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American Morning
Deadly Decision in Kentucky; Preparing for Ernesto; Hurricane Katrina: One Year Later; Barack Obama's Mission to Kenya
Aired August 28, 2006 - 08:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jason Carroll in Lexington, Kentucky.
Why did a Comair jet use the wrong runway for takeoff, a runway too short for a commercial jet? Investigators are looking for answers. I'll have the story coming up.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm meteorologist Chad Myers, watching Ernesto, now onshore just to the west of Guantanamo Bay. Winds at Guantanamo about 40 miles per hour. What it does after that, it gets into a very warm Gulf Stream, and it will intensify.
We'll tell you where it's going coming up.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rusty Dornin in Key West, where the tourists have all gone home, but we'll tell you what the residents here are doing in anticipation of Ernesto. More coming up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: If the hurricane comes...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: If the hurricane comes, what happens? Getting answers one year since Hurricane Katrina. Is New Orleans ready for another storm?
My interview with Louisiana's governor, Kathleen Blanco, is ahead.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And the Conan controversy. We like to call him the other O'Brien around here. Why some say the comedian's opening sketch at the Emmys was really no laughing matter. We'll show you.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.
S. O'BRIEN: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: A deadly decision in Kentucky. A pilot at Lexington's Blue Grass Airport trying to take off from a runway that was too short for the airplane he was flying. The result, a fiery crash that killed all but one of 50 people on board Comair Flight 5191.
This morning federal investigators want to know what went wrong on that airplane. What happened that made that flight crew make that decision.
CNN's Jason Carroll live now from Lexington, Kentucky, with more -- Jason.
CARROLL: A lot of questions out here, Miles. Investigators are back out here at the crash site trying to gather more information. They have also been reviewing information that they've gathered from a cockpit voice recorder.
We're also hearing that they've retrieved the tape from the control tower as well. Both of those tapes seem to indicate that there was some sort of conversation between the crew, as well as the tower, indicating that they were supposed to use the longer runway, one that is typically set up for use by commercial jets of that size.
The Comair flight was cleared by the control tower shortly after 6:00 a.m. yesterday to take off from runway 22. That is the longer runway. That runway about 7,000 feet. But for some reason, the pilot turned and used the shorter runway. That is runway 26, which is just about half as long.
The plane crashed through a perimeter fence, into an open farmland area, and burst into flames. The plane's first officer, Jim Polehinke, was pulled from the wreckage. We are told this morning by a hospital spokeswoman that he is still listed in critical condition.
Also, a short while ago an NTSB representative was out here. We asked her about what they were able to learn so far from the cockpit voice recorder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBBIE HERSMAN, NTSB SPOKESWOMAN: There was planning discussions both by the air traffic controllers and the crew, conversations with each other about using runway 22 for departure. We do know from the information that we have obtained on scene, gathered evidence, documentation, and from the flight data recorder, that the runway that the crew used was runway 26.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: And Comair representatives describe the captain, Jeff Clay, as well as the first officer, Polehinke, as experienced pilots. That NTSB spokeswoman that you just heard from there also said that because Polehinke is still in critical condition, obviously, Miles, they have not been able to interview him.
So, what they are doing is they're relying on the tapes from the cockpit voice recorder, as well as the data recorder. They're also going to be reviewing the tapes from the tower, all trying to put the pieces together to try to determine why the crew used the wrong runway -- Miles. M. O'BRIEN: And one of the things that was kind of unclear from that interview with her was the staffing level inside that control tower. There are reports that there was one person there. She did not -- she neither confirmed nor denied that. She said, "Oh, I've heard that in reports."
What do we know about that? Would that tower -- do we know, would it typically have been a one-person tower in the overnight hours? That would have been the end of the overnight shift.
CARROLL: She was asked about that yesterday, asked about it again this morning. I asked her, as well, in fact, as she was heading out to the camera.
You have to remember, that is -- you know, when this crash took place, very early in the morning. I asked her about staffing issues, asked about who should be in the tower, was someone specifically in the tower watching out. In fact I said to her, "Was there someone in the tower who was simply watching and saying -- trying to communicate with the crew to say, 'Hey, you're on the wrong runway. Get on the right one'"?
She was unable to answer those questions at this time.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
Jason Carroll, in Lexington, thank you very much.
I'm sure we'll know a lot more by the end of today -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Our other top story this morning, Tropical Storm Ernesto. Cuba right in the crosshairs now. Where it's going to go next, though, Chad Myers is at the severe weather center. He's watching Ernesto's projected path for us.
