Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

State of Emergency; Chief Justice Nominee

Aired September 06, 2005 - 08:30   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: We're seeing now a couple of choppers in the air, at least three as I can see, as this fire continues to burn, stronger now than when we started to report about 45 minutes to an hour ago. Our report from the scene have been that it's one house that's on fire, and that it's a house that's actually surrounded by water. Not really sure why they're putting such effort into trying to put it out, because it doesn't seem to be too much near and wouldn't necessarily spread but they've got a lot of choppers in the air. They're obviously focusing a lot of attention on it today.
Also right over my shoulder you can see these are folks who are going to start to come out here this morning and get in the water soon and start rescuing people. In this neighborhood right here, right in front of me, they got 280-some odd people out of this neighborhood yesterday, alone. They've been here since last Wednesday, and so they are pretty proud of the work that they have done as well. And also evacuees over at the Houston Astrodome, turns out they may not be getting on those cruise ships as we were originally reporting. That was the plan. Those plans have changed.

Let's get right to Keith Oppenheim with that story this morning.

Hey, Keith. Good morning.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.

And the problem was that there were just not enough takers. There was a plan to get 4,000 people on those ships by just about a half hour from now. That's not happening in large part, because so many people are looking for loved ones and want to stay here in Houston at this complex at the Astrodome and to keep looking. Another connection that people are trying to make is to their religious life. It's very important to many who have evacuated from New Orleans and come to Houston.

That said, the arrival of one New Orleans pastor was a big deal to many of the evacuees here in Houston.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): At this Baptist church in Houston, the guest speaker is Bishop Paul S. Morton of New Orleans.

BISHOP PAUL S. MORTON, NEW ORLEANS MINISTER: I'm here to tell you it's going to get better. OPPENHEIM: Bishop Morton is a visitor here. His church, the greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church of New Orleans, claims to be the largest in Louisiana. The pastor has come to Houston in search of his flock.

MORTON: It will give them comport. It will give them joy that I am there for them, and that's why I'm here.

OPPENHEIM: As he walks towards the entrance of the Astrodome...

(CROSSTALK)

OPPENHEIM: ... Bishop Morton gets mobbed. And inside...

MORTON: Be encouraged now. Be encouraged. We're here for you.

OPPENHEIM: ... the intensity grows. It is clear to many African-Americans from New Orleans, Bishop Paul Morton is not just a familiar face, he is something of a religious rock star.

SERELDA LAMBERT, NEW ORLEANS: My whole body just goes through this rush.

OPPENHEIM (on camera): Just to see him?

LAMBERT: Yes.

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): But comforting his parishioners is only one part of Bishop Morton's mission. Another is to raise money, money which he believes is best delivered directly from churches like his to people in need.

MORTON: We know best where money should go. We know best where clothes should go, because we have been dealing with these people every day of our lives. Red Cross have never met the thousands of people that I pastor, or the churches that are around the city of New Orleans, or Mississippi or Alabama. So we know.

OPPENHEIM: He believes that the rebuilding of an exiled congregation must come from self reliance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm doing fine right now, even though I'm a little stiff and things, but I'm not stiff up here.

MORTON: That's it. All right now. You're looking good, too. All right, bless you. All right now.

OPPENHEIM: Bishop Morton has found his flock in Houston, and he believes it will be his church more than the stay that will truly get people back on their feet and back to the life they once knew in New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OPPENHEIM: The church service I attended last night, Soledad, there was nothing less than outrage from Bishop Morton in terms of the federal government's response to this crisis. And that sense of betrayal that he expressed portrayed to -- passed on to his parishioners is something that I think will get many of his flock to look first to their churches and to their community organizations.

Soledad, back to you.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it's nice to hear, though, that he has been reunited with his flock when the hurricane struck. We spoke to him and he was clearly devastated by being separated. Keith Oppenheim for us.

Keith, thanks.

Let's get right back to Miles.

Hey, Miles?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Soledad, funeral service for William Rehnquist tomorrow. The man who could succeed him, Judge John Roberts, who was a Rehnquist clerk, will be a pallbearer. We could learn today when confirmation hearings also begin for Judge Roberts to the Supreme Court. Roberts' confirmation looked like smooth sailing until the president renominated him for chief justice.

Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, a ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.

Senator, good to have you with us. Does this change anything as it relates to Judge Roberts' hearings?

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), VERMONT: Well, it will change the timing. Of course, we will not have the hearing this week. I think if anything it would be unseemly to have it when Chief Justice Rehnquist is being buried.

Also I think the Senate wants to have some attention on Katrina. We want to know -- we know the huge number of mistakes were made. We want to know is find out what they were, how they happened, so that if, God forbid, we have another disaster like this, the same mistakes won't be made.

But I think the difference is, before, the question about Judge Roberts is, what faction of the court would he join? Now the question, of course, is what kind of leadership would he give this court if he is confirmed for what would probably be the next quarter of a century.

M. O'BRIEN: Which is I guess precisely the point, why it deserves as much attention probably as Katrina right now. A lot of the American people would say, yes, you should focus on what happened in the wake of Katrina, what could be done to fix it. But this is important stuff.

