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American Morning
Plane Crash Startles NYC; House Ethics Committee Looks into Foley Scandal
Aired October 12, 2006 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
It is Thursday, October 12th.
Federal investigators on the scene here on the East Side of Manhattan trying to figure out why a small, single engine plane piloted by Yankees pitcher Corey Lidle smashed into a 50-story condo building yesterday. Details are ahead.
Hello, I'm Miles O'Brien.
Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING, a special split edition -- Betty.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Miles.
And I'm Betty Nguyen in for Soledad O'Brien.
We want to get you to the news wall now for some other stories that we are following for you this morning.
The U.S. has circulated a new resolution on North Korea, softening some language in the hopes of getting Russia and China on board with sanctions.
And Kirk Fordham, former chief of staff to disgraced Congressman Mark Foley, well, he is testifying today before a House ethics panel. He is expected to reveal that he warned House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office about the page scandal years ago.
Searching for closure -- the one room Amish schoolhouse which was the scene of last week's deadly shooting was razed a little bit earlier this morning.
And there is a threat of severe weather today. So let's check with Chad Myers at the CNN Weather Center -- chad, you got a little taste of that overnight already.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We did.
Atlanta had the tornado sirens going off last night.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: It was a haunting echo of 9/11 yesterday when the news first broke. An airplane striking a high rise building on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, a 50-story structure. I'm in the shadow of it right now. You can see the charred hole where the remnants of that plane crash exist this morning.
People back in their houses today and a jittery city has calmed down a little bit. But it's a day they won't forget soon.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
O'BRIEN (voice-over): The plane took off from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey at 2:21 Eastern time Wednesday afternoon. Around 20 minutes later, it slammed into a high rise building on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All I heard is a loud noise. I looked up, I see a plane, a small plane. It looked like a two or four person plane. It just was out of control and hit the building and blew up. A big explosion. Fire everywhere. And all the debris fell down.
O'BRIEN: In this surveillance video camera from the Coast Guard, you can see the moment of the impact, the fireball and the smoke. It was all too reminiscent of 9/11.
New York's emergency responders sprang into action.
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: Massive and quick and coordinated, I think, is a good way to phrase it. Everybody was able to get their equipment through traffic here. Response time was very fast.
O'BRIEN: As a precaution, NORAD scrambled fighter jets over numerous U.S. cities.
ADMINISTRATION. TIM KEATING, NORAD: We had fighters on both coasts and on our east and west borders, all within -- well, under 20 minutes the fighters were airborne.
O'BRIEN: It soon became clear the crash was not terrorism, but a tragic accident.
On the board the Cirrus SR-20 four seat, single engine aircraft, New York Yankees pitcher Corey Lidle and a flight instructor. They were the only ones killed.
Corey Lidle earned his pilot's license in February and only recently bought the plane which crashed.
News of his death stunned members of the Yankees organization.
BRIAN CASHMAN, YANKEES GENERAL MANAGER: And we're incredibly saddened by this news today. It's -- it's a shock and I ask everybody to keep their prayers for his family and Corey. And it's a sad day.
O'BRIEN: Investigators say Lidle's plane was flying over New York's East River under visual flight rules, requiring pilots to stay over the river and climb no higher than 1,100 feet. Lidle was not required to file a flight plan. National Transportation Safety Board investigators say so far there's no indication of a distress call. Their task now -- find out what went wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED NTSB SPOKESWOMAN: We have been on the scene. We have been doing examinations of the engine and of the fuselage and the aircraft parts that are on the ground. And we will continue to do that.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
O'BRIEN: And that NTSB team is back at work again this morning, going through that wreckage, systematically trying to determine what happened there. This was really a New York City parents' nightmare yesterday. You hear of a plane crashing into a building. It happens to be in the neighborhood where your children are at school. Post- 9/11, that's not the kind of news you want to hear.
But post-9/11, most families have a plan. That plan got tested in a way that was scary, but fortunately not the real thing yesterday.