Hey, Chad. Good morning.
MYERS: Good morning, Soledad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MYERS: Back to you.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad. Thanks. You're watching and they're watching and waiting as well in Key West this morning.
Tourists there have been ordered to get out. Many of the locals, though, seem to be staying, at least for now. A state of emergency is in effect for the entire state.
CNN's Rusty Dornin is live for us in Key West this morning.
Hey, Rusty. Good morning.
DORNIN: Good morning, Soledad. Very quiet streets. As you said, the tourist have gone home or they are going home this morning. But we're still seeing people having -- folks getting stuff delivered to their stores here. Many of the merchants told me they are not going to be staying open long. Some of them plan to close up their shutters.
They're sort of watching to see what happens. Of course Ernesto over Cuba. But you can see no one seems to be shuttering things up. No one is boarding their places up as of yet.
The residents that I have spoken to, many of them say they been here through many storms. And people like Elisa Baza (ph) say she is staying no matter what.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've got my water. I've got my canned goods, all the batteries. You know, I've got fans that run on batteries.
DORNIN: And then over your windows you'll put?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the inside I will put towels so if they break they can't scatter in there. But I don't think they'll break. We have that kind of -- it's an old home. It's a 1938 home. So it's -- it's there to stay.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Now officials do say that they will not even be asking residents to leave unless Ernesto becomes a Category 3 storm. But they are evacuating people who have special medical needs. Those people will be flown to Miami. And they also have the emergency operation center in full swing just in case.
People are still watching to see what will happen to Ernesto when it comes out of Cuba -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Rusty Dornin for us in Key West.
Thanks, Rusty.
We're going to be live tomorrow in New Orleans on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I'll be reporting from there.
Be sure to join us for our special coverage. We begin at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning, Ernesto causing fits for Atlantis. NASA calling off a planned launch for tomorrow. Mission managers taking steps they would need to move the shuttle back to the hangar, but they will keep Atlantis on the pad as long as possible incase the forecast improves. The decision point will be tomorrow afternoon.
Atlantis was slated to fly yesterday, but check out these lightning shots. Strikes with 100,000 amps. The largest ever recorded there at the cape.
As the shuttle sat on the pad there's a lightning protection system there, but the engineers wanted to make sure none of the circuits got fried on the shuttle. The verdict, all well.
President Bush is marking the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with a visit to the Gulf Coast. The president will begin his trip in Biloxi, Mississippi, then he'll travel to New Orleans. It's the president's 13th visit to the Gulf Coast since Katrina. The first in about three months.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Beirut today. An attempt to preserve the Middle East cease-fire, now two weeks old. Annan met with Lebanese prime minister Faoud Siniora. He is scheduled to meet with U.N. peacekeepers. Later, he'll travel to Israel, Syria and Iran.
The cease-fire ended more than a month of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.
The violence rages on in Iraq. At least 11 killed, dozens more injured this morning in a suicide car bombing. It happened at an Iraqi police checkpoint near the Interior Ministry in Baghdad.
No one is claiming responsibility for a series of explosions in Turkey, meanwhile. Twenty-seven injured there. The blast ripped through the Mediterranean resort town of Marmaras and Istanbul last night. Ten of the injured from Great Britain.
Great Britain is requesting the extradition of the man in connection with the alleged London terror plot. The man was arrested in Pakistan last month for his alleged links to al Qaeda. A Pakistani ministry spokesman says the extradition matter is under consideration -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: The party may still be going on this morning for the winners of the 58th annual Emmy Awards. Conan O'Brien hosted the ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium in L.A. last night.
"The Office" took home the trophy for best comedy. Spy thriller "24" won the Emmy for outstanding drama series. And after five tries, the star of "24," Keifer Sutherland, picked up an award for the best actor in a drama.
He was so humble when he accepted, finally.
Mariska Hargitay won the best actress in a drama award for her role in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." That was a big surprise for some people.
Tony Shaloub took home the trophy for best actor in a comedy for "Monk".
And Julia Louis-Dreyfuss won best actress in a comedy for "The New Adventures of Old Christine."
There was some controversy, too. And a lot of people are talking about that today.
There was this prerecorded skit, and it was meant to spoof the TV show "Lost". Host Conan O'Brien, in the skit, seen in a plane crash. It aired just hours after 49 people died in the crash in Lexington, Kentucky.
