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American Morning

Confirmation Hearings for Supreme Court Nominee Samuel Alito; Kidnapping of Journalist from 'Christian Science Monitor'

Aired January 10, 2006 - 08:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.

Samuel Alito in the spotlight today. The Supreme Court nominee will face tough questions from senators on abortion and wiretaps.

We're live in Washington for a preview.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Miles O'Brien.

Missing in Iraq -- the search is on for an American journalist kidnapped from a Baghdad street. We'll take you there live.

S. O'BRIEN: And a dangerous daylight robbery caught on tape. We're going to tell you what the victim did to try to get her own measure of justice.

That's ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

M. O'BRIEN: Good morning.

It's George Foreman's birthday.

S. O'BRIEN: That's right.

M. O'BRIEN: George Foreman has a grill. The grilling is on in Washington.

S. O'BRIEN: And, yes, it will begin today.

M. O'BRIEN: See, how (UNINTELLIGIBLE) yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Officially yesterday they were doing this really reading and making their statements first. And we heard from Samuel Alito, as well.

But today is when the Q & A session begins. And, in fact, those questions could go on all day, into the night, as well. Senators asking Judge Alito about what he might do if he, in fact, does get on the Supreme Court.

AMERICAN MORNING'S Bob Franken live for us this morning on Capitol Hill -- hey, Bob, good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. And, by the way, they're going to go into the next day, too.

We're talking about senators who are going to certainly be using all of their 30 seconds -- excuse me -- 30 minute time periods to ask questions. There could be a second round.

The Democrats in particular are going to be hammering at Samuel Alito, hammering at him over issues like his stated opposition to abortion in the past and his strong support over the span of his judicial career to presidential powers.

These are, of course, issues that are very, very controversial and issues, says Alito, that really have nothing to do with his being a judge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE SAMUEL ALITO, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: A judge can't have any agenda. A judge can't have any preferred outcome in any particular case. And a judge certainly doesn't have a client. The judge's only obligation -- and it's a solemn obligation -- is to the rule of law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: Now, Democrats are trying to make the point that Alito has an agenda that would push the court too far to the right. But they don't really have the public in back of them, at least according to the polls. In the latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, when the question is whether the judge is considered mainstream, Samuel Alito gets a 52 percent yes rating and 30 percent no.

So, the Democrats have their work cut out for them. But we know, Soledad, they're going to try.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, they are.

Listen, Senator Specter, who is the chairman of the committee, as you well know, says he wants a vote on Alito next week.

Do you think that's likely?

FRANKEN: No. And neither does he, probably. But, you know, you set a marker and then the Senate does its thing, which is to say, stall.

S. O'BRIEN: And that way he can say they are stalling when they pass by the deadline that he set.

FRANKEN: Yes.

It'll be very surprising if that deadline is not, among other things, because the Democrats are considering a filibuster. And even if that is not a likelihood, there are some procedural moves the Democrats can make that we can expect them to make.

S. O'BRIEN: We'll certainly know more after we hear from the Q & A today.

FRANKEN: We will.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Bob.

Appreciate it.

Live coverage of the hearings begins at 9:30 a.m. Eastern with Wolf Blitzer anchoring in a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM."

Also, CNN Pipeline subscribers can view live gavel to gavel coverage of the hearings, as well as replay the highlights. Just go to cnn.com/pipeline.

M. O'BRIEN: U.S. and Iraqi forces are searching for an American journalist kidnapped in Iraq. Jill Carroll is a writer for the "Christian Science Monitor." She was taken hostage Saturday in Baghdad, her Iraqi interpreter killed.

Our Michael Holmes is trying to learn more.

He joins us from Baghdad -- Michael, it looks like a setup, doesn't it?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly looks like it was highly organized, Miles, that's right.

When Jill Carroll was taken, it was not a target of opportunity, as the military might call it. She was somebody who dressed in Arab dress when she went out. She spoke Arabic. She had made an appointment to visit a senior Sunni politician, Adnan al-Dulaimi. She thought she had an appointment set up. Al-Dulaimi says not only was he not there, but he had no record of any appointment.

