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American Morning

American Law Enforcement Kills Man Suspected of Immigrant Smuggler; Searching for Jimmy Hoffa

Aired May 19, 2006 - 08:00   ET

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

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Peter Viles at the Mexican border in San Ysidro, California, where authorities are investigating today a fatal shooting. American law enforcement shot and killed a man suspected of being an immigrant smuggler. 9 That story coming up.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And what led the FBI to that Michigan horse farm in their search for the body of Jimmy Hoffa? We'll examine what they're calling a strong clue.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: There could be some trouble at the place they call supermax, that super prison out there in Colorado. Apparently a shortage of guards keeping an eye on the likes of Ted Kaczynski and Eric Rudolph.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Elizabeth Cohen.

Should you vaccinate your 9-year-old daughter against a sexually transmitted disease?

I'll have some answers, coming up.

S. O'BRIEN: And the wait is finally over. "The Da Vinci Code" is now playing. We're going to hear from the film's director, Ron Howard, just ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning.

Welcome everybody.

I'm Soledad O'Brien.

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

Welcome to Friday.

President Bush is asking for nearly $2 billion to pay for border security. The president called on Congress to pass a guest worker program as part of any border control package. This as he toured the border in southwestern Arizona yesterday. Seventy thousand illegal immigrants were caught near Yuma, Arizona in 2005.

Investigators, meanwhile, at the U.S.-Mexico-border in California are in the midst of an investigation. They're talking to five men this morning in connection with a deadly shooting and a wild chase. The men were in the back of an SUV. It was chased down by authorities, stopped about 100 feet from the border. They were on the U.S. side. The shooting happened at the San Ysidro, California border control. That's San Diego to Tijuana. If you've ever been to that place, you know how busy it is. It is the busiest border crossing in the world, bar none.

Peter Viles is there -- Peter.

VILES: Well, Miles, there is no question that this black SUV was headed toward Mexico-and, as you said, was about 100 feet from getting there. There's nowhere else to go on this road but Mexico.

The vehicle had been chased for about five miles by the Border Patrol. They cornered this guy, pulled him over on the right-hand side of the road, just short of the border, and were trying to talk to the driver, had the car surrounded.

At that point, Border Patrol says the driver lurched to the left, apparently trying to drive back into traffic. And that's when Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection opened fire.

The driver was killed immediately. The five others in the vehicle were not shot and as you said, were taken into custody for questioning.

M. O'BRIEN: Peter, what do we know about, first of all, how the tip came in and just who these five people are? Are they, in fact, do we know, are they illegal immigrants?

VILES: We don't know for a fact that they're illegal immigrants.

The tip came in about five miles east of here. Somebody saw this SUV picking up these five men. And to that person who saw this happen, it looked to him like they were illegal immigrants who were going to be smuggled further into the country.

So that person called Border Control.

What we know about these people is that there were five of them in the vehicle. They were all taken into custody. None of them were shot during this shooting and there was one person who saw them at a different border crossing. They looked to him like illegal aliens who had been picked up by a smuggler.

M. O'BRIEN: Interesting, Peter, that all of this appears like they were headed out of the United States, toward Mexico.

VILES: Yes. You can drive into Mexico-without stopping at this border crossing. People behind me are doing it right now. And this guy was 100 feet from doing that, but he was surrounded and pulled off on the right-hand side of the road.

So it appeared that his intent was to go to Mexico, but the Border Patrol stopped him.

M. O'BRIEN: Peter Viles right there on the busiest border crossing on the planet. Thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: A big development to tell you about on the cancer front. A new vaccine with the power, potentially, to prevent 70 percent of cervical cancer cases could soon be available to the public.

Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has details now from the CNN Center -- hey, Elizabeth, good morning to you.

This is huge, isn't it?

COHEN: Good morning, Soledad.

It is huge and it would be a first, a cancer vaccine to be given to children and to teens. And what it would do is it would prevent infection, in many cases, of the human papilloma virus. That's the virus that causes cervical cancer.

So, in a way, you can think of it that cervical cancer is sexually transmitted. Men give it to women.

So, let's take a look at what the plan would be if, indeed, this gets approved by the full FDA. It's already been approved by a panel.

The plan would be to vaccinate girls perhaps as young as nine years old, because the trick is you want to get them before they become sexually active. This would protect against 70 percent of cervical cancers. That means that they're caused by two strains of the human papilloma virus. It would also help prevent against genital warts.

Now, this vaccine appears to be very safe, to have very few, if any, side effects. But there is one big question -- who would pay for this? This vaccine will cost between $300 and $500. It is not clear if insurance would pay -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: A big question there.

