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American Morning

Immigration Battle; Third Arrest Could be Coming Soon in Duke Rape Investigation

Aired May 15, 2006 - 07:00   ET

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

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ed Henry at the White House, where CNN has confirmed the president will call for deploying the National Guard to secure out border with Mexico. But is the military already stretched too thin?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Ed Lavandera in El Paso, Texas. Is adding more National Guard troops to the border the answer to stopping the flow of illegal immigration. One west Texas town remembers how that plan turned deadly several years ago. That story's coming up.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Dan Lothian in Peabody (ph), Massachusetts, where some people are being told, be ready to move out at a moment's notice, this after days of heavy rains, and it's not over yet.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And Katrina cough and much worse. Families devastated by Hurricane Katrina now find growing health concerns over what was left behind.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And we're watching a rumbling volcano in Indonesia. Ash and rock raining down on villages. All that ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien

M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien.

Thousands of National Guard troops are headed south to defend the U.S.-Mexico border. President Bush set to unveil the controversial plan tonight in a primetime speech on immigration from the Oval Office. It will happen at 8:00 Eastern Time. The president is hoping to win support for immigration broader reform by using the National Guard. Several Democrats, though, some Republicans as well, opposed the idea saying -- calling on the Guard is not a good idea. And it's not sitting too well with the Mexican president, Vincente Fox, either. President Bush also is expected to push for allowing undocumented immigrants to get temporary work permits. Some in the business community favoring that idea.

CNN White House correspondent Ed henry joining us with more.

Ed, good morning.

HENRY: Good morning, Miles. A senior administration official does confirm that in fact the president tonight will call for deploying National Guard troops, but that it will be less than 10,000 National Guard troops. That's only about three percent of the National Guard troops the U.S. has, and that they will be in a, quote, "supportive role." So they will not be apprehending illegal immigrants. Instead they will by assisting Border Guard, Border Control Guard, already there along the U.S.- Mexico border.

Now the president giving the 21st nationally televised primetime address of his presidency. He's only going to raise the political stakes on an issue that is already dividing the Republican Party, but a senior administration official here says it's crunch-time on this issue.

The president gambling that if he gets tough on illegal immigrants with this plan, it will make it a little more palatable for conservatives on the Hill that are concerned that that guest worker program will not get tough enough.

The president already hearing, though, from his Mexican counterpart, Vincente Fox, that he does not think this will work. Very concerned. A 30-minute phone call yesterday between the U.S. president and the Mexican president. President Bush stressed to his Mexican counterpart that the National Guard will just be supportive. That's a point also made yesterday by the National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley right here on CNN's "LATE EDITION."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN HADLEY, NATL. SECURITY ADVISER: It's not about militarization of the border, it's about assisting the civilian Border Patrol in doing their job, providing intelligence, providing support, logistic support, and training in these sorts of things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now Democratic and Republican senators are already charging that the National Guard is already stretched too thin. But a senior Bush aide insists that this will not affect military operations or planning for the hurricane season just about two weeks away -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Ed Henry at the White House, thank you very much.

The immigration debate resumes this afternoon in the Senate. Some prominent Republicans and some Democrats against sending the Guard to the border. Conservatives behind it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL FIRST (R), MAJORITY LEADER: The only thing that we can do to secure or borders right now is to give our states help, and that is best done through the National Guard. SEN. HARRY REID (D), MINORITY LEADER: As a result of the war in Iraq, so overextended, so deleted in numbers and in equipment, I don't know how in the world we could ask them to have this additional burden.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Texas Republican John Cornyn says Americans won't accept a reform bill if the border is not secured. But Nebraska Republican Chuck Hagel says the National Guard is already stretched too thin -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Might have to wait until tonight to find out exactly how many troops, in fact, National Guard troops the president is talking about. But as of last September, there were about 450,000 troops in the Army and Air National Guard, 78,000 of them deployed overseas, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Pentagon tells CNN, in theory, it could support a force of up to 10,000 troops on the border.

Let's get to a CNN Fact Check now. A handful of National Guard troops already working on the border in fact, assisting the Border Patrol.

Ed Lavandera is live for us in El Paso, Texas, on the U.S. border with Mexico.

