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American Morning

Flooding Fears; Flag Burning Fight; Gaza Incursion; Al Qaeda Arrest

Aired June 28, 2006 - 06:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It is Wednesday, June 28.
And we are watching the radar this morning as a major rainstorm is engulfing the northeast. We're live with the very latest forecast track for you.

Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING, I'm Soledad O'Brien.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Miles O'Brien.

Here's a look at what's happening right now.

Israeli forces hitting targets in Gaza this morning. Fighters in the air, ground troops staging what is billed as a rescue mission. Israeli defense forces say they're trying to free an Israeli soldier kidnapped last weekend by Palestinian militants.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visiting Afghanistan this morning on her way to the G-8 Summit in Russia. She met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in a show of support. Some European leaders have recently questioned Karzai's leadership abilities.

S. O'BRIEN: In Washington this morning, the Bush administration is expected to issue sweeping new welfare rules. The rules will require states to move more poor people from welfare to work and will more strictly define what qualifies as work.

In Brownsville, Texas, funeral services will be held today for Army Private Kristian Menchaca. Menchaca's remains, you'll remember, were found June 19 in Iraq, three days after he was kidnapped by insurgents.

M. O'BRIEN: Prosecutors in the Andrea Yates retrial expected to rest their case today. Yates accused of drowning her children in a bathtub. Yesterday, a former cell mate testified quoting Yates as saying her 6-month-old baby was the easiest to drown.

Tennessee officials have carried out the state's second execution in 45 years. Convicted murderer and rapist Sedley Alley executed overnight by lethal injection. He had confessed to killing a 19-year- old, Marine Suzanne Collins, in 1985.

S. O'BRIEN: Later today, NASA will hold a briefing on the preparations for the launch of the shuttle Discovery. Discovery is scheduled to launch on Saturday. That's at 3:49 p.m. Eastern Time. CNN is going to have live coverage. And Miles will be on hand at Cape Canaveral.

In Nevada this morning, a state of emergency. More than 1,000 firefighters trying to contain several fires apparently sparked by lightning. Fires have burned more than 80,000 acres.

M. O'BRIEN: And days of torrential rain may finally be over, but waterlogged mid-Atlantic states still dealing with the aftermath this morning. Forecasters say the heaviest rain has moved into New York and New England.

And while the rain may be moving on, many creeks and waterways still rising. Flash flood advisories remain in effect. In Rockville, Maryland, 25 miles northwest of Washington, evacuations ordered late last night after engineers found a hole in a dam.

And a search resumes there this morning for a 14 and 15-year-old boys missing.

AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken joining us on the phone now from Rockville with the latest -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well we're not far from Lake Needwood, which is this dam that is at the top of the well known Rock Creek that flows all the way into Washington, and it sprung a leak. It's, in effect, an earthen dam. It sprung a leak. And so overnight, beginning about 1:00 in the morning Eastern, they began an evacuation.

Their accumulating figures now that they figure up to 4,000 or 5,000 people were ordered out of their dwellings. That includes homes, high-rise apartments, all of those along a low-lying area, and some of the outer suburbs of Washington, and they have been evacuated.

The officials are hoping that what you just said about the weather is correct. Because if there would be more rain, that could cause even more problems and that could cause even more evacuations. Of course this area has been hit with massive amounts of rain, over a foot of rain since last weekend, and this area registered at Washington Reagan National Airport.

And it has brought with it now some tragedy. There are officials, as you pointed out just a moment ago, Miles, looking for two teenage boys who have gone missing. They were along a creek in Frederick County, which is just not that far from here.

Also in western Virginia, an 8-year-old child is missing. Officials are presuming that she drowned in a rising creek down there.

It is a very serious situation here. Officials are hopeful that this weather is going to clear up a little bit now and they can finally start drying out in an area that has just been inundated with water -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Bob, give us a sense of what it's like just traveling around the area right now? What was it like getting to Rockville this morning? FRANKEN: Well just wet. The streets that we drove on, for the most part, where high enough that we didn't have any problem with water. But a lot of the thoroughfares around here, which are low lying, have been closed, including Rock Creek Park Drive, which is one of the major feeding points in the District of Columbia.

And as for the District, your government is quite soggy. They are still pumping water out of the Internal Revenue Service basement and there are still closed down an awful lot of the buildings there, the Justice Department, et cetera. They try and really dry out from what has been an amazing, amazing record-setting storm.

M. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken in Rockville, and we'll be checking in with him all throughout the morning.

Our severe weather expert Chad Myers at the CNN Center to give us a sense of where things are headed this morning.

