Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Michael Chertoff Set to Face Off With Senators Over FEMA's Failures; A Setback for Man Shot by Vice President Dick Cheney

Aired February 15, 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: I'm Miles O'Brien.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Zain Verjee in for Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Could be a rough day for the Homeland Security chief. Michael Chertoff set to face off with senators over FEMA's failures, before, during and after Katrina.

O'BRIEN: A setback for the man shot by Vice President Dick Cheney. It's as serious as a heart attack.

Meantime, more political fallout for the VP. Some say it's high time he faces the nation and offers an explanation. We're live at the White House.

VERJEE: Cartoon protests in Pakistan aimed at American targets. We're live with the latest.

And an inside job. A guard tells about his involvement in a Chicago-area jailbreak, but why did he do it? That's ahead this AMERICAN MORNING.

O'BRIEN: Michael Chertoff heads into the eye of the storm this morning. Homeland Security Secretary appearing before a Senate committee investigating the failures during Hurricane Katrina. It comes as a House committee prepares to release a report highly critical of Chertoff's role.

Homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve with a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The House report coming out later today paints a scathing picture of the government's response to Katrina. The report says, quote, "We are left scratching our heads at the range of inefficiency and ineffectiveness that characterized government behavior right before and after this storm, but passivity did the most damage."

Investigators fault Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff for not moving quickly enough to activate emergency response plans. The report says Chertoff performed his duties during Katrina, late, ineffectively, or not at all.

On Monday, the secretary accepted responsibility for what went wrong. MICHAEL CHERTOFF, SECY. OF HOMELAND SECURITY: As the secretary of Homeland Security, I'm accountable.

MESERVE: Today's report also lays blame elsewhere, saying, quote, "Despite adequate warning 56 hours before landfall, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Nagin delayed ordering a mandatory evacuation in New Orleans until 19 hours before landfall. Evacuations in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish were either declared late or not at all, a failure that lead to preventable deaths, great suffering and further delays in relief."

But, today, much of the focus will be on Secretary Chertoff, and whether he's fit to lead homeland security.

For now, the White House is standing behind him.

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY.: Secretary Chertoff is doing a great job at the Homeland Security Department.

MESERVE: A spokesman for Chertoff says the secretary is looking forward to the hearing, and the chance to, as the spokesman put it, set the record straight.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Connecticut Republican Congressman Christopher Shays is a member of that House Committee issuing that report. He will be our guest at the half-hour, about 30 minutes from now. We'll ask him if he thinks Chertoff should step down.

This morning's Senate hearings scheduled to begin 11:15 Eastern. Of course we'll be following it for you. You'll see it live here on CNN or CNN Pipeline.

The White House wants to close ranks on all of this criticism. It is defending the president's actions in and around the Katrina timeframe.

White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux up early for us.

Suzanne, how is the White House handling the criticism?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, really they anticipated this report, so they acted in a preemptive way. The White House is saying that they feel very confident in Chertoff's abilities, that they're moving forward. That from his press secretary just yesterday.

Also, a couple of days ago, Fran Townsend, the Homeland Security adviser to the president, took issue with a couple of points. First, that the president wasn't engaged in those initial days before Katrina hit, and secondly, whether or not it would have made any difference in the levees. They feel it wouldn't change the way they would of responded to this storm. They still would have focused on search and rescue, but they've got their own report. It's going to be released in the next couple of weeks -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Suzanne, let's shift gears and talk about the vice president. A couple of threads today. First of all, his victim, his shooting victim, Mr. Whittington, took a turn for the worse, suffered a heart attack. Secondly, a lot of push today and kind of a groundswell of hope that the vice president will say something publicly about this.

MALVEAUX: Well, there's certainly a lot of debate and there's a lot of pressure on whether or not Cheney is actually going to do that. Ultimately, it's up to him.

But I have to tell you, yesterday, the fact that this news came out, for the first time, the vice president's office put out an official written statement even acknowledging that the shooting had occurred, and it had some details about Cheney finding out about Whittington's condition, that he actually watched the press conference about his condition, and he picked up the phone and called him, offered him some support and some help, the first time the vice president's office even acknowledged this happened.

At the same time, the White House knew of Whittington's condition, but continued to push to simply say we're, moving on, we're not talking about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCLELLAN: If y'all want to continue to focus on this, y'all can spend your time on it. We're going to keep focusing on the pressing priorities of the American people, like talking about how to make health care more affordable and accessible. We've got important work to do for the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCCLELLAN: So the first official statement that the vice president will make at least is going to be on Friday, Wyoming state legislature. He's going to be making a speech, but of course, Miles, a lot of anticipation and questions whether or not he will comment on the condition of his very close friend before that -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. So is there some thinking we might see him today, or is it anybody's guess?