Hey, Ed, good morning to you.

LAVANDERA: Good morning, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of the thousands of Guards that would back up the Border Patrol. I mean, how -- what is the security situation right now with the troops that are helping out already?

LAVANDERA: Well, right now, it's very minimal, anywhere Between 100 and 200 National Guard troops that are working along the border, but of course this is a 2,000-mile border that makes up the border with Mexico. So there's a wide, vast region.

But this isn't new either. There are similar plan that was done with regular military and the 1990s, was brought in to help with drug interdiction and those sorts of things for several years, until it was stopped in 1997.

S. O'BRIEN: So, how many -- if the Pentagon's saying we could release up to 10,000 troops to be focused on that 2,000-mile stretch of border, what kind of a dent -- I mean, what kind of help could they really be to the border patrol?

LAVANDERA: Well, the critics of this idea along the border say that, look, it's just way too much space for -- you know, if you bring a thousand troops down here, for example, that's one troop for every mile of the border. And much of this terrain is very rugged, very vast, very remote, that they don't think that makes that much of a difference, so they say, you know, why bring them in? That it's just going to cause more problems for them and people who live along the border year in and year out.

S. O'BRIEN: What are the numbers we're talking about? How many illegal immigrants come across the border? And how many of them are arrested, and stopped and then returned?

LAVANDERA: Right. The Border Patrol estimates that they captured 1.2 million illegal immigrants last year. They also say that half a million evaded arrest, although I think you you'll find many people who have a harder time putting an exact total on that figure, that perhaps we have no idea how many people are able to evade arrest, given just how many millions of illegal immigrants live in this country right now.

S. O'BRIEN: Ed Lavandera for us at El Paso, Texas this morning. Ed, thank you. Appreciate it.

A reminder, CNN's essential coverage of the president's speech begins at 7:00 p.m. Eastern with "SITUATION ROOM," then we've got the president's remarks at 8:00 p.m., followed by a special "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" at 8:30. At 9:00, LARRY KING is live with more on the debate over border security. At 10:00 p.m., a special edition of "ANDERSON COOPER 360" -- Miles.

Well, as they say, operators are standing by. It is deadline day for that new Medicare prescription drug plan. About five million older Americans eligible for the plan have yet to sign up. Now all you need to do is call Medicare's customer service line. If you miss the deadline, however, you face a penalty. That number is 800-633- 4227. Once again, 800-633-4227.

A third arrest could be coming very soon in the Duke rape investigation. The Durham D.A. Michael Nifong is pushing to indict a third lacrosse player in the alleged rape of an exotic dancer at a party in March.

CNN's Jason Carroll live now from Durham with more.

Good morning, Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Miles.

Defense attorneys have prepared themselves for what may come later today. They expect Durham's district attorney, Michael Nifong, to present a case to the grand jury and seek a third indictment against a Duke lacrosse player.

On Friday, the D.A. did release the second round of DNA test results. Defense attorneys say that those results were inconclusive. Even though the report does name a third duke lacrosse player, someone whose DNA material was found on the victim's, the alleged victim's, fake fingernail, but defense attorneys say the report shows genetic material was found in the young woman that does not match any player, including the two players that have already been indicted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE CHESHIRE DEFENSE LAWYER: We now find that they did retrieve male genetic material from a single source, a single male source, from vaginal swabs, and that that source has been named in this report, is a person known to the Durham Police Department, but is not any of the Duke lacrosse players.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: And of course we wanted to hear from the district attorney, Michael Nifong, but repeated calls to him were not returned. Defense attorneys waiting, at this point, to see if he'll have anything at all to say to the grand jury later today -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Jason, give us a sense of the timetable here. How likely is it the district attorney will actually seek this indictment today? And will that actually -- well, it's hard to predict what happens with the grand jury, but when will we hear?

CARROLL: Well, if we are going to hear something, it will be today, possibly early in afternoon. And again, The defense attorneys say it is very likely that the D.A. Will present something to the grand jury.

You'll remember that the alleged victim in this case said it was three Duke lacrosse players who raped her, and throughout this entire time that we've been down here in Durham, the D.A. has made it very clear that he's going to be very aggressive in terms of pursuing the Duke lacrosse players in this particular case -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Jason Carroll in Durham, thank you -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: States of emergencies right now in Massachusetts, and New Hampshire and southern Maine. Hundreds of people taken to flood shelters with the help of the National Guard.

