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CNN Live At Daybreak

President Bush Heads to Argentina for Summit of the Americas; Philadelphia Transit Strike Continues; Royal Visit

Aired November 03, 2005 - 06:30   ET

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

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. From the Time Warner center in New York, this is DAYBREAK for a Thursday. Jacqui Jeras will have your forecast in just a moment.
Also coming up this half-hour, President Bush is heading south. We'll take a closer look at just what the president hopes to accomplish at the Summit of the Americas.

And Philadelphia's transit strike hits day four. We'll have a live report coming up.

But first, these stories "Now in the News."

Lewis Scooter Libby is due to be arraigned this morning in Washington. Libby resigned, you'll recall, last week as Vice President Cheney's top advisor after being indicted on five felony charges. Those charges all stem from the investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's name. Karl Rove, the president's top advisor and also deputy White House chief of staff, is still under investigation in the case.

The nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court will be discussed by the so-called "gang of 14" today. The 14 moderate senators -- seven Democrats and seven Republicans -- could play a pivotal role in the fate of Alito's nomination. Earlier this year, they helped bring about an end to filibusters of President Bush's judicial nominees.

Schools in Miami-Dade County reopened today for the first time since Hurricane Wilma crashed through south Florida. Extra crossing guards and traffic officers are in place to help buses and children make their way to school. Broward County schools won't reopen until next week at the earliest.

Jacqui Jeras in the forecast center now.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WALLACE: To our top story now this half-hour. Security is tight this morning in Mar del Plata, Argentina, as leaders from around the region arrive for the Summit of the Americas. President Bush is leaving later today to attend that event.

The main focus of the meeting will be job creation. The president, though, is expected to push his free trade agenda. Here's a quick snapshot of the president's trip. As we mentioned, he'll leave this morning for Argentina for the two-day meeting. From there, it's on to Brasilia, Brazil, on Saturday. Then he heads to Panama City, Panama, on Sunday. He will meet with each country's president during his visit. And he heads back to Washington on Monday.

Well, we want to take a closer look at President Bush's trip. You can say not everyone is going to be welcoming President Bush to the Americas summit.

CNN Espanol's Juan Carlos Lopez is joining us live from Washington.

Juan, it's always great to see you. Thanks for being here.

The first question to you. President Bush, of course, is leaving what was really a terrible week for him last week in Washington, going to Latin America. But he's going to face some troubles there as well, won't he?

JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN ESPANOL: Yes. President Bush, you can say, is not very popular in Latin America. Two main reasons: The war in Iraq. There was widespread opposition to the war in Iraq. And there will be a protest tomorrow, which will include former soccer Diego Maradona and relatives of soldiers, American soldiers, who have died in Iraq. It might also include President Chavez of Venezuela.

The other issue is that the U.S. might be pushing the Free Trade of the Americas Agreement. It hasn't had a lot of traction in the region. And its main opposition is from people who believe that it would end up benefiting more the American corporations that would be going into these countries if this zone is created. It would be a larger free trade zone than the European Union.

And that's why there is widespread opposition from unions, and they expect big protests.

But the president and the other heads of state will be in Mar del Plata, a seaside resort. And they will be under very tight security, more than 7,000 security officers.

WALLACE: And tell us a little bit about the chances that President Bush and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez could get some close contact during this summit meeting.

LOPEZ: Well, they're going to be in the same room. They're going to be in the sessions. The State Department told us this week there was nothing programmed between them. And President Chavez hasn't been shy about criticizing the U.S.

So, it's going to be an interesting summit.

He even said he would go to the anti-summit rally tomorrow. This is a president who this week said -- yesterday said that the Free Trade of the Americas Agreement had no future; that the U.S. could not pass this agreement even if they came up with a 100,000-page document.

And he also said this week, just one issue, Venezuela has American-made F-16s, and they haven't been able to buy spare parts. And he said this week if he couldn't buy the parts and if the U.S. kept blocking other countries like Israel from selling the parts and maintenance to these airplanes, he would give 10 of them to China and maybe give 10 of them to Cuba and buy Russian airplanes.

WALLACE: You know, I wanted to ask you -- of course, we had some Latin American reporters who had a briefing with the president before his trip. And one reporter asked -- he said he asks this question of all presidents. He asked the president, what's in your pockets? What can you tell us about that?