Alina Cho is here with more on a scary afternoon in Manhattan.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, and especially, imagine if you're 3 to 5 years old. We're talking about Epiphany Nursery School right behind us, Miles.
As you know, we're just a block away from the crash site. So you can imagine as parents began to hear the news, some were worried sick, others were fearing the worst. And one mother we spoke to said she was on a mission to make sure her young son was safe.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
CHO (voice-over): Three-year-old Jonah Naidus still has no idea what happened in the backyard of his nursery school. Mother Ruth Naidus was at home at the time, just a few blocks away. She heard the sirens, saw the helicopters and dropped everything to get to her son.
RUTH NAIDUS, MOTHER: And I was running and I was crying. And people were probably looking at me and, you know, I just -- I didn't care what they thought. You know, you're just scared.
CHO: Naidus calls the run-from her home to her son's preschool the longest 15 minutes of her life.
NAIDUS: Nothing mattered, just how to get there and just get him. And that was it. I was just completely focused on that.
CHO: Some of the 160 preschoolers were just back from apple picking. The children were on their way up to the rooftop playground when a teacher heard an explosion, looked outside, saw the flames and immediately put into action an evacuation plan in place since 9/11.
WENDY LEVEY, EPIPHANY NURSERY SCHOOL: My first thought was we know what to do, we know how to handle this. We have a plan. We have a place to go.
CHO: That place to go was the church across the street, where teachers sang to the kids and read them stories. The idea? The best way to protect the children was to distract them.
EVAN LEVEY, EPIPHANY NURSERY SCHOOL: Their initial reaction is excitement. They don't know. It's just fire tracks. It's stuff they like to see. So we do have to distinguish the fact that this is not safe.
CHO: For Ruth Naidus and so many other New Yorkers, the plane crash is not always an accident. There are always thoughts of terrorism. Life in New York is scary, she says. But she appreciates the little things a little more than most.
(on camera): So, are you going to hug your kids a little tighter tonight?
NAIDUS: Yes, I definitely am.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
CHO: Now, Epiphany Nursery School will be open today. In fact, kids will be getting here in less than an hour. Classes begin at about 9:00 a.m. And, Miles, one important point to make is how are they going to deal with this today?
Remember, these kids are very, very young. And I just spoke to the director of the school. She said listen, with kids this young, too much information is not a good thing. So they're going to wait for the children to ask questions. And they expect there will be questions. The teachers have been instructed to say listen, this is an unfortunate accident, it's an unusual accident, but it could have been worse. And they're going to remind the children that they are safe here at the school.
A school psychologist will be on hand and there will also be coffee for the parents, because administrators here expect that there will be a lot of parents who are going to want to be here today.
O'BRIEN: Well, you know, it's interesting, because parents, I think, presume their kids need more explanation than they really need. They need simple things to latch onto.
CHO: That's right. It was an accident, it could have been worse, but you're safe.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
On with your day.
CHO: That's right.
O'BRIEN: That's really all it takes.
All right, well, we wish them well. I know they won't be on their rooftop playground because they don't want them to see...
CHO: They don't want to see...
O'BRIEN: Yes.
CHO: ... they don't want them to see the crash site until they explain it.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
CHO: And it might be open tomorrow, but we'll have to wait and see on that.
O'BRIEN: All right, Alina Cho, thank you very much.
CHO: Sure.
O'BRIEN: A scary day here for parents in Manhattan -- back to you, Betty.
NGUYEN: It definitely was a scary day, especially in this post- 9/11 world, when you see those pictures. Still frightening to look at even now, Miles.
Thank you for that.
Let's move on to another story. Who, what and when -- that is what the House Ethics Committee is trying to pin down in the Mark Foley scandal. Some important answers to those questions could come today, when Foley's former chief of staff testifies.
CNN's Dana Bash joins us now live from Capitol Hill with the latest on this -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Betty.
