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American Morning

Last-Minute Energy Funding: P.R. Ploy?; California Execution Delayed Due to Ethical Dilemma

Aired February 21, 2006 - 07:00   ET

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

(WEATHER REPORT)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien. Miles is on a little vacay. Rob Marciano helping us out once again. Good morning.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. You guys don't need any help. I'm just here.

O'BRIEN: Oh, yes, yes, we do. And we appreciate it.

The vigil continues. It's happening outside a California prison after a moral dilemma stops the planned execution of a 17-year-old. Now the state says they're going to change their methods.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm still questioning why the budget cuts even happened, or why the layoffs had to happen in the first place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Energy workers got some last-minute funding, but was it just a PR ploy by the president? We're going to take you to this story live at the White House.

MARCIANO: And the White House hit with more criticism over the plan for some major American ports. Is America's security really for sale?

And a desperate search for survivors. Rescue crews in the Philippines are still digging through tons of mud as they look for any signs of life. We're live there with the latest.

O'BRIEN: And the little skater who could. She's right there, Emily Hughes. She's going to hit the ice tonight. It's an effort that could make people forget about Michelle Kwan. We're going to be live in Torino, just ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Let's begin with President Bush. He's talking energy today. He tours the federal renewable energy lab in Colorado. Now two weeks ago, 32 workers there were let go because of budget cuts. Well, guess what? On Sunday, suddenly, five million bucks was found to bring those workers back. That's raising some questions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TINA LARNEY, ADMIN. ASSISTANT: I'm still questioning why the budget cuts even happened, or why the layoffs had to happen in the first place. Like how it can happen that two, three weeks later, they can restore the money to the budget.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Angry workers there.

White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us. Hey, Suzanne, good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Soledad.

Well, as you mentioned, of course, the president is going to be touring that facility in Golden, Colorado. He's going to be talking about energy conservation, as well as research. Interesting back story, of course. Those 32 workers who lost their jobs two weeks ago, $28 million of -- basically a shortfall in the budget there, going to different areas.

Over the weekend, the secretary of energy, Sam Bodman, finding that money from other accounts, at least $5 million of it, to restore their jobs. Now the administration says this is all a part of, essentially, the president's promise or his energy policy to put forward more money when it comes to research, when it comes to technology and solar energy, things of that nature. It is part of the larger goal, they say, for the president to cut by 75 percent the imports of oil from the Middle East by 2025.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These countries know we need their oil, and that reduces influence. It creates a national security issue when we're held hostage for energy by foreign nations that may not like us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Soledad, that is the focus of the administration. And this comes, of course -- you may realize that last year after the failed attempt for the administration to find various ways to dig for more oil here in this country -- namely, the Alaska wildlife refuge did not go over well with members of Congress, so the push this year is for alternative sources of energy.

Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Yes, a different focus there. Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us. Suzanne, thank you, as always.

When the president talks about his energy policy, we're going to bring that to you live. That happens around 11:30 a.m. Eastern time. And with America's strong dependence on oil, when will alternative fuels become a reality? This morning we're going to check in with the editor of "Automobile" magazine. That's coming up in our 9:00 hour Eastern time -- Rob.

MARCIANO: Soledad, the White House is facing some very tough criticism from a lot of directions. And that criticism seems to be getting louder. It's all in response to a plan to turn over control of six of America's biggest ports to an Arab country with ties to terrorism.

Congressional correspondent Ed Henry has reaction from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Political pressure mounting this morning on President Bush to block this port deal. The pressure coming from the Republican chairman of the House homeland security panel, New York Congressman Peter King, who has been briefed on the transaction.

King flatly rejected claims by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who said the necessary safeguards will be put in place to keep U.S. ports safe. Congressman King told CNN those safeguards can only work if Congress has faith in the company, Dubai Ports World. But King said he does not have that faith, because it's a state-owned country in the United Arab Emirates, which was an operational and financial base for some of the 9/11 hijackers.

King said he believes mid-level bureaucratics fumbled this issue and were politically tone-deaf, and it's time for President Bush to intervene. If the president does not intervene, Democratic senators Robert Menedez and Hillary Clinton say they will push through a new law prohibiting the sale of operations at U.S. ports to companies owned by foreign governments. It's a cause that a growing number of Republicans are starting to join.

