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American Morning
Preview of Delays and Weather for Holiday Season; Battle over Withdrawal in Iraq Continues; Fired Catholic School Teacher Heading to Court; Chavez Plans to Provide Cheap Oil
Aired November 23, 2005 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Soledad O'Brien. A record holiday travel rush is on, millions of Americans heading home for the holidays, meaning crowded airports, train stations and highways.
We're live from some of the nation's busiest spots today.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rick Sanchez in for Miles O'Brien once again. Severe weather could mean big delays for all those travelers. There's a possible blizzard in one particular part of the country.
We're going to tell you where that is. We have your travel forecast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I suspect that the -- that 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speaks out on the future of U.S. troops in Iraq, raising new questions about a timetable for pulling out. That's on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning. And welcome, everybody. Miles O'Brien has the day off. Miles O'Brien has the week off.
(LAUGHTER)
Do I sound bitter and unhappy? No, I'm kidding. We hope he's having a great time.
Rick Sanchez has been nice enough to fill in for a couple of days. And we certainly appreciate it.
SANCHEZ: Would have crawled through glass to be here with you.
O'BRIEN: Every day, you get more dramatic with your responses!
SANCHEZ: Tomorrow, it will be a mountain, except I won't be here.
O'BRIEN; Exactly because today's your last -- you're going to be one of those 37 million people making their way home.
SANCHEZ: Trying to make my way through LaGuardia. At least I'm not going through Chicago. I understand things are tough there, right, with the snow?
O'BRIEN: Yes, bad, bad. But everybody knows, frankly, that Thanksgiving is always one of the busiest travel times. And if you're going to pack anything it should be patience, especially this year.
A record number of Americans are expected to crowd the highways and the airports over the holiday.
Let's get to right to AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho. She's at LaGuardia Airport in New York this morning.
Alina, good morning to you. How bad is it already?
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, it's a good thing you and I are working today because the lines here at LaGuardia to get into security are already very long.
The good news is, unlike yesterday, the weather won't be a big problem here today. Of course, that won't be true elsewhere in the country. But either way, travelers are coming prepared.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice over): Elsie Smalls and her daughter, Janice, are headed to Charlotte, North Carolina for Thanksgiving. This year, they're packing patience.
ELSIE SMALLS, HOLIDAY TRAVELER: Nothing you can do about it, so just relax. You get there when you get there, safely.
CHO: They are among a record 37 million Americans who will travel 50 miles or more this holiday weekend. An estimated 600,000 will go by train, 30 percent more than normal.
Jodi Robbins is headed to Maryland.
JODI ROBBINS, HOLIDAY TRAVELER: I just tell myself that this is the way it has to be because I have to go home. I want good food.
CHO: Eighty-three-year-old Gladys Van Langen is going to see family in Boston.
I brought a good book.
CHO: A good idea. There will be delays, especially in the Midwest where wintry weather will likely mean heavy traffic, bad news for drivers. High gas prices are a problem, too.
At $2.29 a gallon on average, holiday travelers this year are carpooling and, in some cases, changing plans.
ROBERT SINCLAIR, AAA: They might be taking a Thanksgiving trip but it won't be as long as the one last year. They might be going to a relative that lives closer.
CHO: Not Joe and Linda Goldstein. They're flying from New York to Florida to see their grandchildren. Whenever they think about the crowds, they remember why they are going in the first place, family and food.
LINDA GOLDSTEIN, HOLIDAY TRAVELER: Think of what's awaiting on the other end. Just keep thinking of the turkey!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Good advice. Now, many travelers, especially these days, are trying to beat the mad holiday travel rush by extending their Thanksgiving holiday on either end, maybe taking the entire week off.
But, remember, Soledad, this is still, traditionally, the busiest travel day of the year and, sadly, it will only get busier.
O'BRIEN: That is so true.
I guess I feel better about working through the holiday. How about you, Alina?
(LAUGHTER)
CHO: That's right. I do, too.
O'BRIEN: You liar -- and me, too.
Thanks, Alina, appreciate the update. We're going to keep checking in with you all morning to see how it's going.
We want to take time now to check out how other cities are doing, other high traffic cities -- how they're faring this morning, too.
Let's get right to our affiliate reporters with the very latest from Miami and Philadelphia and Chicago. We begin in South Florida today.
NEFERTITI JACQUEZ, MIAMI AFFILIATE REPORTER: I'm Nefertiti Jacquez at the Miami International Airport, where, if you take a look, South Floridians are packing up and heading home for the holidays.
And traffic in and out of the airport right now looks like it will be hectic throughout the day. Airport officials are warning folks to make sure that they pack their patience, as well as everything else they are packing for the holidays this time around.