Well, you know, there are two investigations underway, one is the FBI and one at the House Ethics Committee. The FBI is mostly looking into any potential criminal activity on the part of Mark Foley. But what the House Ethics Committee is doing since they don't have jurisdiction over Mark Foley anymore is looking into whether or not the system here in Congress failed, whether or not senior House Republicans or top aides could have done more to stop Mark Foley's illicit or at least inappropriate contact with pages.
And when they ask the key witnesses they're going to talk to today, the answer they'll get is yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BASH (voice-over): Kirk Fordham, Mark Foley's former chief of staff, plans to testify under oath that he warned more than one GOP Congressional official several times about Foley's inappropriate behavior with pages much earlier than Republican leaders have stated. A source familiar with Fordham's account of events tells CNN Fordham will take investigators back to a report he got about one alleged Foley incident some three or four years ago, something that made him so alarmed, he asked House Speaker Dennis Hastert's top aide to intervene and confront Foley.
That alleged incident? His boss, Mark Foley, had shown up at the pages' dorm drunk.
In the last week, two senior Republican lawmakers said they, too, heard about that incident and wrote letters to the House clerk asking for an investigation. Another GOP congresswoman, Ginny Brown-Waite, says she conducted her own "investigation" two weeks ago and learned Congressman Foley showed up at the page dorm one night inebriated. Brown-Waite will not release any details.
The Capitol police are looking through files for any record of the incident, a spokeswoman says. CNN is told Fordham arranged a meeting between the Speaker's chief of staff and Foley about the alleged page dorm incident and other troubling Foley behavior toward pages. That, according to two sources familiar with Fordham's account and a third independent source.
And CNN is told Fordham intends to tell all of this to the House Ethics Committee.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
BASH: Again, Fordham says he did try to warn top GOP aides years ago about Foley's behavior. The only response so far from the Speaker's chief of staff has been "what Kirk Fordham said did not happen."
That's why the sworn testimony the House Ethics Committee is going to get today and over the next several weeks, Betty, is so critical, to find out exactly what did happen -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Definitely critical there.
But in the meantime, the president says he's never wavered in his support of Hastert.
So the question now is how is he going to continue showing that support publicly?
BASH: Well, you're right, yesterday the president stood in the Rose Garden and said, "Denny" -- speaking of Denny Hastert -- "is very credible and he's done a fine job as Speaker."
Today, the president is going to stand in Chicago, right near Denny Hastert's home district in Illinois, and essentially make the same statement, by standing side by side with the Speaker for the first time since the Mark Foley scandal broke. And, of course, the fallout from that was that many Republicans, fellow Republicans, thought that the Speaker and his staff, other Republican leaders, simply did not do enough to stop Mark Foley's inappropriate behavior. So, you know, in general, Betty, it shouldn't be big news that the president of the United States and the Speaker of the House, one month before election day, they're going to be at a fundraiser for Republicans. It certainly shouldn't be big news. But it is noteworthy because many of the Speaker's colleagues, Republican candidates, in the past couple of weeks have said, you know, please, thanks, but no thanks. Don't come, because it would be more of a political problem for us than it would be a help.
NGUYEN: Well, it's going to be very interesting to see how this shakes out with the voters.
Dana Bash, thank you for that.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid is denying any wrongdoing. Reid collected a $1.1 million windfall on a land sale in his home state of Nevada. But there are questions about how he reported it.
The Senate Ethics Committee is looking into this land deal.
South Korea says no abnormal radioactivity levels have been detected within its borders from the North Korean nuclear test. But that does not mean that North Korea did not conduct a test.
At the United Nations, the U.S. has circulated a new draft resolution on North Korea. It uses softer language on cargo inspections and financial sanctions to try to win support from Russia and China.
Meanwhile, North Korea is threatening strong counter-measures against Japan if it goes ahead with its tough new sanctions.
Let's take you to Iraq. Nine people were killed when gunmen stormed the offices of an Iraqi satellite TV station in eastern Baghdad today. Forty bullet riddled bodies turned up around Baghdad yesterday, all showing signs of torture. Four hundred bodies in similar condition have been found in Baghdad this month.
