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Delays For Travelers; Bush Responds To Hugo Chavez's Offer To Supply Cheap Oil To Low Income Residents In Boston And New York.

Aired November 23, 2005 - 08:00   ET

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


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Wintry weather is making for tricky travel today, as millions of Americans head home for the holiday. The forecast is ahead. If you're traveling by plane, by train or by automobile.
Are U.S. troops any closer to coming home from Iraq? Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speaking out about that possibility. Is there a time table in place?

And cheap heating oil for thousands of Americans this winter. It comes, though, from an unlikely source. Who is getting it and why on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning.

Welcome, everybody.

Miles O'Brien has the week off, but Rick Sanchez has been nice enough to fill in for us for a couple of days and we sure appreciate it.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of news today, most of it news you can use, though, because so many people are trying to hit the roads, huh?

O'BRIEN: Absolutely. I think they've said 37 million people hitting the road, so to speak. And we're having good weather here in the Northeast. That wasn't the case yesterday. Elsewhere, not such great weather. And they're going to, of course, have a more tricky travel day today ahead.

SANCHEZ: Yes, moving a little west, as a matter of fact.

O'BRIEN: We are keeping an eye on the travel picture for you this morning. It's going to be a very busy day. A record number of Americans are traveling, in fact. Here on the East Coast, lines are sure to start early.

A look at a live picture here of LaGuardia Airport. So far, so good. Fairly calm. But there is no question, it is going to be busy there was the day progresses.

A look now at Reagan National Airport in D.C. Busy there, but it seems to be moving pretty well.

Wintry weather, though, is definitely going to slow things up in the Midwest. Chicago right in the middle of the mess. That's going to affect hundreds of thousands of people who are traveling through that city today.

For an overall picture of the travel weather, let's get right to Jacqui Jeras.

She's at the CNN Center.

She's got a look at the forecast -- good morning, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.

Good morning, everybody.

Usually Chicago can handle a little bit of snow, so hopefully they're faring OK. So far, not reporting any flight delays there. But you can see on our radar picture here some snow showers extending all the way across eastern Wisconsin, down through Chicago into southern Illinois, extending through parts of the Ohio River Valley.

Cincinnati just getting in on the leading edge of this now. And Detroit will be seeing some of these snow showers later on today.

Where are we expecting the delays in the airports? Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit and Seattle all could see delays today, all because of snow, with the exception of Seattle, looking for a little bit of fog.

Where do you usually have trouble? These are some average peak wait times from last year for you to go through security.

Cleveland, you are waiting 18 minutes, on average; LaGuardia, 14 minutes on average; and only eight minutes in Boston and Chicago. So hopefully we can rival those numbers this year. We'll have to wait and see as we progress threat the day.

Again, the Midwest and Great Lakes really where we're expecting most of that trouble.

I do want to show you our flight tracker, if we could switch over to that real quickly. This is Flight Explorer and this will show you all of the thousands of airplanes in the air right now. Three thousand at this time. That's up 1,000 from just one hour ago. Look how concentrated it is right here through all that megalopolis area.

Now we're going to focus on some of the highway traffic along the interstates. AAA estimating about 37 million people are going to be out on the interstates for today. We're going to be seeing some trouble from Indianapolis to Columbus to Pittsburgh along I-70, then also along I-81 through the Appalachians.

We have some real time traffic information to show you. Where we have some trouble spots, New York City. There is an accident along I- 95 southbound. It is closed between the New Jersey Turnpike. And along the Washington, D.C. area, that tanker truck fire -- we saw the video of that earlier. So that has closed down between 495 and the Washington Parkway.

Also getting word that things are getting jammed up on the beltway there and along I-270 -- Soledad, Rick.

Well, it's going to be ugly. I'm telling you, it's only 8:00 in the morning.

JERAS: That's right, and these aren't even weather related problems.

O'BRIEN: Hey, right. I mean it's not like it's snowing in D.C. and you have that tanker problem.

JERAS: Right.

O'BRIEN: You are just going to have a messy day. Well, you know, if we keep saying pack your patience, I think that's a fairly intelligent thing to say.

JERAS: Good advice.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Jacqui.

We'll check in with you again -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: Winter heating bills are just around the corner and some people in Massachusetts are getting a price break. And, interestingly enough, they're getting it from an unlikely source. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a harsh critic of President Bush, has agreed to provide heating oil 40 percent below market prices for some places in the United States.

