Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Reagan National Airport Opens to General Aviation; Hussein's Trial to Begin Tomorrow

Aired October 18, 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: It is Tuesday, October 18.
Winging it -- more passengers and more planes in Reagan National. It is the last major airport to reopen after 9/11, and this morning it's finally flying back to its old self.

Also, facing justice -- this man is just a day away from a history making trial.

And a rare glimpse into Iraq's insurgency. We'll talk to a reporter who got some lessons in terror and death straight from the source.

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, the latest track of tropical storm Wilma. Chad will have that for you.

And a new question about the flu vaccine. While it might be available, will it be affordable?

And how to start the most difficult of conversations -- the small ones.

But first, now in the news, Taunton, Massachusetts is closed this morning as authorities are watching this timber dam. Actually, it's in a state of emergency. This dam is buckling after record rainfall and actually could fail, sending up to six feet of water into the city, which is just south of Boston. About 2,000 residents have been evacuated. The National Guard has been brought in. We'll have a live report for you within the hour.

New predictions from Alan Greenspan in Tokyo this morning. The Federal Reserve chairman says skyrocketing energy prices will act as a drag on the world economy. But he says the impact on growth and inflation won't be as severe as the oil surge in the '70s.

Look at this mud slide in Burbank, California. Thunderstorms and hail in the region also caused flash floods and widespread power outages and forced the closure of the state's main north-south Interstate near Los Angeles, Interstate 5 north of L.A. CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Wow! COSTELLO: It just reopened a few hours ago.

I'll bet that was a mess -- Chad.

MYERS: That is. They call that the Grapevine, if you get up and over the top and then on up toward Bakersfield and San Diego, or San Francisco. But that would be a mess, to shut down that freeway. There's a lot of truck traffic on that.

Back behind me here, Carol, Wilma came very close to becoming a hurricane overnight. Still a tropical storm now. The storm itself, the eye or the center, not that far from the letter C. Notice how close it is to this land. And this is the Yucatan Peninsula. And there's Cancun and Cozumel. You've heard of those towns. And then back up to the north, that's Florida.

Now, this is still five days away and the forecast can change drastically in five days. But the Hurricane Center is thinking by Saturday night and then Saturday day, this is going to be making a run at South Florida, somewhere between the Keys and possibly even as far north as Tampa.

It is going to have a stretch of time where it grows this week. And then by the weekend, it's going to start to move rather quickly.

More rain for the Southwest. More rain for the Northeast. We talked about that dam, which is right here. And now it's beginning to rain again from Boston all the way down to Hartford, and down into Hartford, right down into New York City, and, for that matter, Vermont and New Hampshire -- Carol.

COSTELLO: It was sprinkling this morning. I was hoping it was my imagination, but it was raining.

MYERS: It was raining.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Four years after 9/11, Reagan National Airport in D.C. is back to normal. It now flies under the banner of a full service airport. In just about an hour, private planes will begin landing at Reagan for the first time since the September 11 attacks. The planes were banned because they were perceived as a potential threat to nearby government buildings and landmarks, including the Pentagon and the White House.

More now from CNN Radio's Dick Uliano -- so, Dick, four years later it's suddenly safe?

DICK ULIANO, CNN RADIO CORRESPONDENT: Well, not exactly, Carol.

This will remain an extremely secure airport, Reagan National Airport here near Washington. It's actually in Arlington, Virginia, hard on the banks of the Potomac River. And anybody who has landed at Reagan knows that the sights are sweet. You know, you could see the Washington Monument off to your left. You could, perhaps, below the tree line see the White House and the Pentagon off to your right. And this is why the airport has been made more secure, because it's close to these buildings.

So general aviation has been banned since 9/11. They resume it today but there are so many rules that it's really hardly worthwhile to general aviation pilots to think that they can come into Reagan any time soon.

For example, Carol, any small plane planning to come in at National, you've got to let the Transportation Security Administration know 24 hours in advance who's on the plane. Then you have to land at one of a dozen gateway airports so the TSA can re-inspect the plane and the baggage. And, Carol, every small plane that comes in has to have a law enforcement officer on it.

So I mean this is nothing like it was before 9/11. And trade groups, business industry groups, are hoping that this improves over the weeks.

COSTELLO: Yes, we'll see.

Dick Uliano reporting live from Washington this morning.

Continuing our "Security Watch" this morning, an employee of Homeland Security may have played a role in leaking information about a terror threat to New York's subway system. You know that happened earlier this month.

