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CNN Live At Daybreak

Bus Accident In Wisconsin Kills Five; As Iraqis Vote On Constitution Some Sunnis Express Hopelessness And Fear; Time Warner Gets Offers On AOL

Aired October 17, 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, DAYBREAK: It is Monday, October 17. And tropical depression 24 is now a storm with a name and a projected path. All eyes on Wilma this morning, now forming in the Atlantic. Will it be the last storm of the season?
Plus...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had to climb out of the window and down the ladder to get out of there. Everybody had to have shoes on because there was diesel fuel and glass and all sorts of stuff on the ground everywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Members of a high school band recover from injuries and shock after a deadly bus crash. Now we know who was killed in that crash, and a community begins mourning.

Plus, neo-Nazis arrive in one town and rioting ensues. We'll talk to the police chief about the violence and the curfew and why that Nazi group was invited.

ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York this is DAYBREAK, with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.

COSTELLO: And good morning to you. More on those stories in just a minute. Also ahead, you've seen him on the National Zoo's panda cam, right here on DAYBREAK. In just a couple of hours we'll know what to call the cub.

But first, "Now in the News": The White House has called some big legal guns to back up Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers. Two former Texas supreme court chief justices are bringing testimonials to Washington today about their dealings with Miers as a trial lawyer. Critics say she lacks knowledge of constitutional issues.

A moderate earthquake has rocked some of the Greek Islands in western Turkey. The quake struck underneath the Aegean Sea this morning, with a magnitude of 5.2. No reports of injuries so far.

Two Chinese astronauts, or Taikonauts, as they are called, are back on Earth this morning. They landed safely in the Gobi Desert after spending five days in orbit. It was China's second manned space mission.

The Northeast gets hit again, just as the region was drying out from the rain and the floods, a blast of gale force winds knocked out power to thousands of New England homes over the weekend.

Oh, but let's talk about Wilma, now. Morning, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

This Wilma, we're going to talk about this a long time. The storm is moving southwest at 3 m.p.h., way down here in the Caribbean, actually, south and southeast of Jamaica, south southeast of Cayman Islands. It looks like the flare up is right there. And you would think that that is where the center of the storm is. In fact, the center of the storm is a little bit further to the north than the convection itself. Which means the storm is not really that organized this morning. And it is going to take along time to organize.

Maximum sustained winds are officially, 40 m.p.h., therefore tropical depression number 24 did become Tropical Storm Wilma at about 5 o'clock this morning, a little bit earlier than 5 o'clock.

On Wednesday into Thursday, into Friday, this storm is traveling almost due west. And then at some point in time it may make a turn to the right, into the Gulf of Mexico. I will tell you, though, right now. Almost every computer model that ran overnight is not forecasting this turn into the Gulf of Mexico.

It is forecasting it actually a straight trajectory, right into Cancun, south of there, Plia Del Carmon (ph) area, and then into the Bay of Campichi (ph). Then maybe it makes a right-hand turn, but that may not happen until Saturday or Sunday. And at this pace this is going to be something we're going to talk about forever and it's still not going to move -- Carol.

COSTELLO: When is hurricane season over?

MYERS: Officially, the end of November, but we rarely get hurricanes in November. We get tropical storms in November. We certainly have -- I don't know that I've ever seen Category 3 or higher, a major hurricane in November. But certainly with this warm water we have, it is possible.

COSTELLO: It's been a strange weather cycle.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

There are a lot of questions this morning about a deadly bus crash, a late-night return, a 78-year-old bus driver, and five people dead. That school bus from Wisconsin was loaded with band students. It crashed into an overturned semi. Today grief counselors will be at the school. Janice Shortle (ph), of our affiliate station, KARE reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANICE SHORTLE, REPORTER, KARE TV: On a day when kids in Chippewa Falls had no idea where to turn, they all seemed to end up in the same place.

STEVE BOOS, STUDENT: I couldn't even -- they even sent me home from work, because I couldn't stand it. I couldn't focus.

