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American Morning
Transit Strike in New York; Miami Crash Investigation; Spying Scandal
Aired December 20, 2005 - 7:59 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. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
If you are not in New York this morning you might want to count yourself lucky. Subways shut down, buses not budging. It is an all- out transit strike. We've got a live report just ahead.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Rick Sanchez, in for Miles O'Brien.
Investigators are going under water this morning to try and get clues in the crash of a vintage seaplane. We're going to take you live to Miami for the very latest as they prepare to raise the wreckage of that Chalks plane.
O'BRIEN: And a fake firefighter is brought back to New York. He's expected in court today to face a series of charges. We've got details just ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning. Welcome, everybody.
Well, they promised it was going to happen right after midnight, and it happened. Let's show you some pictures of just how it looks this morning.
First, if we can show our first shot, this is the Brooklyn Bridge as people are coming across. Actually, they don't seem to be -- it's not that crowded. I mean, obviously much more crowded than we would normally see on a normal day because it's in the 20s temperature-wise. But people moving along.
A little bit earlier, we saw Mayor Bloomberg crossing this very bridge. He had promised that he was going to walk to work. He spent the night in Brooklyn. He is furious at the transit workers who have walked off the job.
There's the mayor. OK, put a hat on. It's 20 degrees, Mr. Mayor, sir.
Then let's take you to the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. You know, it's 8:00 in the morning here in New York, and there's always lots of traffic on the BQE. And if we can zoom in a little bit, yes, you can see traffic is not moving. It is going...
SANCHEZ: It's the one right in the middle, right?
O'BRIEN: Right there, yes. Right smack in the middle. SANCHEZ: Left to right.
O'BRIEN: And it is going to be a tough, tough commute. The rules about four passengers per car apply on the BQE.
SANCHEZ: Wow.
O'BRIEN: It is going to be slow-going for anybody who is trying to come into Manhattan.
And then, finally, let's get to the approach to the Lincoln Tunnel coming into Manhattan. Things moving there. That actually looks pretty good. And lots of buses.
These must be private charter buses that are coming into the city, or certainly buses that are not part of the strike this morning. So things looking pretty OK at that point here at 8:00 in the morning here in New York.
SANCHEZ: But you wonder if that means a lot of people just aren't going to be coming to work..
O'BRIEN: I think the answer is yes. I think people have no way to get in and they are just not going to try this morning.
SANCHEZ: Wow.
O'BRIEN: We'll see how the rest of the week shapes up and how long the strike lasts, as well.
Penn Station a major commuting hub, as well. Let's get right there. And Chris Huntington is there, too.
Hey, Chris. How is it looking where you are?
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, very, very crowded. You know, the scores of people who come into Penn Station either on Amtrak or the Long Island Railroad, many of them, of course, get right on to subway trains to go their way within New York City. They are now having to pour out onto the street here.
There's interesting kind of street-side auctions taking place with all the taxis that now can pick up multiple fares. Just about everybody we've spoken to has their own particular tale of planes, trains, and automobiles.
Joining us here, though, Pat Murphy from Staten Island.
Pat, just tell us what you had to go through this morning to get here more or less on time for work.
PAT MURPHY, STATEN ISLAND RESIDENT: Well, I normally go up to the corner to get a bus, and I had to get up an hour earlier and leave at 5:30 in the morning to walk to a train eight blocks away, to catch a train to catch a ferry, then to find my way to the path train on Courtland Street (ph), which was a hike. And then I found out -- once I got on the train, I thought it would be a quick ride. It was over a half-hour because I had to go through New Jersey then back to New York.
HUNTINGTON: So you took -- you took a ferry from Staten Island into Manhattan, got on a train that took you back to New Jersey, that brought you back here to Penn Station?
MURPHY: Back to Penn Station.
HUNTINGTON: Yes.
MURPHY: And I got off by the path, which the exit on 33rd which would of been easier was closed. So we had to walk back to 30th Street. So now I have to walk to 38th and 9th Avenue.
HUNTINGTON: So you've missed your coffee time?
MURPHY: Oh, I've missed my coffee time. But I've gotten a lot of exercise this morning, anyway.
HUNTINGTON: Are you in favor of these guys striking, these men and women of the transit?
