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American Morning

Chertoff Under Fire; Cheney's Misfire; Whittington's Condition; Cartoon Outrage

Aired February 15, 2006 - 06:00   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.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Zain Verjee in for Soledad.

O'BRIEN: A storm of questions headed Michael Chertoff's way. The head of Homeland Security facing off with senators over FEMA's failures during Katrina.

Critics tee off on the vice president over his hunting accident. All this while his victim takes a turn for the worse.

VERJEE: Political intrigue in a jailbreak. Now a guard becomes a major focus in the weekend escapes near Chicago. The latest just ahead.

A bad turn for American bad boy Bode Miller, but that didn't keep the U.S. team off the medal stand. We'll take you live to Torino.

O'BRIEN: And speaking of winners, an eggheaded bull terrier reaches the ultimate in dogdom. Rufus the conqueror is the king of New York.

The Homeland Security secretary has a rough day ahead of him. Michael Chertoff will get a grilling this morning when he appears before a committee investigating the government response to Hurricane Katrina. This, on the same day that another congressional committee is expected to release a report slamming Chertoff for how he handled the storm.

CNN's Jeanne Meserve with our story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Michael Chertoff is bound to face questions about some of the findings in this report when he testifies today before a Senate committee.

The House report says that leaders failed to lead, that government was inefficient and ineffective and that passivity cost lives and prolonged suffering. The report says earlier involvement by the president might have resulted in a more effective response. And it faults Chertoff for not moving more quickly to activate the National Response Plan.

It says that federal agencies, including DHS, were unfamiliar with their roles of responsibilities and that the Department of Defense did not coordinate effectively with the Department of Homeland Security. It also says that spars or conflicting information was used as an excuse for inaction. The Katrina response was, the report says, a national failure.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: This morning's Senate hearing is scheduled to begin at 11:15 Eastern. Of course we'll be following it for you here on CNN -- Zain.

VERJEE: Miles, the man shot by Vice President Dick Cheney is back in intensive care this morning. Harry Whittington took a turn for the worse on Tuesday when the birdshot he'd been hit with traveled to his heart causing a minor heart attack.

Ed Lavandera has more from Corpus Christi in Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Doctors continue to closely monitor 78-year-old Harry Whittington at this hospital in Corpus Christi. He is back in the intensive care unit after doctors say he suffered a minor heart attack. Doctors say that they have found that one of the pellets he was wounded with on Saturday afternoon has actually migrated its way through his body and into his heart.

Now doctors also say he didn't show any of the classic symptoms of a heart attack. There was no shortness of breath or chest pains, but that he will need to remain here at this hospital for another seven days to continue to be checked out. But doctors also say there's only one pellet that they are concerned about, that no other pellets in his body pose any threat to his heart.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Corpus Christi, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: And just how serious is Whittington's condition? Dr. Sanjay Gupta is following the medical side of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Lots of details now coming out about Mr. Whittington and what exactly happened with these pellets and how they exactly got into his heart, really interesting. This has to be a rare occurrence for sure.

But many people saw these pellets. They're very small. And actually some of them seemed to have embedded themselves between the ribs, through the chest wall and actually adjacent to the heart.

Let me show you on a model here what we're talking about. This is the heart. This is a model of the heart. And you can see as I open up the various chambers how thick this muscle is. It appears that one of these pellets, at least one of the pellets, actually embedded itself into part of this heart muscle wall. That caused a little bit of damage, which is essentially the same as a mild heart attack.

Take a look at this animation here what happens when these pellets actually get close to the heart, near the heart, they start to make the heart somewhat angry, somewhat irritable. They can send the heart into a quick rhythm called atrial fibrillation. Sometimes that can be controlled very easily with medications. Sometimes it actually requires a shock to stop the heart from beating that quickly as well.

He will need to stay in the intensive care unit for several days, probably a week, to make sure he is stable enough and does not have any further problems before he goes home.