MALVEAUX: We don't know if we're going to see it any of today. We'll see. But we know that there is a lot of talk. There is a lot of discussion. We'll see how it all plays out.

O'BRIEN: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thank you -- Zain.

VERJEE: Miles, in Pakistan, a third day of protests. Thousands stormed through the streets of Peshwar and Lahore sparked by continued anger more than four weeks after those cartoons depicting Muslim Prophet Muhammad as a terrorist were published. They demonstrated not only against Denmark, where the cartoons, as I said, were published, but American interests. They set fire to a KFC restaurant, a cinema and several other buildings. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowds. At least three people were killed in clashes with security forces.

In Iraq, there's a new way under way of trying to win the release of American hostage Jill Carroll. Iraqi TV is running public service announcements in a direct appeal to her kidnappers.

Carroll was abducted in Baghdad on the 7th of January.

CNN's Aneesh Raman is live in the Iraqi capital, and joins us now. He's seen these public service announcements.

Aneesh, what do they say?

RAMAN: Well, Zain, there's two versions. One about 30 seconds, the other about a minute and a half. In these public service announcements, Iraqis are heard from, who call in the name of humanity for Jill Carroll's release. Also, Jill Carroll's mother is heard from, reading a statement. It's translated into Arabic, as well as the Sunni politician that she was met to meet with the day that she abducted, also calling for the release of Jill Carroll.

Now this public service announcement airing on a U.S.-funded state-run channel Iraqiya (ph). I was just there. I spoke to the general manager about why they were airing this PSA. And he said of course that it is in the name of humanity. They are trying all they can to try and secure the release of Jill Carroll.

They also run PSAs calling on anyone with information about Iraqis, who are kidnapped on a daily basis. Two Iraqi journalists currently in insurgent custody to call in to the government. The say that is working, and they hope that those holding Jill Carroll, or those with any information as to her whereabouts will respond to these PSAs -- Zain.

VERJEE: How likely is it, Aneesh, that the hostage-takers will be watching an American-funded channel in Iraq?

RAMAN: Well, we've heard from other hostages that have been in custody, insurgent custody, that the TVs are all tuned to non-news channels, specifically, one would presume, attempting to keep any news from coming in. It's unclear exactly who is holding her, of course, and where they're holding her. But really, I think this is directed to anyone that might have information, anyone that might see something suspicious in their neighborhood, people that they presume might be involved.

Compelling them in the name as everyone has said, humanity itself to call in, to provide the information. And Iraqis that we've spoken to out on the streets today, some have seen this. They say while a lot on their plate, the violence here continues. Basic services are still needed. They do sense the emotional appeal that they're hearing from Jill Carroll's mother, from those of her family back in the U.S., and so there is a sense, an unprecedented support really in Iraq to call for her release, because they know, and Iraqis have told us, she is not responsible for the demands of the hostage takers, the release of all female prisoners -- Zain.

VERJEE: Aneesh Raman, reporting to us from Baghdad this morning. Thanks, Aneesh -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Six guys break out of jail in Chicago. They're caught. Story over, right? Not so fast here. This story involves the possibility of dirty guards, and an even dirtier political battle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SYLVESTER BAKER, CANDIDATE, COOK CO. SHERIFF: I think there was some possible corruption involved in that. Yes, I believed that someone -- they had help.

O'BRIEN: They are the six inmates who escaped from Chicago's Cook County Jail over the weekend. After a massive manhunt, they were all captured, but now a surprising new twist. A jail guard is joining them behind bars. Thirty-six-year-old Darren Gater charged with seven felony accounts. Apparently he admitted he helped the inmates escape.

But why did he do it? An official close to the case says Gater wanted to embarrass the current sheriff and help another candidate, his former supervisor at the jail, Richard Remus.

Remus says it doesn't make sense.

RICHARD REMUS, CANDIDATE, COOK CO. SHERIFF: Here he would sacrifice his family, his career and everything else to help Richard Remus? I just find that totally ludicrous.

O'BRIEN: But was Gater a lone wolf? Maybe not. Five other guards are now suspended while the investigation continues.

And there's another twist, the current sheriff's hand-picked candidate, Tom Dart, fending off charges they knew about the plot, but botched an attempt to thwart it. It's the latest in a series of mishaps at the jail.

