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American Morning

Illegal Immigrants Demanding Path Toward Citizenship; Bad Call

Aired April 10, 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: And picking up the pieces of broken homes and lives as another major tornado devastates a Tennessee town, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm Miles O'Brien. We're glad you're with us this morning.

Let's get right to it. Congress may be at loggerheads over illegal immigration, but many of the immigrants themselves are taking action. Hundreds of thousands of them, perhaps even a million, expected in the streets today. All across the country demanding a path towards citizenship. AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken in Washington, where up to 200,000 demonstrators are expected. Allan Chernoff in New York for more on those protests as well. Let's begin with Bob.

Bob, good morning to you.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

And of course the Washington Mall has such symbolic significance. There have been over the decades huge political rallies here that have inspired social change, and now another movement's going to try.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): Even before today's major rallies, demonstrators jammed the streets in Dallas on Sunday. They were there in Miami, too, and Long Island, New York.

It is impossible to document how many of the marchers are undocumented, taking a risk by going public.

Regardless, today organizers hope for a massive turnout across the country. They march as the Senate stalls, unable to agree on legislation that would allow many illegals to seek citizenship, a concept that's rejected by a majority in the House.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sends a horrible message. It sends a terrible message to every single person who has ever come in this country the right way.

FRANKEN: Some Democrats join the Republicans in acknowledging that the tide of illegal immigrant is out of control and presents security risks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I agree, enforcement is key and security is key. But let's do it comprehensively. Let's have a holistic approach.

FRANKEN: The Senate has run into the kind of wall that would be the envy of those who want to protect U.S. borders.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Democrats put political advantage over the national interest.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: What happened is the Republicans reached an agreement with Democrats, and then they couldn't hold the Republicans together.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: Well, as the demonstrators come together by the hundreds of thousands, they hope, they want to demonstrate that political gamesmanship will not be tolerated, particularly by Hispanics who have become, Miles, the nation's largest minority.

M. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken on the Mall, thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: It's expected to be a similar scene in New York today. More than 100 organizations are mobilizing people to take part in a massive march across the Brooklyn Bridge, right into Manhattan.

CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff is live for us in New York this morning.

Hey, Allan, good morning.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

We're actually going to have three marches here in New York City. One across the Brooklyn Bridge, a second down from Chinatown, and a third from Greenwich Village. They'll be converging here at City Hall Park, and the marchers will be saying illegal immigrants simply want a shot at the American dream.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Marabeth Sanchez (ph) is only 12 years old but she has a message for Washington.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are not criminals. We just follow our dream.

CHERNOFF: Marabeth is the daughter of Fernando and Anna Sanchez undocumented immigrants who illegally crossed the U.S. Mexican border 15 years ago. Fernando Sanchez works on construction sites says he didn't have the option to come to the U.S. legally and only intended to stay for a few years. But after having four children, all U.S. citizens because they were born here, Fernando wants to remain in America legally and says he wants to live the American dream.

FERNANDO SANCHEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): For me it means to be able to have progress, to have a better life than the one I would have in my country.

CHERNOFF: The entire Sanchez family will march on city hall Monday joining thousands of expected protesters to support the right of illegal immigrants to seek U.S. citizenship. Community activists Ana Maria Archila says illegal immigrants are eager to have their voices heard.

ANA MARIA ARCHILA, LATIN AMERICAN INTEGRATION CENTER: They don't feel like they don't come here to break the law, but they come here to do jobs that are hard jobs, that are low paying -- low paying jobs that are really risky jobs and they feel like there is a lot of lack of gratitude from the members of Congress that are instilling fear and hatred against immigrant communities.

CHERNOFF: Ana Sanchez agrees and says life is hard as an illegal immigrant. She and her husband live in constant fear of deportation and they have not been able to visit their family back in Mexico for 15 years but it's all worth it she says to raise her family in America.

ANA SANCHEZ, UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We have to struggle and that you cannot give up for what is good for -- I cannot give up for what is good for myself, for my husband and for my children.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: The Sanchez family's hoping today's rally motivates Congress to create a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Allen Chernoff for us this morning, Allan, thanks -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Talk of a U.S. strike against Iran is ill informed. That's the White House response to a report the U.S. is planning to bomb Iran's nuclear sites. They say the president's priority is to find a diplomatic solution. But the "New Yorker" magazine claims the administration has not ruled out using nuclear weapons.

