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Federal Judge in Pennsylvania Rules Intelligence Design Cannot be Taught; Transit Strike in New York Affects Seven Million Commuters

Aired December 20, 2005 - 10:59   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's take a look at what's happening "Now in the News."
A federal judge in Pennsylvania rules that the concept of Intelligent Design cannot be taught in a public school district in Pennsylvania. The school board in York County voted last year to require students to hear a statement about Intelligent Design before learning about evolution. We'll have more just ahead.

To Italy. An accident a short while ago involving two passenger trains at a station 80 miles south of Rome. One train apparently slammed into the back of the second while it was stopped at the station. Various reports say there are at least 10 people injured but no deaths.

Just days ahead of Christmas, the nation's largest public transportation system is at a halt. New York City transit workers walked off the job early today. Mayor Michael Bloomberg walked to work this morning himself. He's calling the strike illegal and morally reprehensible. More than seven million people use the city's buses, trains and subway systems on a typical day.

In south Florida, federal investigators are at the scene of a deadly plane crash. A vintage seaplane with 20 people on board crashed into the Atlantic Ocean yesterday just offshore from Miami. Searchers have recovered 19 bodies.

Amateur video shows the plane coming apart and slamming into the water. The plane was on its way to the Bahamas when it went down.

As many as 3,000 U.S. troops could soon be leaving Afghanistan. That's the word from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. He says an expansion of NATO forces will allow the U.S. to reduce its troop level from 19,000 to about 16,000. The long-expected troop reduction should be completed by next spring.

After sitting down for talks with Pakistan's president, Vice President Dick Cheney is cutting short his latest overseas trip. He's heading back home for what's expected to be a tight vote in the Senate on budget and defense bills.

Cheney would cast the deciding vote if there's a tie. Because of that, the vice president will not visit Saudi Arabia and Egypt as he had planned.

In the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says he's ready to get back to work after he left a Jerusalem hospital. He was released today after undergoing treatment for a mild stroke. Sharon's doctors say they expect him to make a full recovery. President Bush phoned the Israeli leader earlier today wishing him good health.

Good morning. Welcome to the second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY.

Checking the time around the world, just after 7:00 p.m. in Baghdad; just after 11:00 a.m. in New York, where a lot of commuters had to walk to work this morning in the wake of a transit strike; and we're just after 11:00 here in Atlanta.

From CNN Center, I'm Daryn Kagan.

And we're going to get right to today's ruling on Intelligent Design. Let's bring in Delia Gallagher in New York with the latest -- Delia.

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN FAITH AND VALUES CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn.

Well, as you've said, the judge, John Jones, the judge in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has ruled that it is unconstitutional to teach Intelligent Design as an alternative to evolution in public school classrooms. Now, there's something very interesting also in his decision, Daryn, which is that not only does he say it's unconstitutional, but he goes into the fact about whether Intelligent Design is in fact science. And he says that it is not.

I want to read you his language in this.

He says, "In making this determination" -- that is, that Intelligent Design is unconstitutionally taught in a classroom -- he says, "we've addressed the seminal question of whether Intelligent Design is science. We have concluded that it is not. And moreover, that Intelligent Design cannot uncouple itself from its creationist and thus, religious antecedents."

So this answers the even larger question than just the constitutionality of Intelligent Design. It also speaks directly to this point that many people were making that Intelligent Design is a religious concept, therefore should not be allowed in the public classroom. And the judge has gone straight to that question in his verdict.

And you'll remember that this story was about the Dover High School, a debate which erupted last year. The school board that wanted to bring a four-paragraph statement into ninth grade biology classes suggesting that Darwin's evolutionary theory was not fact, it was just a theory. And this provoked some parents in the school district to get the ACLU and the Americans United for Separation of Church and State on their side to sue the school board.

In the meantime, Daryn, there's a little twist that the school board in November actually did resign, were voted out, some of them resigned. So we have a New school board who has said they will implement the verdict of this judge.

KAGAN: And it sounds like they have heard what the judge has to say.

Meanwhile, Delia, as a religion correspondent, you've been looking at other stories like this around the country, other school boards trying different tactics to introduce the idea of Intelligent Design, or at least to challenge Darwin's Theory of Evolution. We saw one right here just outside of Atlanta in Cobb County.

GALLAGHER: Well, there are numerous school boards around the country that are dealing with this. Obviously at the court level this is the first case of its kind. That's why it's so important as a precedent for other school boards to look at. And I think, in particular, to see what the judge's comments are there about Intelligent Design being a sort of legitimate science.

