of a further extension or perhaps of a dissolution of this government.
Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.
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MALVEAUX: President Bush remains at his Texas ranch but he's planning to hit the road soon to try to reinvigorate public support for the Iraq war effort. CNN's White House correspondent Dana Bash reports even some of the president's own party are starting to express concern about the direction of the war.
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DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hundreds of additional white crosses commemorating U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq are now planted just outside a bush ranch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did their children die for, Mr. President?
BASH: A bring the troops home message, White House officials concede attracted much more attention than they anticipated when the president refused to meet again with Cindy Sheehan and after an August of continued violent images from Iraq, even some Republican lawmakers representing mostly conservative constituents utter the same word: concern.
SEN. GEORGE ALLEN (R) VIRGINIA: The people of Virginia, as I see it are very concerned. We're all concerned. We're concerned about our troops.
SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R) NEBRASKA: I sense a considerable shift from where a lot of people in Nebraska were last year at this time. People are confused. They're concerned.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: While nobody wants to withdraw, but people are concerned. It's going on longer than we thought.
SEN. TRENT LOTT (R) MISSISSIPPI: I think after having been home, that he needs to talk more about it, give people confidence.
BASH: Out of sight for eight days, the president will now try to do just that, in a series of speeches beginning this week. Senior aides say Mr. Bush will attempt to put Iraq in the context of long wars like World War II and again invoke September 11th, say terrorists attacking in Iraq share the ideology of those who hit the U.S. nearly four years ago.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know Americans ask the question, is the sacrifice worth it? It is worth it.
BASH: The White House had promised a, quote, sharper focus on Iraq starting with this prime-time address at the end of June, aimed at turning around public opinion. Then, 53 percent of Americans thought it was a mistake to send troops to Iraq. The latest poll found little change, 54 percent of Americans call it a mistake. That same poll showed a spike in concern, Iraq makes America less safe rather than more.
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BASH: And the White House plans to aggressively use the upcoming anniversary of September 11th to argue that it's better to fight terrorism abroad in Iraq and urge patience there. But linking Iraq to 9/11 is something that critics have long called disingenuous. They say it is now a haven for terrorists that did not exist before the U.S. attack there. Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Dana, are there some who privately concede that perhaps Cindy Sheehan's campaign has been somewhat successful in here, all these members of Congress expressing all of this concern. Are they saying that for political cover or is there a sense that this protest has really moved this debate forward?
BASH: You know, they honestly say it's too early to tell. When you talk to people at the White House privately, they say they understand, particularly over the past week, at a time when the president was essentially out of the spotlight. He did not have any public events. It was easy for Cindy Sheehan and then when she left, certainly for her supporters to continue to get publicity. They are certainly concerned and as you mentioned, certainly members of Congress are that this could continue. That's why they are certainly happy at the White House that they have already planned to have these speeches coming up starting on Monday, starting tomorrow to talk about Iraq, to talk about Afghanistan, to sort of get the president's message back out there.
MALVEAUX: Dana, thanks and I'll see you soon at the Crawford ranch.
BASH: See you soon.
MALVEAUX: In Denver today, there is still no indication why a 23- year-old rookie with the San Francisco 49ers collapsed and died after a preseason game with the Broncos. Will Selva of CNN sports is with us to explain now of course what we do know about the tragic death of Thomas Herrion, obviously very difficult for his family and the other team members.
WILL SELVA, CNN SPORTS: Yes, as well as the San Francisco community and the NFL in general. We should know more about the cause of Thomas Herrion's death later today. San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Nolan will address reporters at 4:00 Pacific, 7:00 Eastern time. More details have surfaced on what exactly might have happened in the team's locker room following their preseason loss to the Denver Broncos last night. Team mate Julian Peterson tells the "San Jose Mercury News," players were in the midst of a post game prayer when Herrion toppled over. Medics administered CPR, rushed him to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead three hours later. The 310 pound Herrion, number 72, was on the field for San Francisco's 14 play, 91- yard drive that resulted in a touchdown with two seconds left in the game. When it was over, Herrion was seen walking off the field, showing no visible signs whatsoever that anything was wrong. He played on both the Cowboys, the 49ers practice squads last season and started at the University of Utah. The death comes a little more than four years after Viking offensive lineman Corey Stringer (ph) died of heat stroke during training camp practice.
