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American Morning

New York City Strike Is On; Plane Crash Investigation; Hussein's Escape Plan

Aired December 20, 2005 - 06:29   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody.
We are watching for what could be a chaotic morning in New York City as rush hour gets under way. An all-out transit strike leaves seven million commuters wondering what to do now. We've got a live report just ahead.

And trying to raise a vintage plane that crashed off Miami Beach. Nineteen people dead. We're going to talk to the man who is leading the investigation into why it happened.

And then just about 90 minutes ago, Ariel Sharon left the hospital. Will the Israeli prime minister's stroke keep him from doing his job?

ANNOUNCER: You're watching AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. Lots to talk about with the transit strike under way here. And, of course, it's cold. So anybody who is trying to hoof it is really going to feel it this morning.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Boy, your heart just goes out to all of these people who are going to be trying to make it into work today, and there's just nothing they can do. And they're going to be confused, because they're going to be showing up places and not knowing that the transit -- many people don't even know it's on.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, I think it's been wall-to-wall coverage here in New York City. Of course, it's the largest transit system in the country. Seven million people each and every day take the subways and the buses. And so I'm sure that word is out.

SANCHEZ: Santa Clauses?

S. O'BRIEN: I'm not sure. Oh, look at that. Those are Santa Clauses.

SANCHEZ: They are there to greet the commuters, I'm being told by our producers now, to greet the commuters as they're walking over the bridge.

S. O'BRIEN: What bridge are we looking at here, guys? This is the Brooklyn Bridge. The folks are trying to come in this morning into Manhattan from Brooklyn.

That is one chilly walk, because I will tell you, I have done that. That is like a wind tunnel. It is cold.

SANCHEZ: Yes. By the way, that's the bridge that Mayor Bloomberg says he's going to be walking across this morning.

Let's go over to Chris Huntington. He's been following this story for us. And he's at Penn Station, one of the biggest commuter hubs of all.

Chris, what's the scene like there?

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rick, it is starting to get a little messy here. You know, one of the new rules in effect because of the transit strike is that taxis can pick up multiple fares.

And so, what that creates is an instant ad-hoc on a bargaining situation. I don't know if you can see it here, but many, many folks cluster around a taxi. There's sort of an immediate bidding process about who is going where, how many people can the guy get to go in one direction.

We've seen taxis, in fact, turn away a group of people that wanted to go uptown, because he was fearful of running into police roadblocks.

So, you are starting to see a whole new system take over here out of necessity -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: The last time this happened in this city was like 25 years ago. Is the city prepared? I mean, do you get a sense talking to people out there that they are -- how are they dealing with this?

HUNTINGTON: They are dealing with it by hook or by crook and making it up on the fly here. You know, that strike back in 1980 lasted 11 days. If that happens here at this time of year, that's going to be just a massive load to the city, more than an annoyance to commuters. It could present a real problem, a major economic problem for people at all levels.

As far as how people are dealing with it, earlier this morning I drove in at 4:00 a.m. Now, the city was saying that there would be a deadline at 5:00 a.m. after which no one would be allowed to drive in with fewer than four people in their cars. So, I snuck in ahead of that.

I was in the midst of a lot of company. A lot of people -- a lot of extra people were driving in early. That's one way people beat it -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: I guess the key word today is just going to be confusion for a whole lot of people.

Let's go over to Carol Costello who had to brave the elements as well this morning. Carol, what do you have?

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: But I got in just fine. Good morning to all of you.

Investigators are expected to raise the wreckage of a sea plane, looking for clues into what caused a crash off the coast of Miami Beach, Florida. This amateur video, it shows thick, black smoke trailing the plane as it slams into the ocean. It is believed all 20 people on board are dead. The vintage plane was built in 1947. That's being looked at as a possible cause for the crash. We're going to talk with the man leading the NTSB investigation. That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is looking for about 500 pounds of missing explosives. They were apparently taken from a business outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Officials say the materials could level a building. At this point, there are signs of this terrorism related. A $10,000 reward is being offered for any information in the case.

Thousands of U.S. soldiers could soon be told they are not shipping out to Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld reportedly signed orders to reduce American troop levels by 3,000 in the coming months. A formal Pentagon announcement could come as early as today.

And California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is apparently cutting ties with his hometown in Austria. The governator (ph) told officials to take his name off the city sports stadium. It seems he's angry at the uproar after he refused to grant clemency to former gang leader Stanley Tookie Williams. Opposition to the death penalty is said to be very strong in Austria.

Let's head to the forecast center. It's cold in much of the country.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Too bad it's going to be so cold for people who are trying to commute into the city today.

Ahead this morning, we've got new details about that fiery plane crash off of Miami Beach. Look at these terrible pictures. Just what caused the plane to plunge into the sea? We're live with a man who is overseeing the investigation. That's coming up next.