SHORTLE: One by one, at least have of the students of Chi (ph) High ended up coming to school to find out who among their friends and teachers were on that bus.

NICK BROUSSEAU, STUDENT: Nobody knows who actually is all dead now, it is all just rumors.

AIMEE BRUNNER, FORMER STUDENT: It is almost as if a family member died and you haven't found out yet. This morning when I heard the news I didn't even want to believe it was true, but once I watched it on TV, it hurts.

SHORTLE: More than 200 students and 40 chaperones were on three buses heading home from a marching band competition at UW-Whitewater, 45 miles from Chippewa Falls, 45 miles from home. The bus hit a jack- knifed semi near Osseo, on I-94.

TANYA RICHTER, INJURED IN ACCIDENT: I felt it stopping and I thought, OK, we're home and we're --

SHORTLE: Tania was in a seat on that bus in the back.

RICHTER: Almost everybody on the bus was asleep at the time. They all woke up when they felt the stop.

SHORTLE: She says she can't recall seeing anything. But she could hear so much.

RICHTER: There were a lot of sirens. There was probably, it looked like there was a ton of ambulances. And we had to climb out the window and down the ladder to get out of there. Everybody had to have shoes on because there was diesel fuel and glass and all sorts of stuff on the ground everywhere.

SHORTLE: Thirty kids were rescued, seven were taken by helicopter, more than 20 in ambulances. What's left of the bus is painful enough to see. Thinking about those they lost is right now unimaginable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm hoping the worst isn't true, so.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That was KARE Janice Shortle reporting. The band director, his wife, their granddaughter and a student teacher, and the bus driver all died in that accident. The superintendent says students at two schools are grieving, as the band director's granddaughter attended the middle school. In other news across America now, this four alarm fire in Detroit could be seen for miles. It burned mostly empty buildings, but just to be safe, about 40 area residents decided to leave their homes. Some of the firefighters told "The Detroit Free Press" they had trouble fighting the fire because they were broken hydrants in the area and poor water pressure in others.

Police near San Francisco are looking for clues in the death of the wife of a well-known defense attorney. Daniel Horowitz's wife was found dead in their home on Saturday. Police are treating it as a homicide. The cause of death should be determined today. Horowitz has also appeared on television, including CNN, as a legal analyst.

A curfew in Toledo, Ohio ends this morning, following an outbreak of violence over the weekend. Several buildings were looted and burned. Police were pelted by rocks during that riot. It all started when people became upset that the city had allowed an American Nazi group to march through their neighborhood.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR JACK FORD, TOLEDO, OHIO: The young men and young women, in particular, were highly angry over the idea that someone outside the community could come in and essentially insult them on their turf.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Toledo's police chief will join us live at the bottom of the our. And he'll have much more on this story.

Ballot counting underway in Iraq right now. Results in a landmark constitution vote are expected three days from now. Now, if the constitution passes, Iraqis in December will elect the first full- term parliament since the fall of Saddam Hussein. But the outcome could further divide the nation, because many Sunnis fear a new decentralized government will deprive them of their share of the country's oil wealth.

A rough road to democracy has lead to has lead to disappointment to many Iraqis. CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour reports on the fear of one family, that is shared by many in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: Amira al- Salami and her family live in one of Baghdad's big apartment blocks. She is a secondary school teacher and her husband, Dr. Monjad al-Naeb, works at the ministry of science and technology. A middle class family who high hopes are all but extinguished.

DR. MANJAB AL NAEB, BAGHDAD RESIDENT: It is bad, bad.

AMANPOUR: The al Naeb family expected America to change Iraq from dictatorship to democracy. To bring jobs and opportunity, what they never expected was the violence and mayhem that still rules their lives two and a half year after the war and leaves little room for optimism.

NAEB: It is very hard to say that. Because we don't know what will happen tomorrow actually. It is very, very hard to say that, because every situation now, doesn't appear that there is a small life in this darkness.

AMANPOUR: It doesn't take long for Amira's pent up tears to start flowing.