Elizabeth Cohen for us this morning at the CNN Center.

Elizabeth, thanks.

COHEN: Thanks.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Happening in America now, unclear if that hot tip, apparent hot tip on the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa will lead to any pay dirt. The FBI will be back down on the farm again today, digging once again for what they hope is the remains of the former Teamsters' boss. The farm, a horse farm, is very close to the restaurant where Hoffa disappeared in 1975.

In Fort Worth, Texas, a family claims a pedicure killed their mother and now they're suing the salon. The woman's foot was cut with a pumice stone. She died of a heart attack triggered by a staph infection. The suit claims the spa violated state cleanliness laws. No response from the salon, however.

A hero's widow facing possible deportation. The husband died Sunday while trying to rescue two boys caught in a riptide off San Francisco. The couple was married recently, but did not file permanent residency papers. The widow may now be deported to Kenya.

The federal prison that is called the most secure in the nation, supermax, is dangerously low on prison guards. Colorado's prison is apparently suffering from staff cuts. Supermax is home to the most dangerous criminals, including the Unabomber and al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, most recently.

Let's get a check of the forecast now.

Chad Myers still out today.

And Rob Marciano is in -- hello, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Miles.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, domestic spying took center stage at the CIA confirmation hearings.

Will concerns about peeking in on Americans hurt Michael Hayden's chances? We'll take a look at both sides. They weigh in, next.

M. O'BRIEN: And it's a very important election. Really, the future of a city hangs in the balance.

What will New Orleans' voters decide? Who will be their next mayor?

S. O'BRIEN: Then, "The Da Vinci Code" finally in theaters today. CNN's Brooke Anderson sat down with Director Ron Howard. Find out what he thinks about some of the criticism.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Good news at the White House this morning. The president's overall approval rating up ever so slightly, but up by a couple of points.

Does this mean Mr. Bush is getting some traction, perhaps, out of the immigration debate?

That may play in the middle, but what about the right-wing of his party, where they're concerned about what he's saying about that issue? And what about that domestic spying issue? Is that playing in?

Paul Begala is a Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator. We barely need to introduce him.

And Terry Holt is a Republican strategist.

They join us, both, from Washington.

Good to have you both with us.

Let's begin with you, Terry.

TERRY HOLT, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Sure.

M. O'BRIEN: And share with folks, simultaneously, the numbers. Here's what we have. Currently, right now, Americans in our poll, our CNN poll, 36 percent -- that's still a low number -- 36 percent approve, 57 percent disapprove. But you compared that to May 5th through 7th, up two points.

Is this cause for popping champagne corks in the West Wing?

HOLT: No. I mean the number is still within the margin of error. But I'm sure the Democrats wish the election were six days away instead of six months away.

The election season, as it comes to us, there will shake out a choice between Republicans and Democrats. And we still have a clear advantage.

Last night, in fact, the Republican Congress passed a budget and did so ever so slightly, like these poll numbers are up slightly. But it is a signal that Republicans can get up off the mat and fight back. And I think when they do that, when they compare themselves to the Democratic Party, the choice becomes clear and it'll be a real fight on election day.

M. O'BRIEN: Paul Begala, timing is everything, certainly in politics.

do you wish the election was tomorrow?

PAUL BEGALA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Absolutely.

But I think the country would be very surprised.

I think Terry is right, there's -- there's a lot of time left. But the fundamentals sort of baked in here still are not very good at all for the president or for his party.

what seems to be driving this is, first, Iraq, where the people very much think the president is not doing a very good job; gasoline prices, which are not going to come down any time soon by any significant measure; and I'm curious that -- and I think the White House is probably very disappointed, frankly, that the president only got a two point bump which, as Terry rightly points out, is within the margin of error.

He gave a national address to the country, unchallenged. It wasn't a, you know, an interview format or a press conference. And he only got two points from it, which is within the margin of error of the polls.

That tells me that the country is beginning to tune him out, that is to say, that the president's credibility is so shattered now, that even when he gives a carefully scripted, poll tested, focus group driven message to the country, he still can't move the needle. That's a sign this is a failed presidency, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, let's look at some more numbers to talk about that.

When you get into the specific subject of immigration, Terry, when we asked people in this same poll about National Guard troops on the Mexican border, for example, 64 percent of them favor that idea. That's a big number, 64 percent favor, 32 percent oppose. And then, a sort of similar issue, or the related issue that the president has linked to all of this, allowing illegal immigrants in the U.S. to apply for U.S. citizenship. Seventy-nine percent of Americans favor that, 18 percent oppose. The right-wing of the Republican Party has a problem with it.

