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American Morning
Tracking Americans; Florida Interstate Closed
Aired May 12, 2006 - 06:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: General Michael Hayden, the man President Bush wants to head the CIA, on Capitol Hill this morning. His visit comes after reports the National Security Agency is keeping logs of your phone calls. Hayden helped develop that phone database program as former head of the NSA.
The Pentagon looking at providing security along the Mexican border. An official is now asking the Defense Department to use the military to patrol borders, possibly the National Guard.
It could be another down day on Wall Street. The Dow industrials dropped more than 140 points yesterday. Apparently they're worried about inflation.
Good morning to you, Friday. I'm Miles O'Brien. We're glad you're here.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.
Air Force General Michael Hayden heads to Capitol Hill again this morning. Hayden's the president's nominee, of course, to head the CIA. Some members of Congress a little upset about the latest reports about the NSA's domestic phone bank program. Hayden headed the NSA.
AMERICAN MORNING'S Bob Franken is live in Washington, D.C.
Hey, Bob. Good morning.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Well, it's that old story for the administration. Cheer up, they said, things could be worse. So they did. And sure enough, they were.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN (voice over): Another day, another accusation that President Bush is overseeing what many consider an intrusion into the very precious right to privacy. Phone calls are supposed to be private, after all.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The privacy of ordinary Americans is fiercely protected in all our activities. We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans.
FRANKEN: Except that these stories keep popping up, and no one really denies that communications are being monitored a lot more closely than many realize. So add this to the list of the administration's political problems, and wind up the sound buttons.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Enough is enough.
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), VERMONT: Where does is it stop?
FRANKEN: The next stop will probably be next week's hearings on General Michael Hayden's nomination to lead the CIA, the same General Hayden who used to head the same National Security Agency that is so much a part of this latest uproar.
GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN, CIA DIRECTOR NOMINEE: All I would to want to say is that everything that NSA does is lawful and very carefully done, and that the appropriate members of the Congress, House and Senate, are briefed on all NSA activities. And I think I'd just leave it at that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: Well, he might want to leave it at that, but, Soledad, this is much more than the war on terror here. We're talking about political war.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes. That's a tough war to fight there.
What do you make of the timing of this report? I mean, obviously, it's just ahead of the confirmation hearings.
FRANKEN: Gee, what a coincidence.
S. O'BRIEN: Huh, how about that?
FRANKEN: Yes. Well, you make of it what you want. The leaker is not coming out and saying, yes, I timed this in connection with the hearing, but if you don't think that happened, well, I have some land around the National Security Agency.
S. O'BRIEN: For sale. And a bridge in Brooklyn you're looking to sell, too.
Bob Franken for us this morning.
Thanks, Bob.
President Bush expected to sign a $70 billion tax cut package into law next week. The measure was approved by the Senate. The vote was 54-44, largely along party lines. Republicans say the extensions will spur economic growth. Democrats say they cater to the wealthy.
A few key provisions, it extends the 15 percent tax rate for capital gains and dividends through the end of the decade. It also spares 15 million mild class taxpayers from the very unpopular alternative minimum tax. And it extends provisions for small businesses to write off investments -- Miles. M. O'BRIEN: Happening "In America," in Toledo, Catholic priest Gerald Robinson facing 15 years in prison now. He was convicted yesterday of killing a nun on Easter weekend 26 years ago.
In the mountains west of Denver, a casino bus and a truck collide on a windy canyon highway. Ten hurt, two of them critically. The accident shut down Colorado Highway 119. That's the primary highway to the gambling towns of Black Hawk and Central City.
Kinky Friedman one step closer to tossing his cigar into the ring for the race for Texas governor. The author, entertainer -- you might call him eccentric -- handed in a ballot petition with more than three times as many signatures as needed. Now, someone asked Kinky how he got all of those signatures. His reply, and we quote, "Thank god for bars and dance halls."
Go Kinky.
And how is this for a milestone: Elizabeth Stefan, Norwalk, Connecticut, turned 111 -- 111 years old Thursday. There was a birthday celebration, including a cake at the nursing home where she lives. My she is spry. She credits her longevity to a lifetime of clean living.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH STEFAN, 111 YEARS OLD: I don't have any secrets. I never drink. I never smoke. I was a good girl all my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: God bless you!
Elizabeth was born in Hungary in 1895. I always like it when you see the centenarians and you ask them, they say, "Drink and smoke every day." You know, trust me, a couple of glasses of Jack Daniels...
