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Congressman Patrick Kennedy Involved in Accident on Capitol Hill; Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Draws Fire at Speech in Atlanta

Aired May 05, 2006 - 07:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Congressman Patrick Kennedy involved in an accident on Capitol Hill. He says he wasn't drinking; he was medicated. Did he get special treatment from the cops?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Incoming. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld draws fire at a speech in Atlanta, many in the crowd calling him a liar. We'll check the facts.

A whiff of cold air. The vice president, Dick Cheney, taking a nasty swipe at Mother Russia, accusations of intimidation and blackmail.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm carol Costello. Paying more for a plumber these days? Blame it on high gas prices. The story coming your way.

S. O'BRIEN: And welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.

Police say he looked intoxicated, but Congressman Patrick Kennedy says it wasn't alcohol, but rather his prescription medications that made him crash the car in the wee hours of the night at the capital. Congressional correspondent Dana Bash live now on Capitol Hill.

Congressman -- excuse me, Dana, what's the Congressman saying about all of this?

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi. Good morning, Miles.

Well, let me tell you quickly what happened, which is it was about 3:00 yesterday morning that the Congressman crashed his car into a security barrier right outside the Capitol, and law enforcement officials who were not there but briefed by officers on the scene say that they detected he was intoxicated.

Well, late last night after huddling with advisers all afternoon, he issued a second statement saying that, in fact, what had happened is he had taken two prescription drugs, Phenergan for nausea and also Ambien, both prescribed by the Capitol physician.

In that statement, he said, "Sometime around 2:45 a.m. I drove the few blocks to the Capitol complex, believing I needed to vote. Apparently I was disoriented from the medication. At no time before the incident did I consume any alcohol."

Now after the accident, Miles, the police simply drove him back to his house. That is raising a lot of questions about why that happened, whether he was given a pass because of who he is.

Last night, coming out of his office, the Congressman denied that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PATRICK KENNEDY (D), RHODE ISLAND: I'm sorry. To keep you up so late.

I have a statement that's been released, and that's about all for tonight.

QUESTION: Congressman, do you think you got preferential treatment from the police?

KENNEDY: I never asked for any preferential treatment.

QUESTION: Do you think you received it?

KENNEDY: That's up to the police to decide. And I'm going to cooperate fully with them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: now what's so controversial is that he was not given a sobriety test, despite the fact that even by his own admission, he was clearly disoriented. Apparently standard procedure was apparently not followed, and that is certainly raising a lot question about exactly what happened and why in those early morning hours -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, I guess one of the standard procedures in that case would be a field sobriety test, and that did not happen, did it>

BASH: It did not happen. And essentially, what we're told in terms of what did happen is that the Congressman was driving, he was swerving, and an officer in his car actually had to follow him, even put his lights on and pursuit for a short while until the Congressman actually crashed into the barrier, and then the officers on the scene called their supervisors to come, which is standard operating procedure, but his supervisors were told essentially to take care of the Congressman, and that meant driving him home. That is really raising -- it's a controversial issue, especially inside the law- enforcement community right now.

The rank and file, many of them, are simply saying that that is not the way things should be done. I talked to a top congressional official briefed on this last night. He said, look, that's the old way of doing things. There should be zero tolerance for that kind of thing these days.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, we'll be watching. Dana Bash on Capitol Hill for us this morning. Phenergan and Ambien, probably not a very good combination.

Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen at the CNN Center with more on how mixing these two drugs could be trouble -- Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Miles. Both can make you drowsy. As we just heard from Dana, the congressman was taking Ambien and Phenergan. Both of them, he said, prescribed by the attending physician of the U.S. Capitol. Now -- the U.S. Congress rather.

Now we all have heard about Ambien and the sleepwalking and sleep even sleep-driving reports that have come from people who are using it.

