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American Morning

Flooding Fears in Maryland; White House Vs. Press; Flag Burning Ban Fails; Gaza Incursion

Aired June 28, 2006 - 06:29   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening this morning, Israeli troops roll into Gaza in what they say is a rescue mission. Israeli defense forces say they're trying to save an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants last weekend.
The Bush administration expected to issue sweeping new welfare rules today. The rules will require states to move poor people from welfare to work.

And flood fears today in the Northeast as those heavy storms that pounded the Mid-Atlantic work their way up the coast.

Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Soledad O'Brien. Welcome, everybody.

The weather outside is nasty, here in the Northeast at least. And there have been some tragic consequences, too. The search goes on in Rockville, Maryland, for two teenage boys who are missing.

Late last night, engineers found water seeping from a dam, and that forced some evacuations. Let's get right to AMERICAN MORNING'S Bob Franken. He's in Rockville this morning.

Hey, Bob. Good morning. How's it looking there?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, if you look behind me, the skies are clear and blue, and we're hoping that means that the weather is going to improve. Of course, we have people who do that, and we'll find out more about that in a moment.

But as far as the dam is concerned, it is really a lake, Lake Needwood. And it really sits atop Rock Creek. You all know about Rock Creek. It actually meanders throughout, goes through the District of Columbia down the road 20, 25 miles, and into Virginia.

Well, it has really started seeping. And as a result, there was a danger to about 1,200 dwellings in the low-lying areas in about three Montgomery County -- that's a suburb of Washington, Montgomery County district -- so they have evacuated people. Four to 5,000 people were ordered out of their homes overnight.

The police went door to door, telling people that they had to leave. The few who needed shelter have been put up at various schools in the area, and people are hoping now that the weather improves so the dam does not have more problems, because there could be 10,000 people who could be affected if things got worse.

Meanwhile, there have been any number of problems, including two young boys who are missing just north of here in Frederick County. They're looking for them once again, two teenage boys who went down to a creek and have not been seen since.

Meanwhile, in western Virginia, a little girl is presumed lost. She's 8 years old. She had gone down to a body of water, and she, too, is considered missing.

This has, of course, been quite the ordeal that they've had here. The entire area has been hit with over a foot of rain since the weekend, and it has caused all kinds of problems and some unusual tragedies.

Also, up in Frederick County, there were three people who had been trapped in their car. They got out of their car and accepted a ride in the back of a pickup truck, but then the high waters took them out of the truck and they are presumed drowned.

So this has become something that is more than just a curiosity. It has become a very big problem -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: That is just terrible news.

Bob Franken for us this morning from the city of Rockville, Maryland.

Thanks, Bob.

Let's get right to the forecast with severe weather expert Chad Myers. He's at the CNN Center.

Chad, I've got to tell you, behind Bob it looks pretty nice.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. And behind you it looks bad. Except we don't have a camera pointed out the window.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I can attest to that, though.

MYERS: It is pouring in New York City right now. And, like, if you're in New Jersey trying to get to the city, you may want to wait two or three hours because it's all going to clear up.

It's moving as fast away from Bob as it's moving into New York, and then finally gone. And here's all the -- every blue county -- green county you see here, those are flood warnings for that county already this morning, and more warnings to come, for sure.

Here's the rain moving now into New York City. In fact, it's almost moving out of New York City. Just ran right up through and up the turnpike. Now we're seeing New York City and the parkway picking up, the rainfall ending to your south. I guess that's some good news there.

The rain is still in Albany, all the way back down to Binghamton, to Susquehanna, out of its banks here north of Binghamton. Also, the Schuylkill very, very high this morning. I think we have a live shot of the river.

There you go. I'm not sure what town this is, but that's rolling over a low water dam there. WPVI, that's one of our affiliates in Philadelphia. So that's probably really close to the Schuylkill down there as you get into Philadelphia way.

There's an expressway there to the side of it. I'm sure that's where the camera -- but look at that high water. You just can't be anywhere near that water. There's no way to get out of that low water dam right there as that boils over.