TOM DART, CANDIDATE, COOK CO. SHERIFF: Our office has aggressively tried to stamp out any problems here, and have told anybody and everybody about some of the problems. There's been nothing other than complete objectivity on our part.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: The attorney for those suspended guards says it looks like someone is being scapegoated there. A lot of what you heard in that report came from a report from the Associated Press. We'll get the inside scoop on all of this at 9:00 eastern when we talk to a "Chicago Tribune" reporter who is actively involved in covering this story.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VERJEE: Coming up, a little pill that could change your life. It could help you do a lot of things, lose weight, quit smoking, lower your risk of heart disease and diabetes. All in one little pill.

O'BRIEN: I'm not buying it.

VERJEE: Well, it could be too good to be true. We'll get a reaction.

O'BRIEN: Also, Vice President Cheney's hunting accident. Boy, it's a dream for comedians, but imagine being the guy who has to face reporters in the White House briefing room and take a volley from them. We'll talk with a man who stood at that podium, Joe Lockhart, in just a little bit.

VERJEE: And later, a big break for parents, saving for college with prepaid tuition plans. More details ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan says he's just tired of being peppered with questions about the vice president's misfire, and he's urged the White House press corps on Tuesday just to move on. But the questions about who knew what and when just won't go away.

Joe Lockhart was President Clinton's press secretary, and he joins us now from Washington for some of his perspective.

Thanks so much for joining us.

JOE LOCKHART, FMR. WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY.: Good morning.

VERJEE: You've been there. You've taken some rough and tough questions from the White House press corps. What's it like managing a PR debacle like this?

LOCKHART: Well, it's not a lot of fun, and I have an enormous amount of sympathy for Scott right now. There are days you go out for reasons sometimes of national security, sometimes for political reasons, the press secretary gets sort of set up as the punching bag, because the administration needs time to formulate either a policy answer or a political answer.

This one is unfortunate because it's -- it certainly was avoidable. And I do have sympathy for Scott, because he seemed to be the last person told about this.

And my guess is if he had been told earlier, he would of said, guys, we can't keep this to ourselves; we've got to tell people about it.

VERJEE: How would you have handled it differently?

LOCKHART: Well, I think certainly I would have hoped that someone would of told me sooner than 12 hours, 14 hours after it had happened.

But I think once you find out, you realize that this is something the public is going to be interested in. There is no national security reasons, there is no overriding political reason to keep it from the public. And these are the things you get tested on, whether you are candid, whether you are open with the public, and it's not really a hard decision, which is what makes all of this all so curious that senior members of the White House staff, you know, up to the president, thought, boy, we don't really need to tell the public about this.

VERJEE: We need to listen to something. Last night, Paula Zahn spoke to former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson of Wyoming. He's known Cheney for quite a while since 1966, and he gave this explanation as to why he thinks Cheney hasn't come out and spoken to the public.

Let's just listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN SIMPSON, FMR. WYOMING SENATOR: If he came out tonight and said something, it would be distorted. In other words, if he didn't cry, they would say, why didn't he? If he didn't do this. There wouldn't be anything Dick Cheney could do that would please the media, period.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: What do you make of that? How would you handle it?

LOCKHART: Well, I think the former senator has a point. At this point, it's going to be hard for him to get sort of a fair hearing on this. But that's self-inflicted. So I'm not focused too much on the vice president. The vice president wasn't the name at the top of the ticket.

VERJEE: So you wouldn't make a case for having him come out in public and say, listen, you know, I'm sorry?

LOCKHART: That's a political question. And my guess is given what the vice president is likely to say, and my guess is he'd be unapologetic, I think he should just stay quiet.

I think the real question is, you know, at the most senior level of the government, the top aides to the president, the president, why did they think the public doesn't have a right to know this? I think it reflects a certain arrogance and a certain contempt for the public in our ability to sort through this and put it in a proper perspective.

VERJEE: But it also points to an interesting dynamic, doesn't it, Joe Lockhart, in the White House. The vice president is so powerful, you know, in many ways. He operates quite autonomously, from what I understand, in the White House. How much harder does that make it for Scott McClellan, the press secretary, who is trying to get information and trying to get things done under those circumstances?

LOCKHART: Sure. Listen, I think it's hard enough to do the job as press secretary when there is one center of power, because there is so much information flying around. You have to make decisions every single day, every single hour about what to release, what not to release, what's sensitive, what's not sensitive, and that's further complicated if these stories are true about the vice president, you know, operating unto himself.

I do think, though, that this one wasn't a hard one. And that's what is so curious. And I think -- I don't think most Americans are sitting around at their breakfast table, saying, I wonder if there's something more to this hunting story. I think they are sitting around saying, boy, if they won't tell us that, what else aren't they telling us, and that's a real problem with credibility, not for the vice president, but for the president and the White House, and that's why I think they should have been much more aggressive in dealing with this.