Lots of people ask, well, what do you do about the pellet? Does a pellet stay in or does it come out? Well it's like many other things in medicine there's a risk-benefit ratio with this. It's very risky to get this pellet out. It might involve an operation. We would actually have to open the chest, remove part of the heart muscle wall with the pellet inside of it. That's a big operation for anybody, especially a 78-year-old, versus the possibility, the very real possibility that he may have no further problems at all from this pellet. Time will tell.

Again, about seven days in the hospital, medications, monitoring of his heart, possibly blood thinners if his arrhythmias continue. But it seems like he is doing pretty well. At least over the next couple of days we'll have a lot more details as they come available.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: A third day of violence in Pakistan. Some new video just in, those protests over controversial cartoons now seem to be centering on symbols of Western culture. At least three people are dead in the protests and clashes with police.

Let's go live now to senior international correspondent Matthew Chance with more -- Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Miles.

Well, I've actually just come back from Denmark, which has really been feeling the brunt of these protests across the Islamic world towards its country, towards its leadership, as well, after that Danish newspaper, "Jyllands-Posten," published the 12 cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that caused such widespread offense across the Muslim world.

We're seeing again these pictures from Pakistan here coming in to us after three days of violence there. At least three people killed as police clash with thousands of protesters. And you can see it's not just symbols of Denmark that are being burned, the Danish flag, effigies of Prime Minister Rasmussen of Denmark, but also other images, too, U.S. images. The American flag being burned in the streets there of Peshawar in Pakistan. Also, a fried chicken restaurant was also torched, burned to the ground there. It seems that other symbols, too, now of the West are being burned.

You've got to remember many Muslims see the war on terror, for instance, as a war against Islam, of war against Muslims. They've been repeatedly told it's not that. But, still, that's in the minds of many people. In the minds of many Muslims as well, this controversy over the cartoons is merely another battle in that war. And so people now are lashing out, not just at Denmark, but at other symbols of the West. Of course the American flag, other things, the ultimate symbols, perhaps, of that -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Matthew, an awful lot of talk about whether these protests are being incited in any way overtly or covertly by governments. What is your sense of it, is this happening spontaneously? Are these grassroots protests or is something else going on?

CHANCE: Well it's a good question, because I think there's a number of factors at play. I certainly think that in the case of Pakistan the government is doing what it can to curb these protests. It is not fanning the flames of the violence itself.

It's not that -- the same cannot be said though, I don't think so, Miles, according to Danish officials, other Western diplomats that I've talked to, about the protests that we saw earlier in places like Syria, in places like Iran. It's undoubted in their minds that those governments are fanning the flames of protest in their countries in order to gain some political capital, in order to use this cartoon controversy as a stick with which to beat the West.

That should not, though, undermine the fact that, for many Muslims, regardless of what the political input is, this is a very offensive situation that has developed.

O'BRIEN: Matthew Chance, thank you very much.

Some new developments out of Chicago in that jailbreak for you this morning, reports are indicating police tipped off prison officials hours before six inmates broke out over the weekend. The prison, the jail did nothing to stop the escape. Some of the inmates held a woman and some children hostage for nearly 24 hours before finally giving up. Now a prison guard is saying he was in on that jailbreak. He did it to make the local sheriff look bad, so it is said, and help his opponent, who he favored, in an upcoming election.

To Los Angeles now, the death of an inmate there may be the result of bad policy. An African American man died Sunday after he was attacked by three Latino prisoners. Sheriffs there put violent criminals in the same cells as non-violent ones. The man killed was considered a moderate risk prisoner. The men accused of killing him were at the second highest threat level. And in Florida, police have found a drug tunnel underneath the Miami-Dade County Courthouse -- excuse me -- Courthouse. The owner -- excuse me -- a county house. The owner says he spent months and thousands of dollars building an underground pot farm. Police found dozens of plants. They said the smell was overpowering.