Despite that, Jill stayed at his office waiting for up to 25 minutes.

When she did leave, it was, as I said, a very organized raid by these kidnappers. Three cars, up to three cars, half a dozen men, all armed. And they pulled out the driver and drove off with Jill and her interpreter, who was later found dead. He had been shot twice in the head.

Now, that sort of thing doesn't happen just by chance. It would appear that there was, perhaps, some sort of tip-off given to those who took her -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Michael, this is a tough story for any of us in our business to hear, but particularly you. Two years ago, you were ambushed. Two of our colleagues were killed in all of that.

What it's like hearing this story and how are you taking precautions now that you're back in Baghdad?

HOLMES: Yes, it's difficult on a personal level. This month, actually, Miles, as you know, is the two year anniversary of when we were ambushed and lost two of our very close friends, Duraid Mohammed and Yasser Khatab, who were killed when we were ambushed just south of the city, of the capital. And our cameraman, Scotty McWhinnie, fortunate to survive. He was shot in the head, but he is alive to tell the tale, currently in Jerusalem.

The security when I've come back each time has been more problematic. I think there has been progress on a lot of levels, yes, particularly politically. But in a security sense, it does feel even more insecure when you come back, on a very personal level. We take a lot more precautions than we used to, Miles. And walking the streets is, of course, just out of the question.

M. O'BRIEN: It's hard to tell a story that way.

Michael Holmes, thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: A deadly fire to tell you about in Camden, New Jersey today. Two people are dead, one of them just a small boy. Nineteen other people taken to the hospital. Firefighters responded to the fire about five hours ago.

Amy Buckman of CNN affiliate WPVI is in Camden this morning.

AMY BUCKMAN, WPVI CORRESPONDENT: Tragic news from an early morning house fire here in Camden, New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia.

Two people are dead, one of them a 1-1/2-year-old boy, the other an adult man, and about a dozen other people remain in hospitals throughout South jersey and Philadelphia as a result of this blaze this morning. Three of them, at least, in critical condition.

Now, the fire in the house behind me here broke out around 3:00 this morning. As firefighters were arriving on the scene, they were continuing to get panicked 911 calls from residents and neighbors. And when they arrived, they found flames shooting out of the front porch on the first floor of this twin home.

There were three people trapped inside the house during the fire and firefighters did make it inside to rescue them. One of those firefighters suffered smoke inhalation, although he has since been released from the hospital and allowed back on the scene here.

All the people taken to hospitals through the South Jersey area. Many are expected to recover, but, again, we have three in critical condition and they will be transported over to Philadelphia for further treatment at the Temple University Hospital Burn Center.

The cause of the blaze isn't yet known. The fire marshal and his crew are going inside the building now, trying to determine what started this deadly blaze.

In Camden for CNN, I'm Amy Buckman.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's get to Carol Costello.

She's got a look at some of the other stories making news this morning -- Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I do.

Good morning to all of you.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is in stable condition. Doctors working to pull him out of a medically induced coma. It's been nearly a week since he suffered a major stroke. Doctors say hours after they reduced his anesthesia, the prime minister slightly moved one of his arms and legs. But he remains in critical condition this morning and he has yet to open his eyes.

It is the third and last day of services in the Sago Mine tragedy. Two more miners will be laid to rest today. Fifty-nine- year-old Fred Ware, Jr. had planned to marry this Valentine's Day. And 50-year-old Terry Helms, well, he wouldn't let his 25-year-old son become a miner.

In the meantime, the sole survivor, Randy McCloy, is in stable but critical condition, and we are expecting his doctors to give us more details later this hour.

You can watch that news conference live, by the way, using our new Pipeline video service at cnn.com/pipeline.

In Orem Utah, one gutsy sales clerk. She foils a robbery and then she helps police nab the suspect.

