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CNN Live At Daybreak
Troubles With New Orleans Levees; New Legal Troubles for Tom DeLay
Aired October 04, 2005 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: An age-old force is threatening New Orleans levees and engineers are taking extra precautions this morning.
And new legal troubles for Tom DeLay. He calls it an abomination of justice.
ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.
COSTELLO: And good morning to you. We'll have more on those stories in just a minute.
Also ahead, rising energy prices could mean some painful winter heating costs. We'll have some simple ways to take off the edge.
And how did Google grow from a name to a verb? But first, now in the news.
There are concerns today about those delicate levees in New Orleans. Two canals near the 9th Ward are closed as a precaution. Engineers fear strong winds and higher tides could create problems and lead to renewed flooding.
The U.S. military backed by Iraqi security forces launches two new operations today in Anbar Province. Operation River Gate involves more than 2500 U.S. troops.
The other offensive, Operation Mountaineer (ph), targets the southern district of Tamin. It involves 500 U.S. service members.
The bad news for terrorists could be good news for bank robbers. The Justice Department says the FBI shift to combating terrorism has resulted in a drop of 45 percent in traditional investigations. Those include bank robberies, drug trafficking, and white-collar crime.
Just minutes ago, the winner of this year's Nobel Prize for physics was announced in Stockholm. American John L. Hall and German Theodore Haensch have been named winners of the physics prize. American Roy J. Glauber has also won.
To the forecast center and Chad. Of course we'll get more information later on that - that just came down.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thank you Chad.
Indictment Part II for Texas Republican Tom DeLay just days after being indicted in a campaign finance case, Rep. DeLay was indicted on a separate charge of money laundering.
That charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. The minimum sentence is five years, though.
DeLay is accused of using corporate donations funneled through Washington to help candidates in local Texas races. DeLay's attorney explains in this way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK DEGUERIN, REP. TOM DELAY'S ATTORNEY: The corporate money, which was donated lawfully, was sent to the Republican National Committee which sent it to places that it could be sent, and then another committee of the Republicans sent money that was collected from individuals to individuals in Texas.
All legal. There was no mixture of the two monies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The second indictment came after DeLay's attorney filed a motion to dismiss last week's charge. We'll have a live report on what it all means. That comes your way at the bottom of the hour.
Now to another Washington figure who is in a very bright spotlight this morning, the White House counsel Harriet Miers. President Bush has nominated Miers to the Supreme Court even though she has no experience as a judge.
Some critics are accusing the president of cronyism, but top senators on both sides of the aisle are giving Miers a cautious welcome.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R) TEXAS: She personally was very involved in the consultation process. This sort of is reminiscent of Dick Cheney's selection as vice-president.
The president picked the picker, so to speak and - but I think - I believe that Harry Reid in one of those consultations said - had suggested that she would be a good choice.
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D) CALIFORNIA: I see no negatives at this stage in Harriet Miers. But, we only - I only know her as White House counsel and as giving the president advice and as helping move through court appointments.
And I certainly have no fault with her at all in that capacity. She has served him well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: President Bush's first pick for the Supreme Court had no trouble settling in. John Roberts opened the Court's new term yesterday, his first official day as the nation's new chief justice, and Roberts had some blunt questions for lawyers and he made sure they stuck to the clock.
Now to the aftermath of that deadly tour boat accident in upstate New York. Authorities have now shut down the tour boat operator after finding out the vessel wasn't carrying the required crew on Sunday.
The wreckage of the Ethan Allen has now been raised from the waters of Lake George. As you know, the boat capsized while carrying a group of senior citizens. Twenty people were killed. The sheriff says he doesn't think any criminal conduct is involved, though.
In the meantime, as the investigation moves forward, survivors of the accident are sharing their stories. One woman who made it through the ordeal had just returned from helping victims of Hurricane Katrina. For 76-year-old Jeane Siler, this was supposed to be a vacation.
Instead, Jeane found herself fighting to survive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANE SILER, SURVIVOR: I went to the bottom and I have some training as far as water safety is concerned so I did what I'm supposed to do, tread water, came to the surface, took a big breath and swam away from the boat because I expected - I (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
All of my friends around me, some of them, not being able to swim, were fumbling about. Some of them were screaming. And those that could were trying to hang on to the side of the boat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: We'll get the latest in a live report from Lake George. Susan Lisovicz will join us at the bottom of the hour.