Let's take a look at Phenergan. It was first approved in 1951, so this drug has been around for a long time. It is both an antihistamine and an anti-nausea drug. The Congressman said he was taking it for nausea and gastroenteritis, and It can cause severe drowsiness when combined with alcohol or with other drugs. Now, in fact when it is combined with other drugs, such as Ambien, it can in fact cause even more drowsiness -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Elizabeth. With two drugs to make you drowsy together, how is it possible he ended up behind the wheel of a vehicle? You think he would have been passed just out.

COHEN: Well, not necessarily. Not necessarily passed out so much that he couldn't drive. It can just make you drowsy and kind of disoriented. That was the word he used, but not necessarily so much that you'd actually be fully asleep.

Let's take a look at some of the warnings that are on the Phenergan label. First of all, it says can cause severe drowsiness and reduced mental alertness, may cause drowsiness, which may impair your ability to drive a car, and that the side effects can be worsened if taken with anti-anxiety medicines, sleeping pills, pain medicines, sedatives, narcotics, antidepressants, but you'll notice the sleeping pills in there. So it does say right on the label that that drowsiness can be worsened if taken with sleeping pills, and there's also warnings on the Ambien label about combining it with other drugs.

M. O'BRIEN: There it is in black and white. And of course you referred to just a few moments ago. We've been doing those stories about in some cases people taking Ambien, having episodes where they sleepwalk.

COHEN: That's right. And sleep-driving and sleep-eating. That's right, that's what the reports have been, that people take Ambien, and they don't realize that in the middle of the night they're walking around or they're eating. Some people have said that they're driving a car, and they're disoriented and don't even realize what they're doing. That's something that came out just in March.

M. O'BRIEN: Elizabeth Cohen in Atlanta, thank you very much.

COHEN: Thanks. Coming up in our next hour, we're going to talk to the roll call reporter who broke this story initially. Stay with us for that -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, already fending off calls for his resignation, found himself on the defensive again in Atlanta. He was heckled by opponents of the war in Iraq. Among them, was Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst, who asked him about previous claims weapons of mass destruction were in Iraq. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAY MCGOVERN, FMR. CIA ANALYST: Atlanta, September of 27, 2002, Donald Rumsfeld said -- and I quote -- "There's bullet-proof evidence of links between al Qaeda and the government of President Saddam Hussein."

Was that a lie, Mr. Rumsfeld, or was that manufactured somewhere else? Because all of my CIA colleagues disputed that, and so did the 9/11 commission.

And so I would like to ask you to be up front with the American people -- why did you lie to get us into a war that was not necessary, that has caused these kinds of casualties? Why?

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECY. OF DEFENSE: Well, first of all, I haven't lied. I did not lie then. I'm not in the intelligence business. They gave the world their honest opinion. It appears that there were not weapons of mass destruction there.

MCGOVERN: You said you knew where they were.

RUMSFELD: I did not. I said I knew where suspect sites were, and we were...

MCGOVERN: Sir, you said you knew where they were, near Tikrit, near Baghdad, and northeast, south and west of there. Those are your words.

RUMSFELD: My words -- my words were that -- no, no, no. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Let him stay one second. Just a second.

MCGOVERN: This is America, huh?

RUMSFELD: You're getting plenty of play, sir.

MCGOVERN: I'd just like a honest answer.

RUMSFELD: I'm giving it to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Time to get a fact check from this from our senior Pentagon correspondent this morning, Jamie McIntyre, is there.

Good morning to you, Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: I guess the first question I have for you is what seems to be an issue in that question, is did the secretary lie or not? Let's go back, as they say, to the videotape, go back to 11 days after the U.S. invaded Iraq. George Stephanopolous was, in fact, interviewing the secretary of defense.

Here's the question and the answer. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOLOUS: And is it curious to you that given how much control U.S. and coalition forces have in the country they haven't found any weapons of mass destruction?

RUMSFELD: Not at all. If you think -- let me take that both pieces. The area in the south, and the west and the north that coalition forces control is substantial. It just happens not to be the area where weapons of mass destruction were dispersed. We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad, and east, west, south, and north somewhat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: So is the CIA analyst, right? Did the secretary lie?