Take a look at the skit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, EMMYS: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you headed to Los Angeles for the Emmys, Mr. O'Brien?
C. O'BRIEN: That's right. I'm hosting. It's my second time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you nervous?
C. O'BRIEN: Nervous? What could possibly go wrong?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: Well, some people today say, wow, that was in bad taste. They had a lot of time to change the opening skit.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Especially since the story was a big story that was, you know, news everywhere, not just in Kentucky. But I bet some of the folks in Kentucky are absolutely furious.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, and it happened at 6:00 a.m. local time.
S. O'BRIEN: They had all the time.
M. O'BRIEN: They had plenty of time there.
Anyway...
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, the challenges of rebuilding in New Orleans and the surrounding areas. In the year since Katrina hit, they've got problems with the levees and the infrastructure, and big problems with the money.
Ahead this morning, we talk to Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco.
We'll also talk to New Orleans' native son, singer Aaron Neville. He'll talk to us about his new album and how it's helping him get through Katrina's aftermath.
M. O'BRIEN: Plus, Senator Barack Obama's mission to Kenya. He's there to advocate HIV testing, but he says this trip has become much more personal.
We'll explain ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
The very latest now on Tropical Storm Ernesto. You're looking at the radar live. And as Chad has been talking about all morning, now it's about 30 miles west of Guantanamo Bay. Ernesto was expected to kind of sit around Cuba's northern coast and then head for the southern part of Florida.
It's been a year after Hurricane Katrina, and there are still half of the residents that are not back -- more than half, really -- back in the city. The progress in New Orleans is brutally slow, and much of the city is still a big mess.
Yesterday I sat down with Louisiana's governor, Kathleen Blanco, and we talked about the pace of the recovery.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO (D), LOUISIANA: Everybody wants to be back the way it was yesterday. That's just not possible. The laws of physics don't allow it.
We have a very labor-intensive manual rebuilding that has to happen before we can feel that we have come the million miles that we need to be.
S. O'BRIEN: Plus, you have the infighting when it comes to coming up with a plan. I mean -- and you have New Orleans politics, realistically speaking, that slowed some things down. And you have people who are really fearful that they are going to lose maybe the one thing that they own, their homes, and you have a lot of other issues involved, as well.
At what point do you think there will be a real plan, a real plan, not just the process to a plan, but an actual plan about what the city is going to look like?
BLANCO: I think that there will be a real plan just in the next few weeks and the coming months. People do need to know, and there's been just a lot of misinformation that was -- that was spread like wildfire.
Folks can take news, whether it's good news, the bad news. People are very realistic. I think sometimes the leadership is a little bit nervous, probably more nervous than the folks themselves.
S. O'BRIEN: The federal government set $110 billion -- "billion," with a "B" -- for the whole region. How much of that money comes to New Orleans?
BLANCO: Well, a significant amount comes to New Orleans. The $110 billion was from the very beginning, when you had to take care of masses, huge masses of people from the whole region, not just Louisiana, but Mississippi and Alabama.
S. O'BRIEN: But in Mississippi they just give them the money, right? I mean, you -- in Louisiana, the money goes into escrow. So you don't get a check. You just have the money in escrow and you -- you can draw down to work on your house. Mississippi they cut you a check.
BLANCO: Well, in Louisiana, we want you home. We want you to rebuild your house. We need a workforce.
Our unemployment statistics are unbelievable. In July, our lowest unemployment ever, at 2.9 percent, is a wonderful bit of news. At the same time, it presents a dilemma.
We need a labor force here. So we need people who are available to do this work. And that's our challenge, I think, all across the coast.
S. O'BRIEN: What about Ernesto? I mean, since you're listing the hurricanes, let's throw Ernesto in, because he's around the corner.
BLANCO: We are watching Ernesto and we don't trust him.
S. O'BRIEN: What's the plan? If the hurricane comes -- and now it's a mandatory evacuation. It means everybody has got to go. No shelters of last resort.
BLANCO: We have created three state shelters. The state never really had its own shelters before. But those are designated for people without transportation, and we will be bringing them to the state shelters in north Louisiana.
S. O'BRIEN: One of the sheriffs said to me, "What do I do if people can't go? I mean, I can't arrest them, I can't cuff them, I can't make them go."
What do you do if there's a couple that will not leave? And if there's a couple with children that won't go?