That water just tumbles under the water, and there's just no way to get out of that. It's just called a roll as you start to get into that.

So, stay away from the water. You don't know how high it is, for the most part. Don't try to drive into anything because today some of those roads are washed out.

Back to you guys.

M. O'BRIEN: I suspect there are a few kayakers looking at that a little bit tempted, Chad.

MYERS: Yes. No.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Don't do it.

MYERS: Yes. You get where that water rolls over, and it rolls down, and then the water comes in and you just get stuck right there. You can't get out of it.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. I think they call those eddies (ph) or something like that. That's bad. That's bad.

All right. Thank you very much.

On Capitol Hill, the media bashing continues today. Republicans still reeling against "The New York Times." First, the published word of a secret program to comb through our bank records in search of terrorists. Today, a House committee will weigh in with further fury, matching the tone set by the president.

CNN's Ed Henry reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Republicans stepped up their barrage on "The New York Times" for publishing details of a once-secret program tracking the banking transactions of terrorists.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R), INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: If another attack occurs because of this information going out and giving the terrorists at least a leg up in regards to what they know and not know and changing their method of operations, if that attack comes the people who have written these stories and the people who have made their decisions should look in the mirror.

HENRY (voice over): From the president on down, Republicans have been reading from the same script.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The disclosure of this program is disgraceful.

RICHARD CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think that is a disgrace.

REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: Disgraceful and illegal.

HENRY: They're teeing off on media reports questioning the legality of a Bush administration program that uses an international database to review the banking transactions of thousands of Americans. The story was also reported by the "Los Angeles times" and "Wall Street Journal," but the attacks have focused on "The New York Times."

The chance to beat up on a newspaper with a liberal reputation is too good to resist for an administration struggling to keep its conservative base happy.

CHENEY: "The New York Times" has now made it more difficult for us to prevent attacks in the future. Publishing this highly classified information about our sources and methods for collecting intelligence will enable the terrorists to look for ways to defeat our efforts.

HENRY: But White House Press Secretary Tony Snow was less certain than the vice president when pressed Tuesday on what evidence there is the leak has compromised terror probes.

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: None of those things have had time to proceed. So we really don't have any basis right now for knowing exactly how it's influenced things.

HENRY: Snow did charge "The New York Times" endangered lives by bucking a tradition of media organizations agreeing to keep government secrets at a time of war. But "Times" executive editor Bill Keller defended the decision to publish, writing, "I think it would be arrogant for us to pre-empt the work of Congress and the courts by deciding these programs are perfectly legal and abuse-proof based entirely on the word of the government."

(on camera): But unlike the NSA domestic surveillance program, very few Democrats have raised questions about the banking program. Republicans are confident they're on solid legal ground, which is why they're firing away at "The Times." And if they score political points with conservatives along the way, so much the better.

Ed Henry, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Ed's report first seen on "THE SITUATION ROOM." It airs weekdays, 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Senate Republicans failed to get a flag burning ban on the books. This time, they lost, though, by the slimmest of margins.

CNN's Tara Mergener is live for us in D.C. this morning.

Hey, Tara. Good morning.

TARA MERGENER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, this debate rages on year after year. This time, it was a narrow defeat.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And on this vote, the yeas are 66, the nays are 34.

MERGENER (voice over): One vote short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass, the Senate rejected a constitutional amendment that would have given Congress the power to ban burning the American flag.

SEN. ROBERT BYRD (D), WEST VIRGINIA: I believe that amending the Constitution to prohibit the flag desecration flies in the face, the very face of First Amendment right, like freedom of speech.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I didn't raise my hand to defend the flag, I raised my hand and took an oath to defend the Constitution.

MERGENER: The amendment would have reversed the 1989 Supreme Court ruling which said flag burning is a political statement protected by the First Amendment. But opponents of that decision say the national symbol needs to be protected.

SEN. JIM BUNNING (R), KENTUCKY: Mr. President, we owe it to Old Glory to protect each and every one of its stars and stripes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The American flag is a monument, a symbol of our freedom, our country, and our way of life.