Ed Henry, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO: Opponents of the port deal have real reasons for concern, but the Bush administration has reasons to believe the United Arab Emirates is a legal -- or a legitimate ally in the war on terror.

CNN's Kelli Arena continues our "Security Watch."

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KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The hijacker who steered a United Airlines flight into the World Trade Center's South Tower, Marwan al-Shehhi, was one of the two hijackers born in the United Arab Emirates. In fact, most of the hijackers traveled to the United States through the UAE to carry out their deadly plan.

The FBI has said the money for 9/11 was transferred to the hijackers primarily through the UAE's banking system. Even after the attacks, the U.S. Treasury Department complained about a lack of cooperation in trying to track Osama bin Laden's bank accounts. REP. PETER KING (R), HOMELAND SECURITY CHAIRMAN: The United Arab Emirates, they're one of only three countries in the world that prides that September 11th, recognize the Taliban. In the days after 9/11, they were not overly supportive as we were trying to track down terrorist financial transactions.

ARENA: What's more, U.S. officials have said the UAE was an important transfer point for shipments of smuggled nuclear components sent to Iran, North Korea and Libya by the Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan.

Nonetheless, the Bush administration calls the UAE an ally in the war on terror, and counterterrorism officials say it is cooperating more and consistently since 9/11.

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: It's rare to find a country that has been cooperative in three different arenas: the pursuit of terrorism, the pursuit of their money, and helpful also on proliferation of weapons.

ARENA: In 2002, it was the UAE who caught and extradited al Qaeda's leader in the Gulf, described as the mastermind of the attack on the USS Cole. And it's working with the United States to prevent the diversion of sensitive U.S. technology through its shipment hubs.

(on camera): Counterterrorism officials say relatively speaking, the UAE has a realistic understanding of the terrorism problem and has made a commitment to help deal with it. Much more so, they say, than its neighbors in the region.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO: Stay with CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

O'BRIEN: Today is Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's first day on the bench. He's going to hear two environmental cases that deal with property rights. This isn't his first day on the job, though. On the day he was sworn in, Alito voted to stop the execution of an inmate in Missouri.

A last-minute stay of execution in California, the execution which is planned at San Quentin Prison after midnight Pacific time. Two anesthesiologists, though, brought in to monitor the execution of Michael Morales, refused to participate due to ethical concerns. They've been called in after Morales' lawyers argued that unless he was totally, completely unconscious, the killing chemicals could cause him extreme pain.

Well, the execution has now been rescheduled for tonight. Morales is going to receive an overdose of a sedative instead of the chemicals that potentially could cause him some pain.

CNN legal analyst Jeff Toobin's going to join us in a few minutes. Much more on this story ahead.

To New Orleans now. Mardi Gras, just a week away. It's supposed to be a big party, but for more than 1,000 New Orleans police and firefighters, it's sort of D-Day. It's one they're going to have to move off those cruise ships, like this one right here, they've been living on since Hurricane Katrina.

They'd like to move into one of the 11,000 mobile homes that are sitting empty in Arkansas. FEMA, though, and the federal local laws -- or FEMA saying, rather, that federal and local laws will not allow them to move into these mobile homes. These are the ones that are in Alabama, because they're in a local flood plain and they can't be put there.

So local officials say if emergency workers can't find housing, New Orleans is going to be in seriously big trouble. Coming up in our 9:00 Eastern time, New Orleans Police Superintendent Warren Riley is going to talk to us about Mardi Gras preps and also what's going to happen next for all these first-responders if they can't get the housing that they need -- Rob.

MARCIANO: Soledad, we're following two developing rescue efforts this hour. First, the search in the Philippines for survivors and victims of that massive mudslide. More rain hurting efforts for rescuers in the southern Philippines. The Red Cross is now in relief mode four days after a massive landslide buried a village of about 1,800 residents in mud. The search for an elementary school has shifted to a different site, but hopes dim still with each passing hour. No one has been rescued since Friday.

And another developing story out of Mexico. Another desperate search. Relatives of 65 coal miners trapped since Sunday are holding out for a miracle. U.S. mining experts expect there today to lend their expertise. The miners trapped by a gas explosion early Sunday. Searchers are using picks and shovels. They fear machinery might have set off another explosion.

O'BRIEN: Just awful.

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MARCIANO: Coming up, new accusations of government secrecy. Thousands of pages of public documents now becoming reclassified. We'll talk about what's going on.