S. O'BRIEN: No, she said she's a good girl.
M. O'BRIEN: She said just the opposite. She said just the opposite.
S. O'BRIEN: Never drank, never smoke, and she's 111.
M. O'BRIEN: Wow. Fantastic.
Those -- oh, let's listen.
(MUSIC)
S. O'BRIEN: Guess who got her star.
M. O'BRIEN: I guess we know now. Nancy Sinatra got a star. I would say it's past due, wouldn't you say?
S. O'BRIEN: Yes. I'm surprised. I thought she had one already.
M. O'BRIEN: I mean, come on. Frank's daughter gets a star finally on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It's to celebrate the 40th anniversary of that song, "These Boots are Made for Walking."
Of course you kids out there associate that with Jessica Simpson.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes. So not.
M. O'BRIEN: But this is the "Real Boots are Made for Walking" person, folks. She takes her place on the street right next to Dear Abby and Hugh Hefner.
S. O'BRIEN: That's interesting company.
M. O'BRIEN: You just never know who you're going to see on the sidewalk there, right?
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, exactly. Exactly.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's get right to the forecast. Chad's got that.
Hey, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Something seem wrong when Ryan Seacrest gets a star before Nancy Sinatra.
S. O'BRIEN: I thought she had a star.
MYERS: Don't you think?
M. O'BRIEN: Exactly.
S. O'BRIEN: It's terribly wrong.
M. O'BRIEN: I mean, really.
MYERS: Well, congratulations to her.
M. O'BRIEN: Forty years from now, who's going to know Ryan Seacrest? That's the question I'll ask.
MYERS: Oh, every -- every kid.
S. O'BRIEN: You're right. Just...
M. O'BRIEN: My kids, you're right.
MYERS: Yes, exactly.
M. O'BRIEN: OK. Never mind.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MYERS: Back to you guys.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad. Thanks.
MYERS: You're welcome.
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, we're going to take you live to Florida. Remember, we've been talking about those wildfires all week. Well, we will tell you the latest on what's happening there. That's coming up next.
M. O'BRIEN: President Bush with an approval rating that is going even lower. How low can it go? We'll tell you what the issues are that are weighing him down. You probably know.
S. O'BRIEN: And separation surgery today for these conjoined little girls, 5 months old. We'll tell you about their chances for survival in this dangerous surgery.
First, though, a look at some of the other stories that are making news on this Friday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: After months of preparations, conjoined twins will be separated at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. The procedure gets under way in just a couple of hours.
The 5-month-old girls, Abigail (ph) and Isabel Carlson (ph), are from Fargo, North Dakota. They're joined at the abandon and the chest. The surgery today could last about 12 hours. Doctors say there's a 95 percent chance, though, that both girls are going to survive this surgery.
We could learn more today about an 8-year-old Afghan boy who's coming to the United States for heart surgery. Doctors are supposed to hold a news conference later today.
His name is Mohammed Omar. He's got a congenital defect that limits his blood flow. It doesn't allow him to run or to play. The little boy first got attention at a U.S. military hospital about a year ago, and now the boy's medical costs are being played by the Larry King Cardiac Foundation, which, of course, was founded by Larry King.
M. O'BRIEN: Wow.
S. O'BRIEN: Nice little boy.
M. O'BRIEN: Good work.
S. O'BRIEN: And there's so -- you know, there's so many little kids like that in Iraq and Afghanistan who need that kind of help.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: We profiled some other kids who had similar issues. So good for them.
That's good.
M. O'BRIEN: A quick look at our top stories. Correspondents all around the world for CNN looking at some things. And we go from Iran to Iraq to Egypt.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Aneesh Raman in Tehran. Amid the current nuclear dispute between Iran and the West, a big question here is, where do Iranians get their news about the outside world?
Newspapers here all have explicit bias, the TV news channels are all state run. Outside channels like CNN, we're told, at are times scrambled by the government. So it is the Internet where Iran's young and educated youth are finding the news they want.
