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American Morning

Flood Destruction; Gaza Offensive; Responsible Reporting?; Northeast Flooding

Aired June 29, 2006 - 07:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Sixty-four 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.
Newport (ph), Pennsylvania. This is right down on the ground where you can see some of the flooding there causing serious problems. Also along the Delaware River.

Farther to the south, Rockville, Maryland, where this sort of all began, in the D.C. area, a few days ago. An earthen dam there still giving authorities a great deal of concern. This is the Needwood Lake, which is at the top of Rock Creek. And if you know Washington at all, you know Rock Creek. Zooming in there, live pictures courtesy of WTTG's helicopter, our affiliate in Washington. You see those sandbags there and that is where that earthen dam is leaking a little more than authorities would like. About 2,200 people downstream of that dam have been evacuated.

We're watching the flooding, wherever it is, and we'll keep you posted as these rivers continue to crest, even though the worst of the weather appears to have past.

Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: We've got live reports from three locations this morning. Jason Carroll is near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Allan Chernoff is in Binghamton, New York for us this morning, Chad's at the CNN Weather Center.

Jason, let's start with you. How's it looking where you are?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Looking much better, Soledad.

In fact, emergency management officials tell us that the Susquehanna River water levels have dropped significantly over the past several hours. Dropped 2 feet, in fact, from about 33 feet to about 31 feet. Certainly good news.

I can show you what that translates into. You can see where the floodwaters are right now at this point, but yesterday those floodwaters were all the way up to where I'm standing right now. So things definitely looking much better today. Yesterday, though it was a much different story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CARROLL, (voice over): The rivers rose throughout eastern Pennsylvania, flooding streets and homes and forcing hundreds to evacuate. The Susquehanna River in the northeastern part of the state was expected to crest at 35 feet, 13 feet above flood stage, just shy of the 41-foot levee protecting it.

But the protection wasn't enough for Jason Stachokus, where the water overtook his basement.

JASON STACHOKUS, HOME FLOODED: Water right now, if I was to get down there, I would say probably at my mid-waist. You're probably talking at least four feet -- maybe a little over four feet in that basement right now.

CARROLL: Two hundred thousand people were ordered to evacuate in Wilkes-Barre. At least four people died, and that number could rise. Rescue crews in Bear Creek Mountain responded to reports of two children swept away by floodwaters as they playing near the river's edge. Emergency crews recovered one of their bodies.

Pennsylvania's governor, Ed Rendell, declared a disaster emergency in 46 of the state's 67 counties.

In a Maniynch (ph) neighborhood in Philadelphia, several children were rescued from one flooded area. And in West Fall Township in Pike County, floodwaters there surrounded homes, forcing evacuations. Residents along the Schuylkill River in southern Pennsylvania were also asked to evacuate. Back north, in Wilkes-Barre, emergency crews continue keeping watch.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: And one family that lives out here in this neighborhood says that they've never seen the water recede this quickly. Obviously, Soledad, many folks out here hoping that the water continues to recede throughout the day.

Back to you.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, many, many folks hoping for that in that state and out as well.

Pennsylvania's governor, Ed Rendell, is going to join us in about 15 minutes to talk about what's happening there.

Thanks, Jason.

Let's go about 80 miles north now from Wilkes-Barre. Binghamton, New York, also being flooded by the Susquehanna. Governor George Pataki says the rain is causing "unparalleled devastation." It's also where we find Allan Chernoff live for us this morning.

Hey, Allan. That looks bad.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad. What we have over here is portions of the Susquehanna just moving extremely rapidly. That's actually a good thing because it's allowing the water to recede fairly quickly. Have a look at this tree. The water line hit all the way up here and it's now down to here. So that's a decline of about two feet. So a big improvement over there.

And as I walk across, if you look at this house in the distance, the American flag was pretty much half covered yesterday. Now you can see it. The banister from that porch was all covered and the water was up to the middle of the first floor window yesterday. So really an improvement here in terms of the water receding. So we're at least getting some relief there.

Nonetheless, this is definitely been a devastating flood. Fifteen thousand people from this region have been evacuated. The governor has declared 13 counties to be in a state of emergency. And at least two people did die. Two truckers died early yesterday morning on Interstate 88, falling into a 25-foot hole created by floodwaters.

But people here are certainly hoping that the water continues to recede. And I'm just going to walk out of the water here so you can get a sense also along this roadway that normally extends a good 50, 60 yards. And keep in mind, the river itself, the bank, is usually about 100 yards from where I'm standing. But all of this here was covered with water yesterday.

You can see one of the water lines here. But also, all the way up here, this driveway was all covered. And all the way to here, you can see some debris. So this is a good 30 feet that we have between this line here and where the water is right now.

So, Soledad, at least the water is heading back in.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. So as bad as it looks where you are, it's getting better.