White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is today covering the story for us from the White House, of all places -- Suzanne, I wonder if the administration is responding to this, because it seems, does it not, to be a dig on the part of President Chavez?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly the White House is responding to this, because we're talking about 1.2 million gallons here of oil, this announcement coming out of Boston. Hugo Chavez, of course, saying that he's going to provide cheap oil for low income residents in Boston as well as the New York. Citgo is a subsidiary of Venezuela's state owned oil company and has more than 13,000 independently owned U.S. gas stations.

Now, obviously this is a gesture for the poor negotiated by Massachusetts Democratic lawmakers. But it is also a move by Chavez himself to thumb his nose at the president. It was just a few weeks ago we saw Chavez at the Summit of the Americas. He was leading these anti-American rallies. He has accused the Bush administration of trying to assassinate him. He calls President Bush "Mr. Danger." And he blames U.S. capitalism, essentially, for neglecting the needs of the poor.

Chavez essentially has been trying to gain more influence among other Latin American countries to isolate the United States. Yesterday, the Bush administration downplayed the significance of this deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN MCCORMACK, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: We understand that the Citgo Corporation is incorporated in the United States and is free to decide, you know, as it wishes, how it distributes oil in the United States. The only restrictions on that are obviously that it must comply with its -- with relevant laws and regulations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Rick, clearly, this move is meant to embarrass President Bush and the Bush administration. This at a time, a bad time, for the president and the Bush administration. You expect those oil prices to go up because of winter demands in heating oil, as well as it was recently that the Republican-controlled Senate actually rejected a measure that would call for a top -- these big oil giants essentially to give back some of their profits to help out the poor -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: An interesting development.

Suzanne Malveaux, we thank you for bringing us that story.

Now let's go over to Carol Costello.

She's checking some of the headlines for us -- Carol, what you got?

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Rick.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says there will be a reduction of U.S. troops in Iraq, but she's not saying how many will be coming home or exactly when.

Here's what she told CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I suspect that the American forces are not going to be needed in the numbers that they're there for all that much longer because Iraqis are continuing to make progress in function, not just in numbers, but in their capabilities to do certain functions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: U.S. forces in Iraq currently number about 155,000.

After three years in U.S. military custody, terror suspect Jose Padilla has been formally charged. Padilla, a U.S. citizen, is charged with aiding terrorists abroad and with conspiracy to murder. But the indictment falls short of mentioning previous accusations that he plotted to detonate a radioactive dirty bomb in the United States.

A conviction in another terror case, this one involving a Virginia man. A federal jury finding Ahmed Abu Ali guilty of joining al Qaeda and conspiring to assassinate President Bush. Abu Ali had claimed Saudi authorities tortured him into confessing. The 24-year- old could get 20 years to life when he is sentenced in February.

In the meantime, President Bush is at his ranch in Crawford, Texas for a family Thanksgiving. The president left the White House on Tuesday after performing an annual holiday rite, and we've been talking a lot about that. He granted pardons to two Thanksgiving turkeys. The two happy birds, named Marshmallow and Yam, were then shipped off to Disneyland in California, where they will live out their turkey lives. And you can imagine being the photographer in Los Angeles and your assignment would be to go to lax to wait for the turkeys to arrive?

O'BRIEN: It could be a high point of your career.

COSTELLO: I know. Exactly. But Marshmallow and Yam are doing fine and they're going to be grand marshals of the parade at Disneyland.

O'BRIEN: We're so thrilled for them. What a great experience as a turkey. Probably not a lot -- not of lot of turkeys get to do that.

SANCHEZ: No, some turkeys get all the breaks.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Oh, moving on, ahead, a look at today's very busy holiday travel scene. Millions of Americans, as you well know, are going to be headed home for Thanksgiving. Some tips, though, on how you can beta the rush.

SANCHEZ: Also, the biggest aquarium in the world, the Georgia Aquarium. Take a look at this. It opens to the public today. And the man who put it all together, he's going to join us, and we're going to ask him about some of the controversy surrounding the project, as well. It's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: And welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.

This week on AMERICAN MORNING we're calling it our Week Of Giving, highlighting the stories of people affected by the his year's hurricanes.

Here is one story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENNIS SCOTT: I'm Dennis Scott from near Wanette, Oklahoma. I'm a member of the disaster relief team sponsored by the Southern Baptist Convention of Oklahoma. We helped reclaim 30 homes from the debris. We also provided 40,000 warm meals, fellowship and helped some of the people in the New Orleans area.