MURPHY: I'm not in favor of the strike, but I do believe that they should come up with some sort of a settlement. This is -- this is ridiculous. So many people are inconvenienced.
HUNTINGTON: Right.
MURPHY: I agree with some of their demands, but certain things I think are petty and they should just give in on. You know, but the MTA should also realize what they are doing also and try to...
HUNTINGTON: Well, Pat, thank you very much for joining us.
MURPHY: You're welcome.
HUNTINGTON: Good luck the rest of the week. We hope this doesn't last too long for you.
MURPHY: I hope not. Thank you.
HUNTINGTON: All right.
Pat Murphy, our representative New Yorker this morning. Planes, trains and automobiles.
Back to you.
O'BRIEN: Oh, man. Well, at least she's close, right? She's only got a few blocks to go.
All right. Chris Huntington with an update. We'll check in with Chris all through the morning as we watch the morning commute here in New York City.
Thanks -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Here's another story that we're going to be following for you throughout the morning, and this has to do with that plane crash that occurred off of Miami Beach yesterday.
This is a National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson who is explaining what they are doing on this day. He's flanked there, as you see, by one of the Coast Guard officials. As a matter of fact, these are both individuals that we've already talked to here on AMERICAN MORNING this morning.
Let's do this now. Let's go over to CNN's Christopher King. He's in Miami, he's following the story. And he's going to try to bring us up to date now on what's going on.
Christopher, what have you got?
CHRISTOPHER KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rick.
Authorities want to raise the plane out of the water today. They should be resuming the search just about now.
If you take a look over my shoulder here you may be able to see some boats out there in the water just beyond this jetty. That's where the crash happened.
Now, the scene yesterday was just horrifying. Take a look at this amateur video.
The seaplane, Grumman G-73, breaks up as it crashes into the water. A trail of smoke of flames follow it.
This happened just hundreds of yards off the beach. Authorities say 20 people on board. Three were infants. They say 19 are dead, one is missing.
Mark Rosenker with the National Transportation Safety Board spoke earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, and here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK ROSENKER, ACTING CHAIRMAN, NTSB: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Now, the plane was operated by Chalks Ocean Airways. It's a very old plane built back in 1947. And, of course, investigators are looking into whether age was a factor, among many other possible factors -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: All right. Thanks a lot.
Christopher King following that story for us out of Miami. Let's go over to Carol Costello now and catch up on some of the other stories that we're following.
Carol, what you got?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Got them right here, Rick.
Good morning, everyone.
Vice President Dick Cheney cutting short his overseas trip. Cheney is rushing home just in case he is needed to be the tie-breaker for pending Senate votes on budget cuts.
The administration's legislation would cut some benefits and trim budget deficits by $40 billion. Cheney has been in Pakistan meeting with that nation' leader. Earlier he was in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Final results from last week's historic Iraqi elections will not be certified until early next month. That's the word this morning from election officials. They say the results won't be announced until concerns about the voting are addressed. There is said to be about a thousand complaints.
Peter Braunstein is expected to be in a New York City courtroom today. The 41-year-old is suspected of posing as a firefighter and sexually assaulting a former coworker in her apartment on Halloween. Braunstein was returned to New York from Tennessee after several weeks on the run. He is facing charges of kidnapping, sexual abuse and robbery.
And you could call it the day the music died. Iran is said to be banning Western music. No more Kenny G, Madonna or the Rolling Stones on state radio and TV stations. The hard-line president says even classical music from the West is out.
Sort of an eerie reminder from the early days of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Remember when the Ayatollah banned Western music?
O'BRIEN: And we have sort of seen that in the works now as we've been watching the president, Ahmadinejad.
COSTELLO: Yes, because this president is the same man who said Israel should be wiped off the map and that, you know, the Holocaust never happened.
O'BRIEN: Kind of no surprise, I think, knowing how he leans.
All right, Carol. Thank you for the update.
Time to take a look at the weather this morning. Bonnie Schneider at the CNN Center.
Hello, Bonnie. Good morning. Cold here.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.
Oh, look at this. It is really cold.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I see it.
SCHNEIDER: The wind has picked up as well, and that's making things even worse for those thousands of people that are walking right now to work. At least the sun is shining, but when you have temperatures this cold and the wind this strong, you're looking at a wind-chill factor of only 8 degrees. This is really, really cold, especially for New York. Actually, below normal for this time of year.