"I'm crying for Iraq. They destroyed its past and its future," she says. "Now, those dirty terrorists who come from outside want to destroy it completely."

The frustration and hopelessness of the parents if filtering down to their children, the very generation educated, secular middle-class people Iraq's future depends on.

Twenty-two-year-old Omar, studies medical technology at university, but he's worried about finding a job.

OMAR AL-NAEB (through translator): The students who graduated from my college last year are still sitting at home waiting.

AMANPOUR: Twenty-year old Mohammad studies mathematics. Like his whole family and many of their friends, he wants to leave Iraq.

MOHAMMAD AL-NAEB: (through translator): I want to ask you whether you could stay five or 10 years here. There is no reason for me to stay. No jobs, not even electricity or running water.

AMANPOUR: Indeed, two and a half years after the war, basic services remain sporadic. This family's most treasured possession is still their small generator.

MANJAB NAEB: Check the oil, is the most important thing (INAUDIBLE).

AMANPOUR: Instead of having fun, going out to play sports, and youthful clubbing live for these young people is all about curfews, gasoline lines, roadblocks and explosions.

OMAR AL-NAEB (through translator): Me, as a young man, I should live like young men in other countries, who spend their nights out, but now I can't. My family starts calling me around 7:30 p.m. to come home.

AMANPOUR: This family, who hoped American would bring them a better future, was further shaken when Monjab says he was arrested two years ago by American forces and kept without charge for 50 days before being released. He says they were looking for weapons.

MONJAB NAEB: I don't know why they are punishing the people. What I have done to them? I don't know. 'Till now, I don't know why.

AMANPOUR: Monjab lodged a complaint with the U.S. military, but he's most afraid of the religious militias and the insurgents. Amira says she lives in constant fear, hovering at her balcony every day, waiting for her husband to come back from work, her children to return from school.

SALAMI (through translator): Before we used to visit our families, attends celebrations and go to restaurants. We walked about until late. What kind of life are we living now, just eating and drinking? Is this a life?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: This family are among the Sunnis who voted against the referendum, because they say that they're afraid that it would further split Iraq.

Now, on Wednesday the trial of Saddam Hussein begins. First he will be charged, he will go on trial first for charges of massacring some 140 Shiites who allegedly tried to ambush his motorcade back in 1982. And of course, as he goes on trial, officials here, and of course, in the United States are hoping that when people are complaining about the kind of violence and insecurity they live into today, they are hoping that they will see how much worse it was under Saddam Hussein.

Back to you.

COSTELLO: Christiane, I'd like to talk about hope, does it matter to this family at all that so many Iraqis turned out to vote at all? And that Saddam Hussein is indeed going to go on trial?

AMANPOUR: It does. You know, they try to always distinguish between not having supported Saddam Hussein and living in a very -- what they consider bleak and violent daily life that they have endured since the last two and a half years since the war.

So, the two are essentially separated in people's minds. What they're saying is that their glad for the end of Saddam Hussein. There is not question about that. He was a dictator and they do not regret the end of that regime, by any means. However, they had expected a huge amount more and most especially they expected stability and safety after the war, and that, they have yet to find.

COSTELLO: Christaine Amanpour, reporting live from Baghdad this morning.

Amid the voting Iraq, more violence against U.S. troops. Six were killed in two attacks Saturday that brings the total U.S. death toll in Iraq to 1,980.

Still to come on DAYBREAK this hour. No vacancy, that's what a lot of business travelers are finding in the hurricane battered Gulf Coast. We'll have more in our business buzz.

And we're learning more about "New York Times" reporter Judith Miller. What did she recall for a grand jury. And more importantly, what didn't she remember? It is really confusing. And he's taken his first steps, his teeth are coming in, it's about time he gets a name. And after today we will know what to call him. But first here is a look at what else is making news this Monday.

Your news, money, weather and sports, it is 6:16 Eastern. Here's what is all new this morning. A tragedy in western Wisconsin; a high school band director, his wife, and their granddaughter among five people killed in a bus carrying high school band members. Nearly 30 people were hurt.