Let's talk about New Orleans and Katrina because the moon, the tides and the high water combined - they could spell more trouble for two canals near New Orleans hard hit 9th Ward.
In fact those canals are now closed. The Army Corps of Engineers very concerned about this, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you had an east wind blowing water into New Orleans. It's kind of acting like a catcher's mitt there. Those east winds blowing water in to Lake Borne eventually down into about the 9th Ward.
We'll zoom in here - now if the water all starts to pile up in this catcher's mitt, if you will, we get rising water.
To the east of the 9th Ward, we'll zoom in one more time, the canals there are rising, especially on the east side of the city, and some of those canals that were repaired at those repair sites that are not as high as the rest of the levee, the rest of the flood wall, that has water flowing over those repaired levees.
Now they've closed those walls, they've closed the metal gates to some of those canals, they can't close them to all of them because some of them don't exist, they were never built. So water is flowing as of yesterday. Water was flowing over some of those repaired areas, Carol.
Think of it this way: do you remember us talking about the solar eclipse? Yesterday?
COSTELLO: Uh huh.
MYERS: The sun, the moon. They both have some type of gravity. When they're in opposite places, the gravity isn't so much. One is pulling this way; one's pulling this way.
Well yesterday, clearly, they were both pulling from the same spot because they were in the same spot. So that's how you get these astronomical higher tides in the spring and in the fall.
COSTELLO: And Lake Pontchartrain is so high already, and so is the Mississippi River, and I'm sure that's adding to the problem.
MYERS: Uh huh.
COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Chad. We'll get back to you.
More now from New Orleans. The search for bodies is over. State and federal teams have finished their sweeps through the city and we're happy to say they did not find many more bodies.
Certainly nowhere near the 10,000 originally predicted by Mayor Ray Nagin. Louisiana did, however, account for more than 960 of the nearly 1200 deaths caused by Hurricane Katrina.
There is one more death to tell you about, though, in New Orleans. One more body was found at St. Rita's Nursing Home. Louisiana's Attorney General tells CNN that the latest victim had a feeding tube in her stomach. The nursing home owner's already face 34 counts of negligent homicide.
A Florida man is accused of using a web site to bilk people out of $40,000 intended for Katrina relief. It's the first Katrina fraud indictment handed down by the Justice Department.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALICE FISHER, ASST. U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: What was a Web site set up as www.airkatrina.com and if you went onto the Web site it said give money here to provide fuel for airplanes that will go into the disaster area and give medical supplies, humanitarian relief and take children and others who were in need of medical relief back to safety.
Well, according to the allegations in the indictment, that was just simply not the case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Prosecutors say on his Web site, Gary Kraser told fake rescue stories including one where he saved the life of a 7-month-old baby.
Still to come on DAYBREAK the trial of all trials. A look back at the legal case that had us all glued to our television sets.
Also as energy prices continue to climb, some simple ways to keep your cold-weather bills out of the stratosphere.
And later, Google this: how this booming company came to dominate the worldwide web. But first here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALTER UPDEGRAVE, SENIOR EDITOR, "MONEY": The first thing I would do is before I even get to investing with a teen - I would try to talk to them about the benefits of just regular savings. If they make money from a summer job, try to get them to get in the habit of putting money away on a regular basis.
It's a good idea for them to realize that the money that they put away now can grow into a very large sum in the future and the earlier you start, the more that you can wind up with in the future.
This whole idea of compound interest and what it means when you have an investment that makes some money - I think if that's something that can grab their attention.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: It is money, weather, and sports at 6:13 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning. There is a new charge against former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas.
He's now been indicted on a charge of money laundering. DeLay already faces a conspiracy charge in a Texas campaign investigation.
In money news, life insurance rates are dropping for women with breast cancer. The Hartford Insurance Company cites better research and treatment as the reason for lower rates.
By the way, October is breast cancer awareness month.