CNN has learned a senior civilian Coast Guard employee has been reassigned and his security clearance has been revoked. It comes after he admitted he may have been the source of an e-mail sent to friends of his warning of a subway plot. Government officials tell CNN a second person also under investigation.

It seems taxpayers are picking up the tab left behind by small businesses in the wake of the September 11th attacks. The federal government lent more than $1 billion to businesses claiming they were hurt financially by the attacks. The Associated Press is reporting federal accounts now show about $245 million in default. That's about $1 for every $5 loaned.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff will be grilled about immigration laws this morning. Chertoff will testify at a Senate hearing on immigration reform. His main focus will be the Bush administration's plan to stop the flow of illegal immigrants across the border, including possible criminals and terrorists.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

He's cleaned up since coming out of what one U.S. military officer called a rat hole. And now Saddam Hussein faces trial along with seven other high level members of his ousted regime. The trial will officially begin tomorrow.

Let's head live to Baghdad for a preview with Aneesh Raman -- hello, Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning.

Saddam Hussein faces crimes against humanity. That is the charge. The trial is set to begin tomorrow over his response to a failed assassination attempt from July 8, 1982 in the northern village of Dujail. We now have some rarely seen video shot by Saddam Hussein's entourage as it entered Dujail on that morning. You see the convoy coming into the village, villagers rushing, running alongside the vehicle. They were screaming in forced joy. These were orchestrated trips that Saddam often did to villages throughout Iraq, a way to show he was a man of the people, if you will. All of them, though, really, you can tell, sort of palpably showing excitement.

In one moment, though, you get a sense of Saddam's consistent fear of being killed at any moment. Here a woman on the right offers him a glass of water. Saddam refuses. This, again, the morning of July 8. He often thought -- and always avoided water -- for fear it was being poisoned in an effort to kill him.

Later in the day, he spoke to the residents of Dujail from atop the Baath Party headquarters there, talking about the Iran-Iraq War. And it was after that speech, as he was driving on a street through the main part of the village, that six men jumped from the orchards that were surrounding the road and fired upon him.

Saddam narrowly escaped. He was unharmed. And immediately the entire scene switched. The bodyguards brought out guns. It was a very sort of clear evidence of security. And Saddam himself began interrogating people.

We're going to show you now two clips of Saddam questioning residents. These are just moments after that failed assassination attempt.

(VIDEO CLIP OF INTERROGATION IN ARABIC)

RAMAN: Now, Saddam also gave a speech to all the residents of Dujail after the assassination attempt. He said that it did not kill him, obviously. His confidence remained high. You could tell, though, how fearful the residents were, aware of the fate that would come. And sure enough it did.

Thousands of them were thrown into jail, many of them allegedly tortured, a number of them, over 140, were allegedly executed.

I visited Dujail, Carol, just a short time ago to talk to the residents and it is very clear that the effects of that day and the ensuing aftermath still persist today. Everyone there knows someone that was killed. Everyone had huge numbers of their family incarcerated. The area where the gunmen shot at Saddam that was once filled with houses, with trees, is completely barren. Saddam sent bulldozers in to level the area, to send a message. And they are eagerly awaiting justice.

Justice, Carol, they thought may never come.

COSTELLO: Exactly what can we expect will happen tomorrow, though, when Saddam Hussein finally goes on trial?

RAMAN: Well, we expect Saddam to appear, along with seven other defendants, as you said. It will be a reading of charges. There will be no live signal. It will be a delayed signal of about 22 to 30 minutes out of the court session.

The defense lawyers, by all expectations, will immediately petition for a delay.

This morning I spoke with the lawyer for Tariq Aziz, another high level detainee who's not part of this defending group, who told me that he would petition, essentially, for a delay on the grounds that the judges have been educated abroad, the defense lawyers have not; the judges have bias. Many of them will have family members that were killed by Saddam and his regime. And they will also ask for further time to review the evidence.

So we could see a delay over an adjustment, if you will, of a few days, if not a few weeks, before the trial begins in earnest -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So there could be a reading of charges tomorrow and the then trial could be delayed and it won't start up again for several days. We don't know.

RAMAN: Exactly. There are many questions about this trial, about the mechanics of how it will work, about how the legal proceedings will carry themselves out. We know there are five judges. There is a chief judge among them. They can participate sort of similar to the Supreme Court in terms of questioning at will of the witnesses, but they themselves are still figuring out a great many things. And in could very well be that we see an adjustment either after a day or two. But, again, these are huge questions that remain unanswered. No one quite sure -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Aneesh Raman live in Baghdad this morning.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, more on the delicate dam that threatens one small town this morning. Taunton, Massachusetts in a state of emergency. That dam could burst at any moment.