O'BRIEN: Plus, we're going to take you live to Torino, or Turin, as some people call it, for an update on the Olympics. One of the biggest events, women's figure skating, starts today. How exciting is that? American Sasha Cohen is one of the medal favorites. Look at her. She is just fabulous. We're going to take a look at her chances for the gold.

MARCIANO: Very graceful. Andy is very graceful as well. He's "Minding Your Business." He'll follow up on that Radioshack story from last week. Looks like the company's CEO will pay a big price for fudging his resume. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

Business news, everybody. Radioshack, last week, heard some reports while I was on my vacay the CEO, not so flattering, and now the fallout.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: We're talking about David Edmundson, Soledad, the CEO of Radioshack. He is resigning. And here's the story. This is just a not if, but when. and the other thing is what took so long? The guy misstated his resume, clearly misstated, he said, himself, that he had two college degrees, turns out he didn't. The board stuck with him for a while at first, and now the board has said, you know, this guy's got to go.

A couple of things going on here. First of all, the stock is down 23 percent since he took over. Second of all, he's facing DWI charges. This is on top of everything else. And then last week, the company announces they're closing down 400 to 700 stores. You know, when you have a CEO who is not telling the truth you is kind of have a credibility problem for the whole company. And I mean, if people have alcohol problems they can get help, but if you have lying problems?

MARCIANO: Well, maybe he thought -- a lot of people think the resume is merely something you try, a guide of things you've tried to do.

SERWER: A general blueprint?

Maybe we should be checking out Rob's resume!

O'BRIEN: I tried to win the Nobel Peace Price. I have that on my resume. Is that a mistake?

SERWER: Yes, it's a bit of a stretch.

O'BRIEN: What a weird thing to do.

MARCIANO: There are a lot of stores. Every corner there seems to be a Radioshack, so it would make sense maybe that they have maybe too many.

SERWER: Well, yes, there are over 5,000 of them. So it's true, and the company has not been doing that well, so they have a new CEO, Clara Babrowsky (ph). So we'll see how she does.

O'BRIEN: I hope they can come back, because actually they're all over my neighborhood. I like Radioshack.

SERWER: Yes, it's nice to get those cables there, stuff like that.

Another one we can to tell you about. This is your government dollars at work involving Boeing and the Pentagon. Boeing was doing a $20 billion spy satellite program for the DoD, Department of Defense. They didn't like the way Boeing was doing the deal, and they yanked it and gave it over to Lockheed Martin, saying there was technical problems. Lengthy delays, cost overruns. But get this, a $500 million kill fee Boeing gets for this, according to "The Wall Street Journal." And here's why they need the money. They need the money because they need it to safeguard files, and also for severance, $500 million. So we need $20 million to guard that file cabinet, because it has classified material in it? How do you like that? That kill fee?

O'BRIEN: I got to tell you. You know, this is why you should be careful before you hand out a contract. If they can charge $500 million kill fee, then, you know, pick the company carefully the first time around.

SERWER: I think you're right.

O'BRIEN: That would be my advice. I bet a New York City contractor would do a similar thing. You know, you kill them, they'll charge you some big bucks for that. That's my theory.

MARCIANO: That's a lot of cash.

O'BRIEN: All right, Andy.

SERWER: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: We're talking about bird flu this morning. Bird flu is marching on. The virus now spreading to more than 30 countries. Are officials doing enough to stop it? We'll take a look at that.

Then this lethal injection of a convicted murder has now been put on hold. The anesthesiologists have refused to take part. Our senior legal analyst Jeff Toobin is going to join us for a look at some of the legal consequences in this case. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

We're back after this short break.

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O'BRIEN: Execution's been called off with just about half an hour to go early this morning in California. Michael Angelo Morales was supposed to be put to death by lethal injection at midnight Pacific time. Two anesthesiologists, though, refused to participate.

Let's talk about some of the legal issues here. CNN senior legal analyst Jeff Toobin joins us.

Have you ever heard of anything like this before?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Well, this is an incredible drama that's been happening. And, you know, it's all part of sort of the death penalty story in the United States, which has been this search for a humane method of execution, whether -- that's why we had the electric chair, the gas chamber, lethal injection. But problems have arisen with all of them. O'BRIEN: The anesthesiologists, the two that had been brought in to participate, said that they had these ethical concerns. I was sort of surprised that they would pick these two guys to come in and do it in the first place, since clearly they have a moral problem here.