Counselors were at Chippewa Falls High, and at the granddaughter's middle school this morning.

In money news, call it Barbie for big girls. Doll maker Mattel is expanding the brand into a line of designer clothing for adults. That's Ken.

The Barbie Luxe line includes everything from jeans and shirts to jewelry and handbags so you, too, can dress like Barbie.

In culture, the August Wilson Theater is dedicated two weeks after the playwright died of cancer. New York's West 52 Street Theater, previously had been known as The Virginia.

In sports, the Chicago White Sox are in. The Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-3 to advance to their first World Series in more than 45 years. They have not won the series since 1917. Oh, could the Black Sox curse be over?

And in the National League, the Astros, just one game away from making it to their first-ever World Series. Houston beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1 in game four. Game five is tonight.

Did you see Jim Edmunds in that game, Chad? He was thrown out.

MYERS: You know, I didn't what was that about.

COSTELLO: He was upset at a strike call.

MYERS: Oh.

COSTELLO: And he said some choice words to Mr. Umpire, and he threw him out.

MYERS: I see. Well, you are not supposed to argue those. You have bigger things to argue times than that.

(WEATHER FORECAST)

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad. That's a look at the latest headlines for you this morning. Still to come on DAYBREAK. Could the proverbial sales sign be going up on part of CNN's parent company? Also head, the CIA leak: What did that "New York Times" reporter know and who exactly told her. We're sorting through the conflicting information coming out of the grand jury investigation. But first, morning Boston.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Time for a little "Business Buzz". Delta Air Lines and its pilots face off in bankruptcy court today, at issue, pensions. The pilots want Delta continue making minimum contributions to their pension plan and certain payments to higher paid retirees. The airline says it won't do either unless a judge forces its hand.

The big boost for Boeing. Boeing has reportedly received a major order for its new 787 "Dreamliner" jet. "The Wall Street Journal" reports International Lease Finance Corporation has ordered 20 of the planes valued at nearly $2.5 billion. It is the first big leasing firm to sign up at the jetliner's launch.

And the bidding war for America Online is heating up. Jennifer Westhoven joins us with a look at what AOL could mean for whoever ends up winning that is.

JENNIFER WESTHOVEN, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, can you believe this? AOL has gone from this company that was kicked around, this old company, to suddenly it is a hot commodity. Lots of big Internet companies wanting to sign up, it looks like.

Now, Time Warner, of course is the parent company of this network. And lots of reports that it is considering selling all or part of America Online. "The Wall Street Journal" this morning is reporting that Yahoo! has joined the bidding.

COSTELLO: Whoa?

WESTHOVEN: Yes, trying to get a piece of it, or perhaps all of it. Now, Microsoft and Google, there have been reports that they have already discussed a possible deal. Each one of these companies, though, wants something different when it comes to AOL.

Now, the entire company could be worth about $20 billion. Now, that is both the traditional subscriptions service and 20 million subscribers who pay a monthly fee. Now, even though this business earns about $1 billion a year, it has been losing customers. We've been hearing about this. People don't necessarily want dial up, there has been a move to the high speed, it has been going a little bit slow.

But the real hot commodity with in AOL, is its programming. Now they do have some great web sites in there. They have AOL.com, they have Mapquest, they have moviephone. They have AOL instant messenger. They have about 110 million unique visitors last month. And that is about a 10 percent share of the fast-growing Internet advertising market, Internet ads, of course. That's all the money that is coming. That is why AOL is suddenly posting really great numbers here. And that is why all of these companies really want to get on board.

Now something else that is interesting, though, that is making this a hotter battle, too. Is that the stock price for Time Warner has been pretty flat for more than a year. Carl Icon (ph), a different Wall Street guy, he has come in and he has been putting pressure on Time Warner's Chairman Richard Parson to do something to kick that stock higher. So, that is something that we will be watching.

COSTELLO: Yes, but Mr. Parson says -- no, no, we're doing just fine, thanks.

