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American Morning
Two More Fatal Mine Accidents in West Virginia; Police Investigating Brutal Attack at Gay Club Near Boston
Aired February 02, 2006 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.
Two more fatal mine accidents, and that is leading to a stand- down in the coal mining industry in West Virginia. But how long will miners remain off the job.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Soledad O'Brien.
Police investigating a brutal attack at a gay club near Boston. But was the gun and the machete attack a hate crime? We'll take a look.
M. O'BRIEN: And a very nasty worm may be headed to your computer, getting ready to attack, so watch that e-mail. That's ahead on AMERICA MORNING.
S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome, everybody.
M. O'BRIEN: Good to have you with us this morning. President Bush on the road again today, trying to sell the ideas he spelled out in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday. Elaine Quijano at the White House.
Elaine, what's the message today?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles.
Well, the message today is going to be about American innovation, and how that fits in with what the White House is calling President Bush's competitiveness agenda. Now for that, President Bush is taking his sales pitch on the road. He'll be visiting a 3M plant in Minnesota, and he's expected to discuss why he feels it's important for Americans to stay in the lead when it comes to innovation. On Wednesday, in Nashville, the message was about leadership. The signs behind President Bush reading "Americans win when America leads."
Now, the president tried to strike an optimistic tone, but at a time when polls show there is unease about the economy, the president acknowledged what he called uncertainty.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: We really are the envy of the world, our economy is the envy of the world, and yet people are changing jobs, and there's competition from India and China, which creates some uncertainty. (END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now another issue creating uncertainty, the president said, the war in Iraq. President Bush said he thinks about that issue every day. Also said, though, he understands it is natural for Americans to have uncertainty about that issue as well -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, Elaine Quijano at the White House.
Sorry about that -- the Capitol Police want to drop charges against Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war activist and Gold Star Mom. She was arrested, as you know, right before the State of the Union speech for wearing that T-shirt you can see right there. The police chief of the capital, Terrance Gainer, says officers were wrong when they enforced a no-protesting rule for her and the wife of a Republican Congressman from Florida, who had a different sort of T-shirt but a message as well. Cindy Sheehan told Paula Zahn how surprised she was.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CINDY SHEEHAN, ANTIWAR ACTIVIST: I was trying to make a statement, like I always do. I always wear shirts like this, wherever I go. I had worn this shirt all day in D.C. yesterday at other events that I was at, and I didn't think I'd be provoking an incident. I didn't think there would be anything wrong with it. I just sat down in my seat and unzipped my jacket, and they hauled me out of my seat and took me to jail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: "PAULA ZAHN" airs weeknights at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: In just a few hours, the Senate Homeland Security Committee reopens its hearings on Hurricane Katrina. On Wednesday the focus was New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and the city's evacuation plan. Today the governors are front and center.
AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken is on Capitol Hill this morning for us.
Hey, Bob, good morning.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
And all of this put into the framework of a report that was issued by the General Accounting Office yesterday, in which the charge was made that the administration had no chain of command in place, and that seriously contributed to the problems that followed Katrina. The GAO says that neither the president nor the Homeland Security director, nobody had a plan in place.
Now, the Homeland Security Department says this report is premature and represents a serious misunderstanding of the way things work, but at the hearing yesterday, the mayor of New Orleans said that when it came time to find out who was in charge, what was discovered was nobody really.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAY NAGIN (D), NEW ORLEANS: I felt as though -- and I think I described it in this manner at that meeting -- is that there was an incredible dance going on between the federal government and the state government on who had final authority, and it was impeding, in my humble opinion, the recovery efforts, and it was very frustrating.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: As an example, said the mayor, when it came time to put people in emergency shelters, he had to decide to go to the Convention Center with them and the Superdome, without knowing where supplies would come from. He says that there was never an effort on the part of the federal government to know where the people were, even though they should have -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Bob what about the governor? Do you expect that we're going to see a lot of the same finger pointing that we all saw right in the wake of Hurricane Katrina?
FRANKEN: Well, as we know, the governor of Louisiana, who is one of those testifying today has long charged that there was this tremendous power struggle going on between the states and the federal government, a power struggle that took up extremely valuable time that was not used to help the people or the victims of Katrina.
S. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken for us this morning. Bob, thanks.
Coming up in just about half an hour, we're going to talk with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, hear what he has to say about his appearance before the Senate, and also about the recovery and rebuilding of New Orleans -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: The back-breaking dangerous work of coal mining in West Virginia is on hold this morning. The state's governor taking drastic action, asking every mine in the state to shutdown for immediate safety inspections after two more fatal accidents just yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOV. JOE MANCHIN, WEST VIRGINIA: Mine companies, supervisors and the miners themselves are to engage in a thorough review of safety procedures before any work or production is to continue.