SANCHEZ: Also, can you picture Saddam Hussein on a bicycle? Well, it's apparently one of the ways he used to get around and to elude U.S. forces. More on Saddam Hussein's life on the run. It's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Later this morning, a team in Florida is going to try to raise a vintage airplane from the ocean floor. It crashed on Monday, killing at least 19 people. Another person is still missing.

Mark Rosenker is the acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, the NTSB. He is overseeing this investigation. He's in Miami this morning.

It's nice to see you. Thanks for talking with us. We certainly appreciate it.

You've suspended the search...

MARK ROSENKER, ACTING NTSBY CHAIRMAN: Good morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning.

You've suspended the search for the 20th person. When will that search resume?

ROSENKER: This morning we'll begin the process of attempting to recover the aircraft. We're particularly interested in gathering both (ph) to see if any body might be there of the 20th passenger or crewman.

We're also looking for the cockpit voice recorder. It's very important to find that so we can begin the process of assessing that, reading it out and understanding what happened just moments before that plane crashed.

S. O'BRIEN: What factors are you looking at as maybe the most important as to causing this crash?

ROSENKER: We brought a team in of 13 people last night with two people already on the ground from our regional office and two more coming from other regional offices. We'll be looking at operations. We'll be looking at human factors. We'll be looking at structures, power plants. We'll also look at survival factors, as well as bringing in a transportation disaster assistance team.

All of these together begin the process of assessing what happened, getting the facts, bringing them back to Washington and understanding what happened yesterday afternoon.

S. O'BRIEN: Some witnesses said there was an explosion or it sounded like an explosion. Are you giving any credence to those eyewitness reports?

ROSENKER: We'll take all of the eyewitness reports and begin gathering statements, and then try to understand where there is consensus. It is amazing, Soledad, how you can find 25 or 30 people that see the same event, each one perceiving it a bit differently.

S. O'BRIEN: I'm sure you've seen this videotape that we're watching right now as the plane looks like it just falls out of the sky, and then behind it is this big -- it looks like the wing may be on fire with a big plume of black smoke behind it. Do these pictures tell you anything? Or is it just early to tell? ROSENKER: Well, clearly it's too early to tell. But video like that is going to be extremely helpful as we progress down this investigation. It's very rare that we have the opportunity to get video of the actual accident.

So, we'll be taking that back to Washington. We have some security video from the United States Coast Guard. We'll be doing some analysis of that as well. All of this is very important toward finding an answer.

S. O'BRIEN: Any indication as this -- I know that the plane is not subject to screeners from the TSA. Any indication that this was any kind of sabotage or any kind of terror or anything in that vein?

ROSENKER: I'm sorry. Did you say that they were not subject to screeners? Because we understand they are subject to screeners.

S. O'BRIEN: My understanding -- I'm sorry, and I may be wrong. But my information says that they did not need TSA screeners. Is that not correct?

ROSENKER: We understand that they have screeners on this particular flight -- on these flights.

S. O'BRIEN: Any indication in light of that even that there was any kind of sabotage of this plane?

ROSENKER: At this moment, Soledad, we're looking at this as an accident.

S. O'BRIEN: The plane has a record of some kind of problems, I mean, historically. It's a vintage plane, and it certainly had its share of problems over the years. Will you be examining those records as well certainly as you go through your investigation? Do you think that could have had a role as well?

ROSENKER: Well, we take a look at all maintenance records. We take a look at the flight records. We talk to the maintenance crews. This is a 58-year-old aircraft that's had thousands of takeoffs and landings. So, it's got a fairly decent safety record.

S. O'BRIEN: Mark Rosenker is the acting NTSB chairman. Thanks for talking with us. And thanks for the correction on the TSA screeners. We appreciate that.

ROSENKER: Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: It's an amazing story.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: I've taken that plane many times.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes?

SANCHEZ: Yes. I've been on it with my family. If you live in South Florida, like I did, most people take Chalks from time to time. It's part of Miami. Chalks is the picture they used on "Miami Vice" at the very beginning. Do you remember that open shot?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes.

SANCHEZ: That was the plane they used. And it's -- you know, it's a very important part of the city. But it's...

S. O'BRIEN: God, what a tragedy in those pictures. They're just devastating. One has to wonder what made the wing fall off and, you know...

SERWER: Right.

SANCHEZ: And you'd think when you ride a plane like that that one of the benefits is if something happens to this plane they could land in the ocean. No problem.

S. O'BRIEN: Right, right, right.

SANCHEZ: Well, not in this case.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, how awful.

SERWER: Yes, they'll probably figure it out.

SANCHEZ: Andy, what do you got?