VERJEE: Joe Lockhart, President Bill Clinton's press secretary, thank you so much for joining us.

LOCKHART: Thank you.

VERJEE: Appreciate that.

Straight ahead, Miles, what do we have?

O'BRIEN: We are keeping up with the Jetsons, Zain. Andy will tell us all about a new robot to help you tidy the house just like Rosie. He's "Minding Your Business," as he always does.

And later, the show goes to the dogs. We'll tell you how a little bit of history was made last night at the Westminster Dog Show with Rufus, straight ahead.

Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer is here. How are you?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: I'm fine. How are you?

O'BRIEN: Good.

SERWER: Ready for some business news?

O'BRIEN: I'm always ready for you whenever you drop by. It makes my morning.

SERWER: Good.

Law enforcement agents around the globe raided air cargo companies at airports in Europe and the U.S. Also companies in Asia involved. FBI agents swarmed offices of British airlines at JFK Airport yesterday, as well as American Airlines, United Airlines, also received inquiries, Japan Airlines, Air France, Korean Air, Japan Airlines in Frankfurt, airlines in Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, Long Beach. What were they looking for? Diamonds, drugs, weapons.

O'BRIEN: My lost bags?

SERWER: No. That's probably -- that's a good one.

O'BRIEN: That'd be a good one.

SERWER: Actually, they are conducting an inquiry into, get this, surcharges for fuel and security.

O'BRIEN: What?

SERWER: Yes. I'm not quite sure what's going on here. They're looking into collusion into pricing about surcharges over fuel. Now this is an international investigation going on.

O'BRIEN: It's hard to conjure up the screenplay for this one, if you know what I mean. Immediately I'm thinking this is good.

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: No, you're thinking "Goodfellas."

Go ahead, I'm sorry.

VERJEE: I think it would be easier to conjure up a floor-washing robot?

SERWER: Much better story.

VERJEE: Don't you think?

SERWER: Yes, I do.

Now do you guys have robots yet?

VERJEE: No, not yet, nor do we have floor washing robots.

SERWER: Well, you should. Listen, I understand this one called Roomba (ph), which does the vacuuming, and there's 1.5 million of these babies out there already. And you can go to one of my favorite Web sites, irobot.com.

O'BRIEN: There really is an irobot.com?

SERWER: Of course, Will Smith not included.

Now Scuba is Roomba's younger brother, and this does mopping.

O'BRIEN: Do these things really work?

SERWER: Now hang on to your hat here. No, folks, sit down, because this is footage you're not going to see very often. This is beneath the floor looking up, see ? That's Scooba.

(CROSSTALK)

VERJEE: My neighbors can see me this way? SERWER: No, this is like a starfish view, Miles, and it actually really, really works. Yes, my colleague Pete Lewis (ph) reporters that it gets floors much cleaner than carbon-based humanoid that ordinarily does these floors. Yes, this baby cost about 400 bucks.

VERJEE: And it just goes all day long, right?

SERWER: You just put it in the kitchen, and it's just like Rosie from the Jetsons.

O'BRIEN: And it's something the dog's missing and you're wondering where it is? It's in the robot, right?

VERJEE: You have to program it?

SERWER: No, it just sort of, let it loose. It bounces around, irobot.

VERJEE: All right.

Speaking of letting things loose and bouncing around, take a look at this, boys. Here is something that you don't see often. Whoa! Women jumping into a wedding cake to find a ring. That was the scene in Salt Lake City.

SERWER: That's ugly.

This is a Valentine's Day special?

VERJEE: I guess so. There are about a hundred women here. They took the cake, they just dove in, and here we go, celebration. Somebody found it.

SERWER: Let them eat cake.

O'BRIEN: Look at the poor reporter with the cake his nose, frosting.

SERWER: Yes, he got in there.

VERJEE: Losers had to clean the floor with a fork.

However, if they had the Scooba floor-washing robot, it might have been a little easier.

SERWER: Did they do it twice? Or was that a -- no.

O'BRIEN: That's a replay.

VERJEE: We rewrapped that cake.

O'BRIEN: Put the cake back together.

SERWER: Right.

O'BRIEN: Consolation prize is some CZ. VERJEE: Coming up, a pill for all your ills. It could help you lose weight, quit smoking and lower you're your risk for heart disease. Really? Well, we'll take a close look at that. Well, it's supposed to be available quite soon.

Plus, an egghead wins the Westminster Dog Show, and believe it or not, that's a compliment from the judges. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com