M. O'BRIEN: And with that, mining in West Virginia may grind to a halt. A safety stand-down after two more deadly accidents in the same day. In one, a mine support popped loose underground, killing one miner. Then just about two hours later, at a surface mine in the same county, a bulldozer ran into a gas line. That started a fire that killed the driver.
PAM SILCOX, MINER'S WIFE: It just makes you worry, you know, when they go out to work. M. O'BRIEN: Miners' families have good reason to worry. Since the beginning of the year, 16 miners have died in West Virginia. On January 2nd, an explosion at the Sago mine trapped 13 miners. Only one survived.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two-hundred and eight violations for safety and they can't shut it down for the safety of our family?
M. O'BRIEN: Then on January 19th, a fire at the Aracoma mine killed two more miners. After that accident, Governor Joe Manchin said this:
MANCHIN: If I have anything to do with it, if I am able, with every breath in my body, to make the changes that need to be made, to make sure no family ever goes through what we've been going through.
M. O'BRIEN: So yesterday, the governor asked for all mines to shut down pending safety checks. It's a tall order. West Virginia is the nation's second largest coal producer, but after all the loss of life, it may be the only choice.
GLEN HALSTAD, MINER: If one of your kids asks you that, sure you're going to say no, I'm not going to die mining. Well, we don't know that.
DIANE SMITH, BOONE COUNTY RESIDENT: There's been so many accidents since the 1st of the year, it's just unbelievable wondering what's going to happen next?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: Governor Manchin says he doesn't know how long it will take mining companies to finish those inspections. In some cases, they could be wrapped up in just a matter of hours. In some cases, longer -- solidarism.
S. O'BRIEN: A disturbing story to tell you out of Massachusetts this morning. A possible hate crime. It involves a gun, a hatchet and a machete. The suspect is still on the loose. It happened last night, late, in New Bedford, which is just outside of Boston. We get details from Steve Cooper. He's with our affiliate WHDH.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEVE COOPER, WHDH REPORTER (on camera): Massachusetts State Police this morning investigating what appears to be a hate crime here in New Bedford, which is south of Boston. You can see this is an active crime scene here. Three people have been shot. It happened overnight at the Puzzles Lounge here on North Front Street in New Bedford, when according to the bartender, a suspect walked into the lounge, he went up to the bar, ordered a drink, and asked the bartender if, in fact, this was a gay nightclub.
A short time later, armed with a machete and also with a hatchet, he began hacking away at several of the patrons inside the nightclub, and that's when he pulled out a small-caliber handgun and began firing as well. It was a chaotic scene inside the lounge for two or three minutes before the suspect took off on foot. But before that happened, three people were shot. Two people shot in the head. One victim was shot in the chest. All have been taken to area hospitals, as investigators fan out, searching for the suspect.
But according to witnesses, there's no doubt about it, this was some sort of a hate crime. Exactly why it all happened and why the suspect chose this particular location is unclear right now. That's what investigators with the Massachusetts State Police, along with local police, are trying to determine right now.
From New Bedford, Massachusetts, Steve Cooper for CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: He's with our affiliate WHDH, we should remind everybody.
M. O'BRIEN: WHDH, thanks to them and to Steve Cooper.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: For this next one, we hope you've already had your breakfast. If you haven't, you might want to...
S. O'BRIEN: Not look too closely.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
Take a look. There she is, they call her the black widow. Her mission on this day is to eat as many grilled cheese sandwiches as she can. It's the International Grilled Cheese Eating Championship. Where else would they hold this but New York City's Time's Square, right? Susan Thomas.
S. O'BRIEN: Sonya Thomas.
M. O'BRIEN: Is it Susan or Sonya?
S. O'BRIEN: I think Sonya.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Well, she's 100 pounds dripping wet, and...
S. O'BRIEN: One-hundred and eleven now filled with grilled cheese.
M. O'BRIEN: She ate 26 of them, 26 of them! And it only took her 10 minutes.
S. O'BRIEN: You know, the strategy, they plunk it in water.
M. O'BRIEN: I know, and that's what really grosses me out.
S. O'BRIEN: That's disgusting.
M. O'BRIEN: Which they do for the hot dog eating contest. It is Sonya. We apologize to her.
S. O'BRIEN: I met her a couple of times. She does this for a living.
M. O'BRIEN: Anyway, this is her thing. And she's won the hot dog. She's won them all, including the cheesecake contest, 11 pounds of cheesecake.
S. O'BRIEN: Look at the face of defeat on that guy.
M. O'BRIEN: Here's the thing, though, you notice, generally speaking, the contestants have gotten skinnier. I think she set a new model for speed eating.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, you do think all of the beefy guys are going to win and be able to wolf down the food, but Sonya...