BLANCO: They need to talk to the people in Cameron Parish. Cameron was totally devastated but did not lose a single life. It's erased off the map -- all of the homes and the buildings, the businesses. But they didn't lose a single life, and they went in there and they got the last recalcitrant people who want to stay to actually leave.
I think if you really have a mind to getting people out, you can do that.
S. O'BRIEN: As we head to the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, do you look back and say, "I should have done this"? "We should have done that"?
I talked to various law enforcement officials who say, "My mistakes were..." -- this and this and this. You know, Mayor Nagin said, "I've make mistakes here and here."
Do you think about that?
BLANCO: We should have all gotten 100 percent of the people out of harm's way, and that's what we should have all done. And that's what we're going to do in any future hurricane events.
Once you get people out of harm's way and you protect life, then you can go back and deal with property damage. But I think that the first and foremost and most important thing that one can ever do is to get life protected.
We can't really stop the ravages of a hurricane. And here in this city, where we're -- where we're visiting today and honoring and commemorating all that was lost and all that has been done, we know that life is the most important thing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: I'm going to be live in New Orleans tomorrow on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Be sure to join us for our special coverage.
We begin at 6:00 a.m. Eastern. That's tomorrow morning.
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, a closer look at the hours before Katrina hit New Orleans. It's a story of government mistakes, dire predictions, and warnings that went unheeded.
And next, Senator Barack Obama's mission to Africa. A look at why his visit to Kenya is so personal ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Where were you one year ago today? If you live in the city of New Orleans or the Gulf Coast in general, you remember.
AMERICAN MORNING'S Dan Lothian joins us now from New Orleans with a look at what was happening 24 hours before Katrina made landfall last year.
Good morning, Dan.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
Well, already some people were evacuating. There were plans being made for people to go to shelters. But longtime New Orleans residents were really hoping and praying that perhaps, like they had in the past, they would dodge the bullet. Of course, as we know now, that didn't happen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN (voice over): As the Gulf Coast braced for Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans native Lorrie Metzler prepared for get out of town with her 9-year-old son Michael. DR. LORRIE METZLER, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: The writing was on the wall. You had an enormous Category 5 hurricane headed straight for the mouth of the river. Hello? I mean, it was like, get out.
LOTHIAN: A year ago today Metzler was arriving in Pensacola, Florida. 7:00 a.m. Central Time, Katrina was upgraded to a Category 5 storm. Forecasters were making dire predictions about the city Metzler had left behind.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Certainly New Orleans is going to be getting a very strong, intense blow from this storm.
MAX MAYFIELD, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: If the really strong winds clip Lake Pontchartrain, that's going to pile some of that water to Lake Pontchartrain, over on the south side of the lake.
LOTHIAN: 11:00 a.m., the city issues its first ever mandatory evacuation order.
MAYOR RAY NAGIN (D), NEW ORLEANS: We are facing a storm that most of us have feared.
LOTHIAN: But long before that, thousands of people had already started evacuating. Governor Kathleen Blanco, just off a call with the White House, added to the urgency.
BLANCO: This is a very dangerous time.
LOTHIAN: Those without transportation began lining up at the Superdome, the shelter of last resort. Michael Brown, FEMA's director at the time, insisted the government was ready.
MICHAEL BROWN, FEMA DIRECTOR: FEMA is not going to hesitate at all in this storm. We're going to move fast, we're going to move quick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to use the service elevators.
LOTHIAN: Some doctors and nurses at area hospitals started moving medicines and other supplies to hire ground. Metzler, a physician, was concerned as she followed the news from hundreds of miles away.
METZLER: I was very worried about the medical facilities. I was very worried about how we were going to get the sick people out.
LOTHIAN: By now, the military had a small presence in New Orleans. But would their numbers be enough?
And there were growing concerns about the levees. Would they hold?
Katrina was still hours away. It was getting harder to leave the city. President Bush urged everyone to evacuate and offered reassurances. GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will do everything in our power to help the people and the communities affected by this storm.
LOTHIAN: Katrina wrote the rest of the story with a catastrophic ending.
METZLER: I think most of us live with a lot of anger about what should have been and what should have happened and the way it should have gone down and how we really should not have had the problems that we had.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: Metzler says even now some of her friends have a very difficult time talking about the storm. In fact, they don't want to say anything at all about this anniversary, don't want to hear anything about it.