Seymour Hersh wrote the story. He tells CNN's Wolf Blitzer the Pentagon seems to be in an operational stage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: What you are saying here is that there are American forces clandestinely already inside Iran?

SEYMOUR HERSH, "THE NEW YORKER": That's what I'm saying.

BLITZER: Do you want to elaborate on that? HERSH: Well, I'll tell you one thing that's very interesting to me, that they're not special forces. They're regular military, and that's part of the Rumsfeld notion that all military guys are potentially special forces, and I think it is fraught with danger. But they're there, and we're not saying anymore more specifically about where they are or what they're doing. Nobody wants to see anybody get hurt, but they are there, and the American public should know it. Because I assure you, the Iranian government knows it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: "LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER" can be seen from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time every Sunday. We'll talk live with Seymour Hersh, who broke that story in Iran. He'll be our guest in the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING.

The administration's tactics in making the case for war in Iraq also on the front burner this morning. At issue, the White House leak identified a CIA operative to undermine a critic of the war. There's mounting pressure now for full disclosure from President Bush.

CNN's Ed Henry live now from the White House with more.

Good morning, Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

That's right, President Bush facing tough questions again this week about the CIA leak case. And you think back to the Clinton administration, one of the raging controversies centered around what the meaning of "is" is. And this time now, we seem to be engaged in a semantical debate about exactly what the definition of a leak is. This sparked, of course, by the revelation last week that Scooter Libby, the former top aide to the vice president, has now been indicted, has testified that the president himself basically authorized the release of highly sensitive information about the war in Iraq, about the push by Saddam Hussein for weapons of mass destruction.

Even though the president himself denounced such leaks, the White House tried to make a distinction, saying that the president basically has the legal right to declassify such information, so it's really not a leak.

Democrats insist, though, that the president was leaking information for political purposes, and they seem to get some ammunition yesterday from a key Republican, Senator Arlen Specter, on a Sunday talk show, basically saying he thinks it was a leak. Quote: "The president may be entirely in the clear, and it may turn out that he had the authority to make the disclosures where were made, but that it was not the right way to go about it, because we ought not to have leaks in government. We ought not to have them."

This story not about to go away, especially because on Wednesday, Scooter Libby will have a new court filing that's bound to spark a whole new round of questions -- Miles. M. O'BRIEN: It will be interesting to see what's in that filing. We'll all be watching that one.

Ed Henry at the White House, thank you -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Some residents across the southeast are busy cleaning up today from severe weather. In Tennessee, 12 people were killed when tornadoes swept across several counties, right in the middle of the state.

At least four tornadoes hit Atlanta's northern suburbs. No serious injuries reported there.

Severe weather also reported in northern Alabama. Three tornadoes struck near Charleston, South Carolina, too.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: It was a life and death emergency, but a 911 operator dismissed it as a prank call. A young boy of Detroit dialed 911 when his mother needed help, and fast.

But instead, he got a scolding and a threat to call police.

CNN's Fredricka Whitfield has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One afternoon in February, 5-year-old Robert Turner found his mother unconscious in their Detroit apartment.

ROBERT TURNER, CALLED 911: I had felt her tummy, she wasn't breathing. And I had called 911. Tell them that send an emergency truck right now.

WHITFIELD: But the 911 dispatcher didn't take Robert seriously.

DISPATCHER: Emergency 911, what is the problem?

TURNER: My mom has passed out.

DISPATCHER: Where's the grownups at?

TURNER: (inaudible)

DISPATCHER: Let me speak to her. Let me speak to her before I send the police over there.

WHITFIELD: The police were not sent. Some three hours later, Robert called again, with the same result.

TURNER: (inaudible)

DISPATCHER: I don't care. You shouldn't be playing on the phone. Now put her on the phone, before I send the police out there to knock on the door and you're going to be in trouble.

TURNER: Ugh.

WHITFIELD: When police finally arrived at 9:22 p.m., they found 46-year-old Sherrill Turner dead. The family is now planning a wrongful death lawsuit against Detroit Police.

PATTERSON: This was a child calling. There was no laughter and he repeated what he was saying.

TYRONE PATTERSON, VICTIM'S SON-IN-LAW: Everyone should be trained to treat every situation as an emergency. People do not just call 911 as a joke. My mom is passed out. The message was clear.

WHITFIELD: The union that represents dispatchers says about a quarter of all 911 calls are pranks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That operator could have had five prank calls, kids calling prior to that call and please don't -- think that I'm trying to make an excuse, you know, that was a tragedy.