AMERICAN MORNING'S Dan Lothian is live for us in Peabody, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston.

Hey, Dan. What's the latest where you are?

LOTHIAN: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, still a mess here. The rain kind of slowed down a little bit earlier this morning, and now is starting to come down quite heavy. I am in the town center of Peabody. As you can see, it looks like a river flowing right through it. In some spots, it's only about a foot or so deep. But two-plus feet as you move on down the side streets.

Just to get a good sense of how deep it gets, check out that white car down there. It just -- it almost seems like it's about ready to go all the way underwater. A problem across New England. Not only here in Massachusetts, but in New Hampshire, and also in Maine, parts of Maine, as states of emergency are declared in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and the southern part of Maine. Hundreds of people have been evacuated. Of course, some of the biggest problems that a lot of businesses and homes have been flooded, in particular the basements of a lot of homes have been flooded.

And also a lot of roads simply impassable. As in this area right here, where the entire town center area has been shut down. There are a lot of communities that you can't get access to them. There are also some bridges that have been washed out, as well.

The number-one concern for the past couple of days, though, continues to be the dams. Massachusetts, in fact, all across New England, you have older dams, and there's a concern that with so much pressure building against these dams that they could give way and create an even bigger problem than we currently have -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Dan Lothian for us this morning. Dan, thanks a lot.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: All week in our 9:00 Eastern hour, we're going to do a special thing, our "30, 40, 50" series. Today, we're going to look at finances. From debt to college savings, retirement and real estate, we hope to give you some common sense advice. We have experts on the set to answer your questions. You can begin e-mailing us now. AM@CNN.com is the address, or we're unveiling the new toll free number today. 877-AM6-1300, 877-266-1300. Don't call yet, though. We'll start taking the calls 9:00 Eastern hour. You can go ahead and send an e-mail for now -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, the president set to go on national TV tonight, going to talk about immigration. We'll take a look this morning at the politics behind the speech, why he's talking about this right now.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT: I'm Bob Franken in Hamilton, Ohio. Here in the Heartland, we're far from the border, but not far from the hard feelings about immigration. That's coming up.

M. O'BRIEN: And later, troops on the border. It might make some feel safe, but it sends chills down the spine in one border town. We'll take you to a place where they won't forget a terrible mistake that left an innocent teenager dead. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: President Bush tonight to unveil a plan to send thousands of National Guard troops to help secure the U.S.-Mexican border. The immigration debate is raging all across the country, far beyond the border states.

AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken joining us this morning from Hamilton, Ohio.

Good morning, Bob. FRANKEN: Good morning. And we're coming to you, Miles, from the county jail, which has become a symbol here of policies about immigrants that are intentionally harsh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): Butler County, Ohio is not near any border, except Indiana and Kentucky. Welcome to America's heartland, unless you're an undocumented immigrant. Then, the welcome mat has been rolled up. Just ask Beatriz Martinez. She's been in the county jail for five months, and says that federal agents caught her with false Social Security cards. She's Guatemalan, in the U.S. illegally for two years, most of it in Ohio, all of it in fear.

BEATRIZ MARTINEZ, UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT: It's been hard, because you worry all the time about immigration. When you hear about immigration, you say, oh my God, maybe they come get me. You know, you never know.

FRANKEN: Outside the jail, the sheriff has put up signs, advertising that illegals end up here.

SHERIFF RICHARD K. JONES, BUTLER COUNTRY: You can't come here and just steal our benefits and steal our citizenship away. You have to earn that.

FRANKEN: Butler County is more than 90 percent white, more than two-thirds Republican. It's the crucial base in the crucial election state. And party leaders are deeply concerned that unless the president backs tough action on immigration, there could be dire consequences for the GOP.

MICHAEL A. FOX (R), BUTLER COUNTY COMMISSIONER: It doesn't do you any good to energize your base if your base has left you, for you to sit home, or they're going to the other side to vote.

FRANKEN: Advocates for immigrants charge that political leaders are being demagogues.