MCINTYRE: Well, he is right. And in a sense that he is learning something we've all learned in questioning Rumsfeld, that when you question him about something he said, you better have the quote accurate, and he does.

What Rumsfeld is saying is that when he said, we know where they are, what he was referring to were the sites where the weapons were believed to be based on the intelligence, not absolute knowledge of the intelligence. It is a fine point that Rumsfeld's making. Usually he's very precise in what he says, so that he can't be pinned down later. In this case, he wasn't precise, and it's coming back to haunt him.

S. O'BRIEN: Another quote that we heard from that CIA analyst talked about bulletproof evidence of links between al Qaeda and the government. He said, I'm quoting now, "Did, in fact, Secretary Rumsfeld say that there were bulletproof links between Iraq and al Qaeda?"

MCINTYRE: Well, again, Mr. McGovern was citing from Rumsfeld's own remarks. He had the date, the time in Atlanta. And what Rumsfeld said there when he said, "I'm not in the intelligence business," what he was saying was that he went, he and Paul Wolfowitz, went to the CIA, and said, giver me some things that are bulletproof that we can say about al Qaeda links with Iraq, and he says given four or five sentences. But again, in this case, he is saying, I wasn't in the intelligence business; I was asking for the intelligence. Of course, Mr. McGovern was in the CIA, and he says that runs contrary to what he believed the intelligence really showed.

S. O'BRIEN: So big picture takeaway? What kind of position, what kind of shape is the secretary of defense in?

MCINTYRE: Well, you know, it's interesting, again, he is very careful when he said -- you notice for instance that he said, it appear that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In his mind, he still hasn't ruled that out. So he'll continue to pick his words carefully, try to keep himself in the position where he can defend what he says. And at the moment, he still enjoys the support of President Bush.

S. O'BRIEN: I guess some people call that high deniability, right, as long as you pick the right words. Jamie McIntyre for us this morning, Jamie, thanks -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Some rising tensions with an old cold war foe. Vice President Dick Cheney in Lithuania taking aim at Russia, accusing President Vladimir Putin of rolling back reforms and rights, and using its oil and gas reserves as a tool for blackmail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, VICE. PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: Other actions by the Russian government have been counterproductive, and could begin to affect relations with other countries. No legitimate interest is served when oil and gas become tools of intimidation or blackmail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Senior international correspondent Matthew Chance in Moscow.

No sugar coating there, Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And there's been a sharp response to what are the strongest words from any U.S. official in the past several years about Russia. The Kremlin has issued an early response, saying the ideas are subjective, full of inaccuracies and don't represent the actual situation on the ground in the region.

The Russian media, though, has perhaps been most indignant about this. There's a big sense amongst the ordinary Russian population that the United States is somewhat patronizing towards it, and so we see a lengthy official in the official daily newspaper, the "Russkaya Gazeta," saying that, "We are being asked to deny ourselves and to take orders from those who know better and will decide everything for us." That representing their -- reflecting the concerns amongst many Russians about how the United States speaks about Russian democracy and about how it uses its natural resources, and obviously this issue will somewhat strain ties between the two countries -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, and it's interesting the timing, isn't it, Matthew. In July, St. Petersburg, Russia, the Industrialized Nation Summit will take place. This has got to increase the tension in the run-up to that.

CHANCE: Yes. It's going to ratchet up tensions ahead of a summit between President Bush and the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Certainly Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin want the meeting to go as smoothly as possible.

The other big issue regarding the timing is the fact at the moment there are very intensive negotiations under way with Iran. The United States, of course, at the Security Council, wanting to push a much tougher line when it comes to Iran and its controversial nuclear program. The country perhaps standing in the way more than any other of the United States getting what it wants with Iran is Russia, and so many analysts here in Moscow saying this is perhaps an attempt by Dick Cheney to put more pressure on Russia to comply with the U.S. position on that country.

M. O'BRIEN: Matthew chance in Moscow, thank you very much.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: You know you're paying through the nose at the gas pump, but from plumbers to pizza, you might be surprised how much of the financial pie taken is being away from you by gas prices.