There are sites that are blocked by the government -- if you look up anything on Iranian resistance, for example. But the young people we spoke to say they have ways around it, and the Internet as well gives them a chance to talk openly with the opposite sex, something they cannot do as freely out on the streets.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Arwa Damon, embedded with the 101st Airborne in Kirkuk, Iraq. This is a clearing operation happening in the industrial zone just south of the city. The road behind me which runs through the center of the industrial zone has been the site of, according to the U.S. military, numerous IED roadside bomb attacks. The U.S. military says that it believes that some bomb-making material may be stored in the buildings and factories around here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: For on these and any of our top stories, we invite to you head to our Web site, CNN.com.
S. O'BRIEN: There's good news. New technology could make lost luggage a thing of the past. So why is it taking so long to come to an airport near us?
M. O'BRIEN: Is it lost? Maybe.
S. O'BRIEN: Then later, a heart-warming bond between a third grade class and their soldier penpal in Iraq. We're going to tell about you the kids and the surprise they're about to get.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) M. O'BRIEN: Good morning, Jacksonville, where the temperature right now is 64 degrees, 54 percent humidity, wind out of the west at 10 miles an hour.
S. O'BRIEN: Go, Chad.
M. O'BRIEN: It's going to be 80 degrees, sunny and clear there. Don't you just want to be there, right there on that beach right about now?
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes. And Friday, I'm in love. It's all true. It's all true.
Welcome back, everybody. Let's get a look at our top stories this morning making news.
Sad news to begin with. Four Marines killed in Iraq. An incident apparently happening -- it was an accident is what we're being told. The U.S. military says the tanks they were riding in rolled off a bridge, and just now the family members are being notified.
Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher is facing some charges that could push him out of office. The governor has been indicted, accused of rewarding political supporters with state jobs.
And a political mile stone for President Bush. Not a good one, though. The new Harris interactive poll shows that the president's job approval rating has fallen to its lowest ever, 29 percent -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Once again, work crews are hard at it, getting to work along Interstate 95 in eastern Florida. Crews trying to cut down some fire-damaged trees that are obstructing the road. That debris prompting them to shut down the interstate along the space coast, as it is called.
We get more from Tarik Minor of our affiliate WKMG.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TARIK MINOR, REPORTER, WKMG (voice over): A firefighter with the Division of Forestry uses a timber-marking gun to paint trees along I- 95 weakened by the pioneer trail brushfire. Some of these trees are as high as 80 feet tall, ravaged by flames. And with their roots exposed, they could topple onto the interstate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just had a tree fall just less than five minutes ago 100 feet behind us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right across the highway?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It did not fall into the highway, but it's falling into other trees.
MINOR: Falling trees often create a domino effect, putting additional stress on other weakened trees, one right after the other. The trees that had been deemed dangerous will be cut down along a mile and a half stretch of Interstate 95.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The volume is less than we expected, and the backups on -- we expected miles of backup on I-95 getting off on these exits. We have had it.
MINOR: Troopers say they're pleased with the I-95 detour, surprised that Florida motorists are finding it easy to adapt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we open it, we may have to close it down again in the early mornings just to make sure we don't have any kind of crashes that we had down in Brevard County.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: That report came from Tarik Minor of our Orlando affiliate, WKMG.
They hope to finish the clearing, have the interstate reopened again by late this afternoon. We'll keep you posted as those fires continue to cause problems...
S. O'BRIEN: What a mess.
M. O'BRIEN: ... in the Sunshine State. Kind of a smoky Sunshine State, although Jacksonville --...
S. O'BRIEN: Jacksonville 80 degrees today.
M. O'BRIEN: ... once again is looking good.
ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE": Friday I'm in love -- that song, right?
M. O'BRIEN: That, too.
S. O'BRIEN: Absolutely.
M. O'BRIEN: In love with Jacksonville.
Hi, Andy Serwer.
S. O'BRIEN: Hi. Good morning.
SERWER: Hey. Good morning, you guys.
So the company's bankrupt and management's asking unions -- the union members to slash their wages. Meanwhile, these guys are getting tens of millions of dollars in bonuses. Is that right?
We'll explore coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: A look now at some of the stories we're working on for you this morning.
New reports on the government's phone call surveillance program. It could impact the president's pick for CIA chief. We'll talk about that.
Four more U.S. Marines have died in an accident in Iraq.
At least 130 people killed in fighting in Mogadishu, Somalia.
An Ohio priest is found guilty of murdering a nun nearly 30 years ago. He plans to appeal his conviction.
And a CNN review finds major holes in New Orleans' hurricane evacuation plans. We're going to tell you what's missing straight ahead.
Also, some news about very generous bonuses in the wake of very severe cost-cutting.
