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Scooter Libby Arraigned Today; Alito Confirmation; Levee Failures in New Orleans

Aired November 03, 2005 - 09:01   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Who is Scooter Libby? Ninety minutes away from his date with a federal judge, his first court appearance in the CIA leak case is coming up this morning. And we're live in Washington.
Judge Samuel Alito is heading back to the Hill. Key meetings with the members of the so-called Gang of 14. If they like him it could take a filibuster off the table.

And look at the e-mails former FEMA chief Mike Brown was sending when Katrina hit. E-mails he probably now wishes nobody had ever seen.

We're live in New Orleans on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. You can see a beautiful skyline here in New York City. A split show today as Miles continues his reports from New Orleans. He's in the Algiers section.

Hey, Miles. Good morning.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning again, Soledad.

We're here in New Orleans this week, about two months after Katrina, nine weeks, actually, if you're looking at the calendar. But the two-month point to really get a progress report -- in some cases, lack of progress report -- on how this city is recovering from an epic storm, a storm of really historic proportions.

You see the city behind us. Beautiful morning here, the Mississippi River. But don't let that skyline fool you.

There's pockets of neighborhoods that are severely damaged still. And we have been seeing progress in some cases, and not.

We began on Monday off of Canal Street in the French Quarter, just right across the river from where I stand right now. And there the power was on, you could get a cup of coffee, that sort of thing.

We went up toward the 17th Street Canal where the levee broke. Those neighborhoods not populated at all. Still no power on. The situation there not so good.

St. Bernard Parish, the worst of the areas we have been to. The entire parish is decimated. Nobody has returned to their home there.

And then finally this morning Algiers, where really this part of the city did as well as any place, probable the best. On the other side of the river, for whatever reason, protected by the levee which is right here -- and part of it I'm standing on -- really is getting back to normal.

In just a little bit, Soledad, we're going to ask the question, you know, why did this levee succeed and why did others fail? Was there something wrong with their design, the way they were built? Was there corruption in the system which might have made matters worst?

All those questions on our mind this morning -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. We're looking forward to some of those answers to those big and important question, Miles. Thanks.

Turning, though, first to Washington, D.C., where Lewis "Scooter" Libby is going to be arraigned today. He's the only White House official who has been indicted in the CIA leak investigation.

Scooter Libby left home just a little while ago. He's due in federal court in just about an hour and a half. You can see pictures from earlier today when he was departing.

It brings us right to AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken, who is live at the federal courthouse in Washington.

Hey, Bob. Good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

And the frenetic exhilaration of Scooter Libby's existence at the top levels of government has now been replaced by the drudgery of the legal process.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice over): In less than a week, Scooter Libby will have come from his rides to the White House with his boss, Vice President Cheney, to a trip to the courthouse with his lawyer to face serious criminal charges, felonies that raise in some quarters lingering questions about whether the vice president paid a role in the CIA leaks.

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We'll be glad to talk more about the matter once it's come to a conclusion.

FRANKEN: It's far from a conclusion. Libby is expected to plead not guilty at this morning's arraignment to charges of perjury, obstruction of justice, making false statements. His lawyer says it was simply fault recollection.

The allegations stem from the still incomplete investigation led by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald into the press leaks identifying Valerie Plame as an undercover CIA operative. Plame is the wife of harsh administration critic Joseph Wilson, who remains harsh.

JOSEPH WILSON, FMR. U.S. AMBASSADOR: Is this the standard of ethical comportment that we expect from our senior public servants? I don't believe it is. I cannot understand why the president does.

FRANKEN: One huge loose end is the fate of the president's chief political adviser, Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove, who has not been indicted. And it's not clear whether he will be.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: Today it's Libby who is facing the charges, not about the underlying law that began this investigation, which makes it illegal under certain circumstances to identify an undercover agent, but charged with lying. And there are swirling questions in some quarters about whether he was trying to protect someone -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: And swirling speculation about a witness list potentially, right, Bob?

FRANKEN: A witness list that could potentially include the vice president, Scooter Libby's boss until last week.

S. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken at the courthouse for us this morning.

Thanks, Bob.

Let's turn to Capitol Hill now. The Gang of 14 meeting in Senator John McCain's office right now, and that's a group of moderates, as you now, from both sides of the Senate aisle. They're playing a pretty big role in the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito.

Congressional correspondent Ed Henry live for us on Capitol Hill.

Hey, Ed. Good morning to you.

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: How critical is this meeting, do you think?

HENRY: This really could be the pivotal movement, at least in the early stages here of the nomination of Samuel Alito to serve on the Supreme Court. The bottom line, as you mentioned, these seven Democrats and seven Republicans forged a deal back in the spring that brought the Senate back from the brink of a nuclear showdown over President Bush's lower court nominees. And once again, the Senate is now on the precipice of another nasty showdown here over this nomination.