Chad, good morning to you.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well at least -- good morning, Miles.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad, thank you.

MYERS: Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: Well they ran it up the flagpole but not enough senators saluted, so to speak. A proposed constitutional amendment that would have banned flag burning failed by just one vote in the Senate.

More now from CNN's Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): It was a cliffhanger until the very end and Senate supporters of a flag desecration amendment came closer than they ever have before to victory. But in the end, it was 66 votes, and this is 1 vote short of the two-thirds majority needed to amend the Constitution.

Now this vote capped two days of debate about patriotism, about the stars and stripes, freedom of speech, but also about politics. And 14 Democrats voted for this amendment, but even many of those Democrats accused Republicans of bringing this up as merely a political ploy four months before Election Day. They say that this is another case of misplaced Republican priorities.

But the Republican leader responded to that by saying that he believes this is a vitally important issue for the Senate debate because he said this is about American values, an important American symbol and that's why it was a key thing for the U.S. Senate to be talking about. Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Coming up in our next hour, Majority Leader Bill Frist is going to join us to talk about the flag burning fight and all things senatorial as well -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Happening in America this morning.

In Las Vegas, a wild shooting at the airport security line. A man with a knife snatched a 3-year-old and then sprinted past the checkpoint. Police confronted him, shocked him with a taser. He dropped the child, but then lunged toward the trio of officers and that's when they shot him. He survived, but no word on his condition this morning.

In Georgia, a man still missing this morning, apparently somewhere beneath the rubble of this motel. An apparent gas leak caused the explosion in Bremen. It's about 50 miles west of Atlanta. Yesterday, rescue workers could hear the man's cries as they dug through the rubble, but they were hampered by hot spots. And as time wore on, those cries faded. One other person confirmed dead and two others unaccounted for.

In Connecticut, a Coast Guard cadet charged with sex crimes facing more than 13 years in prison this morning. Twenty-three-year- old Webster Smith convicted of indecent assault, extortion, sodomy and other charges but acquitted of rape. A female cadet says Webster of Houston demanded sex in exchange for keeping a secret that would have derailed her career. This is the first court-martial of a cadet in the academy's 130-year history.

Ocean City, Maryland, a carbon monoxide leak at a motel killing a father and his daughter, sending the mother and another daughter to the hospital. Their conditions unknown this morning. It happened at the Days Inn Oceanfront about 2:00 p.m. yesterday. Investigators searching for the source of that leak -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Developing story out of the Middle East this morning, Israel putting extreme pressure on the Palestinian Authority. Israeli tanks and troops moving into southern Gaza overnight, taking up positions on Palestinian soil. Right now they say their objective is to free a captured Israeli soldier, not to reoccupy the Gaza Strip.

CNN's John Vause is live for us in Gaza this morning.

John, good morning.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Right now those Israeli forces have taken up positions around the town of Rafah in southern Gaza. That's just on the border between Egypt and Gaza.

Now the Israeli prime minister has said that he will take extreme action to try and rescue the 19-year-old kidnapped Israeli soldier. But this military operation is not that extreme action yet.

This all began in the dead of night with Israeli airstrikes on the only power plant here in Gaza. It was set ablaze, causing extensive damage. We're told by Palestinian officials it could be six months before that power plant is repaired. Much of Gaza is without electricity. Also, two bridges were bombed by Israeli fighter jets as well.

Now all of this action was ordered because Israeli intelligence received reports that the kidnappers may be trying to move the Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, possibly even attempting to smuggle him out of the Gaza Strip and take him to Egypt -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: John, do they have any sense of where that missing soldier is or a general region where he might be?

VAUSE: According to Israeli intelligence, they believe that Gilad Shalit is now being held somewhere in the town of Khan Yunis. That's in the southern part of Gaza. That is where all the forces are concentrated today. They believe that he is somewhere, quite possibly in a refugee camp.

It is the second largest city in Gaza, about 60,000 people live there, narrow alleyways, very, very difficult for Israeli forces to get in there and out of there without a great deal of blood and blood loss and casualties, which is why we are seeing the Israeli troops dig in and fight -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: John Vause watching that for us this morning.

John, thanks.

In Athens, Greece, student protests are turning more violent. The students are opposing education changes which have been proposed by the government. Police attacked with gas bombs and used tear gas against students who barricaded the street with furniture from the Athens law school. One of the main objections to the reforms is the creation of private universities.