So I'd just say bundle up, make sure you're wearing the hat, the gloves, the scarf. This is a day where you really need it if you're going to be walking out and about for a long period of time.
Now, that's not the only cold spot we're looking at. It's also very, very bitterly cold into Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit and back out toward Chicago.
These are the actual current temperatures. So the wind-chill factor is below zero, unfortunately.
For New York City, if you're going to be -- let's hope the strike gets resolved, but if you have to be walking and out and about for tomorrow and into the next couple of days, we've got temperatures in the 30s. At least it's dry. We're not looking at any precipitation falling in the New York area. Only well, well upstate. We have lake effects, though not affecting the city at all.
Now, taking another look across the country of this big ridge of high pressure sitting right here into the mid South, that has dropped down from further to the north and really brought down some colder air right along with it. We're looking at some super cold temperatures, especially into the Southeast, where temperatures for today are only going to be into the 30s in a lot of locations.
At least if you're traveling today, we don't have any delays to talk about. All of the airports are reporting so far, so good, this morning.
That's some good news.
O'BRIEN: The question here, can you get to one?
SCHNEIDER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: All right. Thanks, Bonnie. Appreciate the update.
SANCHEZ: Still to come, the misery index is through the roof, you might say, in New York today. Why? Well, millions out in the cold trying to get to work somehow, including the mayor in the first hours of this transit strike that hits this city, the first in 25 years, we should add. We're going to have a live update.
O'BRIEN: And then, President Bush says a leaked report on secret wiretaps has compromised U.S. intelligence gathering. We're going to find out if it's true. We'll talk to former CIA chief John McLaughlin. He's our guest coming up next.
SANCHEZ: And we're learning more about those shipments of fake flu drugs we told you about Monday. What was really in those pills? Well, we know you want to know to protect yourself.
We'll have it on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: President Bush is criticizing "The New York Times" for revealing his secret wiretap program, saying that the decision has hurt U.S. intelligence gathering.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the late 1990s, our government was following Osama bin Laden because he was using a certain type of telephone. And then the fact that we were following Osama bin Laden because he was using a certain type of telephone made it into the press as a result of a leak.
And guess what happened? Saddam -- Osama bin Laden changed his behavior. He began to change how he communicated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Here to discuss the issue is John McLaughlin. He's a CNN national security adviser, also the former deputy director of the CIA.
It's nice to see you, sir. Thanks for talking with us.
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: The president says the article has hurt our nation's security. Do you agree?
MCLAUGHLIN: I do. Since this article was published in the press, we'll never know what we're not hearing. When these kinds of programs are revealed, in my personal experience, terrorists inevitably begin to tighten up their security, go deeper underground, and it's harder to find them, harder to detect them, and harder to disrupt them.
O'BRIEN: Why would the president not opt to go the route of FISA, going to the secret court and getting a warrant?
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, that's a reasonable question. Let me say a couple of things about FISA.
First, FISA is an extremely valuable tool. No one would deny that, and it's used extensively and very effectively.
This program was one that was designed, in my judgment, and from my experience, to supplement FISA. It brings some things to the table that FISA does not necessarily bring.
O'BRIEN: Like what kinds of things?
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, you know, the term has been used that it's a more agile instrument. That is, you can invoke it faster, you can -- also, let me give you a concrete example.
When you capture a terrorist, if you're lucky, you get a lot of electronic media. You might get hundreds of phone numbers, and large numbers of them. Perhaps a couple hundred might have counterparts in the United States.
Rather than looking for 200 or 300 FISA warrants to search those phone numbers, you can quickly search them and determine which ones are of importance and which ones, maybe two or three that you need to focus in on and pay attention to and then proceed with FISA warrants. So it's a tool that supplements FISA. It doesn't replace FISA, and it's not intended in any way to diminish the importance of FISA.
O'BRIEN: You were the deputy director of the CIA in 2002, when it looks as if this program really got under way. Tell me about the discussions that went on behind the scenes, about the legality, about whether or not this was a proper thing to do.
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, I wasn't involved in all of those discussions, but the ones I was involved in paid carefully attention to the legalities. Now, of course, I'm not a lawyer. But I've read all of the press this morning, and it makes your head hurt, of course, to, you know, read the legal arguments on both sides of this question.