Allan Chernoff for us this morning. Allan, thanks.

Let's get to Chad now. He is our severe weather expert. He's at the CNN Center with an update.

So it sounds better. Improving, at least.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Israel on the attack this morning in Gaza. Israeli forces rounding up and arresting dozens of Palestinian cabinet members and lawmakers, pounding targets in Gaza, and even buzzing the summer home of the Syrian president. Amid this, the body of a young kidnapped West Bank settler is found in Ramallah and there's still no sign, however, of an Israeli soldier kidnapped by militants, which triggered all this. CNN's Paula Newton live now from Jerusalem with more.

Paula. PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, overnight and into this morning we have had more reports of the Israeli army striking from the ground and from the air. No reports of any injuries, but there are reports of damage. And you have to imagine here, what you have is you have the Israeli military in the north and south of Gaza, in the middle about 1.4 million people, now no electricity for more than half of them and many more than that are without water.

They are wondering what is going to happen next and Israel is telling Hamas, it's all up to you at this point. They want their soldier returned unharmed and they're saying if he is not returned they will take more aggressive action and take that action, Miles, very soon.

M. O'BRIEN: Paula, the action they're taking is, as you say, aggressive, and some would call it creative or certainly it makes your head scratch when they start buzzing the summer home of the Syrian president. It seems as if there's more to this than just going after one individual soldier.

NEWTON: Although Israel will tell us -- and they have said repeatedly, that, look, we do have a moral obligation to go and find our soldier. We owe that to Israeli families that send their sons and daughters into the military every day.

Putting that aside, even the Israeli government says, look, we've given Hamas and we've given the Palestinian authority months to try and bring down the tensions. We wanted to have some kind of truce in place. None of that has materialized. They see this raid that happened Sunday, where two Israeli soldiers were killed and this one kidnapped, as an escalation and they're saying they are forced to act. They have told us, this is our line in the sand and enough is enough and now we're going to act.

What is very scary at this point, Miles, is that I think both populations are just waiting on the sidelines and saying, what is going to happen next? And there does not seem to be any impression here that either side is going to back down in a hurry.

M. O'BRIEN: Paula Newton in Jerusalem, thank you very much.

Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: In Washington today, the U.S. House is expected to vote on a resolution condemning "The New York Times" and other media organizations. The newspaper disclosed a secret government program to track private bank records in the search for terrorists. CNN's congressional correspondent, Andrea Koppel, is on Capitol Hill this morning.

Hey, Andrea, good morning.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.

A senior House Republican aide told me that things had already reached a boiling point for Republicans after a string of disclosures by "The New York Times" about intelligence, classified information on terror programs. This latest leak, he said, was the matchstick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL, (voice over): Waves of Republican outrage continue to ripple through Congress over a "New York Times" story that revealed a secret program to track international terrorist financing.

REP. TOM PRICE, (R) GEORGIA: Mr. Speaker, I rise today in frustration over the recent leak by "The New York Times" of a vital national security program.

REP. PETER KING, (R) NEW YORK: (INAUDIBLE) toward "The New York Times." I think what they did was absolutely disgraceful.

KOPPEL: And now the latest salvo, this seven-page Republican resolution condemning administration leakers and demanding the cooperation of the news media in not disclosing classified intelligence programs.

REP DENNIS HASTERT, (R) HOUSE SPEAKER: When people who persistently leak this information to news sources and news sources insist on printing it, goes back to the old saying in a playoff, the old saying that basically loose lips kill American people.

KOPPEL: House Republicans are not alone in targeting "The New York Times" and other media. For days, bloggers have been up in arms, while conservative radio talk show hosts, like Rush Limbaugh, have had a field day.

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: In fact, I think "The New York Times" should start running ads and get some jihadists and get some terror members and have them say, they saved my sleberson (ph) thanks to "The New York Times"!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: House Democrats today say they plan to offer a substitute resolution because they dispute many of the findings, many of the conclusions reached in the Republican resolution. Meanwhile, Soledad, over in the Senate, CNN has learned that Texas Republican John Cornyn intends to offer his own version of this resolution. Only in his conclusion, he's going to be targeting not the media as much as the leakers, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Interesting. All right, Andrea Koppel for us this morning. Andrea, thanks.

Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Those miners trapped in the Sago Mine the first of the year were convinced they would be rescued. Gripping new details about the explosion and its aftermath. We're now hearing what sole survivor Randy McCloy told investigators early this morning. McCloy says some of the miners' air packs didn't work. They fought to get them started. We're quoting now from a transcript as he spoke to the investigators. He says, in part, "there was nothing going on with it. That's what told me right there it was broken." McCloy also described the final moments with the group saying, "it was several hours before people started calming down. All of our options were diminished to nothing. People had went to sleep or appeared to be asleep."