MERGENER: With midterm elections just four months away, Democrats call the timing of the debate suspect.

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: No matter how you feel about flag burning, is that a priority issue for right now with all the things we have going? The answer, young man, is no.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MERGENER: President Bush says he regrets the final count fell short.

Live in Washington this morning, I'm Tara Mergener.

Soledad, back to you.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Tara. Thank you very much.

Coming up next hour, we're going to talk live with the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, about this vote and some other issues that are facing Republicans as we get closer to the midterm elections.

And still to come this morning, Israel tanks and troops moving into Gaza to rescue a captured soldier. We'll take you live to Jerusalem with the very latest.

M. O'BRIEN: Then, they don't call him a maverick for nothing. The billionaire owner of the NBA team the Mavericks, Mark Cuban, is teaming up with a former NFL star to pursue hockey.

S. O'BRIEN: And then, how about this? Ooh, that is a face only a mother could -- look how weird his tongue is. We're going to tell you the big award that not so pretty dog has won, right there. Yes, on the underside -- on the underbelly, not any prettier.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, my goodness. There's no good way -- the tongue is something. Anyway, looking forward to that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Israel is taking extreme steps today to try to rescue a captured soldier. Their tanks and troops rolled into Gaza last night.

CNN's Paula Hancocks is live for us in Jerusalem.

Paula, good morning.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Soledad.

Well, the Israeli tanks and troops are currently in southern Gaza around an area called Raffa, very close to the Egyptian border. Now, what we saw in the past 12 hours or so in the early hours of Wednesday morning, we saw Israel air strikes, which, first of all, took out two bridges which connect northern and southern Gaza. So they isolated the two areas.

Now, Israel defense forces say they believe that the kidnapped Israeli soldier they are trying to free is in southern Gaza. Now, also, they took out a power plant, so much of Gaza was without power and electricity for much of the day.

Now, what Israeli forces say they are trying to do is to pinpoint exactly where this soldier is, and they were worried that the Palestinian militants who are holding him were going to try to smuggle him away or smuggle him out of the Gaza Strip. They say this is why they've gone in, to try and squeeze the area where they do believe the intelligence is pointing towards.

Now, Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he won't hesitate at taking harsh action if harsh action is needed. He also said that he does predict that this could continue for some days -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Let me ask you a question, Paula. Do they have any indication that, in fact, that soldier has not been smuggled out of Gaza? Do they have any more indications about if they think he is in still in Gaza beyond southern Gaza, where he could be?

HANCOCKS: Well, the latest Israeli intelligence sources we do have is that he is in southern Gaza. Now, this is -- the main reason for taking out these bridges in Gaza, they wanted to make sure that the area that they believe he is in, which, incidentally, is an incredibly densely-populated area, and a very poor area with many refugee camps around, so very difficult to be able to pinpoint anybody in that particular area. But they do still believe he is there, and that's also why they have cut off the a Gaza Strip from land -- by land and sea, to make sure that he couldn't be smuggled out.

There were worries that Palestinian militants could smuggle him out to Syria, to Lebanon, to Egypt, which would have made it practically impossible for the Israeli military to be able to try and free him -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Paula Hancocks for us this morning.

Paula, thank you for the update -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with a show of support for the president of Afghanistan today. She travels to Kabul.

That tops our stories that CNN correspondents around the world are covering today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Matthew Chance in Moscow.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in back-to-back visits to Pakistan and Afghanistan, two of Washington's closest allies in its war on terror. But relations between the two have been strained in recent months. Afghanistan accusing Pakistan of not doing enough to control the border region separating them, where it's believed that al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are operating from.