Tomorrow, by the way, we'll take a look at how folks in Mississippi are dealing with the emotional impact of the storm one year later and what is being done to help them -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: You know, it's interesting that she says that. Everybody -- I was just there this past weekend. Everybody I spoke with was so happy that we were still there and still telling the story. They don't want people to forget.
So, on the one hand, they probably would like to forget. On the other hand, they don't want the rest of the world to forget either.
Dan Lothian...
LOTHIAN: That's right. They don't want the...
M. O'BRIEN: No, go ahead.
LOTHIAN: They don't want the rest of the world -- they don't want the rest of the world to forget. But for them, many of them, it's still very painful, and they don't want to talk about it.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes, that make sense. All right. Dan Lothian, thank you.
Be sure to join us tomorrow for a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. We're going to take a look at just about every aspect of Katrina one year later. Soledad will be live down in New Orleans. We were both there this weekend. We've talked to a lot of people you've met all along the way, and we'll follow up with them and give you a sense of where they are and, thus, where New Orleans is and the rest of the Gulf Coast.
That special coverage gets under way tomorrow morning, 6:00 Eastern. Please join us.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, we'll take a look at the levees, the money. We'll take a look at the people, the recovery, the healthcare, everything. The schools, the housing. We've got a list of things to talk about and catch up on.
Ahead this morning, the investigation into that deadly Comair crash. Why was the plane on a runway that was too short for takeoff?
Also, the first Colorado court appearance of John Mark Karr. We'll tell you what's going to happen today.
And later, New Orleans native Aaron Neville joins us live. The singer has got a new album, and it's a message of hope a year after Katrina.
We'll talk about that and much more ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: That was just a few moments ago on Wall Street. The opening bell there. It looks like Deutsche Bank is savoring the moment there today. The Dow Jones Industrial average opening this morning at 11,284. And you can take that to the bank. Down 20 points on Friday trading.
We begin this half hour with Tropical Storm Ernesto. The storm is bearing down on Cuba as we speak. Of course, the question we all want to know is where will it go next?
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: President Bush today leaving Washington about an hour from now. He's making his 13th trip to the Gulf Coast since Katrina slammed ashore one year ago tomorrow. Let's check his agenda.
CNN's Andrea Koppel joining us live from the White House with that. Hello, Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Miles. Well, over the next few days, President Bush is going to tour Gulfport, as well as Biloxi, Mississippi, including parts of New Orleans. That's where he's going to mark the one-year anniversary of Katrina by attending a prayer service at St. Louis Cathedral. That's where the president made his pledge in September of last year that he would do whatever it takes to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives.
Now, while Mr. Bush is sure to emphasize the progress that's been made over the last year and the tens of billion dollars of federal assistance that has been pledged, you can bet that this is one anniversary that Mr. Bush, the White House and even Republicans themselves are dreading. That's because unlike the image of President Bush after 9/11, the one in which he was seen as in control and in command, this image is one that the president would prefer to forget. In particular, who can forget the one, the picture of him sitting on Air Force One, looking out the window, touring the aftermath of Katrina? The impression was of a president who was out of touch and disconnected. Now, ahead of this year's anniversary, you've had have had a number of top administration officials who have been dispatched to the region in recent days. That's really to try to minimize the political fall-out ahead of this November's midterm congressional elections, and to lay the groundwork for the president's arrival later today -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Andrea Koppel at the White House. Thank you very much.
Investigators in Lexington, Kentucky and Washington, D.C. federal crash investigators are trying to unravel the riddle of how Comair Flight 5191 and that flight crew made that decision to roll down the wrong runway yesterday morning in Lexington, Kentucky. It's a decision which cost 49 lives and put the first officer in critical condition this morning.
Let me just show you a little bit as you look at the crash scene there at the end of the runway, the shorter runway at Lexington's Blue Grass Airport. Let's try to explain to folks how it could be possible for this to happen. We're going to zoom in using our Google Map technology and just give you a sense of the airport, the general lay of the land here.
As you zoom in a little more closely, it is, as can see, one very long runway which goes in this direction here at that end. That would be Runway 22. This runway here, the shorter one, is Runway 26. Now, this longer one is 7,500 feet -- excuse me, 7,000 feet. And the shorter one is 3,500 or half that distance. Not long enough for that particular airplane.
Let's zoom in a little closer, try to give you a sense of what that plane might be doing. Right here, where I put the number one, that's the commercial aviation terminal. There you see the jetways and so forth. The direction that they would have taxied, very likely, would be from this location on toward the runways.