M. O'BRIEN: One would think.
S. O'BRIEN: And she wins all the time. She won $8,000 for this one.
M. O'BRIEN: And I think she goes out for a run not right after. Well, not right after, but -- all right, Kama Sutra, more than just an ancient sex guide, it is a modern menace for computer users. We'll tell you how to avoid a worm attack.
S. O'BRIEN: Plus, who said Justice Samuel Alito was too conservative? Just one day on the job, Alito already breaks ranks with conservatives. We'll tell you about that.
M. O'BRIEN: And next Hurricane Katrina got only a passing reference in the State of the Union. Is the White House really making Gulf Coast a priority? We'll talk to the federal point man for rebuilding, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Lots of anger on the Gulf Coast about the president's State of the Union speech. Rebuilding barely mentioned, and people want to know if the federal government is still committed to the effort.
Donald Powell is the federal coordinator for Gulf Coast rebuilding. He's at the White House this morning.
It's nice to see you, sir. Thank you for talking with us.
DONALD POWELL, COORDINATOR, GULF STATES RECOVERY: Good morning.
S. O'BRIEN: Good morning to you.
There are many people, as I'm sure you've heard some of the feedback now, who feel that the president really fell short in what he said to the nation, speaking in a speech that ran nearly an hour, for less than a minute about Hurricane Katrina, victims, money, rebuilding, on any of those fronts.
Do you think that's fair criticism?
POWELL: I think the president, as you know, has been committed to rebuilding the Gulf Coast. His remarks in the State of the Union, I think, reaffirms that commitment.
There is something like $85 billion that has been committed to rebuilding the Gulf Coast. And the president continues to be committed. We spent about $25 billion today, and there will be more money coming.
S. O'BRIEN: Here's what the president said back on September 15th, when he came to New Orleans, came to Jackson Square -- did really, I think, a very big event -- and said this to the people, not only who had been affected by the hurricanes, but really the nation.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Throughout the area hit by the hurricane, we will do what it takes. We will stay as long as it takes to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: Why didn't we hear a similar sentiment last night?
POWELL: I think that sentiment was there. Again, we've spent or allocated about $85 billion, and we spent about $25 billion. There's work being done now. The levees, there's construction being done on the levees. The commitment to rebuilding the levees is there. Individual assistance and housing issues, there's been $11.5 billion of community development grants that were announced a couple of weeks ago. These monies are directed toward rebuilding the Gulf Coast.
S. O'BRIEN: Senator Mary Landrieu was on our show yesterday, and she was very complimentary of you, really, I think, is just a huge fan. But this is what she had to say about the $85 billion that the president referenced in his speech on Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
U.S. SENATOR MARY LANDRIEU (D-LA): Eighty-five dollars billion to FEMA, a federal agency that on its best day was not even created to help stand up a region like this is not help to the people of the Gulf Coast. We keep explaining that to the White House. They don't steam grasp it.
We need new tools. We need revenue-sharing, housing. Giving more money to FEMA and wasting taxpayer money for some contractor ripoffs is not what we need.
(END VIDEO CLIP) S. O'BRIEN: Does she have a fair point, that handing over $85 billion, a lot of it going through FEMA, is the wrong way to approach this?
POWELL: Senator Landrieu and I have had lots of discussions about the issues on the Gulf Coast. The president, as I mentioned, is committed to assisting the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast. The plans need to be developed by the local people for the long-term rebuilding, and I've been coordinating and working with many of the parish presidents, New Orleans leadership and state leadership about those building plans.
S. O'BRIEN: The money that has already been allocated, $6.2 billion we know has gone to Louisiana; $5.1 billion to Mississippi.
When you look at the number of homes destroyed -- and you just kind of do it; I know this is sort of rough, basic math -- it's almost three times the amount of money going to Mississippi to go into Louisiana, Louisiana with 217,000 homes destroyed, Mississippi with just over 65,000 homes destroyed.
How do you crunch the numbers and get this math?
POWELL: Well, we believe that's looking at the most recent numbers that there is sufficient funds in the $6.2 billion to meet the needs of the uninsured homeowner outside the floodplain. In fact, we believe that there is excess funds there to the tune of about $5 billion.
S. O'BRIEN: Excess funds, the tune of $5 billion in that $6.2 billion?
POWELL: Yes. In addition, that would be meeting the needs of the uninsured homeowner outside the floodplain.
S. O'BRIEN: I guess for people who live there -- I mean, I know that there's money that's promised, but it feels that there's a lot of promises that are unclear at this point.