Take a look at the surveillance video. You see the man jpg over the counter and tackling her. He appears to be armed with a gun. It turned out to be fake. He's trying to duct tape this woman now. And she is talking to him all the way through this, telling him she has a husband and children. And finally -- see, he's trying to duct tape her mouth there, but she's not letting him. And she's talking all the while. There he is trying to duct tape her arms behind her back. She's still talking, but she's not quite panicking.

Now, eventually, the robber just gives up and runs out of the store. There you see her moving away from him and there you see him leaving.

Now, apparently he was in this same store earlier and she was able to identify him for police. And police later arrested him. Amazing tape out of Orem, Utah this morning.

Let's talk about Seattle. It's known for many things -- the Space Needle, coffee and rain, lots and lots of rain. But even Seattlites are getting tired of the latest run of bad weather -- 22 straight days of rain. And, yes, that is close to a record. More rain is predicted, which could push the city closer to the deluge of 1953. That year they saw 33 straight days of rain. ]

Wow! -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, and the next time they have a chance of not seeing rain? COSTELLO: Next month?

MYERS: Next Friday.

COSTELLO: Oh, good. That's better.

MYERS: Ten days from now. And that's a 10 day forecast. You know how good those are.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, the first ever national report card for emergency room care. The grades not so good. We're going to tell you, in fact, which states out and out failed.

M. O'BRIEN: We'll also talk to Senator Ted Kennedy. He's executed to grill Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito at today's hearings. We'll ask him what his concerns are.

S. O'BRIEN: And the return of college students to New Orleans. We're going to take a look at why, for many of them, this week is the start of a long lesson in healing.

Stay with us.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: America's emergency rooms might need a little intensive care. A national report card on the state of emergency medicine gives 80 percent of the country -- 80 percent of the country -- poor or near failing grades. The grades were given by the American College of Emergency Physicians.

And Dr. Angela Gardner joins us this morning from Washington to discuss these low marks.

Thanks for being with us, Dr. Gardner.

Appreciate it.

DR. ANGELA GARDNER, AMERICAN COLLEGE OF EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: You judged not individual hospitals, but on four criteria. And I want to walk through these criteria so that everybody is sort of on the same page.

First, you talked about access, which is the money that the state spends on emergency care. Then quality, which is training the physicians and EMS workers and also access to ambulances and 911 for patients. Public health and injury prevention is another category. You're talking there about seat belt and helmet laws, immunization rates, prenatal care rates. And finally, medical liability. And that's, obviously, lawsuits involving hospitals and doctors. You gave the nation overall a C-. That's a terrible grade.

Why such a low grade?

GARDNER: That is a terrible grade and just as in school grades, that's the grade that this country earned. And it's a shame that it is so low.

S. O'BRIEN: What areas do you think our nation did the worst in? Where do you think we are failing, really, all the citizens?

GARDNER: Our biggest problem is in the access category. And it's more than just a dollars and cents issue. It's a matter of having enough hospital beds to take care of people, enough doctors that are trained to take care of emergencies, enough nurses to take care of people when they have an emergency.

S. O'BRIEN: There was not one state that got an A, but you did have some states that got a B. So let me run through those states for you.

You said California, Massachusetts, Connecticut and the District of Columbia did pretty well. They got a B grade.

What do you think made those stand out?

GARDNER: Well, it's a little bit different in every case.

California has a good medical liability environment and they also have good public health programs, especially strong in the immunization areas.

The other two, top two earners of Bs had very strong traffic fatality prevention numbers and helmet laws and seat belt laws, and that earned them their high marks.

S. O'BRIEN: So it's sort of things that they did that would eventually impact the emergency room, not necessarily anything going on in the emergency room per se.

What are the worst states and why did they fare so badly?

GARDNER: Well, the worst states are Idaho and Arkansas and Utah. And they fared badly for several reasons.

One of the biggest ones is that those are rural states and it's very difficult to have enough emergency departments and emergency personnel to take care of people.

Idaho and Utah especially fared badly because of the wide distances between their towns. They simply don't have enough capacity to take care of people and they have traffic fatalities.