Reporting for WFOR, I'm Nefertiti Jacquez.
AMY BUCKMAN, PHILADELPHIA AFFILIATE REPORTER: I'm here in Philadelphia International Airport, where lines have already started to form at the ticketing and security counters here.
This is, of course, the second busiest travel day of the year in Philadelphia, and, although the weather right now is OK, these airport officials are telling folks to come early and be prepared for possible delays.
Yesterday, we had a number of weather delays here, but those seem to have cleared up, for the most part.
The other thing that they're trying to avoid here at Philadelphia International is what we experienced over the Christmas holiday travel season last year when we had mountains of luggage piling up in the airport terminals because, especially U.S. airways, was having trouble with their baggage handlers.
Airport officials are saying that they have worked out those problems, they don't expect to see those luggage problems here over the Thanksgiving weekend.
But, again, they're telling people to arrive early and be patient.
I'm Amy Buckman in Philadelphia, for CNN.
ANNE KAVANAGH, CHICAGO AFFILIATE REPORTER: Here in Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, officials are keeping a close eye on the weather. Some early morning snow is threatening this busy travel day.
So far, all flights are on schedule and there aren't any cancellations but airport officials say they are trying to stay ahead of the weather. They've been de-icing planes and clearing runways all morning long.
They do expect about 217,000 people to make their way through the big airport today.
That's it for now. I'm Anne Kavanagh for WFLD at Chicago's O'Hare Airport.
SANCHEZ: We thank all of you, now.
To find out what the weather is in your particular part of the country, what we're doing is trying to break it down at least every hour.
So, and let's go to -- Jacqui Jeras is going to be joining us in just a little bit because, apparently, some parts of the Northeast, the weather is looking a little bit better now than it was earlier.
In the Midwest, though, they got some problems.
O'BRIEN: We've swapped (ph) with the Midwest. Yesterday, you recall Jacqui was saying how yesterday was a terrible day for those of us here to travel, so we should stay home, and the Midwest was doing OK.
That's kind of switched. Now, today, we actually have pretty decent travel weather. The Midwest is getting some of the bad weather that we had.
SANCHEZ: It's sounding like what they thought was going to come today, at least reports for the Northeast, is going to be delayed somewhat now.
It looks like it's actually on Turkey Day when people are going to see some of that white stuff falling down.
O'BRIEN: I'm so grateful that I'm working this holiday.
(LAUGHTER)
No, I'm not, Jacqui.
I mean, I'm always happy to be here.
SANCHEZ: We kind of gave an overall picture, Jacqui, but is that pretty much what we're going to be seeing today some.
(WEATHER UPDATE)
O'BRIEN: Goodness. Thank goodness I'll be right here.
SANCHEZ: Just about the time to get to dessert.
O'BRIEN: I'm done.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: I'm done, Jacqui, I promise.
Thanks, Jacqui. We'll obviously check in with you throughout the morning to get a sense of what's happening for everybody across the nation today.
SANCHEZ: Let's do this now, Soledad. Let's talk about the president. He's going to be at his ranch in Crawford, Texas this morning.
Meanwhile, back in Washington, the battle over withdrawal from Iraq rages on with now the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, saying that she expects troop levels to actually start to come down.
While not definitive, it's significant for someone at this level to be saying that. White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is at the White House. She's picking this up for us.
Suzanne, good morning.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Rick.
Well, President Bush is at his Crawford ranch for the holiday. We don't expect to see him for the next couple of days.
But he has been very consistent on this point when it comes to U.S. troops, essentially there is no timetable or deadline to pull them out, at least while things are in such a state of flux inside of Iraq.
But we did hear from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who spoke with our John King yesterday. She essentially said two things: Of course, that the national elections, mid-December for the Iraqis, is a critical time, a benchmark fro the Iraqis.
MALVEAUX: The anticipation is the violence will increase leading up to that but diminish afterward. At the same time, of course, Iraqi forces are becoming more capable, she says, and as that happens, U.S. troops will be able to pull out.
RICE: Iraqi forces are getting more capable. They are able of carrying out more functions. It doesn't mean that coalition forces are no longer needed because there are still certain functions that they are not capable of doing.
But the number of coalition forces is clearly going to come down because Iraqis are making it possible now for -- to do those functions themselves.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: And, Rick, of course, Rice's statements come at a time when there's been intense pressure to pull out those U.S. troops right away, at least from Democrats and critics, and even, of course, some Republicans who have been asking the president for a much clearer plan when it comes to Iraq. Rick?
SANCHEZ: Suzanne Malveaux, following things there in Washington for us. Try and keep warm.