Some Democrats making noise they could filibuster the nomination. Republican leaders threatening that they would then use the so-called nuclear option, change the Senate rules to prevent filibusters from being used for judicial nominations. That would turn the Senate into a full meltdown, turn what we saw a couple of days ago into just child's play.

So, the question now is, can this Gang of 14 moderates pull the Senate back from the brink again? The power really rests in their hands.

If they were to say that they believe that Judge Alito is out of the mainstream, that could give Democrats more power to launch a filibuster. If, on the other hand, they say he is within the mainstream, that would really cut off any chance of Democrats mounting and sustaining a filibuster.

And the early signs suggest that in fact these moderates believe he is in the mainstream. Take a listen to Democratic moderate Ben Nelson, a member of the Gang of 14, a little earlier on AMERICAN MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BEN NELSON (D), NEBRASKA: Well, I thought Judge Alito was very articulate on the issues. He expressed his own views on what a judge should be, and that is an adjudicator, not a legislator. He told me that he didn't intend to take a political agenda to the bench and that he didn't plan to take a hammer and chisel to chisel away at existing law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now, a Republican member of this gang, Mike DeWyne of Ohio, has been even blunter this week, saying he does not believe a filibuster would be justified for this nomination. It's a clear sign that, barring some other major unforeseen development, Judge Alito's nomination is in pretty good shape right now -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Is there any impact at all, do you think, Ed, in the wake of the Democrats invoking that Senate Rule 21, the little known rule, to some degree, do you think that affects his nomination as it moves forward or not?

HENRY: I think it certainly affects the atmosphere up here. A lot of lawmakers saying, oh, no, that's already behind us. But I don't necessarily believe that.

The bottom line is both sides, any time they're at each other's throats like that, that can't help the atmosphere. It makes it even more poisonous than usual.

And I can tell you, Republicans already saying they believe that what happened on that Iraq showdown a couple of days ago showed that in fact Democrats are trying to change the subject from Judge Alito to Iraq. It's another sign that Judge Alito is in good shape.

Democrats don't think they can take him out. So they want to focus instead on Iraq, where they think the Bush administration is vulnerable -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, we'll see how these meetings go. I guess that's sort of the $64,000 question at this point.

Ed Henry on Capitol hill for us.

Ed, thanks, as always.

HENRY: Thanks.

S. O'BRIEN: Time to check some of the other stories that are making news.

Kelly's got those.

Hello.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again to you, Soledad.

And good morning, everyone.

We begin with President Bush, who is leaving his problems at home as he heads off to the summit of the Americas. The president and first lady boarding Air Force One at Andrews Air Force base just a short time ago.

This two-day summit in Argentina focusing on poverty and economic development. The president also expected to push his ideas when it comes to free trade.

In just about an hour, fed chief Alan Greenspan will be on Capitol Hill. He is testifying to the Joint Economic Committee about the outlook of the country's economy. Congress, though, has only three more months to pick his brain about such issues, because in January Greenspan is retiring after more than 18 years at the helm of the Federal Reserve.

In California now, where closing arguments are set for today in the wrongful death lawsuit against actor Robert Blake, Blake testified Wednesday for the last time in the civil trial. You'll recall he was acquitted back in march for murdering his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. But her family is now suing him for damages, claiming he was liable for her death.

And getting home for Thanksgiving this year is going to cost you, and it might cost you a lot. Travel analysts show ticket prices are up about 15 percent. The biggest reason is because airlines are cutting back on the number of flights, leaving fewer seats available.

To Jacqui Jeras at the forecast center now.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Let's get right back to Miles, who is in New Orleans today.

And Miles, I want to show these folks -- we were talking about it earlier today -- these e-mails that were sent by the former FEMA director, Mike Brown. Really right at the height of the Hurricane Katrina crisis.

Louisiana Congressman Charlie Melancon posted some of those e- mails on his Web site. And let's show them if we can. Here's an e- mail that came from a FEMA employee. And here's what he writes.

"The FEMA staff is OK and holding own. DMAT" -- that's Disaster Medical Assistance Team -- "staff working in deplorable conditions. The dying patients at the DMAT tent are being medevaced. Estimates are many will die within hours. Phone connectivity is impossible."

And here's -- OK, frantic e-mail is sent. Here's the response.

"Thanks for the update. Anything specific I need to do or tweak?"

Kind of a...

M. O'BRIEN: It...

S. O'BRIEN: Go ahead.

M. O'BRIEN: You have to wonder if he read that e-mail, because it just doesn't seem like that response in any way matches what was offered up there.

S. O'BRIEN: The desperate tone.

M. O'BRIEN: You know, to get an e-mail where you're saying people are dying all around you, and it's, you know, "What do I need to tweak?"