However, we received much more than we gave, witnessing the inspiring strength and determination of fellow Americans in Louisiana. We met Dave, who was disabled by multiple sclerosis but was still trying to clear his property and was amazed that 12 people from Oklahoma came to give him help.

Thank you, citizens of New Orleans, for lifting us up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And there you go.

If have a story tell, e-mail us at cnn.com/am.

There you can also read more of the inspiring responses that we have been receiving and posting on our Web site -- Soledad, back over to you.

O'BRIEN: All right, Rick, thank you.

It is that time of the year that we're talking about the holiday travel exodus. The weather not so bad here in the Northeast. Not the same story in the Midwest, where the weather is not going to help anything there.

So how is it looking for planes, trains and automobiles today?

Let's get right to Janis Libert.

She is at LaGuardia Airport this morning and she's with "Executive Travel Magazine."

Nice to see you, Janis.

Also, Marc Magliari is at Chicago Union Station. He's an Amtrak spokesperson.

And Justin McNaull is with AAA and he's in Alexandria, Virginia, right off the Capitol beltway exit right there.

Nice to see you guys.

Thanks for talking with us.

MARC MAGLIARI, AMTRAK SPOKESMAN: Good morning.

JUSTIN MCNAULL, AAA: Hello.

O'BRIEN: Janet, let's begin with you.

How is it looking at LaGuardia this morning?

Some of the pictures I saw are not so bad.

JANIS LIBERT, "EXECUTIVE TRAVEL MAGAZINE": You know what? Right now it's very calm, after the morning rush. But don't be fooled. It will get quite busy as the day goes on and as we see some of that weather in the Midwest affect flights threat the U.S.

So it'll be busy, believe me. Twenty million people flying today.

O'BRIEN: Yes, oh, I've got to tell you, that number is a scary number.

Janis, before I let you go, what should I do now? If I'm getting ready, I'm looking, I'm watching TV, I'm packing up, getting ready to head out. What should I be doing right now to ensure a more smooth trip?

LIBERT: I have two big tips. The first one is to leave early, leave early. Most of the waiting you'll be doing is on this side of security, so you want to be here early to get through security to get your ticket, your boarding pass. And on that front is actually my second tip, which is if you can, go online to the airline Web site and print out your boarding pass before you get to the airport, and that'll save you waiting in line here and you can go right to the TSA gate line and get to your gate.

O'BRIEN: Oh, everything you can do to save a few minutes is really going to pay off.

All right, let's turn to Marc Magliari.

Marc, good morning.

You've said that this is Amtrak's busiest day, the day before Thanksgiving.

Are you seeing that case so far?

MAGLIARI: Oh, yes, very much so, Soledad. I've been talking to our stations around the country this morning and everyone's saying we're on time, but very busy. So we're asking customers to be flexible, to allow a little extra time and come on and ride the trains today.

O'BRIEN: You know, now the weather has not been so great where you are. You've got 600,000 plus passengers, if my math is right, who are going to make their way through the area.

What are you doing to try to handle these, you know, huge number of passengers and also deal with this inclement weather?

MAGLIARI: Well, we have lots of people who work in the offices and elsewhere who are coming in and volunteering today. Every usable piece of equipment we're using here in the Midwest. We've made the trains bigger. In the East, we've added extra trains. And in the West we're doing the same thing.

So we're ready for it, we expect it and we welcome it because we want to get people where they want to go in time for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.

O'BRIEN: Any quick advice for anybody who's going to hop on an Amtrak train today?

MAGLIARI: Be patent, be flexible and allow a little extra time. If it's like here in Chicago, you might want to give yourself a few more minutes to get to the station because the roads have been a little slick this morning.

O'BRIEN: Or maybe even a few more hours or so.

Let's turn to Justin McNaull.

He's with AAA.

Hey, Justin, nice to see you, as always.

MCNAULL: Hi there.

O'BRIEN: Eighty-three percent of all Thanksgiving holiday travel -- I mean you put the other guys to shame, I've got to tell you. Everybody is really going by car, if you do the math.

MCNAULL: Well, not that many of us actually live at airports or have grandmas who live at airports so the car is the most effective way for most of us to get there.

O'BRIEN: How is it looking for you right now? I know you're right off the Capitol beltway, right?

MCNAULL: Sure. The morning rush hour really hasn't felt that bad. Really, what we find, though, is on the other side of the beltway there is a tanker truck that caught on fire and as incidents like this happen during the day, it's just going to build up traffic wise. So if you're heading out this afternoon or into the evening, you're going to have commuters, holiday travelers, last minute turkey shoppers out there. And the roads are going to be a real mess.