LOPEZ: He had a handkerchief. He didn't have any money. He showed him his watch, and he mentioned the brand. And then he said he couldn't make an endorsement of products. It was a Timex. And it was very curious.

And I think it shows another side of President Bush, a side that people usually don't get to see in Latin America, a more personal side. And that probably fell well with people. They saw George Bush as a normal person.

WALLACE: All right. Juan Carlos Lopez of CNN Espanol. Thanks for joining us this morning.

LOPEZ: My pleasure.

WALLACE: We appreciate it.

Turning now to New Orleans. The rebuilding and cleanup is continuing there in the aftermath of Katrina.

Miles O'Brien is joining us now from Algiers, just across the Mississippi from New Orleans, for a look at what is coming up today on "AMERICAN MORNING."

Good morning, Miles. Great to see you.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see you, Kelly. You're looking great this morning.

And we are in Algiers, which was not as hard-hit by Hurricane Katrina. As a matter of fact, this is kind of -- they're calling it "the light in the darkness" over here. And this morning, we're going to talk to a pastor of a couple of congregations here. He's obviously very busy on Sundays. And he has kind of a counter-intuitive approach to all of this. He believes that Katrina offers a hidden blessing for poor people, who were forced to move to other cities, where, he says, they're, in fact, finding more opportunities.

We're also going to talk about levees this morning. We're going to talk to the former FEMA director, James Lee Witt, ask him about the overlapping levee boards here, whether that creates possibly inherent weaknesses in the system. And we'll talk to an expert on levees and ask him why they all failed. One of the issues that's coming out this morning is the possibility that there was a little bit of corruption as these were built over the years. And maybe that's why they were so weak.

So, we've got a lot of on our plate here from Algiers -- Kelly.

WALLACE: All right. Miles, we'll be looking forward to all of that on "AMERICAN MORNING," which gets under way in just about 22 minutes from now. Miles, thanks so much.

Other stories now across America this Thursday.

The search for two prison escapees enters its second full day. South Carolina law enforcement officers say convicted kidnapper Jimmy Causey (ph) and convicted murderer Johnny Brewer (ph) escaped from a maximum security prison in Columbia by hiding in the back of a trash truck. The search has been centered in Jasper County, where the inmates were spotted earlier.

New York City police say a man dressed as a fireman set a small fire in a hallway outside a woman's apartment. And when she opened the door, he put a cloth with chemicals over her face, which knocked her out. He then bound the 34-year-old woman with duct tape and repeatedly sexually assaulted her over a 12-hour period. The attacker is still on the loose.

Flag-draped coffins, crowds in the streets, rallies across the country protesting the policies of President Bush, including the war in Iraq. In Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Chicago, a coalition of protesters used the anniversary of President Bush's re-election to call for his resignation.

And a seven-hour funeral bids a final farewell to Rosa Parks and celebrates the life of the incredible civil rights pioneer. Four thousand mourners packed a Detroit church for the song-filled ceremony. Rosa Parks now rests alongside her husband and mother. Lots of tributes to her yesterday in Detroit.

Well, still ahead on DAYBREAK on this Thursday, going nowhere fast. Commuters in Philadelphia wake up to another day of a transit strike. A live report is next.

Also, the stars shown bright last night at the White House dinner honoring Prince Charles and Camilla. We'll take a look at that.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: And welcome back to DAYBREAK.

Mass transit is still shut down in Philadelphia today. The four- day-old transit worker strike has the city's nearly half-a-million commuters still scrambling to find another way to work. Amy Buckman of CNN affiliate WPBI-TV is in Philadelphia.

Amy, thanks for joining us again. Give us a sense of how frustrated commuters must be about this ongoing strike.

AMY BUCKMAN, CNN AFFILIATE WPBI-TV REPORTER: I'm not sure we can use the words for that on television, Kelly. But it has been a long couple of days already. This is day four of the SEPTA strike in the city of Philadelphia.

I'm at a regional rail station. This is the R8 station in the Chestnut Hills section of Philadelphia. These regional rail trains are running, which is helping a little bit. But not so many people live in areas where they can just walk to the train station.