What I can tell you is, when the program was initiated, careful attention was paid by the lawyers at the NSA, the Justice Department, the White House counsel and so forth to the legalities, and Attorney General Gonzales has spoken to that.
I'm not a lawyer here, but I'm convinced when all is said and done and everything is weighed on both sides, the legality of the program will be affirmed. At least that's my opinion and my judgment.
O'BRIEN: Understanding that you're not a lawyer here, let me just jump in here for a second.
MCLAUGHLIN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: When we were talking to the attorney general, he said that actually, permission came from Congress, that when they voted to use force, the use of force, that they were giving tacit approval to the program.
MCLAUGHLIN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Do you agree with that argument? There are many people in Congress who say not so fast.
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, the attorney general laid out the logic there and argued, as you know, that the Supreme Court had interpreted an earlier decision, had interpreted that resolution to declare legal an earlier decision on detention. And he argued from there that it would interpret it similarly to declare legal the president's authority as commander in chief to conduct warrantless wiretaps when they're aimed at foreign terrorists. So that was -- that was his explanation for that. And...
O'BRIEN: There are many people -- let me just ask you a final question -- who would say the Supreme Court ruled on this when it came to President Nixon back in 1972. They said, no, you're not allowed to say because I'm president I'm allowed to wiretap.
Why is President Bush allowed to do something different, but very similar?
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, you know, I think it's important here to put some context on this. This program was not a drift net hovering over Detroit or California or Florida looking at the private communications of Americans with Americans. This program was one undertaken in extraordinary circumstances in a time of war when people tried to kill us, aimed mainly at -- in fact, exclusively at people -- there has to be at least one foreign connection in every one of these cases and some reasonable reason to believe that that connection is associated with al Qaeda.
So it's very different. If you notice, even in "The New York Times" original article on this, which, you know, I believe should not have been published, there was no evidence of abuse in this program. So you look back to those earlier cases where the FISA resulted from evidence of abuse in earlier cases. Everyone I think is wrongly assuming that there is some evidence of abuse here.
I'm convinced that when this program is examined there will be no evidence of abuse, it will be determined that it was targeted mainly at terrorists to try and protect the United States. And in the kind of super-heated rhetoric of the moment, it's very hard to see through all of that, but I think -- well, these are all fair questions to discuss, but at the end of the day, we are still at war and these people are still trying to kill us, and they have to be stopped.
O'BRIEN: John McLaughlin is a CNN national security adviser. He's the former deputy director of the CIA, as well.
It's nice to see you. Thank you for talking with us.
MCLAUGHLIN: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Rick.
SANCHEZ: Still to come, there is a surprising new trend among the young and the ambitious. Why the under 40 set is having doubts about climbing the career ladder.
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back.
This is one that many of you may be able to relate to. You're charging up that corporate ladder, climbing fast, but suddenly you feel like you need a life. You're stressed out, not even 40 yet. Some call it burnout. It's all too common these days among many workers, some as young as 25.
AMERICAN MORNING'S Alina Cho is joining us now to talk about this.
Can I tell you something?
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What's that?
SANCHEZ: I get it.
CHO: I think a lot of people do. I think a lot of people do, Rick.
You know, there are many reasons for this. You know, we all know those people who work too hard and don't spend enough time with their family or work so hard they don't even have the time to start a family. Well, now there's real evidence to show that workers are stressed out, burnt out, and ready to quit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice over): By all accounts, Ina Howard is successful. She is 30, the head of PR for a New York publishing company, and part of a growing trend: Americans who believe climbing the corporate ladder comes at too high a price.
Ina is up at the crack of dawn, and on most days is overwhelmed at the office.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have 19 new and seven saved messages.
CHO: That's just the phone. Over the course of her 10-hour day, she'll get up to 600 e-mails.
Then there's the after-hours events. On this night, it's a book signing.
INA HOWARD, PUBLICIST: Hi. Nice to meet you. Pleasure.
CHO: Ina doesn't look it, but she's stressed. Call it frazzled and not yet 40. Not even close.
HOWARD: I can't imagine doing this until what is supposed to be retirement age, like another 35 years.
CHO (on camera): No way straight through?