And an indictment for treason against an American seen in al Qaeda videos. Twenty-eight-year-old Adam Gadahn of California is a convert to Islam and has appeared in several al Qaeda tapes calling for violence against Americans. It is the first time the government has used the treason charge since World War II. The indictment adds Gadahn to the list of most wanted terrorists and he could face the death penalty if caught and convicted.
American student Michael Phillips has been released unharmed in the West Bank city of Nablus. He was abducted yesterday by a militant Palestinian group. Phillips is from Mandeville, Louisiana. He works for the non-profit volunteer group Project Hope teaching English in refugee camps.
And coming up, more on the high rise plane crash in Manhattan. It unnerved a lot New Yorkers, reminding them of 9/11. We're going to talk to some people who watched yesterday's tragedy unfold. Plus, severe weather -- it just rips through the Midwest and the South. Look at that. We'll show you more. We'll take a look at that the damage ahead here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: In America this morning, a pile of rubble is all that is left of the Pennsylvania schoolhouse where a gunman killed five Amish girls. Before dawn, workers moved in to tear down the one room schoolhouse. It's been boarded up since October 2nd, when Charles Roberts stormed the school and shot 10 girls before killing himself.
In Idaho, Joseph Duncan's attorney says that he will admit to the murder of 9-year-old Dylan Groene if the prosecutor agrees not to seek the death penalty. Duncan is accused of kidnapping Dylan and his 8- year-old sister and killing their 13-year-old brother, their mother and their mother's boyfriend back in May of 2005.
On Monday, he is scheduled to go to trial for those killings.
In Ohio, severe weather hit more than a dozen homes near Columbus. Several of the homes were brand new construction and were unoccupied. There are no reports of any injuries. Powerful storms in several Eastern states prompted tornado warnings. And in Georgia, speaking of tornado warnings, they went out for the city of Atlanta. Strong thunderstorms moved toward downtown last night. Some homes were damaged. A tree fell onto the roof of one house and buildings in western Georgia had severe damage.
In Alaska, the city of Valdez, about 100 miles east of Anchorage, may be cut off from the rest of the state for at least a week. Floodwaters washed away huge chunks of asphalt and caused mudslides on the only road leading into town. Until that road is fixed, you're going to need a plane or even a boat to get in or out of Valdez.
The time right now is 8:17 Eastern.
If you're headed out the door, let's get a check of the forecast outside.
Chad Myers is in the Weather Center with a live look at that -- good morning, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning.
It all depends on where you're traveling.
NGUYEN: Yes.
MYERS: But isn't that always the case, Betty?
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: You know, five plus years after 9/11, a lot of New Yorkers will confess that every time they see an airplane in the air, they take a look at it and they think about that day and they think about where might that plane be headed.
A lot of people around this area where we're standing in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, where this plane crash occurred yesterday, did just the same thing yesterday, took a look at that small plane and, in many cases, they saw something that seemed rather odd.
I'm joined by a couple of witnesses who actually watched the whole thing unfold, Joanne Hartlaub and Marla Kaufman. Both were nearby at the time.
Good to have you back with us.
First of all, as we look up there you and see the scene there, you were in -- I want to start with you, Joanne.
Where were you in relationship to the building at that time?
JOANNE HARTLAUB, PLANE CRASH WITNESS: I was directly across from it in the gym in my building on the 49th floor. So I was looking down on it.
O'BRIEN: So you were looking down. You were in an adjoining building then?
HARTLAUB: Yes, I was.
O'BRIEN: gee, and when you saw the plane, did something seem unusual about it?
HARTLAUB: I didn't actually recognize it as a plane. I just saw it as a large capsule that looked like a plane engine. I thought it was a very large plane engine. And my first glance at it was it had smoke coming out of the top of it before it hit.
O'BRIEN: Oh, yes? Really?
HARTLAUB: So that was my -- that's the image I have in my mind. But I did not recognize it as a plane.
