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Investigators Back on Scene of Tragic Boat Accident; President Bush to Nominate Harriet Miers for Supreme Court

Aired October 03, 2005 - 07:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: We're also following a story that is still developing on New York's Lake George this morning. Investigators are now back on the scene of that tragic boat accident, where at least 20 people died. We've got a live report ahead.
And in Bali, Indonesia, investigators going public with the most grisly evidence searching for key evidence in this weekend's deadly terrorist bombings. We're live in Bali as well, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning. Welcome, everybody. Miles has the day off. Rob Marciano is in Port Arthur, Texas, a town that's been devastated by Hurricane Rita. The residents there are just starting to return home to check on the damage there. We're going to check in with Rob in just a few moments.

First, though, some breaking news to get to. Just one hour from now, President Bush is going to announce his nominee to succeed retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. This comes as the high court begins a new term this morning with a new chief justice.

Dana Bash is at the White House this morning, CNN legal analyst Jeff Toobin is in Washington D.C., and Joe Johns is standing by for us at the Supreme Court.

Dana, let's begin with you. Any surprise that, in fact, it's today that this announcement is coming?

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Actually, no, Soledad. We were told late last week by senior aides here that it could happen as early as today. As a matter of fact, last night I spoke with a senior official who said to be on high alert as early as this morning. So not surprising, this president understands that Sandra Day O'Connor is coming and is going to be on the court as it opens this morning, and she certainly did not expect to be when she told the president she would be retiring back in July.

Now the president has certainly made clear that he has been doing his homework, interviewing candidates, and also has made clear that he wants to see perhaps some diversity on the court, whether that's a minority candidate, whether that is a female candidate, whom his wife, the first lady, has made very publicly she would like to see. We're certainly going to find out very soon. It's going to be 8:01 that President Bush and his pick will come into the Oval Office, and the president will announce formally who that is going to be.

And we should find out who that is going to be that. We'll keep you posted.

O'BRIEN: All right, doesn't mean we can't guess, Dana. Dana Bash at the White House for us.

Let's get right to Jeff Toobin, in fact,

Jeff, good morning to you.

You know, the list of potential choices has been huge. Who do you think leads that list?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. ANALYST: Well, you know, there's been a dark horse candidate who has come on at the end, Harriet Miers, who is the White House counsel, a very low profile lawyer from Dallas who has no never had any judicial experience at all. She appears to be a possibility.

Samuel Alito, an appeals court judge from Philadelphia. Actually he lives in New Jersey, a very conservative -- his nickname is "Skalito," in deference to his similarities to Antonin Scalia. There are other candidates who have been named for a long time, Michael Ludig on the Fourth Circuit of Appeals.

You know, I don't know, Soledad. They're very good at keeping secrets. We'll know soon after the nominee. No, no, we'll know soon after the nominee I think whether there is going to be a fight or not, because these people are well enough know in the Washington community that the reaction of the Democrats, just as we saw with Roberts there wasn't going to be a fight. We'll know pretty soon whether there's going to be a big fight.

O'BRIEN: Yes, I would guess that, too. All right, thanks, Jeff. We'll check in with you a little bit later.

Let's get to Joe Johns. He's at the Supreme Court for us this morning. Joe, good morning.

Already, it was a pretty important day at the Supreme Court. So what happens today with new chief justice?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we do have what's called the investiture. This is a ceremony where he's sworn in. He's already been sworn in once at the White House, sworn in a second time before the court. This is going to happen not in front of the cameras, but it will be inside the courtroom, then sometime before that, I should say, right out here on the stairs, Justice John Paul Stevens and the new justice will walk out on the stairs, something of a photo-op. We do expect the president of the United States here also to be available for the investiture.

After that, of course, the beginning of the fall term - this is the first Monday of October -- will begin hearing cases in the Supreme Court, the first case for Chief Justice Roberts -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Joe Johns for us this morning. Joe, thanks. We will check in with you a little bit later this morning. Following up now on a story we told you about over the weekend, divers expected to get back into Lake George this morning on the chance that there could be some more victims of Sunday's tour boat disaster. At least 20 people died when the boat suddenly capsized.

Susan Lisovicz is in Lake George, New York this morning, and it's about 50 miles north of Albany.

Susan, good morning to you.

A beautiful day, clear skies. I mean, people said it was really a picture-perfect day. Did they have any idea what went wrong?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The answer to that, unfortunately, Soledad, remains elusive. But as you described, we do know this, conditions were absolutely perfect for boating yesterday afternoon, Temperatures in the 70s, clear skies, sunny, very calm conditions. And people were out there, of course, enjoying this beautiful lake. That picture of tranquility changed within seconds when the Ethan Allen capsized suddenly, sending passengers, virtually all of them senior citizens, into the chilly waters.