In pop culture, back problems caused by a long flight landed Jane Fonda in a Paris hospital. Fonda traveled to France to attend the premier of a movie about her former husband, Roger Vadim. Vadim directed Fonda in the cult classic "Barberella." She's reportedly now resting at her hotel room. In sports, baseball's post season begins today with all eight teams in action. St. Louis Cardinals come in with baseball's best record, but the marquee match-up may be the New York Yankees against the Los Angeles Angels. Chad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad. We'll get back to you.
The wildfires in southern California are almost completely under control this morning. A fire in the hills of Burbank out after firefighters surrounded the flames.
It had been burning since last Thursday. Fire fighters hope to have the Topanga fire extinguished by tonight. That fire charred more than 24,000 acres north of Los Angeles. The crews are still keeping an eye out for hotspots.
The Santa Ana winds could fan the flames with gusts up to 50 miles per hour today and tomorrow.
Still to come on DAYBREAK some disappointing news for the music industry. Is it a sign that times are a-changin'?
And later we'll revisit the trial that mesmerized America. But first, good morning New York.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Time for a little business buzz. The music industry is singing the blues, literally.
An industry trade group reports worldwide retail sales of recorded music fell almost 2 percent during the first half of this year. The fall is due mostly to a drop of more than 6 percent in revenue from CDs, cassettes - who uses cassettes anymore - and other so-called physical media.
I guess you can blame the Internet. And speaking of the Internet there's a new on-line domain for the travel industry. Tourism offices, airline theme parks, restaurants, they're all eligible for Web sites and e-mail addresses ending in .travel.
As prices at the pump continue to soar, are you turning your back on those gas-guzzling SUVs? Carrie Lee is here to tell us the latest news coming out of Detroit, and it's not so great for the Motor City.
CARRIE LEE, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: September a pretty chilly month for the big three - well two of the big three. General Motors and Ford.
Top two automakers, GM, the world's number one, saw sales down nearly 25 percent from a year ago. Ford saw sales plunge nearly 20 percent. The main culprit in each case, slumping SUV and truck sales, which posted drop offs of nearly 30 percent from a year ago. Ford and GM, along with Daimler-Chrysler, had depleted inventories over the summer by offering those popular employee discount promotions. Now, Chrysler did see a rise in September sales. The company, though, is less dependent on big SUVs.
With gas prices hovering around the $3 mark, a lot of us are looking for more fuel-efficient cars, as was the case during the gas crisis of the 1970s. U.S. sales for Toyota and Honda were on the rise. In fact, those two Japanese automakers saw their best September ever.
We know that the Prius, Toyota's Prius, symbol of the gas electric hybrids, saw sales up 90 percent. Now they sold much fewer vehicles, but still the growth is really explosive here.
COSTELLO: And you would think the American car companies could change their strategy, but I guess maybe it's too late when you work on a new Ford truck, for example, as your premier model and then gas prices go through the roof.
LEE: Well, they really are trying. They're working on these fuel-efficient models going forward, they're trying to become more efficient for - with gas-electric hybrids, but Japan definitely has the jump on this and the other issue for the big three, resale values are dropping as well so people want to trade in their SUVs, their big trucks, get a smaller car, but they're getting less money for the old ones as well.
So it's very problematic for Detroit, September numbers not encouraging at all.
COSTELLO: All right, Carrie Lee, thank you.
LEE: Okay.
COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, the trial that some say forever changed the American legal system.
And later some simple ways to lower your escalating energy bills as in those high heating bills you're going to get this winter? You're watching DAYBREAK for Tuesday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: As CNN celebrates its 25th anniversary; editors at "Fortune" magazine compiled the top trends that are shaping our future.
More and more of our lives are automated, especially in our homes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have violated a protected area.
ANNOUNCER: From remotes and keypads for television, garage doors and lights to robotic vacuums, your home is getting a brain of its own.
There's a new type of home, a smart one that does the thinking for you.
CAIT MURPHY, SENIOR EDITOR, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: The house of the future goes to work. It's going to provide its own energy; it's going to process its own waste. Your carpet is going to suck up stuff when it's dropped; your counters are going to be self-cleaning. And it's going to be very interactive in the sense that your refrigerator is going to talk to your stove.
Some of these things are already happening but I think those are the things that really mark out the house of the future.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) zero-nine-seven-two-one- one. We the jury in the above-entitled action find the defendant, Orenthal James Simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder in violation of...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And that is the O.J. Simpson verdict being read and the reaction from the crowd.