LEAHY: Well, you know, it's important, of course, and we'll have a real hearing. But keep in mind, we're talking about lifetime appointment that will affect every -- all 280 Americans, and their children and their grandchildren for a long time to come. It will take about three, or four or five days to make sure you do it right. I think that's important when you're talking about a lifetime appointment. This is not somebody who's going to serve there for a few weeks.

And of course the court goes on. They have an acting chief justice now. By custom the senior member of the Supreme Court becomes the acting chief justice in the absence of a chief justice. We will -- there will be -- you know, we will have a vote on this nominee within a matter of a few weeks. But I think that it's -- it makes sense that we take time to do it right. I think the American people deserve nothing less.

M. O'BRIEN: What about any added level of scrutiny? Will there be additional scrutiny? Will there be another press to get those documents relating to his time when he was serving as solicitor general, for example?

LEAHY: I would like to get those documents. You know, if there's nothing to hide there, I don't know why they don't bring them forward. The White House very eagerly dumped in tens of thousands of pages of things that they felt helped him. If there's nothing in there that hurts him, why not come forward with them?

But I think the additional scrutiny is that the chief justice has extra duties. He is -- for example, he's the person who appoints the members of the secret court, the so-called FISA court, and he's the one who determined who these judges are going to be who to hold these secret hearings for foreign intelligence, search warrants and so on. He also runs the judicial conference. He kind of sets the direction of the court.

And then on a very interesting thing, he's also -- this won't be a matter of dispute, of course, in the hearings. He's the chancellor of the Smithsonian.

M. O'BRIEN: I didn't even know that.

LEAHY: I'm one of the regents of the Smithsonian. That's the only reason why I know.

M. O'BRIEN: One thought here, Senator Kennedy was out with this statement yesterday. He says, "Before the Senate acts on the John Roberts' nomination, new nomination, we should know whom the president intends to nominate as a replacement for Sandra Day O'Connor. The American people care deeply about the overall balance of their highest court." Would you suggest that the administration come forth with that second nominee before anything moves forward on Roberts?

LEAHY: That's a very good question. We are concerned. I think all Americans are concerned about the balance of the court, whether they're Republicans, Democrats or independents.

I would hope that the president would consult with both Republican and Democrat senators before making a nomination to fill Sandra Day O'Connor's seat. There was no consultation tags in moving Judge Roberts to chief justice. I would hope that he would consult with us before he nominates somebody for that next position. I would think that that would make -- it would at least give him an understanding of who might have the easiest time to go through, and who might be a good one to show balance in the court.

Ultimately, that's what we want. The court shouldn't be there as a wing of either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. The court's supposed to be there for all Americans. And what we want and should expect is a kind of balance initiative that whether it's you, me or anybody else who's watching this program, if they had a case before the Supreme Court, they can expect it to be heard fairly and openly, and not have to think, well, this is already going to be determined based on who I am.

M. O'BRIEN: Patrick Leahy, Vermont senator, thank for your time this morning.

LEAHY: Good to be with you. Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. We have some pictures now, as a matter of fact. This is the Great Hall at the United States Supreme Court where, in about a half hour's time, the body of William Rehnquist will lie in repose. And the ceremony for his funeral services will begin with that.

Let's check the headlines this morning. Carol Costello is in with that. Good morning, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Miles. Good morning to all of you.

Now in the news, in Iraq, the U.S. military now confirms that two soldiers have been killed in an attack that happened earlier today. Their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in central Baghdad. A third soldier was killed in a similar attack in the western part of the country on Monday. Their names are being withheld until their families are notified.

In the meantime, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is warning that Iraq has become a hub for terrorism. The secretary- general calls Iraq an even greater threat for terrorism than Afghanistan was under the Taliban. Speaking to the British Broadcasting Corporation, Annan says some Muslims feel victimized and isolated, and the Iraqi War is making that situation worse.

The high price you're paying at the pump is the focus of a Senate panel today. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee will look into factors that have driven gas prices up. Katrina, of course, played a part, but the panel will also look at constraints on oil refinery capability.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come, a small town in New York pulls together to help the victims of Katrina. Find out what it's doing to put a roof over the heads of some evacuees. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: The human suffering caused by Hurricane Katrina has brought out the best in many Americans. One man in upstate New York is doing everything he can to help those left homeless by Katrina to land on their feet.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN (voice-over): In many small towns this time of year, the focus is on football. No different here in Cambridge, New York, a town of 2,000 about an hour north of Albany. But here, the game is different. The real winners aren't even on the scoreboard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Katrina relief fund, Operation Respite. Donations can be made. Help your fellow Americans, please.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people are down there, they're starving. They'd love to have what you have right now. Anything you can give.

M. O'BRIEN: It all started with a local EMS worker.

TED BERNDT, OPERATION RESPITE: Wow, incredible, great job. I'll see you in a bit. Bye now. $150 donation.

M. O'BRIEN: Ted Berndt doesn't know any of the families whose lives were ruined by Katrina, but he's determined to help them.