Fortunately, because there were so many people on the water, there were dozens of craft in the area, and those people became rescuers. Their efforts came too late. As you mentioned, at least 20 people died, the worst tragedy here that anyone at Lake George can recall.

Warren County Sheriff's Department say that they are investigating every possibility into what went wrong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF LARRY CLEVELAND, WARREN COUNTY, NEW YORK: We will, of course, conduct an investigation into this to determine whether or not there was any type of a criminal matter involved. I want to stress to you now that all doors are open, but we do not believe there's anything criminal about what took place today on the lake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LISOVICZ: As we mentioned, Soledad, virtually all of the passengers were senior citizens, on what was supposed to be a beautiful fall day, enjoying Lake George. Many of those passengers were quite frail, using walkers and wheelchairs. Rescuers who helped bring people in, survivors in, said that some of them were complaining of chest pains. They appeared to be in shock. The Ethan Allen, meanwhile, remains submerged only maybe a thousand feet or so from where I'm standing right now, submerged in the water. A search-and- salvage mission will be taking place certainly this morning.

Back to you, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Susan Lisovicz for us this morning. Susan, thanks.

Officials have ramped up security across Southeast Asia in the wake of Saturday night's suicide bombings on the Indonesia resort island of Bali.

Meanwhile, We're learning more about the attacks and the people behind them. Investigators say three bombers targeted two cafes near Jimbaran Beach and a restaurant in Kuta, killing 19 people, as well as themselves. Stan Grant joins us by videophone. He's in Bali this morning.

Stan, what do we know about the suicide bombers?

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Soledad, the finger being pointed at Jemaah Islamiya. Now Jemaah Islamiya, of course, is that terrorist group from Southeast Asia with links to Al Qaeda.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From chaos to compassion, the Balinese people reminding us there's a gentle culture. Wreaths and shrines laid for victims of the weekend bombings. The peace of this island shattered once again Saturday night. It at all happened so fast.

This amateur video capturing the image of the man with a backpack. Indonesian police believe he is one of three suicide bombers, attacking three popular restaurants. He walks among the crowd moments later.

Now, there is the task of piecing it altogether. Police shifting through debris, they believe they see the fingerprints of Jemaah Islamiya. The Southeast Asian group who has links to Al Qaeda, was implicated in the Bali bombings in 2002, and bombings since at Jakarta's Marriott Hotel, and the Australian embassy. Australians were among the dead three years ago, again now. Others have been flown home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very kind and gentle, and you know, they don't deserve to have this all over again.

GRANT: Some tourists, though, staying on in Bali. Eli Alfonzo (ph) is from California. He says he's more cautious now, but he's here for a surfing is lesson, and he's not going anywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: California is a little cold right now, and you've got the nice sun here. And Bali is awesome place to stay. People are nice. And I guess three more weeks would be fine.

(on camera): The popular Kuta Beach is certainly a lot quieter than normal. The 2002 Bali nightclub bombings put a big hole in the island's economy. Now many fear they'll have to do the hard work of rebuilding all over again.

(voice-over): It doesn't get any easier. With the threat of still more attacks, Australian's foreign minister Alexander Downer warning that people travel to Bali at their own risk.

ALEXANDER DOWNER, AUSTRALIA'S FOREIGN MINISTER: It's possible there could be further bombings. People shouldn't think because those bombings took place, there now won't be any bombings for another year or so, or two years. We don't know.

GRANT: The attackers have shown they can hit when they like when it is least expected. The wreaths are not just to remember the dead. They tell a warning of what still may come.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRANT: Now, Eli, that young man we met from California, was actually taking his surfing lessons from local Balinese, and that's the thing here, People do blend together. That's what makes them vulnerable -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: That's Stan Grant for us this morning. Stan, thanks for that update.

Let's get to some breaking news, this information just in now. This just coming to us from the Associated Press, reporting that White House Counsel Harriet Miers will, in fact, be tapped to fill the seat that's been vacated by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. President Bush is going to make an announcement at 8:00 Eastern Time, which is in about 50 minutes, and of course we are going to carry that live. Let's get right back to Jeff Toobin. In fact, it was just moments ago that we heard Jeff Toobin naming Harriet Miers as possibly the first on the list of possibles.

Good morning, Jeff.

TOOBIN: Hey. Hi, Soledad. Boy, I'm never right on these things. I'm sort of in a state of shock.

O'BRIEN: Yes, you know, it's nice to be right. We will see if in fact that happens, of course...

TOOBIN: Yes, Once in a while.

O'BRIEN: We will see if that happens, of course, because the official announcement hasn't quite happened yet. Give us more information about who Harriet Miers is, and also tell me if this is going to be a person who draws big, red flags from the Democrats?