What's that about?
SERWER: Here we go again, Soledad. We're talking about Delphi, which is the bankrupt auto parts maker. It's asking its hourly employees to take a 40 percent pay cut. Meanwhile, we're finding out this week that it is looking to give it's 14,000 top managers $60 million in bonuses.
Now, that sounds like a lot of money, but...
S. O'BRIEN: How many...
M. O'BRIEN: Six-zero?
SERWER: Yes, $60, but it sounds like a lot of money...
S. O'BRIEN: Well, $4,000, right? How much is it?
SERWER: ... but you break it down, it's only $4,300 a person, which is pretty nice. But it's not as big as it sounds when you divide it...
M. O'BRIEN: It's not a McGuire.
SERWER: Right.
Now, it's also giving its top 500 managers $36 million, which works out to be a lot of money. So -- but the question always is here, what do you do with management in a bankrupt company? I mean, they're going to leave unless you pay them.
S. O'BRIEN: Right.
SERWER: So it's interesting. And the company says that its hourly employees make above industry wages, whereas its salary wages -- salaried employees, excuse me, make below industry wages.
M. O'BRIEN: Not anymore.
SERWER: Not anymore.
Here's what the union said: "These bonuses are inappropriate, unjustified, and disgusting."
S. O'BRIEN: There is an element of, you know what, if the company's not doing well, why bonuses?
SERWER: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: You know, like, isn't a bonus like a tip? You know, you get bonuses for good service.
SERWER: Yes, right.
S. O'BRIEN: You've done well, the company's done well, your hard work has made it successful, ergo, bonus. It didn't do well, no bonus.
SERWER: Right.
M. O'BRIEN: Or what it is, bribery to stay, right? I mea, that's what it is, essentially.
S. O'BRIEN: Incentive.
SERWER: Incentive. You're getting so good at this business stuff. You really are. You really are.
S. O'BRIEN: I love your job, man.
SERWER: You're really getting good.
M. O'BRIEN: You didn't like that "B" word, did you?
S. O'BRIEN: Well...
(CROSSTALK)
SERWER: Let's move on here and talk about another company in the news, United Health. And we've been talking about this is "Mr. Show Me the Money McGuire." Remember, he ended up with $1.6 billion of stock options.
S. O'BRIEN: And then the investigation began.
SERWER: And then the investigation began. We told about you that yesterday.
Now, listen to this...
M. O'BRIEN: Wouldn't use the "B" word there, would we? No. No.
SERWER: Oh, well. Now the company is saying that, guess what, there is "significant" deficiencies in handling its option program. Well, we could have told you that.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, duh! I mean...
S. O'BRIEN: And then they're going to have to go back and restate their earnings for 2003, 2004, 2005 to the tune of, get this, $286 million.
S. O'BRIEN: So they have to down -- downward...
SERWER: Yes. We actually didn't make $286 million. It's all gone. It's missing. We don't have it. It's not there.
S. O'BRIEN: You know, the question is...
SERWER: We paid these guys a lot of money, but...
S. O'BRIEN: ... do you think you can sort of do this and just sort of get away with it? I mean, like people wouldn't figure out...
SERWER: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: ... that you've got the options on the best -- I mean, come on.
SERWER: Right. It's preposterous that they would have done this. And now, actually, they're doing an investigation...
S. O'BRIEN: Like the fact that I'm guessing this business news...
SERWER: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: ... that's -- you know, I know anything about business. Come on!
SERWER: The auditor, Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: It's just a side job for you.
S. O'BRIEN: Craziness. No, it's so obvious.
SERWER: Yes. It's so obvious. That's really the bottom line. You're right.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, man. All right.
M. O'BRIEN: You don't have to be a weather guy to figure this out.
Chad Myers...
MYERS: Yes?
M. O'BRIEN: ... how are you?
MYERS: I'm doing great. M. O'BRIEN: Good. It's Friday.
SERWER: How's your bonus, Chad?
(LAUGHTER)
M. O'BRIEN: That's a trick question.
MYERS: That is a trick question.
SERWER: I'm sorry. You don't have to answer that.
MYERS: The bonus is when I go home and look at my little young daughter walking around.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, good answer.
M. O'BRIEN: Good answer. Very well done.
S. O'BRIEN: Good answer.
MYERS: And she's not even watching yet.
Good morning, everybody.
(WEATHER REPORT)
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