And so, they're having to bum rides, ride bicycles or take very long walks if they can't get to a train station. They have to do those things in order to get to school or to get to their jobs.

And what we're seeing, especially at rush hour in Center City, are some terrible, terrible traffic jams in the Center City area. So many more people are driving cars into work, trying to find places to park. And this has been going on since Monday morning.

The Transport Workers Union went out on strike at midnight on Monday morning. The main dispute that they're having with SEPTA -- the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority -- is over the issue of who will pay for health care benefits. Up until now, the union says they've been accepting smaller-than-expected pay raises in return for not having to pay at all for their health care premiums. SEPTA says they can no longer afford to continue to pay the entire premiums for all of those workers. And they want workers to contribute 5 percent of the premiums.

There was a bargaining session Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning. But those talks broke off. And so far, we're not hearing that either side is ready to head back to the table quite yet.

So, we are in yet another day of commuter nightmares for folks here in the city of Philadelphia.

WALLACE: And, Amy...

BUCKMAN: Reporting live from Chestnut -- oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead.

WALLACE: I was going to ask you -- Amy, thanks. Before we let you go, a quick question. You were saying there's no idea of when the parties might get together. Any outside parties, whether statewide or even the federal government, getting involved to try and bring the two sides together?

BUCKMAN: There has been a congressman. Congressman Bob Brady has kind of been working behind the scenes to get the two sides to the negotiating table. He left those talks early Wednesday morning without comments. The mayor here in the city of Philadelphia says he's not quite ready to step in yet.

So, there is sort of this hopeful attitude that they'll get back to the table, but there hasn't been a lot of pressure from outside forces yet, aside from the commuters who are obviously very frustrated by the whole situation.

WALLACE: I'm sure. Frustrated indeed. Amy Buckman reporting for us from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from our affiliate WPBI. Thanks so much.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It's about 45 minutes after the hour. And here is what is all new this morning.

Lewis Scooter Libby will stand before a judge this morning to hear criminal charges that could -- could -- eventually put him behind bars. Libby will be arraigned in five counts of lying and obstruction of justice. This is all connected to the investigation into the CIA leak case. He is expected to plead not guilty.

In money, it was a multimillion-dollar stamp swap when a California collector traded a block of four 1918 stamps for an equally-rare 1868 one cent stamp. That trade valued at about $3 million.

In culture, director Oliver Stone has begun shooting one of the first Hollywood films about the September 11 attacks in New York. Producers of the untitled film are treading very carefully on the sensitive project, which also stars actor Nicolas Cage.

In sports, it was a win for Phil Jackson as he returned as Lakers head coach. Kobe Bryant hit the winning basket with six-tenths of a second left in overtime.

To the forecast center now and Jacqui Jeras.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WALLACE: All dressed up for a regal royal evening. President Bush and the first lady show off a bit of U.S. pomp and circumstance for the visiting Charles and Camilla. We'll tell you all about that.

But first, a look at who is celebrating birthdays on this Thursday, November 3.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: And welcome back. It is about 50 minutes after the hour, and here is what will be making news today.

Muslims around the world are winding up the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The month-long fasting began October 4 with the sighting of the new moon. Ramadan ends today or tomorrow, depending on the clerics in a particular country.

This year's Freedom Awards are handed out in Memphis today. The National Civil Rights Museum is honoring Oprah Winfrey, actress Ruby Dee and her late husband, Ossie Davis.

And Lisbon, Portugal is gripped by E&A (ph) fever for the Euro Music Awards. Fans camped out overnight for a glimpse of Madonna. Tonight, MTV Europe is staging its biggest awards show of the year.

Well, you can say it was a royal evening at the White House last night, full of pomp and pageantry as President Bush and the first lady welcomed Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, to a lavish dinner and dance. One hundred thirty luminaries from politics, business, sports and the arts attended the affair.

And a reliable source, gossip columnist Roxanne Roberts of "The Washington Post," on the phone with us live to give us all of the juicy tidbits.

Roxanne, thanks so much for getting up early for us. So, give us a sense of what it was like last night.

ROXANNE ROBERTS, "WASHINGTON POST": Well, I'll give you as much of a sense as I can. It was lovely. But the White House -- I have to tell you -- in their typical fashion, closed most of the dinner to the press. So, we only got to see tidbits.