An independent report into what went wrong at the mine site should be released next month.

Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: A year ago, President Bush and other G8 leaders, committed to increase aid to Africa to $50 billion by the year 2010. Coming up this morning, my exclusive, live interview with Bono. He's been to Africa, keeping track of that pledge, to tell us if the U.S. and other nations are keeping their commitment.

M. O'BRIEN: Also, Democratic Senator Barack Obama says religion is key if Democrats would like to win in November. We'll ask him to explain that one.

S. O'BRIEN: And the devastating floods leading to a state of emergency in Pennsylvania. Governor Ed Rendell is going to tell us what his biggest worry is right now. AMERICAN MORNING continues right after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Welcome back.

Flooding in the northeast at the top of the news this morning. Forty-six of 67 Pennsylvania counties now states of emergency, 200,000 plus people evacuated. The focus of concern this morning, the Wilkes- Barre area, on those evacuations. Overall, about a dozen people are dead, linked to that flooding. Joining us now from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is the governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, to bring us up-to-date.

Governor, good to have you with us. I know you're busy.

Just bring us up-to-date on the situation as best we know it right now.

GOV. ED RENDELL, PENNSYLVANIA: Well, yesterday was a war zone in the northern tier of Pennsylvania. We choppered out over a thousand people from roof tops, from second and third floors of their homes. The flooding in the northern tier and the upper part of northeast Pennsylvania was horrific yesterday. Thirteen helicopters, coast guard, of course National Guard, and state police almost -- not the dimensions quite, but almost a Katrina-like situation with people on rooftops. An incredible situation.

Wilkes-Barre was evacuated yesterday. Wilkes-Barre has dikes that were built up to 39 feet. The crest information we were getting yesterday was 38, 38 « feet. So in a real abundance of caution, but a good decision, the local authorities decided to evacuate the whole Wyoming Valley that sits amidst mountains, and it could have been trapped because a lot of the access roads were cut off.

So the evacuation occurred. It was orderly and very successful. The crest looks like it crested at about 32 feet. So it's hard to say we dodged a bullet considering all the damage and danger, but it was -- so far the news has been good today.

But we're watching the Delaware, particularly in southeast Pennsylvania, where the crests have yet to occur. A few of them have in eastern, but the lower part of the Delaware, the crests haven't occurred, and we could have situations -- we already have situations in southeastern Pennsylvania where the water level is eight, 10, 12, 13 feet above flood stage. So we don't anticipate helicopter rescues, but we've got swift boat rescues going on in Bloomsburg and in Easton and Yardley and places like that.

So we're holding our breath. If we can get through the end of the afternoon today, we should be okay. But the damage has been almost incalculable.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's start in Wilkes-Barre here for a moment. You mention these dikes that go up to 39 feet, which I believe were just completed a few years ago. That started back in '72 in the wake of Hurricane Agnes.

RENDELL: Right. The dikes were built as a result . . .

M. O'BRIEN: I mean holding's one thing. Are you concerned about them giving way at all?

RENDELL: No. We had a little experience back in April of '05, and the dikes held there as the water came fairly close to the dike level. You know, you're always worried about the dikes holding, but these dikes were built very, very well. It's a terrific project if you want to look at, you know, flood mitigation in advance of floods. But it was very costly. I don't know the exact figure, but very costly.

But the dikes held in April of '05. And they appear to be holding now. We were worried that the crest would actually go over the dikes or that the dikes would break. But, again, the news appears to be good. Wilkes-Barre officials are meeting in about 35, 40 minutes to see if they're going to take off the mandatory evacuation. And if they do so, it will be about 12:00 noon today. M. O'BRIEN: Governor, Chad Myers has a question for you.

Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Governor, I'm very familiar with the area. And we know that the Wilkes-Barre has the dike on its side. But my parents are actually from the other side, from Kingston, down through Bull Run, Plymouth, down through Shickshinny and that is not protected. How did the people do on that side?

RENDELL: Well, they got hit and they got hit pretty bad. Not quite as bad as north of Wilkes-Barre in Upper Luzerne County and along the New York State border. That's where the helicopter rescues went through yesterday. And I have to tell you, we've never seen anything like that in the history. I mean, helicopter rescues are, of course, relatively recent. But to take more than 1,000 people out was sort of incredible.

M. O'BRIEN: Let me ask you this, Governor. You mentioned Katrina. Do you have the sense, are you getting the kind of help you want in the lessons learned category? Do you have the feeling that the response is doing better because of what happened in the wake of that storm?

RENDELL: Yes, there's no question that there were lessons learned. I mean, number one, we got tremendous cooperation from the Coast Guard. Their choppers were on the scene early yesterday morning with the first National Guard choppers.