M. O'BRIEN: In Iraq, the security forces say they have a key al Qaeda operative in custody this morning. They say he played a key role in the bombing of a major Shiite shrine, which you may recall sparked that wave of sectarian violence that we've been seeing.

CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson live now from Baghdad with some more on this -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Morning, Miles.

Quadama al-Chunis (ph) is the individual's name, a foreign fighter from Tunisia, that according to the Iraqi government. They say he and a number of other foreign fighters stormed an Iraqi security outpost. Fifteen of the foreign fighters, according to the government's national security adviser, said that the 15 foreign fighters were killed. This particular Tunisian injured. He later confessed to being involved in that attack on the shrine in Samarra, a Sunni -- a Shi'a shrine, the Golden Dome shrine in the town of Samarra. That precipitated sectarian violence across the country. People fearing that an outbreak of civil war along sectarian lines was about to happen.

The government here very keen to show that they are making progress to try and stem the sectarian violence in Baghdad today. There have been a number of deaths. One person killed when a roadside bomb was supposed to target U.S. troops killed a civilian. In the north of Baghdad, another civilian killed, seven wounded by another roadside bomb going off. And the police found four bodies of people killed in the northeast of Baghdad today -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Nic, try to give us some perspective on this arrest. How big a fish is this person potentially?

ROBERTSON: Well, he played an active role. That's the words of the Iraqi government here at the moment. He isn't the cell leader. The government here has identified another person as the cell leader. The other person, they say, was involved with the group Ansar al- Sunna, which later became part of al Qaeda in Iraq. That group had been in the north of Iraq in the border Kurdish area when Saddam Hussein was still in power in Iraq.

But principally, it is very important for the government at this time to show that they are making headway against the insurgents, and in particular, against the insurgents who are trying to precipitate the sectarian violence.

The national security adviser pointing out that this individual, the Tunisian and his cell leader, their prime focus was to ferment that sectarian violence. And indeed the attack on that shrine in Samarra back on February the 22nd did do exactly that -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson in Baghdad, thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, we continue to monitor that flooding situation in the northeast. We're going to be checking in with all our reporters who are in the field this morning.

M. O'BRIEN: Then the Republicans step up their attack on "The New York Times" for a story it ran about a secret government program.

S. O'BRIEN: Plus, Andy Serwer got some business headlines for us.

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning you guys.

GM signals that cheaper cars are on the way and Honda is set to announce which town will be the location of its new U.S. plant coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning.

Israeli troops are rolling into Gaza on what they say is a rescue mission. Israeli military officials say they are trying to free an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants last weekend.

House Republican leaders are targeting "The New York Times." They are expected to introduce a measure today condemning the paper for exposing a government program mentoring bank -- monitoring, rather, bank records.

In Maryland, authorities have evacuated about 1,200 homes near Rockville after spotting a leak in a nearby dam. The Metro D.C. area has been flooded by nearly a foot of rain in the last couple of days.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's get a check of the forecast now. Severe weather expert Chad Myers being put to the test this morning.

Good morning, -- Chad.

MYERS: It's all right.

Good morning, Miles.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Now my mike. My mike is on, guys. Sorry, it's on. Can't find me?

S. O'BRIEN: We can hear you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well...

MYERS: OK.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, you sound like you're at the bottom of a well.

MYERS: Can you hear?

M. O'BRIEN: I'll tell you what, you know what we're going to do, we'll take a break. We'll come back to you. We'll get that microphone situation squared away, OK?

MYERS: OK.

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, Boy George trading in his rather flamboyant outfits. Is that him there? Gosh, I don't even recognize him.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Very much on the download there. He is trading in his designer threads for a sanitation jumpsuit. We'll explain.

And Guns N' Roses front man Axl Rose proves he still has an appetite for destruction. We'll explain how he literally took a bite into crime.

Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Some of the most popular stories this morning on CNN.com.

Iowa Senator Charles Grassley wants to institute a so-called pimp tax on illegal sex workers. Pimps would get 10 years in prison if they don't file W2 forms for their prostitutes is how the plan goes.

Al Gore getting high marks from scientists. Climate experts were asked to rate Gore's take on global warming. They said the former vice president has his facts straight in the movie "An Inconvenient Truth."

And a sad goodbye this morning, Eddie the dog from "Frasier," remember, he has died. He spent 10 years on "Frasier." The Jack Russell's real name was Moose. And Moose was 16 years old. That's sad news. Cute little dog.

Time for a check of the forecast this morning. Let's get right back to Chad Myers. He's at the CNN Center.

Mike troubles all sorted out, I hope?

MYERS: Yes, I climbed out of that tin can so you can actually see me now.