I also want to read to you, Daryn, something we just got in, a response, a reaction to the judge's verdict from Barry Lynn, the executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, who says, "Children in public schools deserve top quality science education and freedom from religious indoctrination. And today they were granted both."

So there's going to be a lot of reaction to this verdict, I think, in the coming days -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Yes. We do expect to hear from those that support Intelligent Design as well. And we'll share those comments as they become available.

Delia Gallagher.

Thank you, Delia.

Meanwhile, let's go to New York City. I think that's where Delia is. But if she is, she was dealing with some commuter chaos there today.

Millions of New Yorkers are walking, they're biking, carpooling their way around the city this morning. The transit workers are on strike. And the buses and trains are going nowhere.

The union says it's about justice. The city says it's illegal.

Chris Huntington is live in New York with the latest.

Chris, hello.

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn.

Well, now that we're past 11:00, a bunch of things have changed. Of course the bulk of the commuting traffic has made its way through here.

We're outside of Penn Station, which is where Amtrak feeds in, as well as trains from New Jersey, the New Jersey transit system, and the Long Island Railroad. Still, tons of people coming up out of Penn Station, coming up out of the station because there are no subways running underneath. But a lot of these folks -- we've been talking to them just in the last few minutes -- are intrepid visitors into the city, people who are coming in to shop, go to museums and so forth. So at least some people not put off by the transit strike.

As far as the commute this morning, it definitely was a snarly mess here on 7th Avenue outside of Penn Station. People haggling for the few taxi cabs that were available, jamming three, four people into the cabs.

Now that it's after 11:00, people can freely drive into the city with just one, two people in the car. Prior to 11:00, or between 5:00 and 11:00, you had to have four people in the car. And there were numerous cars being turned back at various checkpoints around the city.

Mayor Bloomberg, resolute, standing by the Metropolitan Transit Authority, saying this is morally reprehensible, this strike, illegal. He made a point of walking to work today, across the Brooklyn Bridge. This is historically resonant of what Mayor Ed Koch did in 1980 during the last transit strike, which then lasted 11 days.

So if that's any precedent, folks in here are in for a long, hard slog -- Daryn.

KAGAN: The last time I think the city faced a shutdown like this -- not the transit strike, but the blackout of not this last summer, but the summer before. Or was it two summers ago?

HUNTINGTON: It was two summers ago. Yes. You know, it's interesting you raise the blackout, because there's sort of our -- that was a crucial event, the blackout most recently a couple years ago, but then the one back in the '60s.

Similarly here, you've got that same kind of timestamp between transit strikes. And there have been a number of historically astute people here in the city who pointed out that people's memory fades. And nobody thought there'd ever be another blackout. And a lot of people thought there would never ever be a transit strike, because that one in the '80s and then one in the '60s was such a -- had such a devastating impact.

And the transit workers ended up with very little coming out of either of those strikes. So, in a sense, you'd think there might be a lesson there for the transit workers. The city and the transit authority are promising to impose very serious and heavy fines on the union workers. It is technically illegal for public employees to be striking here.

So those fines will be coming. There will be battles played out in court in the days and weeks ahead -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Chris Huntington, live in New York City.

Thank you.

We head south now, where today investigators hope to raise the wreckage from a fatal seaplane crash off of Miami Beach. Twenty people were on board that plane. Searchers have recovered 19 bodies. The plane broke apart and plunged into the ocean yesterday.

Let's take a look at some amateur video. It shows what appeared to be the fuselage hitting the water. That was followed by a large fireball, possibly one of the wings.

The Transportation Safety Board is trying to recover the plane's cockpit voice recorder. The crash shut down the main shipping channel leading from the port of Miami.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. JAMES MAES, U.S. COAST GUARD: We've got divers down looking at the wreck area -- wreckage area. We're trying to map that, trying to get it photographed for the investigation.

Once we get a determination as to whether or not it is a navigation hazard, and whether or not the investigation will be affected by the transit of cruise ships, we'll make the determination to open the port up. The port remains closed right now, even for recreational vessels.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Some of the passengers on the plane were going home to the Bahamas after a shopping trip. Two crewmembers were on board, along with 15 adult passengers and three babies. The plane had just taken off from Miami and headed for the island of Bimini when it went down. Witnesses described watching in horror as the plane slammed into the ocean.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were on Fisher Island on the beach, and my son said, "Oh my god." And I looked up. And we saw -- we saw a plane in a trajectory coming down. It had on the right of the plane -- there was a big ball of fire around where the engine is and the wing is. And it continued down, and then saw the wing, the right wing come off.