Secretary of State Rice, seeking to calm the tension, says it's her view the U.S. has two good friends and two fierce fighters in the war on terror. She leaves Afghanistan for Moscow, for a meeting of G8 foreign ministers to discuss terrorism and action over Iran's controversial nuclear program.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello. I'm Nic Robertson in Baghdad. Already this morning, violence has killed more than three people, wounded at least 20 others. The Iraqi government has announced it has captured a key figure behind the attack on a Shia shrine in the town of Samarra. In February, that attack precipitated an outbreak, a surge of sectarian violence. And on the back of that, the U.N. said more than 150,000 people have fled their homes in Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi. I'm Atika Shubert in Tokyo, Japan, where many are glued to their television sets watching a tearful reunion in North Korea.

Kim Young-nam was kidnapped from South Korea in 1978, when he was 16 years old. He was kidnapped by North Korean agents, part of the country's espionage program. And today, he is meeting his mother for the first time in 28 years.

Unfortunately, this reunion may bring more questions than answers, particularly in the case of another abduction, Megumi Yokoto (ph), a young Japanese girl kidnapped in 1977 when she was just 13 years old. She is believed to have married Kim Young-nam, but according to the North Korean government, they say that Megumi Yokoto (ph) died in 1994 but have yet to provide any evidence of that.

As a result, many here in Japan, particularly the Yokoto (ph) family, are watching the reunion very closely today, hoping for some answers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: For more on these and any of our top stories, we invite you to check out our Web site. CNN.com is the place -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, we are monitoring the flooding situation here in the Northeast. We're going to take you to some of the hardest-hit areas this morning and tell you what's being done to try to keep people safe, too.

First, though, a dangerous scare at the airport. A 3-year-old caught between the police and knife-wielding suspect. We'll bring you that story coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning in Las Vegas, a wild shooting at the airport security line. A man with a knife snatched a 3-year- old then sprinted right past the checkpoint. Police confronted him, shocked him with a Taser.

He dropped the kid, but then lunged toward the trio of officers. That's when they shot him. He survived. No word on his condition this morning. Also in Nevada, a state of emergency. More than a thousand firefighters are trying to contain several fires that were sparked by lightning, apparently. The fires have burned more than 80,000 acres.

And authorities in Rockville, Maryland, are going door to door. They're evacuating residents there. You're looking at some live pictures this morning of the scene. Engineers have noticed a hole in a nearby dam.

Let's get right to the forecast. Chad's got that. He's at the CNN Center this morning.

Good morning, Chad.

MYERS: Good morning, Soledad.

At least the rain now for Baltimore, Rockville, D.C., you're all done. The rain has moved way on up toward the Northeast. In fact, it's almost done for New York City.

I think we have a live picture out the window of our building there from New York City, Columbus Circle. Old Chris (ph) getting a little rain shower this morning, and so are the people there around New York City.

The heavy rain, though, just about out of your way, New York City. It's going to get up into Albany and Binghamton, Schenectady, and all the way up through Saratoga Springs. Heavier rain up there still.

But New York City, in about an hour you'll be done soon. And that's the dry air that's wrapping into the system.

Thanks to the guys for getting that shot for me.

There you go. New York City, right there, there's your rain. If you look back out toward New City, still raining over here in Ridgewood, still raining in Seacaucus, still raining on up to parts of northern and central Catskills through Poughkeepsie. And this is the rain showers we're seeing here. This is the radar right out of Long Island.

So still seeing something, but really not like it was earlier today. The rain moving on up, moving up through Scranton, Binghamton.

There's just so much rain on the ground, Miles, so much water that it all has to kind of run off. And in some spots you have to be careful where you are. Just because the rain is done doesn't mean that the rain isn't still in the river north of you or west of you, because Bel Air, Maryland, picked up 12.2 inches of rain -- almost 3 -- 12.3 -- in four days. And that's three months worth of rain in four days.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow.

MYERS: Miles. M. O'BRIEN: As we like to call it, the other Bel Air. Thank you very much, Chad Myers.

Up next, Andy "Minding Your Business."

Hello, Andy.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE": Hello, Miles.

Indiana is going to turn over its toll road to the Spanish and Australians. We'll tell you about that.

Also, Mark Cuban wants to buy another professional sports team. And we'll tell you that, too.