Soledad, over to you.
O'BRIEN: All right. Thanks, Rick. A little bit more now on the story we told you about on Tuesday. It looks like this big fight between a pre-K teacher and the Catholic school where she was fired because she is pregnant and not married -- it looks like it's heading to court.
Her employer says it's all an issue of morality. Her lawyers say it's discrimination. CNN's Mary Snow has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She is 18 weeks pregnant and unmarried. And because of that, 26-year-old Michelle McCusker is now unemployed. At the heart of the firing, Catholic doctrine.
Ste. (ph) Rose of Lima School, the Catholic School where McCusker taught pre-kindergarten, terminated her in a letter stating, quote, "A teacher cannot violate the tenets of Catholic morality."
MICHELLE MCCUSKER: And I also don't understand how a religion that prides itself on being forgiving and on valuing life could terminate me because I'm pregnant and choosing to have this baby.
SNOW: McCusker, with lawyers from the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a federal complaint, saying the firing is illegal and discriminates on the basis of sex and pregnancy. Lawyers say the same Catholic doctrine applied to women is not applied to male employees.
CASSANDRA STUBBS, N.Y. CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION: Does the school question the male employees about their sexual practices?
How does the school punish male employees for engaging in non- marital sex?
SNOW: The school's employer, the diocese of Brooklyn, said no one was available to talk about the firing but released a statement saying, quote, "This is a difficult situation for every person involved, but the school had no choice but to follow the principles contained in the teachers personnel handbook.
That handbook is part of a contract McCusker signed when she started the job.
When it comes to laws for secular and religious schools, employment lawyers say not everything is equal in hiring.
ROBERT WHITMAN, ORRICK LAW FIRM: Religious schools can discriminate, like, a catholic school can say, we will only hire Catholics.
SNOW: McCusker is Catholic. She signed a one-year contract with the school.
Her lawyers say, even with a contract, she still is the target of discrimination, discrimination that McCusker says only came about because her pregnancy is visible and acknowledges that abortion, which is forbidden by the church, would probably not have gotten her fired.
McCusker acknowledges the irony.
MCCUSKER: I do believe, if I had decided to abort the baby, the decision to fire me wouldn't have come because they wouldn't have known.
SNOW: And lawyers say that is at the heart of the case, that moral standards can't be applied evenly among what goes on in private and what is clearly public.
Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Interesting case, though. It will be interesting to see if legally she does, in fact, have any grounds to actually have...
SANCHEZ: And, if it's argued from a business standpoint or from a church standpoint, or whether the courts would want to get involved in something that involves religion.
O'BRIEN: Right. Yes, we will see. We're going to continue to follow it, obviously. Much more ahead this morning, including an update on the day's travel rush: 37 million Americans are traveling this weekend, many of them by plane. We're going to have some tips on how you can speed up your trip right through airport security.
SANCHEZ: And our special holiday series, "Week of Giving." Today, we're going to meet a woman who has opened her heart and her home to almost a dozen strangers in Katrina's aftermath.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: It's that time of the year when we start talking about the holiday travel rush and the 37 million Americans who are expected to take to the roads and, also, obviously, go through some of the airports as well.
Let's get right to Kip Hawley. He is the director of Transportation Security Administration. And he's at Reagan National Airport in Virginia to take a look at how it's looking there this morning.
Nice to see you, sir. Good morning to you.
KIP HAWLEY, TSA DIRECTOR: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: You know, when you think about going through airport lines, anyway, it's always tough. And it's gotten much worse, obviously, since 9/11.
Is today just going to be the worst of the worst, do you think?
HAWLEY: Today is going to be a very heavy day. It's probably 40 percent more than normal. But we've got all of our checkpoints open and we canceled leaves, so we're fully staffed.
And I just went through the process myself at Washington Reagan Airport and things are running smoothly.
O'BRIEN: Well, so it was a pretty good experience, then? And they didn't just usher you right through because you're the head of the TSA, did they?
HAWLEY: No, no, I took my shoes off and took off my watch and all of the rest of that.
O'BRIEN: All right, all right. Well, that sounds a little bit encouraging, at least this early in the morning.
You've got some tips and I want to get through them because I think they are excellent tips.
First, you say -- I think especially for people who haven't traveled in a while -- don't bring lighters. You can't bring lighters; you can't bring sharp objects. HAWLEY: Right. Lighters -- just leave them at home. And if there are sharp objects that you need to take, put them in your checked baggage.
But the key thing is, don't have sharp objects or prohibited items when you come to the checkpoint because it will slow you down and then everybody else who travels behind you.