HOWARD: No. There's no way. I mean, I already have premature wrinkles. You know? CHO: A new study by recruiting firm Spherion shows a third of all workers age 25 to 39, people who should be in the prime of their careers, are burnt out. Part of the reason is they feel like their bosses are out of touch, that employers have no idea what's important to the people who work for them.
ROY KRAUSE, SPHERION CORPORATION: I think employees want to be able to take their child to -- or go see that kindergarten program the first hour and know that that's OK. They'll work extra time. This is not about punching out exactly at 5:00. It's about an attitude.
CHO (voice over): Just ask Abby Tolchinsky. Twelve years ago, she was on the fast track at a top New York law firm, working 70 hours a week. Today, she's a stay-at-home mom. She says she still remembers being pregnant with her first child and going to a colleague for advice.
ABBY TOLCHINSKY, STAY-AT-HOME MOM: I asked her how she balanced raising her child with her incredible career success. And she told me she made sure she worked late enough not to see her son, because then he'd get so excited to see her, he wouldn't go to bed. And that was how she handled the balance.
It was very dramatic to me to think, wow, she just told me her way of being a parent is to make sure she doesn't see her child. And it was sad to me, and I knew that that wasn't what would be right for me.
That's going to last me all day.
CHO: Now, with her kids growing up, Abby has a job again. With a partner, she's opened a private law practice and works out of her home three days a week.
Ina Howard calls that a dream.
HOWARD: I think probably by the time my career is at its, you know, most fruitful and comfortable, I'll probably be ready to just drop out. I mean, my biggest fantasy is to, you know, like move upstate and buy a little house off the grid and not have a cell phone and, you know, just read and have a baby and a garden, which is, you know, a pretty regressive fantasy in some ways.
CHO: She also wants to write a book, maybe even go to grad school. If only she had the time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: We certainly all need more time.
Now, to be fair, Ina Howard says she's very happy at her job, she just can't continue at that pace indefinitely without making some sort of change.
Meanwhile, our stay-at-home mom, Abby Tolchinsky, says she never dreamed it would take her so long to get back to work, but she has found the perfect balance now, she says, Rick, and has no regrets about any of her decisions.
SANCHEZ: Fabulous story. What's the message here to employers as they watch this piece?
CHO: Well, I think that workers basically want to have options. You know, the study showed that when employers create some programs like flex time, telecommuting, job sharing, that workers naturally respond very well to that. And, you know, the real danger is that employers are going to be losing top talent in the work force if they don't start making some changes.
SANCHEZ: So relate to them, understand them, feel why they feel that way.
CHO: Feel their pain, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Thank you very much.
Do you feel it?
Soledad, back over to you.
O'BRIEN: Oh, I feel it. All right.
Remember those shipments of fake Tamiflu we were telling you about on Monday? Apparently the FDA expected something like this. It could be more, too. Coming up, we're going to talk with an official from the FDA about that.
Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: More than 20 years ago, John Walsh turned personal tragedy into a national mission to pursue criminals. As part of CNN's anniversary series, "Then and Now," Miles O'Brien takes a look back at John Walsh and where he is today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN WALSH, HOST, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED:" Welcome to "America's Most Wanted."
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): He is best known as the driven host of "America's Most Wanted." John Walsh began his mission to track down criminals after becoming a victim himself. Walsh's 6-year-old son Adam disappeared from a Florida shopping mall in 1981.
WALSH: He's our only child. A beautiful little boy. We just want him back.
How many of our children are missing?
M. O'BRIEN: John Walsh turned the grief over the abduction and murder of his son into a purpose. WALSH: With 1.8 million children missing, it's damn time somebody did something about it besides me.
M. O'BRIEN: Walsh's congressional testimony and public pressure helped establish the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. "America's Most Wanted," the fifth longest-running TV show in history, has helped capture hundreds of fugitives around the world.
WALSH: Didn't want to be on television. Didn't want to hunt men down. But, you know what? My wife always said -- said it to me, "Let's make sure Adam didn't die in vain."
M. O'BRIEN: Walsh has two children now in college, and still clutching for justice on behalf of his lost son.
WALSH: I don't have any closure. My son was murdered. I say that I have a deep wound that scabs sometimes, and something will break it open, it will bleed. But it never heals.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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