O'BRIEN: Why aren't gas prices keeping more people home? I mean I'm surprised the numbers are up, not down.

MCNAULL: Well, when we think of Thanksgiving travel officially as sort of voluntary things, discretionary travel, most of us are actually compelled to go see family. So paying an extra $0.25 a gallon for gas really isn't going to get you off the hook for having to go see family.

O'BRIEN: We got some great tips from Janet and also from Marc.

You have any tips for us, Justin?

MCNAULL: Give yourself extra time so that you can take the breaks that you need to. What we find is when people end up running tight, they start doing dangerous things on the roadway, pushing their luck a little bit, and that's when people can get hurt. So be sure that you're buckled up, be patient, pay attention to your driving. O'BRIEN: All right, I guess the takeaway from all of you is give yourself extra time. Anybody who doesn't, you know what? Then they deserve what they get, because it's really all about giving yourself extra time.

I really appreciate it, guys.

Janet Libert from "Executive Travel Magazine." She's at LaGuardia this morning.

Marc Magliari of Amtrak. He's at Chicago's Union Station.

And the AAA spokesman, Justin McNaull, at the Capitol beltway outside of Washington in Alexandria, Virginia.

Thanks to all of them -- Rick.

MCNAULL: Oh, thanks, Soledad.

Coming up, a doctor tries to heal his African homeland despite a life of comfort here in America. We're going to tell you what he's doing. It's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: And we welcome you back.

Africa has its first ever elected female president. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was officially declared the president of Liberia today. Liberia's national electoral commission said that Johnson- Sirleaf won nearly 60 percent of the votes in the November 8 runoff election. Her opponent, former soccer star George Weah, had complained of voting fraud. The elections were Liberia's first since emerging from a 14-year civil war.

Here's an interesting story. Next year, the Democratic Republic of Congo will hold its first free election in decades. And one of the country's presidential candidates is someone who's from the United States and has been living, interestingly enough, quite well in the United States, because he's done very well for himself. But he's determined now to do whatever it takes to try and heal his homeland, even if it means his own sacrifices.

This is a story by CNN's Dan Lothian.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You love it out here?

OSCAR KASHALA, CONGO PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, we do. We do pretty much. It is a very quiet place.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): Oscar Kashala and his wife Prudence are living the good life on their 11 plus acre property in suburban Boston. The Harvard educated doctor is an oncology researcher at this pharmaceutical company, runs in important circles and drives a nice car. But what he really wants will force him to give up his comfortable life in America.

KASHALA: I would think that we can give something back to our country.

LOTHIAN (on camera): Kashala is running against at least a half dozen other candidates for president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It's where the 51-year-old was born, but hasn't lived in nearly two decades.

(voice-over): A country torn apart by years of civil war and political unrest, a population ravaged by hunger and violence.

KASHALA: It's unbelievable. Somebody who will take his machete, cut somebody's throat.

LOTHIAN: From his U.S.-based headquarters in Massachusetts, Kashala, who says he's already spent $100,000 of his own money, is building a campaign on health care, fighting poverty and violence. He created his own party, Union for the Rebuilding of Congo.

KASHALA: We know clearly where we want to take Congo five years from now. It's not going to be easy.

LOTHIAN: In fact, just surviving until next year's election is a real concern.

KASHALA: It is very dangerous. I can tell you, every time I go to Congo, I ask myself what is going to happen. They say they will shoot you. But I'll tell you, this is a cause that is worth for dying.

LOTHIAN: Kashala, who will commute frequently to campaign, consulted his family last year, after a trip to Congo and disturbing images inspired him to run. At first, his wife was afraid for their safety. But she came around. If he has a call, god will help us.

KASHALA: Distance and the lack of political experience create major hurdles. But Kashala is convinced his work on AIDS and cancer projects there has earned him the respect of the people, who want real change and don't mind if it comes from 6,000 miles away.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Westboro, Massachusetts.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

SANCHEZ: You know, Dan also tells us that he's going to do most of his fundraising outside of the Congo. And we're told the country's general election is going to take place June of 2006.

Interesting when someone just walks away from everything they have.

O'BRIEN: Yes, and I would for the voters if distance is going to be a problem or if lack of experience is going to be a problem, or if both are going to be problems that, in the end, are insurmountable.

SANCHEZ: Exactly.

We certainly wish him well.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Because it sounds like his heart is in the right place.

O'BRIEN: Absolutely.

A nice story.