And billion dollar changes lie ahead for the nation's number one auto maker. Who's making the sacrifice?

And then, could the focus of that CIA leak investigation go as high as the vice president? We have new details to talk about.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WALTER UPDEGRAVE, SENIOR EDITOR, "MONEY": Because of the real estate boom in the last few years, a lot of people are sitting on considerable sums of equity in their home. Their homes have appreciated in value. Now, when you retire, the question becomes is there a way for you to get at that value and maybe still live in the house?

And one of the ways that you can do that is through what's known as a reverse mortgage. A reverse mortgage is kind of a mirror image of a regular mortgage. Instead of the lender giving you a sum of money to buy a house and then you repaying them each month, it's the exact opposite. The lender gives you a sum of money each month based on the value of your house while you remain living in your house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.

It's 6:14 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

President Bush signs a homeland security spending bill today. It's aimed at improving the federal response to disasters like hurricane Katrina. In the meantime, newly released memos show there was infighting and frustration at FEMA in the wake of the storm.

In money news, Japan may soon loosen its ban on American beef. A food safety panel is considering a plan to remove restrictions that were put into place after Mad Cow Disease was found in the United States in 2003.

In pop culture, filmmaker Spike Lee is heading to New Orleans to make a documentary on how race and politics collided in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. The piece will be produced by HBO, which is owned by Time Warner, which is CNN's parents company.

In sports, Albert Pujols' three run homer, with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, leads St. Louis to a 5-4 win over the Houston Astros. Game six of the National League playoffs tomorrow -- Chad.

MYERS: And good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: The Boston area does not need the rain this morning, Chad...

MYERS: Absolutely not.

COSTELLO: ... because, oh downtown Taunton, 33 miles south of Boston, under a state of emergency this morning because it could get swallowed up in up to six feet of water. A timber dam is about to break and could possibly flood the entire city. The National Guard has been called out.

For the latest on the potential disaster, let's go to Taunton and reporter Steve Cooper from CNN's Boston affiliate, WHDH.

STEVE COOPER, WHDH CORRESPONDENT: This morning, Jonathan, as you look behind us, you can see these police barricades that are in place here on Whittington Street. And just about 200 to 300 yards beyond where we're standing is where the dam is of concern, and you can see a few emergency vehicles. But you notice their headlights are heading right toward our camera lens. That's because they've all been flipped around. Instead of heading toward the dam, these guys are ready to roll and move away from scene as quickly as possible if and when the dam gives way.

But we're hearing words like it's imminent and there is a serious deterioration that happened overnight. And keep in mind, when we arrived here a few hours ago, the word of the day was it looked like it was all systems go and everything was OK at that point. And then suddenly two, or, as you heard the mayor say, 2:00 this morning and 3:00 this morning, this water started to trickle underneath the dam. And then it started picking up a little bit more. And thus the concern.

In fact, overhead is a state police helicopter right now using infrared, obviously, because the sun hasn't come up yet and they're trying to get a closer look and monitor things. Warren had mentioned about the divers who are actually in the water, trying to get a handle on it from that perspective.

But as you look off to my right, you can see the state police and the Taunton police here. You can see their cruisers are literally on every corner. They actually went from a three mile area that they had evacuated people, they've now extended that.

And we do know that some people were told by police they've actually decided to "ride this thing out" and they're staying inside their homes. And even at this hour, the police chief and the fire chief are urging these people, who may be at home watching this saying hey, we're going to try to stay this thing out, to get out and get onto higher ground, because that is how serious the situation is at this hour.

Now, a dam engineer did say a few minutes ago, someone that actually looked at the situation, if this dam fails, there will be enough power, enough surge from the water, to actually knock somebody over. That's how powerful this six foot wave that would come cascading into downtown Taunton would be. And that's the reason that, of course, they're under the state of emergency at this point.

The negotiated has been called out. What that basically means is troops will be arriving here shortly, along with special equipment, as well, to help out the police and the mutual aid fire that's also in place right now.

But a very serious situation that wasn't that way just a few hours ago. And as we've talked to some of the officials that have been down closer to inspect it, they say just be ready to move out. This is as close as we're going to get right now, but they do expect water, if this thing breaks, to come rolling down these streets right here.

We're live in Taunton this morning, Steve Cooper, 7 News today in New England.