MALVEAUX: And what have NFL teams done since then, Corey stringer's death?
SELVA: Well, here's the thing. When Corey Stringer died, the heat index on the practice field soared at 110 degrees. The weather in Denver last night was in the mid 60s with 50 percent humidity. But experts say heat stroke can occur in even cool conditions. Since Stringer's death, the NFL has tried to educate players about how to deal with heat and dehydration, 11 times or 11 teams rather have added more night practices to their schedule in an attempt to keep players cool for the long season.
MALVEAUX: What I don't understand is did Thomas Herrion have a history of health problems? Was there anything that people could have seen to predict that this was going to happen?
SELVA: Suzanne, right now from what we know, not exactly. Herrion played at Kilgore Junior College in Texas. A former coach said he never struggled during intense drills in 97 degree heat. He says Herrion never had a history of health or injury problems at Kilgore. He said he was a perfectly healthy young man at 23 years old, so definitely a tragedy for the NFL and for the San Francisco community in general. Of course, we should know a lot more coming up here later today in a press conference held by the head coach Mike Nolan.
MALVEAUX: Good, so looking for some answers. Thanks again, Will, appreciate it.
A flaming blockade can't stop the will of the Israeli army. Up next, we'll show you what happened today in Gaza when evacuations were resumed.
Still to come, the mess left by methamphetamine abuse. We'll tell you what the government wants to do now to fight back.
Plus this -
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Secretary Powell was not told that one of the sources he was given as a source of this information had indeed been flagged by the defense intelligence agency as a liar or fabricator.
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MALVEAUX: We'll take you inside the Bush administration to uncover the intelligence blunders behind the argument for war.
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MALVEAUX: Israeli troops face mostly symbolic resistance today as they evacuated three more settlements in Gaza. CNN's John Vause has more on today's evacuations and he reports the Israeli pullout is going more quickly than many had predicted.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Katif settlement gates were locked shut, the barricade piled high and set on fire. While police were held at bay inside this small community of 400 or so, a service for a mother and her four daughters. All were shot dead in May last year by Palestinian militants. They were on their way to Tel Aviv to campaign against the disengagement.
But as a front end loader crashed through the gates and fiery barricade, disengagement came to Katif.
GABI GLASSER, KATIF SETTLER: This is my land! No one has the right to chase out a Jew from nowhere, and especially not from his holy land!
VAUSE: More than a thousand Israeli police and soldiers marched through the settlement ignoring pleas to turn back. Tell your commanders we will not follow your illegal orders, this man yelled. To the protesters and settlers who live here, this is an attempt to slow the police and soldiers. They know this evacuation is coming. They know there is little they can do to stop it.
Once inside, the police went from house-to-house, talking, counseling, even helping some pack, like Oded Shalom who owns the local store.
ODED SHALOM, KATIF STORE OWNER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I opened my store as usual this morning and I continue to believe God will change the situation.
VAUSE: Inside the synagogue, there was anguish. For two hours they cried and prayed for a miracle which never came, and by day's end, the synagogue torah scrolls were removed, taken to a bus for the trip to Israel. No one here was carried away. They wanted to leave on their own, dignity intact, according to community leaders. At the same time, two other settlements were evacuated and house demolitions began in another four. There is now only one settlement in Gaza left for evacuation, four more in the west bank. It should all be finished by week's end. John Vause, CNN, Katif settlement, Gaza.
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MALVEAUX: The changing face of the FBI. We'll explain how the war on terror is forcing the agency to rethink how they train tomorrow's crime fighters today.
And still to come, the innocent casualties of America's meth addiction.
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New FBI agents train in different ways than their pre-9/11 counterparts. It's not so much what they learn but how they learn to apply it. CNN's Kelli Arena reports.
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KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): FBI agents come to the aid of a police officer being assaulted. It's a real world situation in a make believe town.
Hogan's Alley has been used for decades to train FBI agents and it's time for an upgrade.
KAREN GARDNER, FBI: This was set up, built by a company 25 years ago that builds Hollywood sets.
ARENA: Karen Gardner has been an FBI agent for two decades and used to oversee new agent training.
GARDNER: We really don't have a training venue where we can simulate a biologic attack or a chemical weapons attack.