Number two, FEMA's been on the scene with us before any water hit and they've been ready and working. Number three, the deployment of water and ice and meals ready to eat, those things, those assets are deployed, and so we'll be able to, when people come back -- and there's still about 15,000 people without power, another 5,000 or 10,000 people without water. And that's when the availability of those assets are going to be important.

And I think we now have, at least in our area, and I think across the country, those assets, FEMA has contracted with companies all over, ready to deliver those assets at just FEMA's go-ahead. So I think we've learned some lessons each time we have an incident like this. We've got to learn some more lessons.

But I will tell you, the Guard was unbelievable. 12:30 Tuesday night, 12:30 in the morning, I signed a declaration, the guardsmen hadn't been notified yet. By 7:00 that morning, we had 700 National Guardsmen on the ground. We had seven National Guard choppers there and that, I think, saves considerable lives. We lost at least five or six people, but I think the total could have been a lot worse if it wasn't for the quick response.

M. O'BRIEN: Governor Ed Rendell, state of Pennsylvania, good luck. Get back to work.

RENDELL: Yes, will do it.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Remember the Live 8 concerts last year? The goal was to pressure the G8 into action. Get them to focus on aid and trade and debt relief in Africa. Well, a year later, it's been accomplished. Coming up this morning, my exclusive live interview with Bono, who's been keeping a close eye on the developments, or lack thereof in some cases, in Africa. We'll talk just ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning.

In Baghdad, some very excited police academy graduates. Three hundred and twenty cadets graduating this morning. They pledged an allegiance to the people of Iraq, but then, in many cases, began singing songs and chants related to their religious sects.

The Supreme Court is wrapping up its term before it breaks for summer. Among the decisions expected today, whether President Bush went too far with military war crime tribunals for so-called enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, the prison there.

In Washington this morning, one of President Bush's biggest allies makes a farewell visit. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will meet with the president at the White House. Koizumi steps down in September after five years in office.

S. O'BRIEN: The weather could get in the way of Saturday's scheduled launch of the shuttle Discovery. NASA says there is a 60 percent chance that that launch is going to be postponed. Thunderstorms are the big worry now. CNN's going to have live coverage of the launch from Cape Canaveral. That's on Saturday. It's happening at 3:49 p.m. Miles is going to be there. It will go off weather . . .

M. O'BRIEN: You bet.

S. O'BRIEN: You're going to be there weather-permitting or not, I imagine.

M. O'BRIEN: I will be there whether there's rain or not. Rain or shine, I will be there. The question is, will we see a launch on Saturday?

S. O'BRIEN: That is the question.

M. O'BRIEN: You'll have to tune in.

S. O'BRIEN: Talk about the deep (ph) tease (ph).

The Federal Reserve expected to raise interest rates today. Mixed reaction, as you might expect. Andy Serwer's "Minding Your Business."

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Today is interest rate hike day. The Federal Reserve concludes a two-day meeting at 2:15 Eastern this afternoon. It is expected the Federal Reserve will raise short-term interest rates by a quarter point to 5.25 percent, the seventeenth time since June of '04 when the benchmark was at 1 percent.

There is Fed Chief Ben Bernanke. He, and company, are raising rates, of course, to keep the economy from overheating. Higher interest rates act like a governor on the economy, literally making money more expensive.

Now this doesn't mean that Americans understand or appreciate those moves. A new Bloomberg/"L.A. Times" poll finds that Americans disapprove of these rate hikes by a margin of 65 percent to 22 percent. The balance, no doubt, have no opinion.

Now, two things about that. Number one, Americans may not know what they need. Number two, Ben Bernanke's not going to listen. The Fed does not necessarily pay attention to public opinion.

In other financial news in Washington, D.C. As expected, Hank Paulson was confirmed by voice vote in the Senate yesterday as the new Treasury secretary. I suppose I shouldn't call him Hank Paulson anymore. I should call him Mr. Secretary because that, in fact, is what he is. Three hours of testimony and it went very, very smoothly.

M. O'BRIEN: As was expected.

SERWER: As was expected, indeed.

M. O'BRIEN: What you got coming up next?

SERWER: Coming up next, we're going to be talking about higher oil and gas prices as we head into the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

M. O'BRIEN: Must we?

SERWER: We must do that, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. Sorry to hear that.

SERWER: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. We'll see you in a bit.

SERWER: OK.

S. O'BRIEN: It is reality, Miles.

A year ago, G8 leaders committed to provide treatment for all HIV and AIDS victims in Africa by 2010. How's that promise come along? Coming up, my exclusive, live interview with Bono. He's been keeping track of all those pledges from the G8. He'll tell us where we stand today.

Plus, Democratic Senator Barack Obama says religion could be key if Democrats want to win big in November. We interview the senator just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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