Here's another one that's really interesting, too. This is an exchange between Brown's press secretary and he. The press secretary says, "You look fabulous." And his reply, "Well, if you look at my lovely -- I got it at Nordstrom's. Are you proud of me?"

And then later said, "If you look at my lovely FEMA attire, you'll really vomit. I am a fashion god."

This is all happening in the midst of a tragedy like we have never seen before, Soledad. It's just hard to juxtapose the events we were covering with the e-mails that were going on at the same time.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, there's no question. And I think you pointed this out a couple of times, that e-mails are never a true picture of what necessarily is happening at that moment in front of you. Things are sent off in jest or to -- you know, to break up fear and I guess stress relief for people sometimes, and could be misread.

But, you know, it was interesting hearing from the former FEMA director, who thought it was very inappropriate. I thought that that was an interesting insight since he's very much been in those shoes in the middle of a hurricane and sort of indicated he would never do anything like that.

It's kind of shocking. M. O'BRIEN: Well, you heard what he said. I thought it was very interesting what he said.

In public office you have to presume -- and surely we have learned this by now -- you have to presume that those e-mails are in the public domain. Whatever you say in an e-mail ultimately can and will come out. And certainly Mike Brown has learned that lesson.

And we should point out to our viewers, he's still on the payroll at FEMA, will be until the end of November for reasons I have yet to fully understand.

S. O'BRIEN: And boy...

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Soledad. We're going to take a break.

Yes -- go ahead.

S. O'BRIEN: I was going to say, boy, I bet he's regretting sending those e-mails today.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Big time.

S. O'BRIEN: Hey, you know...

M. O'BRIEN: We're going to take a break.

S. O'BRIEN: Go ahead.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, no. Finish up. Go ahead. I'm sorry.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, I was going to tell you about what we're going to talk about ahead this morning. This huge news -- have you heard about this study? It's from Canadian researchers in the fight against lung cancer. They can basically swab your cheek.

It actually could lead to saving your life down the road. That's really not an exaggeration. We've got that ahead, Miles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: So, how and why did the levees fail here in the city of New Orleans? No less than 50 breaches that the Army Corps of Engineers is currently trying to repair. Those are temporary repairs, and yet semi-permanent as well, because they want to get this levee system back to its pre-Katrina -- pre-K levels by June 1, which of course is the start of the next hurricane season.

They're spending $1.3 billion to do that patch job in time. And that's in and of itself quite a feat that they're attempting right now.

The big question is, though, as they look toward building new levees and a safer system, they need to know how these fail.

And joining us now is Robert Bea. He's an expert on these sorts of issues. He is geotechnical engineer at the University of California Berkeley. And he's joining us from San Francisco this morning.

Mr. Bea, good to have you with us. You have a report which just came out you and your colleagues put together for the National Science Foundation. And there -- it's a thick report. We don't have time to get into all of it, but one of the key issues is the fact that the 350 miles of levees here in New Orleans are overseen by no less than two dozen jurisdictions.

And we have -- this point is illustrated by some pictures in your report, which show the so-called transition points, where these levees operated by one parish or another meet. And sometimes they don't always meet in a very seamless way.

Why don't you explain why that's a problem.

ROBERT BEA, PROF. OF ENGINEERING, UC BERKELEY : Well, it's a problem, Miles -- and good morning to you. It looks like a beautiful day in New Orleans.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, sir.

BEA: It's a problem because the water, of course, will go to the lowest point in the system. The picture you're showing is just outside the Orleans pump station, and it was there that we could, just with the span of an eye, see five different elevations.

The concrete wall over on the Orleans side clearly visible, and then you look across the canal and see the other wall at a different elevation. And then you begin to come back toward the pump station and the elevations continue to lower until you reach that grassy- covered levee directly in front of the pump station, so that when water builds up into the canal, it's going to go over those low points. And we found many examples in New Orleans.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, and, of course, a chain is as strong as its weakest link, to use that cliche.

Yesterday, as well, your colleague, Raymond Seed (ph), at University of California Berkeley, was testifying before Congress. And afterwards he talked about some concern that at the time many of these levees were constructed there was some corruption in the whole process which might have led to short cuts, use of bad soils, bad materials, not enough of those materials.

How much of a factor do you think that is?

BEA: Well, as for anything, figures like this are a combination of a large number of factors. And the factors that Ray was referring to yesterday are the reports that we've received from contractors and from people that have lived in that area all of their lives.

I lived there as well, and in fact was flooded out in Hurricane Betsy and lost everything, bank account zero. Got to see the rebuilding process, and certainly these kinds of things can happen. But it's, I think, the focus of our future work to trace out how they could influence the process and understand most importantly how to prevent these kinds of things in the future.