ARENA: Construction is expected to start next year, but other changes are already underway. To start with, training now lasts 18 weeks instead of 16. Besides law enforcement basics, agents whose faces we cannot show because they may one day work undercover are learning lessons that reflect the FBI's new mission, preventing another 9/11.
GARDNER: We used to be talking about kidnappings, extortions, drug cases. Now we talk about al Qaeda. We talk about locations like working overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan.
ARENA: And there are other obvious post-9/11 changes. Eric, a new agent, who used to be a college coach, points to an emphasis on creative thought.
ERIC: To think outside the box, don't look at things so much black and white, try to get as vivid a color as can you possibly get out of something.
ARENA: And the agents themselves are different. Jim Trinka, who oversees all training, says new agents are older, starting around 30 now, bringing more life experience to the job and they come from a variety of backgrounds, no longer mostly lawyers or former military.
JIM TRINKA, FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: You have the computer scientists, engineers, more of the linguists and cultural experts.
ARENA: This new agent used to be in telecommunications and speaks several languages.
UNIDENTIFIED AGENT: Primarily Mandarin. I also speak some Indonesian.
ARENA: But as this line of white faces shows, the bureau is still having a hard time attracting racially diverse agents, especially Arab-Americans.
GARDNER: We can only hire the people who apply, and we can't go out and grab people off the street and force them to come to new agents training.
ARENA: And that's not the only challenge. Changes made today must anticipate future threats. As terrorists continue to adapt, so too must the agents who are trying to stop them. Kelli Arena, CNN, Quantico, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: CNN security watch keeps you up to date on safety. Stay tuned day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
Time now to look ahead at some of the big stories we'll be covering in the week ahead. Monday, it's the second round of sentencing for confessed serial bomber Eric Rudolph. He pleaded guilty to a string of bombings between 1996 and 1998 in Atlanta and Birmingham, Alabama. In July, Rudolph was sentenced to life in prison for the bombing of a women's clinic in Birmingham. His attacks in Atlanta targeted a gay nightclub and the crowds that had gathered in centennial Olympic park during the '96 Olympic games.
On Wednesday, members of the military base closure commission will begin final deliberations on the list of bases the Pentagon wants to shut down. Communities that are home to some bases on the list have been lobbying commission members for months. The military says the closures will save the government billions of dollars.
Also on Wednesday, Washington state supreme court will hear arguments in the proposed recall of the mayor of Spokane. Mayor Jim West is accused of offering a city hall internship to a young man in exchange for sex. Local newspaper reports earlier this year said West visited gay online chat rooms to entice men with jobs and other gifts.
A major international drug bust targets three trafficking rings and the Bush administration announces a new anti-methamphetamine initiative. But is it enough to keep the nation's growing meth addiction out your neighborhood? I'll speak where a former DEA agent about this week's developments.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To know that you're giving the president a ticket to go to war based upon one source. At that point you want to drag the source in and talk to him yourself.
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MALVEAUX: The blunders and missed opportunities in making the case for why America had to go to war
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MALVEAUX: No word yet on why a lineman for the San Francisco 49ers collapsed in the team's locker room last night and died. Thomas Herrion was a 6'3", 310 pound guard for the 49ers. The coach was talking to the team after an exhibition loss to the Denver Broncos when the 23-year-old player collapsed.
Illinois state police are investigating a wreck at a race track that killed two spectators and injured six others. The race car jumped the track at the Mount Vernon raceway and crashed into the stands. It happened during a qualification round at the dirt oval track. The race car was the only one on the track at the time.
The shuttle has landed. Discovery piggybacked on a modified Boeing 747 cross country from Edwards Air Force Base in California. After stops in Oklahoma and Louisiana, the shuttle touched down at Florida's Kennedy space center just before 10:00 this morning.
The Federal government has moved methamphetamine to the top of the list in the drug war. A 10 month undercover investigation called operations three hour tour culminated in raids Friday in the U.S., Dominican Republic and Colombia. Agents took down three major drug rings, including more than two dozen distribution groups in the states. In all, 164 people were arrested in Los Angeles, New York, Des Moines and New Haven. Meth is easily made in homemade labs from over the country cold remedies and other medicines that contain pseudoephedrine. For that reason, the government now wants to limit the sales of those legal products and to help people overcome their meth addictions. The government has set aside more than $16 million over three years to pay for treatment programs.
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