And then we lost it. But it was going -- the trajectory going into the water, because there's a jetty right there. And a few seconds after that we heard a big crash explosion and a lot of smoke.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looked up and the plane was coming down. Like, it was a ball of fire. And there was, like, a trail of smoke.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see this white smoke on it, it went slow. And then you see when it caught on fire and half of the wing came off, I saw it was turning, and it went down with black smoke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Several of the passengers related or were friends, according to family members. Still to come, our CNN "Security Watch." Flight attendants are not happy with rule changes that are about to go into effect.

And we'll tell you how that special someone, they're getting botox in their stocking this year. We're going to talk to a surgeon who is helping shoppers avoid the mall in the quest for the perfect gift.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange, where it's business as usual, despite a transit strike that affects an estimated seven million bus and subway commuters. Trading volume is quite normal for this hour. And traders are exchanging stories about their adventures into work this morning. But stock levels aren't so animated, despite a tame reading on inflation last month.

Right now, the Dow industrials have turned positive, up nearly 7 points. The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, under a little bit of pressure, down 1 point.

Wal-Mart is the subject of a criminal probe into the way it handles hazardous merchandise. The investigation centers on whether Wal-Mart improperly transported returned items from some of its stores to return centers. The goods in question include aerosol cans, plant food, charcoal, nail polish and Silly String. A Wal-Mart spokesperson tells CNN it is reviewing and correcting its procedures.

And that's the latest from Wall Street.

Stay tuned for more of CNN LIVE TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: CNN "Security Watch." Starting Thursday, you will be able to bring small scissors and even screwdrivers on to commercial airplanes. Last hour, Massachusetts Congressman Ed Markey pushed for legislation to keep common household items that could be weapons off planes.

He is ridiculing the change. Markey jokes that the Transportation Security Administration, the TSA, should stand for "Take Scissors Aboard." The nation's largest flight attendants' union joined the congressman to get back his effort.

The government says that security inside planes is much better now, and it wants screeners to focus more on serious threats like bombs. Box cutters were used by the 9/11 hijackers. Those do remain on the banned list.

Within the last hour we have heard from President Bush's Homeland Security secretary, Michael Chertoff, summing up accomplishments in 2005. He says the various agencies of the departments from the FBI to FEMA are working better as a team. Chertoff also noted tougher border enforcement and a commonsense approach to air passenger screening. The secretary also looked ahead to 2006.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Moving forward, our goal is very simple: build on the areas in which we've been successful and continue to learn lessons where we have improvements that need to be made, and then put those improvements into effect. So we meet 2006 with urgency and purpose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Tomorrow, Chertoff will attend a memorial service of victims of Pan Am Flight 103. That plane blew up over Scotland 17 years ago Wednesday.

In New Mexico, federal agents are looking for military-style explosives this morning. A hundred and fifty pounds of plastics like these were stolen from a storage facility in Albuquerque. Thieves also swiped blasting caps and three miles of detonation cord. Agents say the explosives can fit inside of a van, and enough material, they say, bring down a building.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAYNE DIXIE, ATF: It could be very extensive if it was in the right hands of people who know how to use it. But we're not going to speculate as to, you know, what they can do with that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Agents aren't suggesting a link to terrorists. At the same time, they admit they don't have any leads. The government is offering a $50,000 reward for information that helps find the explosives.

CNN "Security Watch" keeps you up to date on your safety. Stay tuned day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

We're at 17 minutes past the hour. Still to come in the last half-hour of CNN LIVE TODAY, the vice president is on the road or in the sky, as you might say, talking about the wiretap controversy back here in the states. We'll hear what he has to say, and we'll tell you why he is headed back early to the U.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: That is a big snowman. A large white monster sending a frosty chill across Anchorage. This 16-foot-tall Snowzilla watches over the neighborhood with a cold stare from his beer bottle eyes.

A family spent a month build this super-sized snowman. It may take the sun until June to melt it.

Well, see, Chad, that's the beauty of snow art in Alaska.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. KAGAN: It lasts.

MYERS: Either that or you just call it a glacier.

KAGAN: That's true.

MYERS: I mean, because they last, too, most of them, at least. Good morning, Daryn.

Good morning, everybody.