What I did see was interesting. It wasn't as much pageantry, because this was relatively low-key. The duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, did not wear a tiara, unfortunately. She did wear a bit of diamonds, but other than that didn't look particularly royal, I'm afraid looked a little bit frumpish.

Well, you know, part of this trip was designed to really showcase them as a couple and gain acceptance in the United States, where there are still a lot of diehard Diana fans.

WALLACE: Right.

ROBERTS: And so, the idea here was that it would show them off as a couple and, of course, show Camilla off. And she reportedly had an entire team of handlers and 50 dresses with her.

WALLACE: And give us a sense, Roxanne -- I wanted to just jump in and ask you, who was there? Because obviously luminaries and some important people. Who was there?

ROBERTS: There were some historians. There were a couple of off-the-wall choices. There was golfer Tom Watson.

My favorite guest -- I have to say -- is Nancy Reagan. Of course, she was the hostess at the famous dinner 20 years ago at the White House when Prince Charles first came with Diana. And so, the invitation to her, I thought, was a nice historical touch.

There were the typical politicians. Condoleezza Rice was there, the secretary of state, looking gorgeous. The secretary of defense was there. The vice president. A lot of some of the usual suspects.

Not too many Hollywood celebrities. Kelsey Grammer of "Frasier" was there. He's a Republican, a conservative in Los Angeles, and there aren't too many of them there.

And then the entire Bush family was there. Mom and dad and brothers and sisters. And Jenna Bush was there with her new boyfriend, and that's fun to see.

WALLACE: And, you know, of course, Roxanne, there are always going to be the comparisons to the late Princess Diana, because I think what almost everyone remembers was back in 1985 Princess Diana dancing with John Travolta there at the White House. And it was a moment that most of us can remember. Give us a sense of how much there has been this comparison between the late Princess Diana and now, of course, Camilla, the duchess of Cornwall.

ROBERTS: Well, the comparisons are inevitable. And one of the things I had really hoped to do was talk to some of the guests afterwards to see if there -- you know, what they thought of her, if there was one of those great little magical moments. And we unfortunately don't know that yet, because we weren't allowed to observe any of that.

There was dancing planned afterwards. But all of that was shielded from any of us, I'm afraid.

What I do think is that it's a really unfair comparison, because the circumstances are so different. And she was so glamorous and so young and so charismatic. And by everybody's account, the duchess is really a lovely woman. But they have been through so much together with so much bad press. There are a lot of people who just can't get past all of the things that happened, all of the tabloid stories.

And so, I think that anybody who had a chance to probably just talk to her one-on-one, they say that she's charming and fun and, you know, sort of low-key, very loyal. And the prince has been very sweet and very complimentary during this trip.

WALLACE: We'll have to leave it there, Roxanne. But we'll be watching to see how this trip perhaps -- perhaps -- maybe changes some images of Camilla. Roxanne Roberts with the reliable source column in "The Washington Post" joining us. We appreciate it.

Well, it's time to switch gears quite a bit and give away a DAYBREAK coffee mug. I always love this moment, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I know. I do too. And Angie Massey (ph), our nice producer, is going to bring some up for the weather team, too, by the way. Dave is waiting for his mug, Angie. All right.

Here are the answers to Wednesday's coffee quiz. What will be the new price for a standard stamp if the proposed rate hike takes effect? The answer is 39 cents. And hopefully I can talk for this next one. Who has the president put in charge of the rebuilding efforts in the Gulf region? The answer is Donald Powell.

And the winner is Zach Herman from Toledo, Ohio. Congratulations, Zach. You'll get your coffee mug in the mail. We'll get that out to you.

And now it's time for today's questions. Here they are. About how many regional jets are currently used in U.S. air travel? And in what nation is the Summit of the Americas being held?

Submit your answers online. The address is CNN.com/daybreak. Tune in this time tomorrow and find out if you're a big winner, just like Zach Herman.

WALLACE: Yes, please tune in. OK, Jacqui. The CNN weather team getting their mugs.

JERAS: That's right.

WALLACE: That's right. OK, everyone, much more ahead of DAYBREAK right after this. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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