Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Flood Destruction in the Northeast; Gitmo Case Ruling

Aired June 29, 2006 - 06:32   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Flooding in the Northeast remains our top story this morning. Two hundred thousand people in Pennsylvania out of their homes, as you look at some pictures of our affiliate WPVI. That's the Delaware River, obviously well over its banks in many places. And 46 of 64 Pennsylvania counties now considered in a state of emergency. A dozen people are dead.
Let's move to Wilkes-Barre area, Pennsylvania. This is actually Plains, specifically, but that's a suburb of Wilkes-Barre where, once again, in the whole area there -- that's the Wyoming Valley, Susquehanna River winding its way through -- serious flooding there as well.

Farther to the south, Rockville, Maryland, Lake Needwood, which we've been telling you a lot about, live pictures now from our affiliate WTTG. You look at the base of that earthen dam and you see there some sandbags in those white bags there, trying to shore up where that earthen dam is beginning, or has been leaking. Authorities there have been watching that very closely and have ordered about 2,200 people there to evacuate their homes, concerned that earthen dam will break.

As Chad told us a while ago, the worst of the rain has passed now in the Northeast, but there's a little bit of lag time here. We're watching as these rivers continue to crest, and as dams continue to cause concern for authorities and people downstream -- Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Some cities in the Northeast are, as Miles mentioned, under water. And you saw those pictures from Wilkes-Barre. Today they're waiting to see if those levees, in fact, where the sandbags are, are going to actually will hold back the Susquehanna River.

Let's get live to Jason Carroll. He's live in Plains, Pennsylvania, which, as we mentioned, is a suburb of Wilkes-Barre.

Hey, Jason. Good morning.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.

And we do have some updated numbers for you. We just checked with weather officials, and they tell us between 4:00 and 6:00 a.m., the Susquehanna River actually dropped about one foot. Now, let me show you what that translates into.

If you look behind me, you can see where the floodwaters are way back there. But yesterday, when we were out here, those floodwaters were all the way up to where I'm standing. So you can see a dramatic decrease in terms of how the river has really reduced just overnight. So, certainly a lot of people are going to be waking up here this morning to some welcomed news and seeing how much the waters have receded, at least in this area of Plains, just outside of Wilkes- Barre.

Yesterday, at its peek, the river crested at 34 and a half feet. That was yesterday. The levees out here are designed to hold up to 41 feet of water.

Lots of concern about the rivers out here throughout the state of Pennsylvania yesterday. And, in fact, 200,000 people were ordered to evacuate as a precautionary measure as the rivers were cresting throughout the night and throughout the evening.

At least four people died in the flooding at this point. We are told 46 out of 67 counties in Pennsylvania declared disaster areas. Thousands spent the night in shelters overnight.

Many people will be getting up this morning, trying to return home, trying to see if the water has receded in their areas. But at least in terms of where we are here in Plains, the water appears to be receding -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: A little bit of good news this morning. Jason Carroll for us.

Jason, thanks.

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

Chad, Jason says it looks like at least they're heading in the right direction now. Is that right?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that is correct. The Susquehanna crested at 34 feet, flood stage is 22. So it was 12 feet above what they consider to be flooding. And actually, Jason is on the -- I guess you'd call that the southeast side of that river.

On the northwest side of the river you have towns like Plymouth and Shikshini (ph) and Nanticoke, and all up and down through Berwick. Some of those towns don't have floodwalls, and that water did get through into Bull Run and all those areas down along Main Street.

So, there's a lot more problems actually on the other side of the river than where Jason could get to. The problem is, there was just no way to get over there from where he was.

Rain showers here up and down the Hudson, all the way down through into parts of New Jersey as well this morning. The rain continues, the flooding continues in Binghamton, and also into Bloomsburg. All of those towns up and down the Susquehanna going to get that -- it's kind of a -- kind of a bulge of water that's going to just work its way down the river. So, some people receding, but some people still going up this morning. Rain showers and thunderstorms, some of them could be severe across the Northeast today. But they won't really put down a lot of rain. They'll be pretty quick-moving storms, maybe an inch or two. They don't mean a half an inch, but certainly it's not going to be 10 inches of rain like we had the past couple of weeks -- Miles.

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

MYERS: You're welcome.