Now here's the key point right there. That is the threshold right there of Runway 26. If you stop there, turn around and start taking off, you're on the wrong runway. Now, if you go a little bit farther, you're at the threshold for Runway 22, which is the longer and suitable runway for the aircraft. So what happened?
Were they confused? Did they think -- they clearly thought they were on Runway 22, but why or how? Were they fatigued, did they have bad instructions? Was there a bad marking? Was the lighting system not working properly? It was kind of in the pre-dawn time, 6:00 a.m.
In any case, the decision was made by that flight crew to run down this runway. They needed at least 5,000 feet. They had 3,500 feet. And instead they ended up in this direction right here, where the crash site was. So that gives you a sense of how you can be confused. Two runways kind of in a close location to each other, and give some people some explanation, as you see the crash site right there.
We have been, in addition to watching the crash and president and Hurricane Katrina, we're looking at some other stories as well.
(NEWSBREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: A rising star in the Democratic Party on a high- profile visit to Africa. He's there to fight AIDS and connect with his roots. U.S. Senator Barack Obama in Kenya meeting relatives, visiting his father's grave, amid a heavily publicized campaign for HIV testing.
Jeff Koinange now from western Kenya with more.
Hello, Jeff.
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Miles.
And the newspapers here have coined a new phrase. They're calling it "Obama mania," and the senator from Illinois felt it firsthand when he paid a visit to his father's hometown.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KOINANGE (voice-over): If Barack Obama was expecting a quiet family reunion in his ancestral hometown, he was seriously mistaken. From Obama T-shirts to photo ops to signing of his 11-year-old autobiography, now a bestseller, all in its first few minutes here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back up, guys. Back up.
KOINANGE: And the balance of bodyguards more visible here due to the sudden rock star status.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS: This is obviously a wonderful event for me, the opportunity to come back to the land where my father was born.
KOINANGE: And with that, the senator's convoy was off. Thousands lined the streets just to catch a glimpse of the man many here consider their son and brother, even though he was born in the U.S. All the way to his first stop the crowd kept growing and singing.
These men sang, "Clear the way, Obama is coming."
While these women chimed in with, "God has returned our son."
This was the first time the crowds had seen Obama, and even for a politician used to crowds, Obama mania here seemed a bit overwhelming.
But he quickly composed himself, greeting them in the native tong of his father, a goat herder-turned-Harvard-educated economist.
OBAMA: I just wanted to say very quickly that I am so proud to be back home and to see all of...
(APPLAUSE) KOINANGE (on camera): It was at his first stop that Obama probably got his biggest welcome. Thousands of locals turning up just to see him take an HIV test.
OBAMA: I just want everybody to remember that if a U.S. senator from the United States can get tested and his wife can be tested, that everybody in this crowd can get tested, an everybody in the city can get tested, and everybody in country can get rested.
(APPLAUSE)
KOINANGE: Applause now, but this is a country where many avoid getting tested out of fear of testing positive for AIDS. More than two million people in this country have died of AIDS, and at least three million are carrying the virus, and probably many more.
And just like that, he followed through on his word and waited the 20 minutes for the results before addressing the masses.
OBAMA: I want to make sure that everybody is encouraged to make the time to get tested.
KOINANGE: Next stop, the recently named Senator Barack Obama secondary school in his father's village an hour away. The students ecstatic, singing "Senator Obama, you have achieved fame and fortune; you are our inspiration." Where he unveiled a plaque.
But the best, no doubt, came last, Obama reuniting with his grandmother for first time in 14 years, and introducing his children.
A favorite son, now a hero, trying to make a difference on both sides of the Atlantic.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOINANGE: And, Miles, another raucous welcome for the senator about an hour ago. He gave a keynote address at Nairobi University, talking about two subjects, he says, are plaguing Kenya's progress, namely corruption and ethnicity -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: You know, watching those pictures, Jeff, when Mr. Obama gets back to the United States I'm sure he's going to long for that kind of crowd. You don't get political crowds like that here. It almost seems over the top. Try to give us a sense of how much hero worship there is for him there.
KOINANGE: Unbelievable. Why? Simply because he has that last name. People, especially where we are right now in western Kenya, they associate with him. His father grew up here. They knew him. The son grew up in the United States, has come back. And they actually do consider him, literally, a prodigal son, so just seeing him, just catching a glimpse was enough. And people woke up early on a Saturday morning. They lined those streets. They were cheering. They were yelling. They were shouting. I have never seen anything like that accorded to a foreigner. In fact, some local politicians were saying, hey, we don't even get crowds that large. M. O'BRIEN: All right, Jeff Koinange, thank you very much.