O'BRIEN: Obviously, everybody's walking through a big old metal detector. And it still amazes me the number of people who have metal items in their pocket -- I mean, change and keys and all of that other stuff, too.
HAWLEY: Well, you have PDAs, cell phones, all sorts of things. The guy in front of me when I just went through had a 10-inch metal wrench. And, you know, that slowed everybody up.
O'BRIEN: I mean, duh! You can't bring the wrench through. How could he not know that? You see why travelers get frustrated on this day.
Also, I think that's a little bit new -- now everybody really has to take off their shoes when they are traveling, almost through every single airport in the country, now, right?
HAWLEY: The shoes are an object that confuse a lot of people and are a hassle so I'm just recommending, for a heavy day like today, take your shoes off, run 'em through.
It just will save a lot of time. And it is something that we're looking at, going forward, because it is the number one thing we get comments on.
O'BRIEN: I was surprised to read that you guys actually do studies to figure -- you know, you do the math on how much time people could save if they actually did that list, one, two, three of things. How much time could I save if I did all of those things?
HAWLEY: Well, if you went through without alarming anything, it would be seven seconds. The average on a normal day is 18 seconds which means that maybe one in four people have something they need to go back through the line.
But it literally is a difference between an hour line and a half hour line if everybody just gets rid of the prohibited items and takes the metal off before going through the metal detector. You can take what would be a half hour line and make it 15 minutes. So it really is kind of audience participation, team work with the TSA and the passenger.
O'BRIEN: When you talking about hours versus seven seconds or 14 seconds, it really does make sense to people, I think. Final question for you. We all know airline employees cut back significantly. I think the number is down 19 or 20 percent, something like that. Are there enough TSA employees to fill that gap now? HAWLEY: Yes. There are enough TSA employees. We will have -- we've canceled leave, and we'll have everybody working and the checkpoints will be fully manned, so we expect it to be a very, very busy day, but we expect it will go OK.
O'BRIEN: Kip Hawley is the director of the TSA, the Transportation Security Administration. Remember, no wrenches through the airports today. Mr. Hawley, thanks. Nice to see you.
HAWLEY: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Rick.
SANCHEZ: At least he didn't have a saw and a hammer to go with it!
O'BRIEN: Come on. What's that about?
SANCHEZ: A wrench through a metal detector?
O'BRIEN: Duh!
SANCHEZ: Coming up, we're minding your business. Some Americans who can't afford their heating bills are getting help from an unlikely source. We're going to tell you it's a very important president of a Latin American country.
Andy will put it all together for us next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: This is a story that's very Machiavellian, very Castronian. You like this?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Throwing out the big words!
SANCHEZ: But here's a Latin American leader who's trying to get in good favors of Americans by doing something that some people would say is kind of strange, right?
SERWER: Well, it's an interesting thing what's going on here.
Frankly, it's a plan to provide needy Americans with cheap heating oil and also an opportunity to stick it to the Bush administration at the same time. We're talking about Citgo, which is the subsidiary of the state-owned Venezuelan Oil Company providing heating oil, 12 million gallons worth, to low-income citizens of Massachusetts.
This is the scene yesterday in North Quincy, Massachusetts. That's Joe Kennedy, who is the head of the Citizens Energy Corporation, which is an outfit that helps low-income people get energy.
And, obviously, what's going on here is President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, a harsh critic of the Bush administration, kind of really sticking it to the administration by providing this oil. You get a 40 percent discount for needy Americans.
There's Hugo Chavez -- 40,000 gallons worth, which will save these individuals hundreds of dollars this winter.
Interesting, of course, Citgo has a big presence in Massachusetts, in Boston. You may even see this. There is the Citgo sign at Fenway Park.
SANCHEZ: Oh, yes. The big Citgo sign, right.
SERWER: There you go.
But not a coincidence I think that Massachusetts was chosen because it's a Democratic stronghold, so a lot of politics going on here.
O'BRIEN: No love lost between the Bush administration and Hugo Chavez and vice versa.
SERWER: Right. Exactly.
O'BRIEN: Pretty much hate each other.
SERWER: And you've got the Kennedys going on. It's -- everything is happening...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: But there's a lot of poor people in Venezuela who could use that oil as well, so one wonders if he's doing this at the expense of his own poor people...
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Probably. Yes, I would think that's a very good guess.
SERWER: Could be.
SANCHEZ: Thanks, Andy.
SERWER: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, you know what they say -- the night belonged to the ladies. We're talking about last night's American Music Awards in L.A. and we've got the highlights.
SERWER: There we go.
O'BRIEN: Like that outfit.
(LAUGHTER)
Or a low light, maybe you could call that.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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