S. O'BRIEN: Also, at half past the hour this morning, we're going to preview today's big jobs report, see what it means for President Bush and Republicans come November.

M. O'BRIEN: About 30 minutes from now, why one woman is spending every day in bed, all for the greater good of space exploration.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Latest CNN gas gauge this morning, the national average is $2.92 a gallon for regular unleaded. A month ago, it was $2.59. A year ago, it was $2.21. You'll remember in the last hour, we chatted with a gas station owner in Brooklyn. This morning, he's told us he's dropped the prices about one cent. Still really high, though.

Let's get back to David Goldsmith.

Hey, David, thanks for sticking around with us all morning.

DAVID GOLDSMITH, GAS STATION OWNER: Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: Let me ask you a question about that one penny. Describe for me and explain to me the forces behind what you makes you eventually, at the end of the line there, drop it a penny.

GOLDSMITH: I didn't quite catch the end of that.

S. O'BRIEN: Why do you drop it a penny? I mean, give me a...

GOLDSMITH: Why do I drop it a penny?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

GOLDSMITH: Well, what I do is try to keep a formula in place that keeps me at least somewhat viable here, and so I have a percentage and I call every day and get the price of -- well, I call when I'm making an order for fuel. They give me the price of what's called the rack. And that price is very -- it changes a lot. In fact, yesterday when I called in the morning for an order for today -- or the day before, I got one price, and at the end of the day, I got another price. And you have to be very careful, because if you're a gasoline retailer and you're working on a very small margin, or a thin margin, if you order it and set the price based on that number and it changes, you could actually end up selling the fuel for less than what you paid for it.

So it's something -- so I just kind of keep the formula in place, and it's just so happened that while yesterday morning I thought the price was going up, then it, in fact, came down. I just plug in the numbers and I saved my customers a penny. It's not a lot. On diesel, we saved about three cents. And that's more for the commercial customers, and they really need every ounce of help they can get.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, they sure do because, of course, all of that gets calculated in, and then eventually passed on to the consumer.

David Goldsmith, thank you again. We'll check in with you throughout the morning, asking him some questions about what we're seeing here.

Back to passing on those costs. Let's get right to Carol Costello. She's got a look at how we're all feeling the pinch, right, Carol?

COSTELLO: We are feeling the pinch. You know I what want you to ask that guy why charge .9. You know it's 2.99.9. Why not get rid of the .9. Why, like, nickel and dime me that way? That's what I really want to know.

Anyway, gas prices are so high that it's being passed on to other products. For example, if you order a pizza nowadays and look at your pizza bill, you're probably going to go, oh, my gosh, what happened? But if it takes gas to deliver the goods, you are going to pay more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO (voice-over): You know you're paying more at the pump, but you may not know that it's also costing you elsewhere.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, 35 to 40 minutes.

COSTELLO: For example, if you order a pizza from Michael's Pizzeria in West Caldwell, New Jersey, a pie that used to costs $11.55 will now cost you $13.55. Why the increase? To pay for fuel. MICHAEL STANZIONE, PIZZA SHOP OWNER: It's an additional $2. We usually charge a dollar, and now from $1 we raised it to $3.

COSTELLO: Michael raised his delivery charge about six weeks ago, and says all the money goes to his drivers.

STANZIONE: The delivery guys, they use their own gas, and you know, they always come back to me, we got to get a few extra dollars, you know, to make them happy.

COSTELLO: Pizza places, florists, even plumbers, anyone who delivers something is passing along the high price of gas.

Richard Fertel runs a plumbing business. He added a fuel surcharge last fall.

RICHARD FERTEL, PLUMBING COMPANY OWNER: We tacked on it was $5 at that time.

COSTELLO: Recently he'd been thinking about lowering that surcharge, but now...

FERTEL: We are thinking possibly of raising it as gas prices are going to start to go up.