I mean, there are people who say, "Well, what's going to happen with the levees, and I don't know if I should rebuild my home if no one's going to tell me if my home's going to be a park or not. I mean, why should I spend all this money rebuilding it? What if my home's fine but my neighbors are going to be wiped out?"
People don't feel very confident about what the next step is, and a lot of that lack of confidence is coming from the White House, the administration, the government, frankly.
POWELL: Well, there's been money allocated to rebuilding the levee system, and that's very important -- safety is very important -- and that's with a target completion date of June the 1st. So I believe that it's important that the people understand that the levees are being rebuilt, and we're speaking to the safety issue.
As to rebuilding in the local communities, those plans are being developed as we speak by the local parish presidents, by the New Orleans commission.
S. O'BRIEN: Rebuilding to a category what for the levees?
POWELL: Well, the levees are going to be rebuilt back to pre- Katrina levels, to the design levels, and all of the breaches in the levees will be repaired.
S. O'BRIEN: What about the strategies for rebuilding the levees and making them even stronger, or stealing ideas from other nations?
Some people would say, "Now, why would I want to put my house right back where it was when I got wiped out in the last hurricane?"
POWELL: The levee systems will be better and stronger than they were pre-Katrina. This issue is one that I've spent a lot of time on, and at the end of the day, I asked the Corps of Engineers and experts would my grandchildren be safe if they moved to New Orleans after this construction work has been completed. And the answer's been, yes, yes, yes.
S. O'BRIEN: I hope they're right.
Donald Powell is the federal coordinator for Gulf Coast rebuilding.
Nice to see you, sir. Thank you for your time this morning. We certainly appreciate it.
POWELL: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: Coming up in just a few minutes, we're going to talk to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, hear what he has to say about the recovery and the rebuilding in New Orleans -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, he took quite a grilling on Capitol Hill yesterday. We'll ask him about that as well.
Coming up, the twists and turns keep coming in the Saddam Hussein trial. Judges find it's kind of hard to hold the trial when the defendant doesn't show up. We'll have the latest from Baghdad. Take a look at those empty seats, adjourned now for awhile.
And later, maybe Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito isn't so conservative after all. We'll tell you why he broke ranks only one day into his new job, on AMERICAN MORNING ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: There it is live.
M. O'BRIEN: I guess could you call this breaking news. Let's listen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On Gobbler's Knob, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, this Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2006, at 7:23 a.m., Groundhog president Bill Cooper has aroused Punxsutawney Phil from his long winter's nap. Punxsutawney Phil, king of the groundhogs, seer of seers, weather prognosticators...
S. O'BRIEN: Seer of seers?
M. O'BRIEN: Let's get to the point, shall we? Come on!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... launched himself gleefully into the waiting arms of his long time friend and handler Bill Dealey (ph).
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, blah, blah, blah. What will it be? Winter or no winter?
M. O'BRIEN: He's burying the lead!
SERWER: Come on, do the weather. Go to weather!
S. O'BRIEN: They're going to milk this for every second.
SERWER: They sure are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After an affectionate greeting...
(CROSSTALK)
SERWER: And now the commissioner of....
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... and wish them a happy Groundhog Day.
Incidentally, Bill has set a record for kissing a groundhog more times than any other human being.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, man, I would not do that. That is a dangerous thing.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that thing could bite.
SERWER: Watch your tongue there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bill seated Phil on top of the old oak stump where he conversed with President Cooper in groundhogese about what he observe.
S. O'BRIEN: For goodness sake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Without hesitation, he directed Coop -- that's groundhogese for President Bill Cooper -- to the appropriate scroll which reads, it is said that imitation is the see sincerest form of flattery.
SERWER: Like I said...
(CROSSTALK)
S. O'BRIEN: We're trapped!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... Gus who appears on TV, working for the Lottery.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, my goodness you're right!
(CROSSTALK)
S. O'BRIEN: OK, well...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then all around town, cute groundhog statues abound.
SERWER: And will be for the next 45 minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today on the knob as I'm doing my job, I don't like this likeness of me, it's my shadow I see. Six more weeks of mild winter weather there will be.
S. O'BRIEN: Six more weeks of mild winter weather.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, the thing is, we haven't had much more of a winter, so six more weeks of this is more like spring early in a way, right?
SERWER: I guess so. It's good news.
S. O'BRIEN: yes, sort of.
SERWER: Unless you run a ski resort.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, that would be true.
SERWER: Then it's bad news.
M. O'BRIEN: Then it's bad news. There's always two sides to it.
(MARKET REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, if you get an e-mail today that says world's greatest video ever, don't click on it, because you know what? It's too good to be true. As a matter of fact, it's even worse than that. It's the Kama Sutra worm. Yes, baby, don't do it, because your computer will not be feeling the love if you know what I mean.
Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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