VERJEE: My Bonnie is not over the ocean. My Bonnie is not over the sea. My Bonnie is actually at CNN Center and is about to give us a weather forecast.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Zain, you're funny.

VERJEE: Bonnie, hi.

SCHNEIDER: I haven't heard that song since I was a little girl. Thank you, Zain, good memories. All right.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VERJEE: Thanks, Bonnie.

O'BRIEN: Thank you, Bonnie.

A dog that's fond of banging its head against the wall. Why do they do that? Because it feels good when you stop, right? He won the big silver bowl. It's a bull terrier named Rufus. That's Rufus. He can actually say his name. That's how smart a dog he is. It's kind of a rough gig, if you know what I mean. Yes.

VERJEE: He beat out six contenders here, didn't he?

O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes, they were barking up the wrong tree. But that's another tale. He -- Rufus wagged his way...

VERJEE: Very good.

O'BRIEN: ... to Best in Show title at the Westminster Dog Show.

Did you ever see that movie "Best in Show?" It's great.

He's the first bull terrier ever to win the title. His handler said the key to victory may have been his perfectly egg-shaped noggin. Check it out. I guess you could say Rufus was a prime example of excellence.

VERJEE: You're on form this morning. What's in this coffee?

O'BRIEN: This is -- I don't know, but I want more of it.

Coming up, it's only hump day. We need to keep it coming. Keep it coming, Bruce (ph), thank you.

Coming up, more trouble for Bode Miller at the Olympics. The bad boy skier gets disqualified, paving the way for an unknown, lickety- split, to take the spotlight. We have a live Olympic update from Turin. VERJEE: Also, is grocery shopping dangerous to your health? Well it's bad news if you're afraid of germs. More on that in a moment.

O'BRIEN: And separated at birth, late night host Conan O'Brien finally has a face to face, a tet a tet (ph) if you will, although he's in a different altitude, apparently, than the president of Finland who...

VERJEE: They do look alike.

O'BRIEN: I don't know, that's a bit of a stretch.

VERJEE: They -- well...

O'BRIEN: Yes.

VERJEE: We'll take a closer look.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Beyonce.

O'BRIEN: Beyonce.

VERJEE: "Crazy in Love."

O'BRIEN: Need we say more.

VERJEE: Something like this.

O'BRIEN: It's Beyonce.

VERJEE: Like this -- look at this. Miles, this is Beyonce.

O'BRIEN: Yes, watching the things, Beyonce, if you know what I mean. Yes, that -- you do, right?

All right, let's go to Carol in the newsroom quickly.

Carol, quickly.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I don't know what that meant, but I was afraid myself.

Good morning, everyone.

We have to tell you about this story first off, growing anger in Pakistan over those cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. Pakistani police trying to subdue crowds. It is the biggest protest yet in the region. More than 70,000 people flooded the streets early this morning. Angry mobs burned a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant and movie theaters. At least three people have been killed. Zacarias Moussaoui is out for the rest of jury selection. A judge has barred him from the courtroom after he told perspective jurors yet again I am al Qaeda, and he did so in quite a loud voice. Moussaoui pleaded guilty to terrorism and conspiracy last year. He is the only person in the United States charged in connection with the September 11 terror attacks.

We've been telling you about thousands of FEMA mobile homes sitting empty in Hope, Arkansas. Well, now $300 million worth of them may be tossed in the trash. A Department of Homeland Security report says the homes are sinking in the Arkansas mud, but acting FEMA Director David Paulison denies the report. He says everything looks fine.

But could hear more about this later today, Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff is set to testify before a Senate panel. CNN will have live coverage starting at 11:15 a.m. Eastern.

President Bush taking his healthcare message on the road today. He's set to speak at Wendy's headquarters in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. The president is touting health savings accounts, allowing workers to set aside money in special accounts for medical expenses. He's chosen Wendy's because it's one of the largest companies pursuing health savings accounts.