SERWER: Shifting gears a little bit, Rick. Yes, there is such a thing as bad publicity, even for Howard Stern. Stay tuned to AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. I'm meteorologist Bonnie Schneider with a look at your cold and flu report for Tuesday.

As we check the map, we can show you some sporadic outbreaks of the flu in parts of Texas and Oklahoma and back out towards Florida, Louisiana and up towards New York State and in the Pacific Northwest.

There is local activity of the flu reported in Utah down through Arizona as well. And in California, regional outbreaks have been noted for much of that state. You'll find so far no reports of any flu activity in Mississippi so far this season.

I hope everyone stays healthy, especially this holiday season. Stay tuned. We have more AMERICAN MORNING coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, I love Billy Joel. And you know what? Right. The only thing he will be taking is the Greyhound, because nothing else is running here today, the first day of the transit strike.

SERWER: A little ironic, right?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it is.

Andy is going to be "Minding Your Business" in just a moment. First, though, let's get a check of the morning headlines. Carol has that.

Good morning.

COSTELLO: I do. Good morning. Good morning to all of you.

A message for New Yorkers and others: Get out your walking shoes, the subways, the buses, they are not running. Forget your token. Forget it. The transit union called a strike overnight after contact talks failed to lead to a breakthrough. The strike shuts down the nation's largest transit system during one of the busiest times of the year.

This morning workers will try to raise a plane from the waters near Miami Beach. This amateur video catches the vintage seaplane going down shortly after taking off. Nineteen bodies recovered. A 20th person remains missing this morning. The plane, built in 1947, was heading to the Bahamas.

Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, says he wants to get back to work. Sharon left the hospital in Jerusalem earlier today. He was admitted Sunday after suffering a small stroke. Doctors say he should make a full recovery.

And we thought you'd like to see a birthday celebration you're not likely to see very often, if at all. Go on, take a bite. It's a little...

S. O'BRIEN: Oh!

COSTELLO: Oh, yes, I love pandas. This panda has just turned 25, which is pretty old considering the life expectancy of pandas about 12 years. This panda is celebrating in a zoo south of Beijing. And maybe you recognize her. She was the mascot at the Olympics when they were in China.

S. O'BRIEN: I thought I recognized her.

COSTELLO: You recognized her, didn't you? I think her Olympic name was Pan Pan (ph).

Let's head to the forecast center to check in with Bonnie Schneider.

(WEATHER REPORT)

SANCHEZ: There is some news about Howard Stern, and Andy is here to tell you about it.

Having to do with, what, executives that are doing what?

SERWER: Insider trading. I guess you could call this a case of serious charges, Rick.

SANCHEZ: For the (INAUDIBLE).

SERWER: Right. Howard Stern is in the news again, although probably not in a way he'd like. The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged two executives with insider trading relating to the news back in '04 that he was leaving to join Sirius Satellite Radio with a $500 million contract. That would make the stock go up. And, in fact, it did a whole lot.

Accountant Gary Herwitz (ph) and Sirius executive Tracy Stenor (ph) bought tens of thousands of shares before the announcement was made publicly. The stock was about $2. It then soared to $8. On a percentage basis obviously that's a huge run-up. And you can make a lot of money doing that.

Rick, people never learn. The Securities and Exchange Commission reviews these trades every time. And you just get caught. You know, if it's not a regular thing that you're buying, they call you up and they ask you, so, why did you buy that stock? Well...

SANCHEZ: Really?

SERWER: Gee, I had a little tip. A little bird told me.

SANCHEZ: Martha Stewart went to jail for this.

SERWER: This kind of thing, right.

SANCHEZ: Right.

SERWER: There's a cover-up on a situation like that.

I want to talk a little bit about the markets yesterday, you guys. It's a kind of sea of red ink situation. All of the major indexes were down yesterday.

And, of course, the big news is the transit strike in New York. The New York Stock Exchange will be open, so will all other businesses, unless otherwise notified. And there are contingency plans at the NYSE. Obviously trading is going to be very light today.

And one further note. Wal-Mart is the subject of a criminal probe, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, having to do possibly with transporting hazardous waste. This just crossed on the tape. We'll be following it later this morning.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thank you.

SERWER: You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: In just a moment, we're going to take a look at the day's top stories, including some new details, weird details, about Saddam Hussein's escape plans after the U.S. invasion of Iraq. And this question: How do you manage to elude U.S. forces for eight months? Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: And be sure to check out our Web site, CNN.com, for the very latest on the morning's top stories, including these. First of all, in New York City, transit workers are on strike. What does that mean? It means seven million people may have to find a different way to get to work today or into the city to go shopping if they had planned to do so.

Also, some of the other most popular stories of this day include, remember Vince Deganti (ph), Vinnie the Chin (ph) they used to call him? Well, he had died in jail. And he was most famous for basically faking the fact that he -- or faking being extremely mentally ill when he wasn't.