COSTELLO: And police are again urging people not to go to downtown Taunton to sightsee because the situation has become quite dangerous.

We're going to keep an eye on that dam in case it breaks. And they say it's imminent now.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, a new development in that fiery crash that heaped even more tragedy onto hurricane evacuees. Charges are now filed.

And two versions of the same conversation, as more senators pepper Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Time for a little "Business Buzz" right now.

Nissan says watch your fingers. It's recalling about 118,000 Quest minivans. Nissan says owners have been using the wrong handle to adjust the back seats and that could pinch your fingers.

There could be another shortage of flu shots this year. British biotech corporation Chiron says its U.S. flu vaccine deliveries and its profit will fall short of targets, again due to production problems.

Also, it could cost you more for your flu shot. That's because of increases in the wholesale cost of vaccines.

General Motors cuts a deal with its employees that may save the company, but how much will it cost workers?

Jennifer Westhoven joins us now with a look at all the news on the struggling auto maker.

JENNIFER WESTHOVEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi.

Thanks, Carol.

So, yesterday morning G.M. posted this huge loss, but it also talked about this big deal that it's striking with all of its workers. And this is -- I mean they're really giving up a lot. This is the United Auto Workers giving up a lot when it comes to their health care benefits here. In fact, General Motors has said it's the most it's ever saved in one day. They're going to save about $1 billion a year in health care costs. The biggest announcement, though, of savings.

Now, they didn't really have specifics here, but essentially in the past, the autoworkers have had what's been called in some of the papers the Cadillac when it comes to health care benefits. Essentially, most American workers pay somewhere between $100 and $187 a month for health care benefits. At G.M. they were paying more like between 0 and $75 a month. G.M. had this big promise to its hourly workers that essentially when they retired, it would take care of them. But it just can't afford that kind of promise anymore. Of course, the global economy has really changed.

So General Motors is also looking for other ways to save money. But 750,000 United Auto Workers are going to be paying a lot more every month when it comes to their health care. And they're willing to do it. You look at a lot of the quotes, many of them say look, we just know we have to save this company or else later on, you know, they might end up with nothing.

Now, we did see that huge loss, $1.6 billion, General Motors said that it lost, just in the latest three months.

COSTELLO: Wow!

WESTHOVEN: It's lost more than that, you know, in the full year up to then. So they know they have to turn something around. They saw the auto parts company Delphi file for bankruptcy. The company's CEO, Jim Waggoner, he says, you know, it's still a possibility that G.M. could face bankruptcy.

So even now, with these workers giving up a lot, a lot of the analysts say they still have better health care benefits even now, with the cuts, than most of the people in the country.

So G.M. is still facing big health care costs and, in fact, Jim Waggoner, who you just saw there, he's actually asking Washington to just take a look. He says health care costs are out of control.

COSTELLO: For many of us. So perhaps the government should actually try to do something about that to help businesses and, you know, just people.

WESTHOVEN: Yes. It's really hard to know what you do, though. I mean and for all these workers, I mean they've been counting on G.M. Now they're going to have to come up with more money every month. They're going to have to start dealing with what we all deal with -- co-pays, deductibles, a lot more paperwork. It hurts.

COSTELLO: Jennifer Westhoven, thanks so much.

In other "News Across America" now, an American Nazi group wants to return to the scene of weekend violence in Toledo, Ohio. It was their first planned march that seemed to incite a riot there. Toledo's mayor now looking for ways to ban any further marches from this group.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR JACK FORD, TOLEDO, OHIO: I don't have a message to send to them, but I do to other cities. Take a look at the response we had and the results that we got, and that the best results, I believe, would have been to ignore them because they don't get any return for their action. In '95, when the Klan came here, we ignored them. They've never been back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Arraignments now underway for 69 of the 114 people arrested in the riot. They face aggravated rioting charges.

Police tell CNN that a truck driver involved in a fatal bus crash in Wisconsin had a suspended driver's license. Five people died when that chartered bus hit the overturned truck and investigators still trying to determine what caused the truck to overturn in the middle of the road.

Charges could be coming in the case of that fatal bus fire during hurricane Rita evacuations. Twenty-three nursing home patients died in the September 23rd fire near Dallas. The investigators say they want negligent homicide charges filed against the bus driver. Police tell CNN the driver is already in federal custody on immigration charges.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, what does it take to coordinate a suicide bombing? "Time" magazine gets a firsthand account from a handler for suicide bombers.

And the leak, the investigation and the vice president's office -- where all the grand jury testimony is leading.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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