Ahead this morning, a story out of hurricane Katrina's aftermath. Hundreds of children, nearly 1,000 children, still unaccounted for. What's being done to find them? We're going to take a look just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM MCGEE: My name is Kim McGee and I'm originally from New Orleans, Louisiana. And I've relocated to Dallas, Texas after hurricane Katrina. I lost my home and all the contents through the hurricane. I want to send out a special thanks to Miss. Kim and Miss. Regina, a totally new unisex hair salon, for doing everyone's hair for free, allowing us to lift up our spirits and to also look decent when we went out and found jobs. Thanks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back, everyone.

Something exciting is happening in the city of Atlanta today, something they've wanted there for a long time. You know, if you live in Atlanta, and you want to go to an aquarium, you've got to drive all the way up to Chattanooga.

O'BRIEN: Right.

SANCHEZ: But beginning today, they're going to have their own aquarium.

O'BRIEN: And a nice one.

SANCHEZ: And said to be the biggest in the world. And you know what they're going to have in there? That's not what I was referring to.

O'BRIEN: What is that? That's the whale.

SANCHEZ: That's a whale. That's a Beluga, I believe. But beyond belugas, they're going to have whale sharks. Now, a whale shark can grow to be 45 feet. It's as big as a Greyhound bus, we're told. Think about that. O'BRIEN: It's such a beautiful aquarium. I mean we got the chance to see some of the pictures and it's just really quite amazing.

SANCHEZ: The man behind the aquarium is a man who made his fortune with the Home Depot.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: And -- there's the whale shark. There it is. Can you imagine -- that's a little one, by the way. That's a baby.

O'BRIEN: I'd hate to see his mother.

SANCHEZ: It will soon be a Greyhound bus. And they're keeping two of them in there. The only other place in the world where there's whale sharks is in Tokyo. But now it's going to be in Atlanta, as well.

O'BRIEN: They're beautiful.

SANCHEZ: We're going to talk to Bernie Marcus, who's put all of this together, with by -- we should say, with his own money. Wow!

O'BRIEN: Yes, he's got a remarkable story.

That's coming up this morning.

SANCHEZ: He'll talk to us.

O'BRIEN: Back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Good morning.

Welcome, everybody.

What a beautiful shot of New York City.

Carol, come on in. It's all right. We've got a seat for you right here.

SANCHEZ: You know what's always interesting?

COSTELLO: I'm sorry.

O'BRIEN: No, no, perfect.

COSTELLO: I almost tripped off the set and fell.

O'BRIEN: Don't do that.

SANCHEZ: We welcome you.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Rick.

SANCHEZ: As does all of New York.

COSTELLO: Thank you, New York.

O'BRIEN: We're talking about -- we're about to start talking about holiday travel, because as much as we've had good weather here, you know, it's just going to be an ugly day. It really is.

SANCHEZ: Right.

O'BRIEN: Gas prices down, as you say.

SANCHEZ: But, you know what's good or interesting or different, whenever everyone is moving all over the country because they're going to visit grandma for Thanksgiving, Manhattan becomes quiet.

O'BRIEN: Yes, that's true.

SANCHEZ: All of a sudden you can get a cab and you can go from one place to another in like five minutes.

O'BRIEN: Restaurants, finally you can sit down.

COSTELLO: So don't go to Florida later, stay here.

O'BRIEN: Yes, yes.

SANCHEZ: Watch it snow. No.

O'BRIEN: Oh, I hope not.

COSTELLO: Well, actually, the reason I was late coming to the set is because we have a developing story and we were working on it?

O'BRIEN: Oh, what do you have?

COSTELLO: This story just in to CNN.

The Saddam Hussein trial is now back on. Defense lawyers have ended a boycott and say they will be present for the next hearing. And that hearing is set to take place on Monday. You'll remember defense attorneys had called for a boycott, citing security concerns after two members of the defense team were kidnapped and killed.

We've got a huge pre-holiday traffic mess to tell you about. This is what it looked like earlier this morning. A tanker truck carrying gas completely engulfed in flames. It shut down parts of I- 95 near the Washington, D.C. beltway this morning. This is Greenbelt, Maryland, if you want to get specific. The flames are now out, as you can see. This is what it looks like now.

WTOP Radio is reporting the driver noticed smoke in the cab, he pulled over and jumped out and then, you know, the tanker caught on fire. Firefighters now checking the road's surface to make sure it's not damaged before they open the southbound lanes of I-95 to traffic. So it could be another hour or so. And traffic is very backed up in that area. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com