WESTHOVEN: He does say that.

COSTELLO: So how likely is it that AOL will be sold? And these are some pretty heavy duty people who want to buy it. Yahoo!, Google, and Microsoft?

WESTHOVEN: They are and does he really want to sell the whole thing? I say that because, you know, Parson has said, look, we stuck through AOL through the bad times, we're not going to get rid of it now that it has suddenly starting to post some great numbers. But there is a lot of pressure on him. Maybe instead of selling the whole thing they do find some way to strike up an alliance.

They've actually called AOL the swing vote in this big battle between the Internet giants.

COSTELLO: Oh, of course, we'll keep following this one. Jennifer Westhoven, thanks so much.

Who leaked the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame? It has been two years into a grand jury probe and there are still more question than answers. "New York Times" reporter Judith Miller spent some jail time for refusing to reveal a source to the jury. She finally testified twice, but didn't reveal much more.

In at "New York Times" article Miller says, "On one page I wrote the name Valerie Flame. I simply could not recall where that name from, when I wrote it, or why the name was misspelled."

Huh? What now? Joining me from Washington to sort it all out, is John Mercurio, senior editor at the "National Journal".

Good morning, John.

JOHN MERCURIO, SR. EDITOR, "NATIONAL JOURNAL": Good morning.

COSTELLO: So this article appeared in "The New York Times" over the weekend. A lengthy article by Judith Miller and also a lengthy article by the editors of "The New York Times". And this is very confusing. So did Scooter Libby, the vice president's chief guy, give her the information about Valerie Plame?

MERCURIO: It is very confusing. I mean it really sort of raises a lot of questions with a lot of journalists about how you could forget, as Judith Miller claims she did, the source of the name Valerie Flame, which again, she had written on her notebook. Now, she says in her article that she testified that she discussed on three different occasions including in June 2003, she did discuss Joe Wilson's wife and her CIA status with Scooter Libby. And that could raise some questions with the grand jury. That's what we're watching for I think.

COSTELLO: Let me read you another part of this article that Judith Miller wrote, and I'm quoting from the article. She said, "I testified that I did not believe the name came from Mr. Libby in part because the notation does not appear in the same part of my notebook as the interview notes from him."

So that sort of intimates that maybe it came from someone else?

MERCURIO: Right. And that was all part of the negotiations that she had with the special prosecutor about her release from jail. The special prosecutor agreed that he would narrow his investigation, he would limit his questions to her, to her interactions with Scooter Libby. Which, now that we know that there is this other source that might have provided the name Valerie Flame, to her, obviously that was Valerie Plame, she just misheard it or misunderstood it. You know questions are being raised and I think the special prosecutor is curious about who this other source might have been that he was prohibited from discussing with her.

COSTELLO: OK, so setting all of this aside. To make it matter to all of us, not just journalists. Who is going to burn for this? Is it going to be Scooter Libby? Is it going to be Karl Rove? It is going to be another person?

MERCURIO: It very well could be all three. You know, we will know a lot more in the very near future. Everyone who is talking about this, most of whom don't know much about it other than what the published reports that they're reading, though everyone will tell you, including leading experts that a special prosecutor after such a lengthy, 22 months investigation, doesn't ramp up his activity over the final days and weeks unless he has some reason to believe there will be charges brought.

And Patrick Fitzgerald has absolutely ramped up his investigation over the past couple of weeks with the questioning Karl Rove last week. Questioning Judith Miller for a second time. Other witnesses brought in, so clearly there is some focus to what he's doing and some intent on his part to bring some sort of charges, who it would effect, I don't know.

COSTELLO: And in an interesting note, John, in "Time" magazine, this week, Karl Rove has a plan if charges come his way from the grand jury, he is going to step aside and there will be no advice given from the sidelines either. That report in "Time" magazine this morning. John Mercurio, many thanks to you.

MERCURIO: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, a planned march followed by an unexpected fight. A riot, now leaders in one city are reviewing the decision to let neo-Nazis make a statement in their town.

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