M. O'BRIEN: The Supreme Court about to wrap up its term today before taking a three-month vacation. The justices deciding today whether President Bush went too for with military war crimes trials for so-called enemy combatants held at the Guantanamo Bay prison.

Live now to AMERICAN MORNING'S Bob Franken, who's been to Guantanamo as many times as any reporter I know, with more on that.

Hello, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello.

And the ruling here at the Supreme Court, Miles, is hugely significant. From a constitutional point of view, it tests the president's power and authority in this war on terror, it tests the military commissions, oftentimes incorrectly called tribunals, that are on hold at Guantanamo Bay.

Ten different defendants are waiting. One of them, Ahmed Salim Hamdan, who is an alleged former bodyguard of Osama bin Laden, has challenged the commissions. His lawyer arguing before the Supreme Court that they are not valid because they do not provide fundamental legal protection for the prisoners, the detainees, nor do they adhere to the Geneva Convention.

The administration says the president has inherent power and congressional authorization to put these commissions together and that the administration does not have to adhere to the Geneva Convention. We know all about that. That protects prisoners of war. This president has said they're not prisoners of war, they are enemy combatants, and don't have the protections of the Geneva Convention.

There's another complication. Congress passed a law which said that they did not have to consider the legal rights of these prisoners until after the tribunal. So, the justices could rule that it is premature to make any other ruling at all, or they could say that it does apply retroactively.

It sounds complex, but it is highly important constitutionally, and also important because the president says he's going to decide on what he doses about keeping Guantanamo open or closed after he hears what the justices have to say. And this is fraught with complexity.

One of the justices has recused himself, the chief justice, John Roberts, because he had ruled earlier at the appellate court level that the commissions were valid. This could end up in a 4-4 tie. And before you ask, Miles, that would mean the lower court prevails and the commissions could go forward.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. Do -- reading the tea leaves here, do we have any indication, either from previous rulings or any -- obviously, they don't tip their hand very much at the Supreme Court, though, which way this thing might go?

FRANKEN: Well, the previous ruling was that the detainees had some rights, that they could, in fact, take their cases to the U.S. court system. But that was a court that had two different justices on it, and it's going to be very interesting to see how that affects the outcome.

M. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken at the Supreme Court.

Thank you very much.

An historic day for women in Kuwait, voting for the first time, and already dramatically changing the political landscape, we might tell you.

That's coming up next.

S. O'BRIEN: Then later this morning, you can call it President Bush's parting gift for the outgoing Japanese prime minister. He may even tell the president, "Thank you. Thank you very much."

You know what I'm talking about. We'll fill you in if you don't.

M. O'BRIEN: Elvis has fans everywhere. Doesn't he?

S. O'BRIEN: He does.

M. O'BRIEN: Plus, the government considers -- and that was a pretty good Elvis, by the way.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.

M. O'BRIEN: The government considers a change in airline security, what you may soon be able to carry on board once again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN FLOWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kevin Flower in Kuwait, where women are making history today, voting for the first time ever in nationwide parliamentary elections. Under a law passed here last year, some 28 women are running for national office, and women make up 57 percent of all eligible voters, giving women here a considerable political voice in this small and conservative oil-rich state.

How women will ferret the polls is another question. Most women we've spoken to and those polled in local media have indicated they would be voting for male candidates.

(END VIDEOTAPE) (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is meeting her counterparts in the Russian capital for a gathering of G8 foreign ministers. Talks are expected to focus on mounting violence in the Middle East and the standoff with Iran over its controversial nuclear program. North Korea, the Balkans and Afghanistan are also set to be discussed.

Amid reports of differences, though, over how to handle some of the key issues, the meeting is one of the last opportunities the secretary of state and the foreign ministers will have to forge a united front before the G8 summit in the Russian city of St. Petersburg next month.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi. I'm Stan Grant in Beijing.

If we were broadcasting this right now in China, it would probably be blacked out. China is one of the most repressive countries in the world when it comes to press freedom. It's just got a lot tougher. The government now looking at draft new legislation which will slap fines on any organization covering outbreaks of disease or protests or accidents without approval from the government.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: For more on these or any of our top stories, we invite you always to check out our Web site, CNN.com. It's always there for you.

Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, drugmaker Pfizer with an aggressive move to undercut generic drugmakers. It involves one of the nation's best-selling antidepressants, and they may be kind of going into the generic game, sort of.

And a story we've been following all morning, dangerous, destructive flooding all throughout the Northeast. We'll bring you updated situation reports from New Jersey just ahead.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning, Pennsylvania's rain-swollen Susquehanna River is now receding. Still, the floodwaters have forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes in the Wilkes-Barre area.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has a special trip lined up with President Bush tomorrow. They're going to Graceland. Koizumi is a big Elvis fan. This is his last U.S. visit before he leaves office come September.

And should Congress lift the ban on lighters on airplanes? The head of the Transportation Security Agency says, yes. He's telling "USA Today" that screeners spend too much time looking for lighters instead of bombs.

A statewide emergency has been declared in New Jersey. Thousands of people have been evacuated along the Delaware River. New Jersey 12 News (INAUDIBLE) is live for us in Trenton this morning.

Hey, Tony. Good morning.

TONY CAPUTO, REPORTER: Good morning.

Governor Corzine expected to address the situation a little later this morning as well at about 9:30. We'll check in with him, see what's developing.

We're getting a bit of good news. Yesterday was expected to crest at about 28 feet, the Delaware River was. Now they're saying maybe more about 25 feet or so sometime this afternoon. Still going to cause a lot of damage, it already is.

Take a look, folks. This is the island section of Trenton, New Jersey, and three times in the past three years this section has looked like this.

You ask somebody, "Why do you live here? Why would you buy a home here?" And they'll tell you, you know, before three years ago, there wasn't a problem here. Now it seems to be happening yearly. So, something this state and many others are going to have to deal with.

All of the folks got out yesterday. They're kind of used to it by now.

This is Route 29 right here in the foreground. Route 29 has been shut down. This is a major road to get to the state House, and a lot of state workers trying to make their way, whether they're coming from northern parts of New Jersey, or the Pennsylvania side. They can't get there using Route 29 today.

Let me take you down 29 just a bit here, and you can see the flooding coming across the road as well. And this is why they shut it down. Like I said, when it happens three times in three years, they know better than to leave it open. And up north a bit more, it's completely engulfed, Route 29 is. So that's a real problem as well.

Another issue is water, fresh water. Mayor Doug Palmer here in Trenton yesterday, as well as Governor Corzine, asking folks throughout the city, even if they're not affected by these floodwaters, to conserve water.

They city has about a two-and-a-half-day supply of fresh water. That was as of last night. The city's water filtration plant is right here on Route 29 on the river. They've shut it down. They did not want it to get contaminated with debris. And I can tell you, folks, I saw an oil tank drifting down the Delaware River yesterday, so it was a good move, certainly a concern..

That's the latest here in Trenton, New Jersey. I'm Tony Caputo, reporting for CNN.

S. O'BRIEN: What a mess. An oil tank floating right down the river.

Thanks, Tony. Appreciate the update. We'll keep in touch with you about what's happening there.

Let's get right to Chad Myers. He's standing by at the CNN Center. He is our severe weather expert.

And this is severe weather, for sure.

MYERS: Certainly he was the best dressed flood reporter I've ever seen, though.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, because the governor is coming in, as he mentioned, and there's some high-level officials who will be talking and briefing them later, and you don't want to be, you know, in sweats for the governor.

MYERS: Well, I know, but usually you see them out there in the Smurf suit, you know. And it's like, oh, dude -- anyway -- not him, just reporters.

Rain showers now moving up the Hudson Valley, seeing some rain now just north of the city. I can zoom in a little bit closer in Danbury. The storm just going to be -- just brush you to the north. There's Poughkeepsie as it runs across from New York into Connecticut.

We will see some showers pop up, even into Pennsylvania today. Here's what the radar estimates will come down in the next 48 hours, a couple showers across the Niagara Frontier, Mohawk Valley. But notice the heaviest stuff is actually into Ontario and Quebec.

Most of the rain showers for the U.S. in the Atlantic Ocean. That's where they should stay for a while.

We will get the storms that pop up here today. They'll be widely scattered, just a few scattered storms that pop up, no flooding storms -- 75, though, from Toronto, 79 in Detroit, 81 in Chicago.