Temperatures are cold enough across the Northeast and the north central plains to maybe keep a snowman around for a while -- 15 in Chicago, 12 in Minneapolis. No airport delays.

It's cold. I assume, though, that the airport runways are probably getting a little bit slick at times, too, on and off throughout Southbend. And we're seeing a little bit of light snow getting picked up there.

Chicago, though, your wind-chill right now is 2. And that always slows down the ramp workers one way or the other, because they have to warm up as well.

Cold weather across the Northeast for today. The rain and the snow still here in the West. The snow above 8,000 feet. So you really have to get into the ski resorts to get the snow here. But this is going to be a windy, rainy day tomorrow.

Notice this tomorrow forecast, the blue lines through here, the lines, the jet stream, pushing the warm air all the way up into British Columbia and then taking the cold air and driving it right on down into Dallas, and also even into Houston.

There is some rain around the forecast maps for today. A couple of showers around Port St. Lucie, also a few offshore, Miami and Fort Lauderdale. More rain around Dallas, Texas.

Some light snow in Oklahoma City in the hour, but it pretty much tapered off at this point. A couple more stops.

The wet West, rain showers getting closer and closer to San Francisco, on up into Sausalito, and right up into Seattle. Here's a live shot from our affiliate in Seattle.

This is maybe a shot that will put a smile on your face. How about this, KIRO, the snow -- yes, a little bit of snow on the mountains there. The Christmas tree on top of the Space Needle. Great shot from Seattle, Washington, today.

Be careful out there. Although the passes are only wet, the snow well above 6,000 to 8,000 feet out there a little bit to your east.

For tomorrow, the cold air right on down into New Orleans, and also Dallas into New Orleans. Today, Houston is 50, Seattle is 52. When's the last time you've seen that? Look at how much farther south that is than Seattle, and temperatures are colder, because that cold air drops all the way down to Atlanta -- 41 D.C., 36 in New York.

A lot of folks walking around New York City today instead of taking the trains because they're shut down. If you are, the wind- chill factor in New York City right now is 13. As you walk home tonight, the winds will die off a little bit, but the temperatures will be going down. Your wind-chill will be about the same -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Yes. You've got be careful there. Chad, thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

KAGAN: Gorgeous pictures from Seattle.

Thank you for that.

All right. Animal lovers -- and we know, viewers, we have a lot of you out there that watch this program -- incredible animal pictures coming up for you. And with a photographer who's made his life work basically going to the extremes of the Earth to get the most incredible pictures of wildlife. And he'll be with us to share his photos in just a bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We're coming up on the half-hour. I'm Daryn Kagan. Here's a look at what's happening "Now in the News."

More fuel to the fire over the long debate over evolution and the origins of life. A federal judge in Pennsylvania today ruling that Intelligent Design cannot be taught in a public school district in Pennsylvania.

Believers in Intelligent Design hold that Charles Darwin's theory does not fully explain the emergence of highly-complex life forms. The York County, Pennsylvania, school board voted last year to require students to hear a statement about Intelligence Design before learning about evolution.

About seven million people in New York have to find alternative ways to get around today. That's because the city's trains, buses and subways aren't running. Transit workers went on strike overnight. Some people walked, taxied and even roller-bladed to work. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the strike could cost the city up to $400 million a day.

Investigators hope to raise the wreckage of a seaplane that crashed in the Atlantic just off of Miami yesterday. Nineteen bodies have been recovered. Divers are looking for the final person aboard the plane.

Crews are searching for the plane's cockpit voice recorder. They hope it will provide clues on why the aircraft broke apart and plunged into the ocean. A man accused of posing as a firefighter and sexually assaulting a woman has been ordered held without bond in New York. Peter Braunstein was arraigned early this morning. He had been on the run for about six weeks, following the Halloween attack.

Police captured him Friday in Memphis, Tennessee. Braunstein was brought back to New York late last night.

It's official, Ambassador John Danilovich is the new CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation. He was sworn in at a State Department ceremony attended by President Bush and Secretary Rice today -- Secretary of State Rice. The idea behind the Millennium Challenge, wealthy nations give financial assistance to those developing countries that demonstrate accountability in various areas.

Just about a half-hour ago, President Bush signed what some call a life-saving stem cell bill. The bill paves the way for the creation of a national databank for umbilical cord research and blood. The stem cells drawn from the cord blood can be used to treat any number of illnesses ranging from sickle cell anemia to leukemia.

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