TOOBIN: You know, Soledad, I think this might be a very controversial nomination. She is the White House Counsel, the chief lawyer for the president at the White House. She was former deputy domestic policy adviser. She was head of the Texas Bar Association, a lawyer in Dallas. Most importantly, and you're certainly going be hearing a lot about this, she was President Bush's personal lawyer when he lived in Texas. This is a president who has been accused of cronyism, at FEMA, in other settings recently. This, I guess, will be raised here.

She has no judicial experience. She's never been a judge. She has virtually no public positions that we know of. So it's very much, I would say, a stealth nominee in terms of someone with a record on much of anything, particularly legal issues, like privacy, like affirmative action. But she's pretty much a blank slate. She served on the Dallas City Council, I believe, for just one term. That is the extent of her public record. But it's pretty thin.

O'BRIEN: Jeff, a couple of questions for you.

And first, a point, CNN is now confirming, in fact, that it's going to be Harriet Miers as the choice. We're going to hear that, again, officially from President Bush at the top of the next hour.

But you said she's never served as judge. How unusual is it for someone who is sitting on the Supreme Court to have no history as a judge in any setting previously?

TOOBIN: In recent years, it's very unusual. Historically, it's not that unusual. The last non -- the last justice to go onto the Supreme Court with no judicial experience was William Rehnquist, nominated by President Reagan in 1972 (sic) as an associate justice. He was later made chief justice. He had been a lawyer in Arizona, and then a Justice Department official. He never had any judicial experience. Earl Warren, the chief justice at a very critical time, he had been governor of California.

Historically, there have been senators. There have been governors. It was much more common to put someone on the Supreme Court with no judicial experience. This -- in recent years, though, it's been a long time since it's happened. and we'll see whether it matters as the confirmation process proceeds.

Just the other point, just I should make about Harriet Miers, is that she is the person who ran the search for the Supreme Court justice. And just as when Dick Cheney ran the search for vice presidential candidates and wound up choosing himself, Harriet Miers, looks like, chose herself. So we'll see whether she made a good choice.

O'BRIEN: I'm sure we'll be hearing from the Democrats very soon.

Thanks, Jeff. We'll talk to you later.

We've been talking about Port Arthur, Texas, especially in the wake of Hurricane Rita. That area just devastated.

Rob Marciano is there with us this morning. Let's check in with him.

Good morning to you, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad.

Miles is off for a few days, so we're going to revisit some of the areas that were hit by not only Katrina, but Rita, see how people are coping, see how they're putting back together their lives.

As you mentioned, this morning we are in Port Arthur, Texas. Eleven days ago, Hurricane Rita took a direct hit on this community. Still in black. The industries here, shrimping industries, at a standstill. Oil refineries also having issues. We're going to talk with those folks, and also talk about the people and, you know, how they're coping. We'll talk with the mayor in the next half hour.

Not only is there, you know, a virtual rubble here in Port Arthur, but lives are turned upside down. Three states in three days is the idea. That's the idea. We started off in Texas today, Louisiana and then Mississippi.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, faith leads the way to recovery for some of Hurricane Katrina's victims. We're going to show you how a historic New Orleans church is trying to play role in healing the city.

And then next, more on the deadly boat accident in Upstate New York. We'll talk to one man who helped about a dozen of the survivors.

His story is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

CNN is now confirming that, in fact, it will be White House Counsel Harriet Miers who will be named by President Bush to fill the position vacated by Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Let's get right back to Dana Bash at the White House for us.

Dana, good morning to you.

Has this come up in your discussions sort of behind the scenes? What can you tell us about this decision?

BASH: You know, this name -- first of all, let me just say, Soledad. this is vintage George W. Bush, the president appointing somebody whom he knows very well, whom he trusts very deeply. Harriet Miers has been the president's personal lawyer back in Texas and, of course, here at the White House is his chief counsel, and it had been the person who led the search for not only the first pick, which ended up being John Roberts, but the seat that she will now fill, so that is a quite interesting and certainly a pattern of the president. When we think about the vice president, he did the same thing, Dick Cheney, in searching for his role, the vice presidency slot.

But when it comes to Harriet Miers, it's been really interesting. Her name has really just kind of out there in the last, I would say, week or so, as somebody who was a very, very viable option.

As we mentioned before, the president, especially the first lady, has made clear that they wanted to pick a woman to replace Sandra Day O'Connor or a minority, but they, obviously, went with a woman. And the president wanted to pick somebody who he trusted, and that's who he got in Harriet Miers.

I've already talked to a Democrat on Capitol Hill. The leaders there are getting their phone calls. Harriet Miers is somebody, whom I'm told, Democrats actually threw out as somebody who would potentially be acceptable, at least somebody who is not on the absolute filibuster list, if you will, as some of the other female candidates were who were sort of out there.

So the president will announce this formally at the top of the hour, at 8:01, in the Oval Office.

But this is something when you think about the president, and when you think about what he likes to do, it's actually not that surprising -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Dana, thanks.