The point is -- and I think that it buttresses what Paul Begala was just saying, if such huge numbers favor what he's saying on immigration and he gives a speech and he only gained two points, where's the disconnect there?

HOLT: The disconnect is that we still haven't had a big conversation about how to fix immigration in a comprehensive way.

M. O'BRIEN: We haven't?

HOLT: I don't think we have.

M. O'BRIEN: What have we been doing, then?

HOLT: Well, we've been talking about fns, but we haven't been talking about jobs and who's here to do those jobs. The American economy depends on these people to fuel the low income jobs. These people are coming to this country and doing jobs that the American people aren't doing. And if you took 12 million people out of this economy, it would hurt it. And it would hurt it in a profound way.

So we need to have both the border security issue, because it's a national security issue, but also a way to make sure that these jobs are being done. We don't want to leave food in the field in the agricultural industry, and that's what's happening today. And it will happen in an even worse way if we don't have a guest worker program.

M. O'BRIEN: Now, Terry is sounding positively moderate here, Paul.

Let's -- let's lay the groundwork here for the midterm elections. With a lot of people in the right-wing of the party upset with what the president is saying, despite what these poll numbers say, what will happen -- is that likely to impact individual congressional races? Or will they rise or fall on other issues?

BEGALA: Well, the problem the Republicans have is that their most committed supporters -- and many of them, in fact, should be committed, if we had a discontent mental health system -- they're depressed and they're not going to turn out. And that's a big problem for the Republicans. There's nothing Democrats like better than a family feud in the Republican Party of the Cro-Magnons over here and the Neanderthals over there, and they're throwing sticks and stones at each other.

That's great news for the Democrats. The party that wins elections is usually the one that's more unified and more mainstream. And that, right now, is the Democratic Party.

The president's an enormous drag on his party right now. And this is hard for people in Washington sometimes to wrap their mind around, because it wasn't very long ago that this president was at 91 percent. Well, now he's at 36. And he is a dead, lead weight on these guys.

The country thinks the president doesn't tell the truth. Frankly, they can't stand the president. And Republican congressmen and senators are going to have ads, believe me, where they're face morphs into George W. Bush's and they're going to drop like a rock in a well.

HOLT: Well...

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Terry, I've got to give you a final point, because I think he just called Republicans insane Neanderthals.

HOLT: Well, and...

M. O'BRIEN: And I think you...

(LAUGHTER)

M. O'BRIEN: ... you do get a final word on that one.

HOLT: I think -- I think that Paul's party, led by a San Francisco-liberal, is going to scare the heck out of anybody, not just the conservatives. And remember, this president is still essentially a conservative, that Democrats still want to spend more money than Republicans. Democrats are still the party of gay marriage and there's a lot of basic social values issues that are at stake.

And if you let the Democrats in control of Congress, we'll have more taxes, more spending and we'll lose that commitment we have to our national security. And I think that's the choice on election day.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, we're going to have to adjourn it there.

Terry Holt on the Republican side, Paul Begala on the other side of the aisle.

thank you both for being with us this morning. HOLT: Thank you.

BEGALA: Thanks, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: A huge decision for voters in New Orleans. Tomorrow could be the most important election day in New Orleans' history. They're voting for mayor. Lots at stake, though.

Also, doctors say he would not have survived the year. A little boy with a heart defect in the U.S. because of some very kind American soldiers. We'll tell you his story just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE DAVID LETTERMAN SHOW," COURTESY CBS/WORLDWIDE PANTS)

DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST: Here now is the ending of "The Da Vinci Code" with Tom Hanks.

Take a look.

TOM HANKS, ACTOR: Wait a minute. This is what Da Vinci was trying to tell us? He likes tacos! Screw this!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: The ending is supposed to be a secret, I guess. But it is no secret that very big things are expected from "The Da Vinci Code" this weekend, even with some not so great reviews.

CNN correspondent Brooke Anderson has more from the Cannes Film Festival.

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: "The Da Vinci Code" has finally arrived in theaters worldwide. Now, this comes just two days after the movie had its premier here at the Cannes Film Festival. Now, that premier was met with really harsh criticism.

I sat down with "Da Vinci Code" Director Ron Howard.

We talked about the early negative reviews and he also told me if he thinks that will affect the film's performance at the box office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON HOWARD, DIRECTOR: Disappointing, not surprising. You know, you talk to 10 different people, you get 10 different reactions to the novel. And that's the way it's been with the movie. And I really expected that.