Coming up on our program, singer Aaron Neville and his new album that he says gave him hope in the aftermath of Katrina. He's here with us, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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M. O'BRIEN: There's no voice like that one. Legendary singer Aaron Neville out with a new CD. It's called "Bring It on Home: The Soul Classics." The New Orleans native hasn't been back to his hometown since it was hit by Hurricane Katrina year ago tomorrow, but he says singing the songs on his new CD have given him hope. Aaron Neville joins us now.
Great to have you with us.
AARON NEVILLE, SINGER: Nice to be here.
M. O'BRIEN: The voice, it's fantastic.
NEVILLE: Thank you.
M. O'BRIEN: Why haven't you been back?
NEVILLE: Well, for one thing, my doctor told me not to go back because I have asthma, you know, and so it wouldn't be a good thing with all the mold and mildew in the air and the toxics, whatever. So I'm waiting for that to clear up.
M. O'BRIEN: But are you just a little bit afraid to go back and see what you might see, as well?
NEVILLE: Yes, I've been here, and you know, I think I might keep it memory for a while until they can do something with it, you know? I have great memories of my childhood and all that. Because that's the thing about it, you know, you go to thinking about what you lost. And it's like a whole life; a whole, you know...
M. O'BRIEN: It's a lot. It's a city with a rich tapestry, and a lot of it is gone. You lost your house. Much of your family lost their homes.
NEVILLE: Me and three of my kids, my brother, my sister.
M. O'BRIEN: It's tough. Tell us how that sadness that is all a part of that turned into this album? What were you thinking? What was your inspiration? What were you looking for?
NEVILLE: Well, it was a no-brainer. I mean, the songs we picked, and you know, the songs of my growing up. And like the "Stand By Me" that was playing just now, that was definitely thinking about standing by the people in New Orleans. We've been trying to do all we could. The Neville Brothers is doing benefits and all that, and giving part of my records and all to Red Cross and trying to help wherever I can. And it's kind of helping me mentally, you know, to soften the blow of what was going on.
M. O'BRIEN: There's Otis Redding on there, Marvin Gaye. Just great choices. Let's listen to one more Sam Cooke title for just a moment, all right?
NEVILLE: Cool, cool.
(MUSIC)
M. O'BRIEN: Change is going come. That's great. What -- you took these songs -- those are familiar songs to all of us. And just by virtue of your voice, you make them distinctive. What do you try to -- what to do you -- how do you inject yourself into these songs?
NEVILLE: Well, for one thing, you know, I was inspired by the person that sang the song. Like, Sam Cooke, you know, I heard him when I was 13 years old the first time. And this song, it's the third time I recorded "Change Gonna Come," you know? And it's a song that don't get old, you know. And like Curtis Mayfield, I can remember back in the days, trying to sound like him. I toured with Otis Redding in 1967. And I never met Marvin Gaye, but I feel like I know him. I call it the man with the tear in his voice. He had a lot of sadness going on.
M. O'BRIEN: He did, he did. Your t-shirt, you have 504, which is the area code for...
NEVILLE: New Orleans.
M. O'BRIEN: ... New Orleans, with a musical note in the middle. How concerned are you that the musical culture of that city won't come back?
NEVILLE: Well, I'm concerned, you know. It may come back a little, but you know, like everywhere we have been on the road this summer, we've run across New Orleans musicians. And all in Europe and everything, and all of them got the same story. You know, like, hey man, I'm here and doing all right, so I'm going to stick it out. Some of them trying to get back. I don't know. It's hard to even fathom, like, the New Orleans that I knew and grew up in, I don't know if it will ever come back like that. But I hope it comes back, you know.
M. O'BRIEN: I think you need to go back, too. People want you to come back.
NEVILLE: I'll go back, you know?
M. O'BRIEN: The first family of New Orleans music, the Nevilles.
NEVILLE: Thank you.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Aaron Neville, thanks for being with us. And we hope you're in New Orleans soon and hope that it goes well for you and your family and your city. NEVILLE: Thanks a lot.
M. O'BRIEN: Back with more in a moment.
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M. O'BRIEN: All right, back with more in a moment.
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