We're also looking right now, we should mention, John Roberts inside that black vehicle there. He is heading towards his investiture ceremony, which will take place in really almost probably two hours at the Supreme Court today. We're going to bring that to you live.

And then of course, as Dana mentioned, the official announcement from President Bush which we are expecting in about 40 minutes or so.

CNN, obviously, will carry that as well.

Let's talk about a development in a story that happened over the weekend, the tour boat Ethan Allen, only about 200 yards offshore when it cap-sized on Sunday. Boaters and the people on the shore got to the victims pretty quickly, but 20 people, at least, are dead. The boat went down near the Cramers Point Motel on Lake George in New York State.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Frank Sause owns the motel. He was one of the first on the scene. Thanks for talking to us this morning.

I know you saw ambulances that were headed toward the lake, and so then you went down there as well with your 13-year-old daughter. What did you see?

FRANK SAUSE, ASSISTED TOUR BOAT VICTIMS: When we got down there, there was quite a number of boats out there already on the lake. There's at least three or four rescue boats, and a number of vehicles on the lake itself -- on the shoreline of it. The rescue boats were pulling the -- you know, the more disabled bodies from the water, and then they were bringing them to the shore. We were watching that for a while. And then after awhile, the -- somebody asked for my help getting elder people off boats and docking some boats that were coming in. So we helped them get the elderly people out of that, and some of them were...

O'BRIEN: What were they like? Were they wearing life preserves? We've heard sort of both things, that were, some weren't. Do you remember?

SAUSE: Well, none of them had life jackets on. There were life jackets floating in the water. My son saw those. But he said that some of the people were just complaining about backaches, and one person was complaining about chest pains. One gentleman turned around and looked and saw that they were carrying his wife's body off one of the boats, you know, on to a gurney. And he said, that's my wife, and she's dead. And I told him not to jump to any conclusions, that she may still be OK.

O'BRIEN: It's Lake George that's behind you. It's such a calm lake. You, obviously, know it well. It was such a beautiful day, a perfect day, a lot of people said. Does it just shock you that this could happen?

SAUSE: Sure. Yes. It's very unusual for something like this to happen up here, especially something of this magnitude. It was a beautiful day, it was a calm day, and just circumstances that did it, I guess.

O'BRIEN: You saw a lot of people who had died, and I know your daughter, too, who is fairly young. How is she doing, and how are you doing today?

SAUSE: We're doing OK. I feel bad for the people that even that survived, it was just very traumatic for them, but they're doing pretty good from what I understand.

O'BRIEN: I certainly sure they appreciate you jumping in and helping out and pulling people off those rescue boats.

Thanks for talking with us. Frank Sause is a Lake George resident and owns that nearby motel as well. Thanks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Still to come this morning, more from Port Arthur in Texas. That city devastated by Hurricane Rita. The mayor says FEMA dropped the ball when it comes to relief. We'll find out why he's saying that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING when we check in with Rob.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

You can see there, President Bush is going to announce his nominee for the Supreme Court, replacing Sandra Day O'Connor, the justice who is leaving. We're going to hear that right at the top of the hour. In about 35 minutes or so, we'll bring that to you live. It looks as if Harriet Miers, the White House counsel, will in fact be the one who is tapped to take over Justice O'Connor's seat. The president's going to make that official announcement though just ahead. We're going to will carry that live.

There are some safety questions being raised today, as mechanics hired by Northwest Airlines replace some striking employees. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning. Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Soledad.

August 19th, 4,200 mechanics went on strike at Northwest Airlines, and the airline immediately said that it was business as usual.

However, a story in "The Minneapolis Star Tribune" this morning calls that into question. The paper examined reports by the FAA and -- that were done by inspectors of that government agency which describe deficiencies, thin staffing and blunders.

In fact, two instances that are particularly disturbing. In one case, a dead bird was discovered in an engine by a copilot that was supposed to be found by one of the mechanics. And also replacement workers labored all through the night to replace a brake. That usually takes three hours. The airline continues to say that things are OK and normal in this environment. It is retraining some of those replacement workers, however.

But you know, Soledad, this calls into question a larger issue, which is with all these airlines bankrupt, or laying people off or cutting back, is the safety level up to speed, up to par? And in this instance, there are questions.

O'BRIEN: All right, that's kind of scary stuff.

SERWER: Indeed.

O'BRIEN: Andy, thanks.

Still to come, more on that breaking news out of the Washington this morning. President Bush set to name White House Counsel Harriet Miers to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. Jeff Toobin's going to join us live with his take just ahead -- Rob.

MARCIANO: Soledad, Port Arthur, Texas this morning still in the dark. But people are starting get up, the workers are starting drive around, trying to rebuild this city. A man who probably hasn't had any sleep is the mayor. We're going to talk to him coming up shortly.

Stay right there. AMERICAN MORNING will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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