M. O'BRIEN: He's got the scratch, doesn't he?

Also ahead -- Andy, thank you for that -- we will meet the homeless cable guy. He's got a TV program unlike any other. He calls himself "Mr. Happy." So why is he doing everything he can do to make people mad?

That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: All right. You think you had a hard night last night? Check out Archie. Actually, that's Archie on a good day.

But as if to prove every dog has his day, Archie is the winner of the year's World's Ugliest Dog contest, which is bequeathed or -- oh, god.

S. O'BRIEN: He's got the mohawk, the crooked tongue, the spots.

(CROSSTALK)

M. O'BRIEN: Archie is a 10-year-old Chinese Crested purebred with obviously a tongue problem.

SERWER: Oh, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: That's a purebred?

SERWER: That's a purebred.

M. O'BRIEN: His owner says people often ask if the dog has a horrible disease and little kids throw rocks at him.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh.

M. O'BRIEN: You know, don't let your kid throw rocks at a dog, even an ugly one. The aesthetically challenged dog awarded with some chicken nuggets and 1,000 bucks. I think the owner likes the 1,000 bucks better.

SERWER: Put him in a doghouse. Put that dog in a doghouse. You know.

S. O'BRIEN: Not every dog can be cute.

M. O'BRIEN: I can just hear it now, Andy...

SERWER: Yes?

M. O'BRIEN: ... drive American. But we're not talking about cars now. We're talking about the road.

SERWER: The actual road has been turned over to a foreign company. If you're driving down the Indiana toll road later this week and you pull into a toll booth, you might want to say "Hola" or "Good day." That's because the state of Indiana has turned over operations of the Indiana toll road which runs 157 miles across the northern part of the state to an Australian-Spanish consortium.

That's right, they turned over the road for 75 years, leased it for $3.8 billion. And that means this Australian-Spanish company will be running the road and collecting tolls. It's a classic example of the state wanting the money now as opposed to having it trickle in over the next 75 years.

And boy, you can see issues here. There already have been some lawsuits, naturally. And it will be interesting to see what sort of fees they charge on the road.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, now, you said it's Spanish and who else?

SERWER: A Spanish-Australian consortium.

M. O'BRIEN: Now, would the Australians prefer if people drive on the left? That would be a problem.

SERWER: I think that's not going to -- you don't have to worry about that.

M. O'BRIEN: Don't have to worry about that.

SERWER: They're not going to be in charge of that. Let's move on here.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about Mark Cuban.

SERWER: Yes. Let's talk about Dan Marino, though, first of all, because Dan Marino, the Pittsburgh great, is teaming up with Mark Cuban to make a bid for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

There's Dan. That's a nice shot of Dan. These two -- and Marino and Cuban, by the way...

M. O'BRIEN: Handsome fellow, that Dan Marino.

SERWER: ... are both Pittsburgh natives. That's right.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, he is. SERWER: They're making a $150 million bid, apparently. Also, with a New York taxi medallion (ph) mogul. And looking to buy -- all kinds of people involved in these sports teams. They're looking to buy from Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: Been in the paper a lot, Mr. Burkle, lately, huh?

M. O'BRIEN: Everybody in Pittsburgh would like to know, are they staying in Pittsburgh through all this?

SERWER: They seem to be indicating that they will be staying in Pittsburgh, but the deal is not done yet.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Andy Serwer. We'll see you in a little bit.

SERWER: See you later.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Thank you for that business update.

SERWER: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING begins right now.

MYERS: Hi, everyone. I'm meteorologist Chad Myers from CNN in Atlanta.

Still more rain from Scranton, Binghamton and all the flooded areas through the Catskills. Details on where the floods are moving coming up.

FRANKEN: I'm Bob Franken, not far from the Lake Needwood Dam. I'm in Rockville, Maryland, where there was an evacuation overnight. Several thousand people were ordered out of their homes.

M. O'BRIEN: An all-out assault into Gaza this morning. Is Israel vowing to do whatever it takes to find a kidnapped corporal?

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