COSTELLO: Richard says he's not just feeling the burden of filling up the nine vans, he's paying more for supplies, too.

FERTEL: Plumbing suppliers, heating suppliers, the gentleman who does the landscaping at my house.

COSTELLO: Michael tells the same story.

STANZIONE: My food suppliers and my produce people, and then I have my bread guy, too, that charges me extra for fuel.

COSTELLO: Both says their customers have questioned them about the surcharges, but understand their explanations.

While Richard says he may raise the surcharge again, Michael has some encouraging news.

STANZIONE I don't think it will go higher. You can't charge, what, you know, $5 extra for fuel on one pizza that has a $10 value.

COSTELLO: And he says this is temporary. When gasoline prices drop, his delivered pizzas costs you less dough.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: But a part of me believes if you raise the price on goods, $1 or $2 and you get customers to buy the products still, even if gas prices would go down, why drop the price? I mean, your customers are already used to paying that much. So why not use it as an excuse to charge more, even when maybe you don't have to. But that's just the cynic in me talking, keep in mind. S. O'BRIEN: Yes, well, we have to wait and see. Thanks, Carol -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: The White House has been under fire for high gas prices, to say the least, but the president could get a boost this morning from today's big jobs report. Andy Serwer has a preview for us.

And later, pushing the envelope, by staying under the covers. Three months in bed so that others can safely go to the moon or Mars, Alice. You'll meet one of the intrepid mattress-nauts, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Three days of public hearings into January's Sago mine disaster now over. It ended pretty much as it began, tears, hugs, lots of emotion and some open questions. AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken joining us live now from Washington with more -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, when the regulators here in D.C. or West Virginia come up with the solutions, or their proposed solutions, to what occurred at Sago, they will have the benefit of an unprecedented hearing, which featured direct, tough questions from those who have suffered the most.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEGGY WARE COHEN, MINER'S DAUGHTER: You owe us answers and the truth, and we deserve the truth. And when you go home to your families today, think about us not going home to our families.

FRANKEN (voice-over): For three days in Buckhannon (ph), West Virginia, the victims' families, who suffered unimaginable grief in January, got to chance to demand answers.

DEBBIE HAMNER, MINER'S WIFE: Can you tell the families what murdered our men?

Nobody wants to respond to that?

FRANKEN: The mine's operator, International Coal Group, says it believes the disaster was caused by nature.

BEN HATFIELD, PRESIDENT/CEO, INTL. COAL GROUP: ICG firmly believes that lightning created the ignition.

FRANKEN: Many of the family members made it clear, they believe the cause was the company's disregard for safety.

ANN MEREDITH, MINER'S DAUGHTER: I don't believe that lightning had anything to do with it.

FRANKEN: Lightning is just a working theory, the company says.

HATFIELD: ICG never taken the position that the investigation into the Sago mine accident has been finished, or that we have made -- or that we have all the answers.

FRANKEN: While the debate went on and on, one indisputable fact on display was that the families' searing pain has not subsided.

SARA BAILER, MINER'S DAUGHTER: Why was my mother widowed at age 51, after 32 years of marriage? And why will I have to explain to my future children their grandfather is gone?

PAM CAMPBELL, MINER'S SISTER-IN-LAW: I believe it's unfortunate that it took this accident to make the coal companies listen. I think that technology is so far advanced that there was no reason for these miners to die in this explosion.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: Now the regulators will try and learn the lessons of the Sago mine disaster, and they'll have the benefit this time of unprecedented participation in all of this by the families who suffered from this tragedy -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Bob. We're going to hear from some of them in just about 45 minutes. Forty-five minutes from now, we'll talk to the brother and sister of one of those miners killed back in January -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, Congressman Patrick Kennedy in a car accident on Capitol Hill. He's blaming prescription drugs he was taking, but police never did a sobriety test. Did he get special treatment? We'll take a look at that.

Plus, Elizabeth Smart talks to CNN's Larry King, telling him she's finally able to move past her kidnapping ordeal. We'll have her story just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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