S. O'BRIEN: In New York City they used to call him the Odd Father (ph). He walked around in his bathrobe in Greenwich Village and muttered. And the argument was to the jury, he's crazy. The jury didn't buy it. Eventually they put him in jail. And he died after...

SANCHEZ: Finally the gig was up, because they found him guilty nonetheless.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: And if you're about to head out the door for work or school, you can stay in touch with CNN and AMERICAN MORNING by logging on to CNN.com and our pipeline video service. You can catch live commercial-free news updates. It's all there at CNN.com/pipeline -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Here is a kind of an odd story as well. Two years since U.S. troops pulled a dazed Saddam Hussein out of that spider hole. Well, now the former Iraqi dictator is talking about what went through his mind when he realized that his life on the lam was coming to an end.

Correspondent Mary Snow is on that story. The details are bizarre.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They really are, Soledad, and interesting at the same time.

Saddam Hussein is said to have had a very different plan in the works the day he was taken into custody.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW (voice over): December 13, 2003, his attorney says Saddam Hussein expected to find a motorcycle when he emerged from an underground hole. Instead, his escape plan went bust, and he was taken into U.S. custody.

PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVILIAN ADMIN. IN IRAQ: Ladies and gentlemen, we got him.

(APPLAUSE)

SNOW: Saddam Hussein says he believes betrayal did him in. That's according to Ramsey Clark, the former U.S. attorney general, who now represents the ousted Iraqi leader at his trial. He says Hussein believed he would be a fugitive indefinitely.

RAMSEY CLARK, ATTORNEY FOR SADDAM HUSSEIN: He said he had been moving from place to place, to encourage people to resist the occupation. He had been at this particular place several times. He saw soldiers outside. That's when he went into the -- through the trap door into the tunnel.

SNOW: U.S. military officials describe it as a spider hole. According to Clark, Hussein told him he lost consciousness in the hole and believes he was gassed. The details emerged when Clark says he recently asked the former Iraqi leader about his capture during a break at the trial.

SNOW (on camera): Did you ask him how he moved around?

CLARK: I think he moved in different ways. I think he moved on bicycles. I think he moved in groups with -- in a wagon, or he perhaps used taxicabs.

SNOW (voice over): When U.S. forces captured Hussein, they reported a taxicab was outside his hiding spot.

(on camera): Would he travel alone?

CLARK: Rarely.

SNOW: How many people would travel with him?

CLARK: It would vary. Five or six would be maximum. Probably two or three be more normal.

SNOW: Do you think he's telling you the truth?

CLARK: Yes. No reason why he wouldn't be. Why make up something like that?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: When asked about Saddam Hussein's claim that he had been gassed, a Pentagon spokesman said it was the first time he had heard such a claim, but says he doubts it's true. He did, however, say he would look further into it -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Did he tell you, the lawyer Clark, tell you how he found out about Saddam Hussein's escape plan?

SNOW: He said during a break at the trial, he had about an hour with a translator and Saddam Hussein. They were in a room together. And he said he just started asking him about the day that he was captured. And he said also that Saddam Hussein told him that he stayed north of Baghdad during the time that he was a fugitive.

S. O'BRIEN: Gosh! Interesting details, the bicycle.

SNOW: Yes, definitely.

S. O'BRIEN: And the taxicab. All right, Mary Snow, thank you for the update. An interesting story.

We are going to continue to cover the breaking stories this morning, mainly the transit strike, which is a big story here, because New York, of course, has the largest transit system in the nation. When you consider the timing with the holidays and people shopping and trying to get around, it could be devastating economically and devastating if you're just trying to make you way into the city today. There are all kinds of rules in place, including four people to a vehicle. Otherwise you're not going to be allowed in the city.

SANCHEZ: Including the fact that it's 25 degrees out there, too.

S. O'BRIEN: And if you're hoofing it this morning, and you can see some people are walking through. That's a group of Santas, and they're on the bridge this morning, the Brooklyn Bridge, and they are greeting some of the people, I guess to bring cheer to what I would imagine are some very hostile and angry commuters who are walking this morning.

And look at the live pictures of a little bit of traffic at Culver Circle right out of our window. We can imagine that this commute -- oh, my goodness. We never see more than four our five people at a time usually at this time of the morning. People have already taken to the roads. That lady needs a hat. It's cold out there.

Let's get right to Bonnie Schneider. She's got a look at just how cold it is for these poor commuters this morning.

SANCHEZ: Yes, how many people need hats on this day, Bonnie?

SCHNEIDER: Oh, absolutely everyone needs a hat. Don't leave the house without it.

(WEATHER REPORT)

SCHNEIDER: Stay tuned. The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.

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