S. O'BRIEN: Fantastic, out of the well. We're glad to hear it.

MYERS: Yes, it's a lot -- it's nicer up here, too, I can see the sky.

Good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, -- Chad.

MYERS: Sure.

M. O'BRIEN: From glamour to slammer. This is a little section we like to call "When Stars Go Bad.

Let's start with Boy George now. He's facing a little jail time for apparently refusing to pick up some trash. The signer, whose real name is George O'Dowd, was ordered to serve five days at the Department of Sanitation raking leaves and such in Central Park after a March drug arrest and a false burglary report. Seems George, or Mr. O'Dowd, or whatever you like, has been dragging his feet. A New York judge says he has until the end of August or he will serve time.

And a possible plea deal for super model Naomi Campbell. She faced a judge yesterday in New York on charges she hit her maid with a cell phone. The entire hearing lasted eight minutes. It probably took Campbell longer to get into the courthouse, although she looks like she got in there fairly quickly. She was flanked by 50 photographers and camera crews.

S. O'BRIEN: And she looked good.

M. O'BRIEN: She does look good. If you're going to go into court, you might as well look good, right.

Grammy-winning music producer Dallas Austin is set to go on trial for drug possession. Austin is well known. He has worked with everyone from Madonna to Michael Jackson and Aretha Franklin. He was arrested in Dubai. That's the United Arab Emirates. And this is an Islamic country with a reputation for harsh drug laws.

And let's hope singer Axl Rose has rabies shots. The Guns N' Roses front man allegedly bit a security guard overnight outside a hotel in Stockholm. Rose apparently imbibed a little at the time, so we're told. He's been ordered to pay nearly $7,000 in fines and damages -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: It might be a good time to buy a car.

Andy Serwer has got this morning's business headlines for us.

SERWER: I do.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning.

SERWER: Good morning.

I'm still getting over stars behaving badly. Wow!

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: That was quite the report there.

S. O'BRIEN: And it's a whole segment today.

SERWER: It really is. There's a lot of them.

S. O'BRIEN: I mean we would do a whole series of them.

SERWER: Let's get on to business news here.

General Motors saying that it will see sales decline this year, 2006, over 2005. So it's probably not surprising then that they are going to be putting a lot of their cars on sale, starting July 5. That's a week from today. No interest loans. Some people call that 0 percent financing, but it's actually no interest loans is the better way to say it, on Chevy, Buick or Pontiac.

M. O'BRIEN: It works either way for me.

SERWER: What's that?

M. O'BRIEN: Whatever you like. Whatever you like.

SERWER: OK. Well, we won't get -- well, we'll talk about that later.

Chevy, Buick, Pontiac, GMC no interest loans, clearing out for 2007 models. They are not going to be doing the employee pricing model the way that Chrysler appears to be doing.

Now, other news involving autos this morning. The town of Greensburg, Indiana appears to have hit the job lottery this morning. According to "The Columbus Dispatch" in Ohio, Honda will locate its newest plant in this town of 10,500, which is 50 miles southeast of Indianapolis. Fifteen hundred jobs at this new assembly plant. They plan to make 200,000 vehicles a year there. And they -- that will be the sixth plant in North America for Honda.

S. O'BRIEN: Why did they pick that region, do you know?

SERWER: Probably good tax incentives. Also, it's near Ohio where they have several other facilities as well,...

M. O'BRIEN: Right.

SERWER: ... so it makes sense.

And want to move on to the markets a little bit.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's do.

SERWER: Sadly, because yesterday was a big downer, as you can see here. No real reason. I'm going to say there is no real reason why stocks fell, they just did.

M. O'BRIEN: There's got to be a reason.

SERWER: Well anticipating or trying to figure out what the Fed is going to do. That Fed meeting begins today. We expect an announcement on interest rates tomorrow.

And that is your business news this morning.

M. O'BRIEN: Nervous Nellies about interest rates.

SERWER: There you go, that's the reason why stocks...

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: See you figured it out, Miles. Good for you.

M. O'BRIEN: OK, just like that.

Thank you, -- Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

M. O'BRIEN: See you in a bit. The morning's top stories straight ahead, including dangerous weather conditions in the northeast. Heaviest rains moving north. We will take you to some hard-hit areas.

And the Republicans are stepping up their attacks on "The New York Times." Did "The Times" report really undermine efforts to track down terrorists, though? We'll try to answer that question when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning.

Israeli troops roll into Gaza on what they say is a rescue mission. Israeli defense forces say they are 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.

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