BERNDT: It's very numbing. And I thought, rather than just sit and watch the television and watch the same, you know, film footage over and over again, why not act? We want to get people up here to our community, get their kids enrolled in school, help them find a job.

M. O'BRIEN: So he got right to it, working the phones and his community to raise money and find homes for ten families from the disaster area.

BERNDT: I'm looking to fly a plane load of refugees from Alabama to New York state. And I know this may sound a little crazy, but we have host families already waiting for them.

How are you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good.

M. O'BRIEN: A local manufacturer of kitchen counters is in, printing Operation Respite fliers, getting the word out.

C.J. STEVENS, GREEN MTN. SOAP STONE: This is one of those situations where your brothers and sisters need you and you step up to the plate and you do what you can.

M. O'BRIEN: The local bead store is building Operation Respite a Web site.

SARA KELLY, OVER THE MOON GRAPHICS: We can't physically go down there and do anything, so this is our way to do our part.

M. O'BRIEN: Seems like everyone in this small town is pitching in.

BERNDT: I think people realize the urgency. You know, they're willing to step up and make that effort and open up their homes and open up their hearts.

M. O'BRIEN: Cambridge attorney John Imhof is one of those people.

JOHN IMHOF, CAMBRIDGE, NY ATTORNEY: From what I see down there, they've, you know, not been eating well and don't have a lot of water and, you know, I'd like to be able to share what -- my blessings with somebody else.

M. O'BRIEN: So far, there are 17 host families and thousands of dollars in contributions. But making contact with the families in need and arranging transportation for them is proving to be the longest yard in this campaign.

BERNDT: One of the biggest issues right now is transportation. I mean, I'm at a dead stand still with that. So moving on.

I'm in an endless loop here.

M. O'BRIEN: It's been hard, yet despite the challenges and the frustrations, people of this small town say standing on the sidelines doing nothing would be harder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at that! Look at that!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good job!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: And we have a footnote to share with you from Ted Berndt. He says he's running into some -- it's the theme of the morning -- red tape. Yes, he's been going to those sites, trying to find some people who might need homes, and those sites are saying it will take six weeks to screen the applicants and match them with the potential homes. He says that's too long. He'd like to do something faster. I have some friends who are trying to fly people in and out of the region to get them to homes as well. They're running into the same thing. So it seems as if there's a lot of bureaucracy getting in the way of a lot of good intentions here. Let's hope that changes soon.

As we have been reporting, officials were planning to use cruise ships to house victims of Katrina. That appears to be on hold, but Carnival Cruise lines could end up paying a price for pitching in any way. That story is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Well, Carnival Cruise Lines, they get major brownie points for offering up their cruise lines. But as it turns out, they might have a lot of empty ones none the less.

Andy is here with that and much more.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: And much more. Let's start off with the markets first of all, Miles. A rally on Wall Street. Because of lower oil prices this morning, you can see here the Dow is up 62 points. Price of oil down 17 cents to $67.40 a barrel, which is lower and lower. Price of gasoline, over $3 a gallon nationwide, but that has been falling over the past 24 hours. And, Miles, I think as we go forward this week, barring any more catastrophes or disasters, that you could see the price of gasoline falling probably below $3. It is the end of the summer driving season, of course, as well.

Now, let's talk about a couple companies that are feeling the effects of Katrina in the aftermath. We've been talking about those the past couple days, and we will continue to do so. Carnival Cruise Lines, as Miles mentioned, has been chartering, or had the U.S. government, I should say, chartered three cruise ships to use for evacuees. As we've been reported this morning, evacuees have declined to get on the cruise ships apparently. Still, those three cruise ships are available, two in Galveston, one in Mobile. That will be hurting its business. Enthergy (ph), a big energy company in New Orleans, also feeling the effects of Katrina as well, and on and and on, and this is something that's going to be impacting the economy a great deal.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, the more you think about the potential ripples, the more deeper those ripples run, I guess.

SERWER: That's right.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you, Andy. Appreciate it.

SERWER: You're welcome.

M. O'BRIEN: Back with more in a moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Miles, as we wrap it up here this morning, we want to show you a little of the action that's happening around us. As we mentioned, we've got the boats going back in the water. They're hopeful that they are going to be able to pull some more people out of their homes. In this neighborhood alone, over 280 people were rescued, and they were lucky. Maybe they'll get a chance to have some of that luck again today. Also we've seen some officials kind of behind us. There are some bodies that have washed up there, and now the grim task of recovering those bodies is what's going on here. You can see some of them covered in tarp. They've got to move them, tagging them, they're securing them, marking them, and hopefully they'll be able to figure out who died here and get them -- at least get their remains one day maybe back to their families -- Miles. M. O'BRIEN: Soledad, it is quite a picture that you paint there. It is positively surreal. Great job as always. Thanks, and we'll see you tomorrow.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks.

M. O'BRIEN: That's all from here for this edition of AMERICAN MORNING. Daryn Kagan is at the CNN Center to take you to the next three hours for "CNN LIVE TODAY."

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com