M. O'BRIEN: A lot of people here in New Orleans pointing a finger at the Corps of Engineers. I guess it's easy to vilify them. But if you look at the history, there's been lack of funding for then, primarily. Also perhaps not good leadership.

Can the corps, is the corps able to rebuild these levees in a way where they will truly be safe?

BEA: I think the answer to that from my point of the view of the world is a definite yes. The corps has a history of doing some very wonderful things with these kinds of facilities. And we can go as far back as the Panama Canal and then do a fast forward to the Tennessee Valley Authority and to the marvelous system of works that they have to control the Mississippi River.

So I think that given a properly resourced and focused and we'll call it backgrounded and use a key word, leadership, given that sort of combination it's undoubted the corps can do it.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, Mr. Bea.

Of course, in the wake of Katrina, we've seen both a lack of leadership and funding on many levels. And let's hope that's rectified before these levees are rebuilt in New Orleans.

Thanks for your time, sir.

BEA: It's my pleasure.

M. O'BRIEN: Back to you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles. Thanks.

Coming up this morning, a promising new test to detect the number one cancer killer in America. We have a "House Call" up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: A simple test could possibly detect early stages of lung cancer. This is huge news, but also potentially pretty far away down the road.

Dr. Harvey Pass is a thoracic oncologist at NYU Medical Center, here to talk about a new study. It comes out of Canadian researchers.

Good morning. It's pretty amazing news, but also not going to happen tomorrow.

DR. HARVEY PASS, NYU MEDICAL CENTER: No.

S. O'BRIEN: What do the tests show?

PASS: I think what the test is trying to show is that you can do something noninvasive for somebody that you're worried about lung cancer, not do something that's going to hurt them, and maybe get an yet idea that something's brewing in the lung from a simple test that's just a scrape of the mouth, and look at the cells and the characteristics of those cells.

S. O'BRIEN: Why does what's happening in your mouth have any relationship to what's happening in your lungs?

PASS: Well, it really has to do with the beast here. I mean, it's tobacco carcinogens. And it forms a field effect so that when you breathe in tobacco smoke, it not only goes to your lung, it goes to your pharynx, it goes to your mouth. So maybe the changes that are reflected up top are reflecting something that's brewing down below. And that's what they're trying to show.

S. O'BRIEN: In the tests, I think it was, what, 66 percent, which is -- I mean, to hear those numbers, that's pretty impressive.

PASS: It's pretty good. But -- and it's a nice start. But what we'd really like to see before something like this really gets used on a global basis is to have something that's in the 95 percent sensitivity so that you know that you've detected it early, but also that it's specific for the disease you want.

S. O'BRIEN: When do you think people are going to be able to actually go into your office, get swabbed, and you can say, you know what, I've got good news, or, you know what, I've got bad news, here's what we have to do next?

PASS: Believe it or not, there's a lot of people who are working on problems like this. Not only the swab, but a blood test, things that are -- even breath analysis to see whether it reflects lung cancer.

S. O'BRIEN: Two years down the road? Five years down the road?

PASS: I think we're closer to five years down the road, because anything that gets discovered in a simple study needs to be validated so it's going to be safe to use for patients and really mean something.

S. O'BRIEN: I know it was meant for patients who had a risk. I mean, where people were concerned that they could be likely candidates, really, for lung cancer. Do you ever think down the road this will be a test like a pap smear, where, you know, kind of everybody gets this swab, it's just one of the things you do when you get your physical?

PASS: Boy, that is what a lot of people hope. I mean, we want to be able to do things that are going to be specific for patients, that are not going harm patients, that are going to be accurate, and are going to detect this disease earlier. Because a cadre of us feel that in order to really get a handle of this disease, you've got to diagnose it early.

S. O'BRIEN: Right. Once you find it, often the patients have a death sentence.

PASS: Very difficult.

S. O'BRIEN: Or certainly a very difficult recovery.

What other kind of interventions are there that are available now for people?

PASS: There's some real good stuff. I mean, you not only look for lung cancers in the lung by looking at CAT scans, which is very exciting with the early detection stuff that's coming out of this city, but also in the airway we now have new bronchoscopes, lighted tubes, where you can look in the breathing tube and actually fluoresce the airway and see things that you can't see with your regular eye. And you can biopsy those then.

But CT and bronchoscopic techniques are really taking the lead.

S. O'BRIEN: And they're happening right now. We saw some of those CAT scans while you were describing it. I don't know what they're showing, but they look pretty cool.

PASS: A lot of data.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

Dr. Harvey Pass, at NYU medical center.

It's nice to see you.

PASS: Thanks very much.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you for explaining it all us to. We appreciate it.

Well, the Algiers section of New Orleans really was spared the very worst of Hurricane Katrina. Some people there now say there's an opportunity for a development boom. We're going to back in with Miles for a look at that just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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