On the streets of Manhattan as they watched on big screens as this verdict came down. Can you believe it? It's been ten years since that moment. The trial of the century was watched by more Americans than the Super Bowl.
And when the jury acquitted O.J. Simpson it split public opinion along racial lines. You just saw a clip from PBS's "FRONTLINE" program. It's a fascinating documentary about the trial. It airs tonight. It's producer, Ofra Bikel, is with us now.
Thanks for joining us.
OFRA BIKEL, PRODUCER: Thank you for having me.
COSTELLO: Why did you decide to do this documentary on the tenth anniversary?
BIKEL: Well, because "FRONTLINE" felt - we felt it was such a huge thing when it happened and it was above and beyond anything else on television and off television that was - we felt it might be interesting to go ten years later and see what was it about.
COSTELLO: I know 150 million people watched the verdict and the trial lasted 372 days and some people watched every single day. You did?
BIKEL: I did.
COSTELLO: I did, too. I did.
BIKEL: I must admit.
COSTELLO: Yeah. We asked our viewers to tell us what we've learned from the Simpson trial and this pretty much crystallizes what most people said. This is from Jeff from Massachusetts.
He said, "From O.J. Simpson we learned that with a lot of money and by using the race card you can get away with murder."
BIKEL: You don't even need the race card. Just money.
COSTELLO: Just the money.
BIKEL: Yeah, yeah. But we always knew -
COSTELLO: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
BIKEL: I beg your pardon?
COSTELLO: Is that what we learned, though, that money can buy you a not guilty verdict?
BIKEL: We learned that - we learned that money sort of is a level - is a leveler of the playing field. We learned that - we learned that there's a huge difference between the way a black and white see the world.
I mean we see blue, they see green. We see red they see, you know. We learned that, you know - a very sort of - in an emphatic way.
COSTELLO: Well you talk about the racial issue - this is from Andrea from Phoenix. She says I was in a hospital cafeteria in Savannah, Georgia the day the verdict was read. There was loud clapping and cheering from every African-American and a collective gasp from the shocked white people in the room.
There was no reaction in between.
BIKEL: Yeah.
COSTELLO: In interviewing people for your documentary, do you see a change in anyone's mind as to how they felt about the verdict?
BIKEL: Actually, no. No, I don't think so. I think people feel angry and as violent about it as they did before. Especially the white community. The black community has relaxed.
COSTELLO: Why, why is the white community still angry?
BIKEL: It's a good question, it's a really good question and - and I'm not even sure if I know the answer.
It's because I think race has a lot to do with it. And I think race in a very insidious way because I mean we know people - I mean we know a lot of people who get away with murder.
I mean, we know that.
COSTELLO: Well some people believe Robert Blake did, for example.
BIKEL: Exactly. And others - we know if you have very good lawyers I mean you know - you get away with things. They couldn't forgive O.J. for getting away with it. They just couldn't forgive him.
COSTELLO: And what about African-Americans, because they weren't exactly rallying around this guy. Most people believe he was guilty yet some, many were happy with the verdict.
BIKEL: Because it was such a huge victory. Finally - this is an arena, the justice arena.
I mean, I do a lot of shows about the justice system and when you do shows about the justice system you meet a lot of African-Americans, some version of it, and that's an arena that they can't win.
They're poor mostly, they don't have good lawyers, they don't win, they lose.
And suddenly the whole world was looking - the chief lawyer was a brilliant, incredible, talented guy - black.
COSTELLO: Johnnie Cochran.
BIKEL: Johnnie Cochran. And he won. And they won.
And it was like, you know, the world football game. I mean it was - they were just - they were just victorious for once they won.
COSTELLO: Fascinating. So the documentary airs tonight. If you could just check your local listing.
BIKEL: Yes.
COSTELLO: Ofra, thanks for joining us this morning.
Still to come on DAYBREAK, problems for the operators of that tour boat that capsized in upstate New York. We'll have a live report for you just ahead.
And later, you know you did it. What have you googled lately? And how did this search engine come to dominate the Internet? And is about to dominate so much else in this country, in this world?
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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