S. O'BRIEN: As part of the study, you say there is just an increasing number of patients who are coming into the emergency room sicker because a lot of people -- I guess, a growing number of people don't have a primary care physicians. You know, there is not as much of a focus on preventive medicine as there should be. We've been talking about -- I mean we being really doctors like you -- have been talking about this for years and years.

Have you seen no improvement on this front?

GARDNER: Well, part of the problem is the population is aging. I mean we've seen an increasing age among our population and we've seen increasing numbers of people coming to the emergency departments. At the same time, the number of emergency departments has drastically decreased. Between 1990 and 1999, hospitals lost 107,000 beds to take care of patients.

During that same time period, emergency visits were going up by about five million visits a year.

S. O'BRIEN: I was surprised to see that there really wasn't a correlation between the wealth of a state and how that state ranked.

GARDNER: Yes, that's true, and that was a surprise for us, as well.

We assumed that a wealthier state would do better and it simply isn't the case. There are two very poor states who did very well in the report card -- South Carolina is one of those, West Virginia is one of those. And that reflects their commitment to emergency medicine and to having good quality emergency services for their people that live there.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, so now you've released this really scathing study.

What do you want? What do you want people to do?

GARDNER: We want people, first of all, to go to the Web site, www.acep.org and to click on their state and to find out what the grade is in their state. And then we would like for them to look at the recommendations we've made and contact their policymakers to make changes to improve their grades.

S. O'BRIEN: Dr. Angela Gardner joining us from Washington, D.C.

Thanks for talking with us.

GARDNER: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: And I should mention again, you want to go to www.acep.org if you want to check out your state's ratings -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, the road to recovery for New Orleans' college students.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM FRICK, TULANE UNIVERSITY STUDENT: I am going from couch to couch, staying with friends of friends, you know, hoping that I find a place where I can live long-term.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Plenty of challenges facing students returning to school in the Crescent City. We'll look at how they're coping.

And later, Senator Ted Kennedy -- what does he want to hear from the Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito? The senator joins us live from Capitol Hill ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: All right, you remember this videotape? We showed it to you a little while ago. This is hurricane Katrina as Katrina came ashore in Slidell, Louisiana. This footage was captured by a 65- year-old man by the name of Kennard Jackley. Or is it Kennard? I don't know which. I apologize.

Anyway, Mr. Jackley managed to capture these incredible images while the floodwater was rising to the second floor of his home. And here's the little footnote -- he had no flood insurance. He tried to recoup some of his losses by selling the video you see here.

Now, we've got some good news for you, a footnote to the footnote, if you will. We got word from Jackley and his wife they received an additional $25,000 from their insurance company, maybe because he's a well known guy. I don't know. It just makes you wonder about all the other cases that aren't on TV.

Anyway, they will now have the ability to repair their home there in Slidell.

Look at that. Those -- that footage is -- there you go. That sort of sums it up, doesn't it?

S. O'BRIEN: Sure. Resourceful.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

Universities in New Orleans are now reopening their doors months after Katrina forced them to shut down. Many of the students are returning with kind of a new purpose.

AMERICAN MORNING'S Alina Cho has been in New Orleans, spending a lot of time there.

And you told us yesterday about how the universities are pulling it together and you sort of alluded to it. But how are -- the students are actually coming back with kind of a different attitude, aren't they?

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, with a purpose, as you mentioned, Miles.

We spoke with several students while we were down there. And most told us they never thought once about not returning to New Orleans. They wanted to support their school. But in a much larger sense, they wanted to support the city as it recovers from the storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CHO (voice-over): When Cortez Watkins left Dillard University just before know hit, there was no doubt he'd be back.

CORTEZ WATKINS, DILLARD UNIVERSITY STUDENT: I could have just went to another school and just said hey, I'm not going back to New Orleans. But something wasn't right here if I would have done that.

CHO: Dillard University closed after the storm because the campus was under eight feet of water. So Cortez spent the semester at the University of Memphis, in the city where he was raised.

His mom, Gloria Watkins, was hoping he'd stay there.

(on camera): What did you say to him?