New meaning to the phrase granny, get your gun. A group of grannies gathered at a military recruiting center near Albany, New York. They say they do not support the war but want to enlist so they can replace their grandchildren who have been deployed far too long. The women finally left without incident.

And a senior at Duke University breaking the NCAA's record for three-pointers. J.J. Redick, I know you've heard of him, making the 414 long shot of his career just about eight minutes into last night's game against Wake. Wasn't that something? Redick then added two more three-pointers for a total of 416. The previous three-point record was set by Virginia's Curtis Staples, and you can see him here. He presented Redick with the game ball after that record-breaking game. So congrats to him.

Let's head to the Forecast Center to check in with Bonnie Schneider.

Good morning.

SCHNEIDER: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VERJEE: Thank you.

A major order for Wal-Mart and a family feud as well.

Here's Carrie Lee.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you. Let's start with Wal-Mart. The state of Massachusetts is ordering the world's largest retailer to carry emergency contraception at its 44 Wal-Marts and 4 Sam's Club stores in the state. We're talking about the Morning-After Pill. Massachusetts now the second state to make Wal-Mart do this, behind Illinois.

Wal-Mart says it will comply with the ruling and review its nationwide policy on the drug. Wal-Mart had said it chooses not to carry many products for business reasons but would not elaborate. But now that pill will be available across the board in the state of Massachusetts.

And onto the family feud, we're talking about Chairman of Viacom and CBS, Sumner Redstone, and his estranged son, Brent. Brent is suing the family company called National Amusements. Wants to dissolve the company so that he can pull out his one-sixth stake in the $8 billion company. He says he was basically passed over for promotions and other things. And this is a feud that is now becoming more public. Now he can cash out. As it stands right now, his stake would be worth a lot less money.

O'BRIEN: How much less?

LEE: Well, book value of the company, so a significantly different amount. Basically Sumner...

O'BRIEN: But not a bad payday.

LEE: Not a bad payday. Not a bad payday.

He is board of directors at National Amusements, but doesn't really have an active role. He was given some responsibility or the chance for some responsibility to run the South American operation some years ago. But, according to "The Wall Street Journal," didn't want to do that because he wanted to stay and work out of his ranch in Denver. And Sumner Redstone, powerful man, said no.

Basically his sister, Shari, has been really on the fast track to replace Sumner Redstone once he retires, so maybe some sour grapes here.

O'BRIEN: Yes...

LEE: But that's what's happening at Viacom.

VERJEE: May be.

Carrie Lee, thank you.

LEE: OK.

O'BRIEN: All right, thank you, Carrie.

Here's Carol with a look at what's coming up in "Morning Coffee."

COSTELLO: Yes, I have a morbid thought for you this morning, somebody has come up with a brand new test to predict exactly when you will die, and they say it's pretty darned accurate, 81 percent accurate. We'll tell you how it works. That's coming up next in "Morning Coffee."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Looking good in Miami this morning.

VERJEE: Good morning, Miami.

O'BRIEN: And good morning to the rest of you.

Coffee and tea time.

VERJEE: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Hello -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Hello, it is time for "Morning Coffee," so let's get right to it.

In the just so you know category, the list of international terror suspects has quadrupled in just the past two-and-a-half years. There's an interesting article in "The Washington Post" this morning. It says there are at least 325,000 names on the list, and that includes people like the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens who is on the federal no-fly list.

But the National Counterterrorism Center says that number may be misleading. They say if you eliminate alternate spellings and aliases, you can actually cut out 125,000 terror suspects. What officials would not say is if any of those names were added as a result of President Bush's secret wiretap program. Now you know.

O'BRIEN: That is a cumbersome list, to say the least, 200,000 names or so.

COSTELLO: That's a lot of people to keep track of, even if you minus out the 125,000 aliases...

O'BRIEN: Yes. OK.

COSTELLO: ... and misspellings.

O'BRIEN: All right.

COSTELLO: Who knows?