There are some that are very unkind. There are some that are praising it. There's a lot that are landing in this middle. And -- which is, I think, very much to -- to be expected. Would I love all glowing reviews? You know, of course. You know what I mean? And I've had that in my career, where they're 80, 90 percent positive and that's a wonderful thing.

I, you know, I never really felt like that's what we were inviting with this story and adapting, you know, the novel. It's a very, very unusual kind of film and it entertains different people in different ways.

People seem to want to be a part of the discussion, you know? And I think that's one of the reasons they've sold so many books. And I really hope it's, you know, it's a reason a lot of people want to experience the movie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Howard also has a suggestion for those who are offended by "The Da Vinci Code," for those who are upset by the story, disapprove of the depiction of Jesus Christ, he said don't go see the movie. He said to wait and then talk to people after they've seen it, discuss it and then make a decision. He said it's that simple.

"The Da Vinci Code" rolls out into more than 3,700 screens in the U.S. this weekend.

Reporting from the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, I'm Brooke Anderson.

S. O'BRIEN: It sounds like she may have liked it a little bit.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: And you know what? And even if the critics hate it, it doesn't necessarily mean it's not going to do well. It could do very well.

M. O'BRIEN: Frequently it's just the opposite.

S. O'BRIEN: Exactly. Exactly.

M. O'BRIEN: So we'll see.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning in our 9:00 hour, we are continuing our series. We call it "30-40-50." And today we're talking about dating and marriage and friendships and divorce in your 30s and your 40s and your 50s.

M. O'BRIEN: We have a couple of special guests joining us. They are experts on this magazine. One of them from "Elle" magazine.

S. O'BRIEN: E. Jean Carroll.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Of course, she gives all the sex and dating advice... M. O'BRIEN: And...

S. O'BRIEN: And she's a crack up. She's a laugh riot.

M. O'BRIEN: And she's fun. That counts, too.

And "Maxim" magazine's John Devore. They are here. They're going to take your questions and we hope you'll participate.

Here's the way you do that.

First of all, there is an e-mail address you can send...

S. O'BRIEN: Am@cnn.com. Just send us an e-mail right away.

M. O'BRIEN: You can do that any time on any subject.

S. O'BRIEN: Any question.

M. O'BRIEN: Any time, ever. Twenty-four hours it's there for you. The phone lines we'll open up in a half hour. 877-AM6-1300. That's 266-1300. So if you have any questions about love, marriage, and, if things go south, divorce, participate.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

We'll talk to you then.

Still to come this morning, thieves, believe it or not, could be using your identity to rob banks. And you know what might be even more scary? They're getting inside help, too. We'll show you how they're doing it. That's just ahead.

Then later in "A.M. Talk," comedian Wanda Sykes -- oh, she's so funny -- joins us to talk about her role in the new animated movie. It's called "Over The Hedge." That's getting some good reviews.

Stay with us.

You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: With the debate over illegal immigration raging in this country, there are all kinds of technological solutions being considered.

But what can employers do to ensure they are obeying the law?

Welcome To The Future.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM: They're here to make money. That's the American way. That's why I do what I do. I just do it legally. When I'm out trying to make a living, doing it the honest way and someone else is shortcutting the rules, then it makes it very difficult for me, as a business owner.

It's going to be a challenge as an employer to verify that the paperwork is true and accurate. The more illegals we have, the tougher it'll become as a legitimate business owner to run-a business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Many employers in businesses like landscaping, construction, food service struggle to stay legit in arenas flooded with illegal workers.

How can employers protect themselves and stay afloat?

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

TAMAR JACOBY, MANHATTAN INSTITUTE: We have 12 million people in this country whose names we don't even know.

M. O'BRIEN (voice-over): Just one reason why Tamar Jacoby of the Manhattan Institute says immigration reform is vital for employers as well as immigrants.

JACOBY: Why are we forcing them to be in the black market when we could have them on the right side of the law, enhancing our security, enhancing our rule of law and actually enhancing workplace relationships?

M. O'BRIEN: Right now, employers can use a government Web site to ensure job seekers are legal. But of five-and-a-half million employers in the country, a mere 5,000 are enrolled in the program.

JACOBY: The databases aren't as accurate as they should be. So right now, it's an experiment on the way to the program that we need.

M. O'BRIEN: If current reform bills become law, the verification system would include biometric I.D. cards to prevent fraud and would make it mandatory for all U.S. employers to screen their workers, from mega corporations to families with household help.

JACOBY: Once you make sure that you can't get a job if you're illegal, that's how you're going to control who comes and who doesn't come.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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