LOUIS VALENCIA, ATTORNEY: You know, I think it's sad, because I don't believe that the politicians are necessarily saying or doing what they truly believe. I think they are -- it's all part of a political game for them.

FRANKEN: As for Beatriz Martinez, she's simply had enough.

MARTINEZ: I really want to go back do my country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: So the plans are to deport her in about a month. In the meantime, officials from the president on down are trying to come up with policy that can finesse the issue about immigrants like her -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken in Ohio, thank you very much -- Soledad. S. O'BRIEN: Tonight's immigration speech comes just hours after the Senate takes up its immigration plans. Some analysts say the president is looking for conservative support, going for the middle ground between the Senate plan and the House bill.

CNN's senior political correspondent Candy Crowley in Washington D.C. for us this morning.

Candy, good morning. Nice to see you.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POL. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Good to see you.

S. O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of why right now? Is it all timed to what the Senate's doing? Is that essentially the audience the president is looking for?

CROWLEY: Actually, I think the audience the president is looking for is the House. The Senate can probably pass a bill which is more to the president's liking. It's the House which is the problem. And as you know, the Senate and the House have to come some agreement on a single bill before they send it to the president.

What seems to be happening here, you notice that all the talk running up to this speech tonight is about sending National Guard, getting -- to the border, getting tough along the border. That's a message aimed directly at conservatives in the House who have been very staunch in their position that this bill ought to contain border security. Now it'll have more than that in it. But this is the sort of thing that perhaps can provide cover to some of those House conservatives and get them to vote for a bill that does have some sort of pathway to citizenship.

S. O'BRIEN: Do you think that this is a risky topic for the president? There's another theory, of course, that says when your poll numbers are 32 percent, not that risky.

CROWLEY: I'm sort of along those lines. I mean, I don't think that we can discount that this is an issue that the president has, in fact, talked about since he was governor of Texas.

I recall covering his re-election campaign for governor in Texas, and had a line that said, you know, family values don't stop at the Rio Grande. People are coming here because they want a better life, and there's a better life here, so we have to take that into account as we deal with this issue of illegal immigration. It's a line he still uses. So it's something that he comes at from a personal basis.

Having said that, is there some risk? Sure, the House can say, hey, forget about it. In fact, the Cynics in Washington will tell you that the House will pass their very strict bill on border security again, and the Senate will pass its bill, and that's where it will lie for the rest of the election year. The optimists say that with the president's help, and he was urged to do this by members of the Senate, with the president's help, perhaps there can be some cover provided for House conservatives, and they can get something done. S. O'BRIEN: Critics have said militarizing the border is not the solution. Is that kind of criticism really gaining strength and gaining legs?

CROWLEY: Well, it seems to be. I mean, that's the first right out-of-the-box criticism, but the numbers that we're hearing from Ed Henry and his reporting is less than 10,000. And as I understand it, that's something that the National Guard said they could handle.

Nonetheless, any time you -- the idea of militarizing the border, we saw with the call from Vincente Fox, the president of Mexico, that it takes on a more hostile feel to it, that at least the wording does. So it's something that one has to be very careful about, particularly in an administration that is often accused of overreaching militarily.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. We'll see what the real numbers are tonight. Candy, thank you very much.

CNN's coverage of the president's speech begins at 7:00 p.m. Eastern with "THE SITUATION ROOM," and then the president's remarks at 8:00 p.m., followed by a special "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" at 8:30. At 9:00, Larry King is live with more of the debate over border security. And then at 10:00 p.m., the special edition of "ANDERSON COOPER 360" -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, a gritty new war documentary on HBO made with the blessing of the U.S. Army, but now some Army officials may be having second thoughts. We'll tell you why.

And later, did Hurricane Katrina leave part of the Gulf coast toxic? A closer look at some serious health problems in one small Mississippi town. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, much more on the president's plan to send U.S. troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. We're going to take you live to the Pentagon, find out whether the move stretches U.S. troops too thin.

Plus this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not worried about myself, but my grandkids and the younger ones is what worries me, because they have a lifetime to live through this, you know; they've got a long ways to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: A Mississippi town plagued by serious health problems after Hurricane Katrina. Toxic chemicals are in the ground. The government says everything is OK. We do our own Fact Check, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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