O'BRIEN: And, Marla, what are -- you were in that -- in that black building, is that right? Were you...
MARLA KAUFMAN, PLANE CRASH WITNESS: Yes, I was in the building, as well, in a doctor's office. And I was looking out the window in the waiting room and what I saw was -- I did -- there was -- it wasn't a clear day, so there was -- I saw smoke. You heard this loud noise first. It was a very loud noise. And I saw smoke and then I saw this huge ball of flames shoot out from the building and go to the ground.
O'BRIEN: Right.
KAUFMAN: And I immediately said was that a body? I didn't know what it was and I was trying to clear the chairs where I was to look down, and look down at the ground and see what was there. And then I immediately thought of terrorism. O'BRIEN: And did you think the same thing? You were immediately, you know, flash back to 9/11 and terrorism?
HARTLAUB: Immediately. It was -- I was in emergency mode. And I was thinking about my children. I was thinking about the two people that I saw that were still in the building right next to the site. I was waiting for them to get out. I called 911 immediately and went downstairs to alert the building and it was just total chaos after that.
O'BRIEN: So neither of you really had a chance to see how the plane was flying beforehand, whether it was erratic or anything like that, right?
HARTLAUB: No.
KAUFMAN: No, no.
O'BRIEN: You just saw sort of at the tail end of the smoke?
KAUFMAN: The tail end. And I saw something sticking out.
HARTLAUB: Right.
O'BRIEN: But it sort of went between those two buildings, the black building and the building where the crash occurred?
KAUFMAN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Is that essentially how it kind of looped around...
HARTLAUB: Yes.
KAUFMAN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: ... and then into it like that?
HARTLAUB: Yes. Exactly. But I saw it actually almost at the top of the red building.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
HARTLAUB: Yes, before it -- it actually zoomed in and hit the building.
KAUFMAN: Yes, we're not even sure if it was already on flames because there was a cloud of smoke before you see -- saw the flames of the crash, of the boom.
O'BRIEN: Wow!
All right, well, thank you both.
What a scary situation.
How are you guys doing today? KAUFMAN: Tired.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I'll bet.
HARTLAUB: Very tired and very sad for the victim's families.
KAUFMAN: Exactly.
O'BRIEN: OK, thank you very much.
HARTLAUB: OK.
KAUFMAN: And thank you to all the firefighters and the police that responded.
O'BRIEN: They did a good job.
KAUFMAN: They did a great job.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
All right, Joanne and Marla, thank you very much for being with us this morning.
KAUFMAN: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Back to you -- Betty.
NGUYEN: It's been quite a night for all of us, Miles.
Thank you for that.
And coming up, here's a question -- what's in a name?
Well, Starbucks loses a big legal battle overseas. Andy has that storing in Minding Your Business.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, two big companies losing trademark battles overseas.
Andy Serwer is Minding Your Business.
Who doesn't know about Starbucks?
Well, apparently South Korea didn't know that that name was already taken.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Well, and this is a little bit silly, I think. But, you know, when U.S. companies go abroad, they have to play by other country's rules, and that's what happened to Starbucks. They just lost a battle in South Korea over their name. Another company, a coffee company, had a very similar name. And the judge said it's different enough. Get this...
NGUYEN: How do you pronounce that, Andy?
SERWER: OK, this is -- the company, listen to this, Starbucks and the South Korean company is called Starpreya. Starpreya. Now, get this. They said, the South Koreans said they named their coffee chain after the Northern European goddess Preya. Yes, right.
NGUYEN: Yes, I've heard of her.
SERWER: Right. Starpreya. And, also, Starbucks came into South Korea in 1999. That's when Starpreya was founded, 1999.
NGUYEN: Not a coincidence, wouldn't you say?
SERWER: After the Northern European goddess.
NGUYEN: Yes.
SERWER: Also, they have a kind of a woman's face with a green logo on it.
NGUYEN: Very much like Starbucks.
SERWER: Starpreya.
NGUYEN: Don't be confused.
SERWER: No, don't be confused.