Some people I know actually fear these more than anything, and you know who you are, you disinfectant toting people. It turns out grocery shopping should be your number one worry,...

VERJEE: Really?

COSTELLO: ... at least when it comes to germs.

VERJEE: Good thing I don't grocery shop.

COSTELLO: It's a good thing.

That's according to a new survey out of South Korea. They found that shopping cart handles are the biggest collectors of germs. And with so many different hands on them all day, there's no telling what you can catch. Think about it.

The number two germ collector is a computer mouse at an Internet cafe. So I guess you could tell your boss you need your laptop, a laptop from the company actually for health reasons.

And coming in fourth on the list is something I thought should be number one, bathroom door knobs.

O'BRIEN: What about those poles in the subway cars?

COSTELLO: That's on the list, too.

O'BRIEN: They've got to be on the list. They've got to be on there.

COSTELLO: And the straps hanging on buses on the list, too.

O'BRIEN: Boy, yes.

VERJEE: Should people carry wipes, those disinfecting wipes?

COSTELLO: I just think people are so paranoid about germs.

O'BRIEN: Just gloves. Gloves.

COSTELLO: Yes. Just like spray yourself with a disinfectant you know...

O'BRIEN: You know never take a mint at a restaurant that isn't wrapped individually.

COSTELLO: Now I'm getting...

O'BRIEN: I won't get into it.

VERJEE: I've heard awful mint stories.

O'BRIEN: I won't get into it, but you don't want them, trust me.

COSTELLO: OK. I do (ph)...

VERJEE: Let's get into it.

COSTELLO: I trust you -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: There's stuff on there you don't want.

COSTELLO: Well let's get to this morbid story, shall we? What if someone told you they could accurately predict when you would die, would you want to know?

Well there is a new test designed for people over the age of 50 that researchers say is pretty darned accurate. It has an 81 percent success rate, or I guess you could call it a failure rate. It determines whether you will survive the next four years. It's based on a point system using things like smoking, diabetes and whether you get tired while walking. So the fewer points the better. If you want to take it, pick up a copy of "Jama" or go online at Jama.ama.assn.org.

VERJEE: So it's only accurate if you're over 50 and you take it?

COSTELLO: Yes, over 50 and you take it. It's 12 questions. That's it. And they've had great success at determining when people may die.

O'BRIEN: It's...

VERJEE: Would you want to know?

COSTELLO: No.

VERJEE: Miles?

O'BRIEN: I mean how do they know that the bus is going to hit you? You know what I mean?

COSTELLO: Well they don't factor in that (ph).

O'BRIEN: They don't do that part.

COSTELLO: They don't factor that.

O'BRIEN: OK.

COSTELLO: But it's pretty accurate with the other stuff.

O'BRIEN: OK.

VERJEE: I wouldn't want to know.

O'BRIEN: Put it in the Palm, just so you know. You know just pencil me in for a funeral, my own. I don't know.

COSTELLO: Yes, you could better prepare your own...

O'BRIEN: It's creepy.

COSTELLO: That is creepy.

O'BRIEN: Yes. OK, thank you -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Sure.

VERJEE: Thanks. Our top stories are straight ahead, including a live Olympic update from Torino. A disqualification kept bad boy skier Bode Miller from winning Tuesday. But thanks to an unlikely winner, the U.S. struck gold anyway.

And nobody will confuse them for the Doublemint Twins, but the resemblance is there, or is it -- Miles?

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Yes, I don't know.

(CROSSTALK)

VERJEE: You know some -- when he puts his glasses on and you know you see a face-to-face picture, yes, yes, there is a little, but we'll take a look. Conan O'Brien coming face to face with his so- called lookalike, Finland's president. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Get the latest news every morning in your e-mail. Sign up for AMERICAN MORNING Quick News at CNN.com/am.

Still to come on the program, a unique appeal for the life of American hostage Jill Carroll. We'll go live to Baghdad in a moment. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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