TOOBIN: Absolutely. Well, what happened was the district court judge has been presented with evidence that particularly one of the drugs used in the three drug cocktail is something -- this drug called Pavulon, which is illegal to be used in putting animals to sleep because it's supposedly painful for the animals.

Now defense lawyers are saying, look, if you can't use it against animals, you can't use it against a human being. What the judge did was he said, OK, I'll approve the execution going forward, but I want an anesthesiologist to be there to make sure there's no prolonged suffering, that he doesn't wake back up.

O'BRIEN: So they were concerned, like, wow, if there's prolonged suffering, suddenly I'm in a position where I might have to revive a guy who we're putting to death?

TOOBIN: Exactly. That's why the anesthesiologists said, you know, we will participate, just monitoring his death, but we are not going to revive someone, we are not going to be part of a medical procedure that's a violation of the Hippocratic Oath.

O'BRIEN: So what happens now? I mean, they said that they're going to just heavily sedate him, essentially?

TOOBIN: Well, what's supposed to happen -- and the legal maneuvering is continuing as we speak -- is at 7:30 tonight, they're going to try to execute Morales again, but only use one drug, not the three drugs, which they think will work. But, again, this just underlines how murky this area is. And, you know, it's harder than you think to execute somebody.

O'BRIEN: Any indication that this guy will not be put to death? I mean, no one was arguing the merits of the case. He killed and was convicted of killing a 17-year-old girl.

TOOBIN: Particularly horrendous crime.

O'BRIEN: I mean, horrific. So he's going to put to death at some point, it's just sort of really the wrangling over the moral and legal issues behind how you kill people in this country.

TOOBIN: But that's a significant thing. And if this entire method is struck down, it could be years. Again, I mean, this is a guy whose crime was in '81. The conviction was in '83. This has already been going on for decades. California has 600 people on death row. They're executing people at less than once a year. So if this is delayed longer than today, it could be months, it could be more years. So, yes, presumably, he will be executed at some point, but by no means clear when.

O'BRIEN: What I don't understand is this drug, Pavulon, which as you point out, they don't even allow it used in animals...

TOOBIN: Right.

O'BRIEN: ... because it's supposed to be so painful for animals. There's -- aren't there other drugs where you could so heavily sedate someone that they would essentially just sort of slip into death? I mean, aren't there just so other medications?

TOOBIN: You would think. You would think. But it is harder -- it is harder than you think. The Supreme Court is probably going to deal with this issue shortly, because lots of cases from different states, from Tennessee from California, are challenging the death penalty protocol.

I was reading the briefs in the cases, and you would be surprised how difficult it is, at least based on the science that's presented in court, that you -- that it's harder to execute someone painlessly than would seem likely.

O'BRIEN: It's so interesting when you hear cases like this -- not necessarily this case, but where the family members sort of think our child died in a horrible, painful way. There was not one person who was concerned about her pain, the victim's pain. And now we're all debating the criminal's pain and no one's debating whether or not he did it.

TOOBIN: And the victim's family was there last night, so they went through the emotionally wrenching experience of going to San Quentin, getting ready for this, you know, death that was apparently going to proceed. Now they have to leave again. I mean, you know, the cost to them is significant.

O'BRIEN: And it's got to be weird for them to think, boy, a lot of effort being put into the criminal's -- concerns about the criminal's pain as they put him to death, when not much thought was put into the victim's death. I would imagine, right?

TOOBIN: Indeed. It's an ugly scenario.

O'BRIEN: Jeff Toobin, as always...

TOOBIN: All right.

O'BRIEN: Thank you for explaining it all. We appreciate it.

Let's get back to Rob.

MARCIANO: Coming up, why did the government suddenly reclassify thousands of pages of public documents? We're going to look at that controversy.

And later, one country questions the safety of U.S. beef and what it means for the beef industry here at home.

All of that and more, coming up on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us. (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 this morning, we're talking about the bird flu and fears -- is this nation ready if, indeed, there is a pandemic, as many experts are predicting? We're going to talk about disaster preparedness with an expert coming up.

MARCIANO: It seems like every time you -- you know, just a couple of weeks ago, it was in Asia, now it's in Europe.

O'BRIEN: It's definitely spreading. And the question is, OK, if it is definitely coming, are we prepared? We'll talk about that, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. A short break. We're back in a moment.

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