GLORIA WATKINS, PARENT OF DILLARD STUDENT: I said you're not going back, right? He didn't say, I don't know, mama, I may finish here.

CHO (voice-over): Post-Katrina, she was worried New Orleans wouldn't be clean and that Cortez wouldn't have enough food.

C. WATKINS: What I told my mom is that mom, believe me, trust me. You know, I started something at Dillard four years ago now and I want to finish it.

I'll see u. Love you.

CHO: Mom wasn't convinced. She wanted to see it for herself. So she drove six hours with her son to the Hilton Hotel, where Dillard is holding classes this semester.

C. WATKINS: There's no place like home.

CHO: Cortez, along the with rest of the students and faculty, are living at the hotel, too.

G. WATKINS: I wanted to come and see could he stay here? So now I feel a little better. I see, I said ooh, so many people are here.

CHO: At Tulane University, graduate student Adam Frick is back after spending the semester at Columbia University in New York. He was desperate to get back to New Orleans.

FRICK: I felt as though the city was getting kind of a, how do you say it, short shrift?

CHO: Adam, who's from Indiana, had just started at Tulane when the hurricane hit. But he immediately fell in love with the city, so much so he spent New Year's at a candlelight vigil in the Lower 9th Ward. He admits, though, life post-Katrina is not always easy.

FRICK: I'm going from couch to couch, staying with friends of friends, you know, hoping that I find a place where I can live long- term. The grocery store is open, you know, at different hours. There's not as many amenities.

CHO: Even so, Adam says he was so moved by what happened here, he may want to stay permanently and help the city rebuild.

FRICK: There's no better place in the United States right now to feel idealistic, because this is a city that is going to require faith. And if you have a certain amount of faith in what you're doing and believe the city can get better, then this is the place to do it.

CHO: A place where lessons are learned outside the classroom.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

CHO: A pretty good attitude to have.

Adam says he's encouraging his younger brother, who's a junior in high school right now, to also attend Tulane.

Cortez Watkins, the other student we profiled, says he came back, in part, because he wanted to set a good example. He's the student body president of Dillard, by the way, and he says his campaign motto was "reassuring the job gets done." He says post-Katrina, Miles, that motto has taken on an awful new meaning.

M. O'BRIEN: We should watch that kid.

CHO: That's right.

M. O'BRIEN: He may have a future there.

CHO: That's right.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about, you know, in the idealism of youth, they want to come back and do something.

But as the practical matter, what can they really do to help out?

CHO: Well, you know, Adam Frick, that student we talked to from Tulane, said it could be something as simple as helping somebody put on a door in the Lower 9th Ward or something like that. I think these students really want to feel like they're making a difference. It could be just a very small contribution. And we talked about this yesterday, the university administrators are saying they think that Katrina will actually attract a different kind of student in the future -- a little less frat house, as you mentioned; a little more civic minded.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. You know -- I wonder if they're going to come up with ways to give them credit for this service. It will be interesting to see if they begin that.

CHO: Well, a lot of the universities are requiring community service now, so...

M. O'BRIEN: They're requiring it?

CHO: Yes, they are.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

excellent.

Alina Cho, we will look forward to your additional pieces.

Are you coming back tomorrow with more?

CHO: I think so.

M. O'BRIEN: All right -- you think so?

CHO: I hope so.

M. O'BRIEN: We'll see you back tomorrow with more -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us live. We're talking about the new you resolution. Today, he's got a prescription for our lobbyist friend and his assts. Can they work together to live a healthier lifestyle?

A look at that is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, we're going to talk to Senator Ted Kennedy -- of course, a veteran of the Judiciary Committee. That's kind of the gauntlet that now awaits Samuel Alito. He's probably having some coffee and some Wheaties now, wondering how the day is going to go.

S. O'BRIEN: It's going to be a long day.

And we've heard a little bit from Senator Ted Kennedy. Some strong words, really.

M. O'BRIEN: So if Samuel Alito is watching, you should listen in, because I'm going to ask Ted Kennedy what questions he may have in store for you. So, there might be a little tip for you.

Back with that in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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