For New York City, some thunderstorms still possible this morning, and another one or two possible this afternoon. A warm weekend, warm weekend setting up in Boston, too -- 88 and 91 for Saturday and Sunday.

And finally, D.C. drying out. Temperatures there in the 90s.

Back to you guys.

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

Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" up next.

Hey, Andy.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE": Good morning, Soledad.

You may not feel sorry for them, but drugmakers are feeling the pinch. We'll explain how their pain may be your gain -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Andy. Thank you.

Also ahead this morning, my exclusive interview with, U2's Bono. Last year, President Bush and the G8 leaders pledged to forgive the debts of Africa's poorest countries. Are those promises being kept? We're going to talk to Bono about that and much more ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: The patent is expiring on Zoloft. And if you're the company that makes it, that will make you depressed, make you want to have a Zoloft.

Andy Serwer says they have a solution, though. They're going to sort of -- if you can't beat them at the generic game, join them, huh?

SERWER: That's right. Kill your own product before your competitors do here.

We're talking about drugmakers under pressure looking to find some novel solutions to their problems. You may remember last week we told you that Merck was producing a generic version of Zocor, the cholesterol-fighting drug, as it went off patent. This to preempt generic competitors.

Today, "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that Pfizer is following suit, and, as Miles said, doing the same sort of thing with Zoloft, which is the nation's best-selling antidepressant drug, $2.57 billion of sales last year for Zoloft. And I think you can look for other drugmakers to do the same, which is to try to get as much money as they can and try to get that money back from generic drugmakers, instead of letting them have all of the revenue.

Because of pressure from generic drugmakers and regulators on drug prices, drugmakers say that their costs are too high. And when you sort of start to break down how much it costs to develop a drug, you can -- you can begin to understand that.

Eli Lilly says, for instance, that it costs $1 billion, $1 billion to develop a new medicine. Of course, you can see how this would work out, because Zoloft does $2.75 billion a year. So if you have a hit drug, you can get that money back. But not all drugs are hits. M. O'BRIEN: $2.75 billion?

SERWER: Yes, billion.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: $2.75 billion.

M. O'BRIEN: So, there's money to be made in this business.

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: There's money to be made, but so many of the drugs don't work out, of course.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

SERWER: So, it's one of those kind of deals.

Anyway, they're looking to trim costs from $1 billion. They say they want to have these things cost $800 million instead, which is still a lot of money. They're going to close three facilities, perhaps, in Europe to -- in Germany and Belgium, and then a manufacturing facility in Basingstoke -- Basingstoke, England, where they make the drugs.

M. O'BRIEN: Or is it Basingstoke?

SERWER: It might be Basingstoke.

M. O'BRIEN: It might be Basingstoke.

SERWER: But this is -- this is all how do we say it, here or there.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

It's rate hike day.

SERWER: It is. And we're going to be talking about that.

Americans not too pleased with rate hikes, not surprisingly. And they also don't understand what the Federal Reserve is doing. Maybe that's not surprising either, but we'll sort it out for you coming up next.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. Good. Thank you very much, Andy.

SERWER: Thank you.

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

MYERS: I'm meteorologist Chad Myers in Atlanta. We still have some rain coming in, and we also still have rivers coming up in some spots. Details on those rivers coming up.

M. O'BRIEN: Escalating violence in Gaza. The Israeli military launching more attacks as the search goes on for a kidnapped soldier.

S. O'BRIEN: Republicans are ready to put their anger with "The New York Times" on paper. A resolution condemning the media is expected to come to a vote today

M. O'BRIEN: Survivor gear that didn't work. New information this morning from the sole survivor of the Sago Mine disaster on those last desperate hours underground.

S. O'BRIEN: Plus, my exclusive, live interview with Bono. He's just back from Africa with a first-hand look at whether the U.S. and the other G8 nations are living up to the promises they made a year ago to provide aid and support to Africa.

Those stories are all ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

And welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

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

Devastating flooding in the Northeast this morning, and that is right at the top of the news. Homes and parts of cities are under water along the Susquehanna and Delaware rivers in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey.

These pictures coming to us along the Delaware River. Forty-six of 64 Pennsylvania counties now considered in a state of emergency. That declared by the governor. We're going to be hearing from him in about 20 minutes' time.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com