WHITFIELD: The dispatcher who took the second call, an 18-year veteran remains on the job.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know that operator. I know she is a very good operator. She is very thorough.

WHITFIELD: Detroit Police say the department is investigating the handling of the calls. For Robert, now six, the rights and wrongs of the case are less important than the sadness he feels.

TURNER: Every time somebody talk about her, I just bust out and start crying.

WHITFIELD: Fredericka Whitfield, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: The family's attorney says he is filing a wrongful death lawsuit against Detroit police today. Coming up in the next hour, the boy and his attorney will talk with Soledad live.

S. O'BRIEN: What a brutal story. What an absolutely brutal story.

Ahead this morning, the harsh realities of the Iraq War are coming the halls of West Point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to do your job, you want to do your job well, but at the same time, you're afraid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Straight ahead, cadets speak out about what worries them the most about heading off to Iraq.

And Carol has this.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: An interesting twist, Soledad, in the Duke rape investigation. Eight photos have mysteriously surfaced. Lawyers say they prove the alleged rape victim is lying. More in three minutes.

M. O'BRIEN: And later, a tornado tale with a twist. How the destruction of one family's home may have saved another man's life.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: A lawyer for one of the Duke lacrosse players in the middle of that rape allegation says he's got pictures that tell a different story.

Carol Costello looking into the latest developments in the newsroom with that.

Hello, Carol.

COSTELLO: I know. Can you believe it, these eight photos just suddenly appear, and we're finding out about them this morning.

Remember, this woman claimed she was raped by three members of the Duke lacrosse team inside of a bathroom between midnight and 12:45 a.m. But lawyers say -- lawyers for the team, I should say, say they have evidence to refute that. They have eight photographs showing the alleged rape victim at different times during a 41-minute period, and supposedly one of these photos shows the woman wasn't even in the bathroom at this particular time.

Now the photos show that the woman injured, supposedly, before she ever arrived at the party. They show she has bruises on her leg, a cut on her foot, and also the lawyers say they showed she was visibly impaired. In fact, she fell several times as she went into the house. While she was inside of the house whit a negligee performing for these lacrosse teams members, she also fell. This is according to the team members' lawyers, keep in mind.

Now, we don't know exactly who took the photos, but they were taken by two different cameras, and we assume they were taken by several team members, and the photos are time stamped, but of course the lawyers would have to prove that the time stamps are the actual time that the pictures were taken.

Now, these photos are going to be released later today, at the very same time the DNA test results are going to be released, and that should happen sometime later this afternoon. But the lawyers say, Miles and Soledad, that these pictures show that the alleged rape victim is indeed lying about what happened that night.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, remains to be seen. S. O'BRIEN: No big shocker from the other side that they're saying that. But you're right, we'll wait and see.

Carol, thanks.

(CROSSTALK)

(NEWSBREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Well, one network is making a pretty bold move to change the way you watch TV. Hit shows headed to the computer, and it's all free. Great, right?

Well, Andy's "Minding Your Business." He'll check it out.

Plus, the Page Six gossip column, well, now it's page one news. "New York Post" gossip columnist is accused of extortion. Could he be a victim in the case? We've his side of the story, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Well, it's perfect fit. Phil Mickelson, the man they call Lefty, is now a two times Master champion. He's on a roll generally. After beating the field by two strokes on Sunday. Mickelson winning three of the last nine majors. He had been 0-42 before that. I guess you could say the logjam has been broken.

You saw there Tiger Woods putting the jacket on him as last year's champion. Could not drain a putt to save his life. You putt for dough, right? Some days are better than others in the putting department, right?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, he said that his father should be ashamed of the way he putted. His father who is sick with cancer, and he said, oh, my father would be so embarrassed with the way I putted during the tournament today.

(MARKET REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: There's a new twist in that Page Six scandal at "The New York Post." The "New York Post" has Page Six, which is a big gossip column. Well, the gossip columnists who's at the center of it all is now saying, hey, I'm the victim. We'll tell you why just ahead.

Speaking of juicy gossip, there's a rumor that Tom and Katie -- we like to call them "TomKat" -- are sticking to Scientology tradition, and planning for a silent birth. Hah hah, hah hah hah, is all I have to say to that. What is a silent birth? I think it means you're not allowed to yell and scream.

M. O'BRIEN: It's something a guy made up, that's all we can say.

S. O'BRIEN: Exactly, must be. So must be. Get the epidural. It won't hurt at all. We're going to take a look, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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