But, you know, it's interesting, because Starbucks did -- won a battle in China against a company that had a name that translated from Chinese was Starbucks.
NGUYEN: Oh.
SERWER: And the judge in China actually came to their defense and said no, you can't do that.
NGUYEN: Not in South Korea.
SERWER: So they won one in China but they lost one in South Korea.
How about Spam?
NGUYEN: Right.
Which one are you talking about, the mystery meat or just getting all of those e-mails flooding into your in box?
SERWER: Well, it entails both. But we're talking about the Hormel product here, Betty. Spam, of course, spiced meat, founded by this company in 1937. And they have been fighting this battle, and it's a losing battle, and for obvious reasons, I think, trying to get technology companies not to use the word spam for junk e-mail.
Memo to Hormel -- give it up, OK?
It's just a word we use. It has nothing to do with the meat. We know that. And, actually, it's interesting because Spam and hmmm have been very good about letting their product be used, like when Monty Python did the Spam, Spam...
NGUYEN: Right.
SERWER: They kind of thought that was cute. And then the "Spamalot" show on Broadway, which is a Monty Python thing.
NGUYEN: You've just got to use it to your advantage.
SERWER: Yes, I mean what brand awareness. You can't buy that, you know. And so...
NGUYEN: Have you ever had Spam, though?
SERWER: I have. I like a little Spam.
NGUYEN: I have, too. It's not too bad.
SERWER: Yes.
NGUYEN: You've got to fry it up, right, though.
SERWER: Oh, you fry it? I just like it on toast myself.
NGUYEN: OK, that's a little too much information, Andy.
SERWER: We're going to do some Spam recipes here, Betty.
But, you know, look, two words, different things, you know, the same word. It's all right. You know, just let it go.
NGUYEN: It is all right.
And coming up, what do you have?
SERWER: Coming up, we're going to be talking about the Chicago White Sox and what time they're going to be starting their ball games. It's a tie-in to a company and we'll get that that. It's kind of interesting stuff.
NGUYEN: Oh, a nice little tease there, Andy. You're going to keep us hanging on.
OK, we'll see you then.
And coming up, the war in Iraq -- President Bush says a timetable for U.S. withdrawal is a cut and run-strategy.
But what do Iraqis think about it?
We'll take a look.
Plus, more on that high rise plane crash in Manhattan. We'll see how it exposed some big holes in air security.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: And welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Betty Nguyen in for Soledad O'Brien today.
O'BRIEN: Federal investigators are on the scene trying to figure out why the plane presumably piloted by Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle slammed into a New York City apartment building, killing Lidle and his instructor.
We'll get back to Miles O'Brien is at the crash site.
NGUYEN: In the meantime, the army planning for the possibility of troops to remain in Iraq at current levels through 2010. A timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, a top issue for the midterm elections. Morning time right now is 8:31 Eastern.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle's small airplane, a single engine aircraft, was flying under visual flight rules without talking to any air traffic controllers. And that was perfectly legal for where he was around the island of Manhattan. There are these corridors for small airplanes to allow the planes to pass through the restricted air space around New York City, which is above them. And those are narrow corridors, kind of like a canyon with a roof on it which planes fly through every day. Hundreds of planes do this. Many people wondering post-9/11 if that is such a good idea.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick has been looking into the whole notion of aviation security and whether this might be a hole in the system -- Deb.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's exactly right. And that's what some security experts are calling it, a hole in the system. It's so busy, there are so many small planes in this area, that one security analyst said he's surprised this kind of thing doesn't even happen more often in this area. And that does have some wondering, should they be flying in this area at all?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK (voice over): Imagine if the crash had not been an accident but a deliberate terror attack on a high-value target, like the United Nations, the Brooklyn Bridge, even a packed stadium. It takes only seconds for a small plane to veer off course, with fatal consequences.
Pat D'Amuro ran the FBI's counterterrorism unit.
PAT D'AMURO, SECURITY ANALYST: One small aircraft is not going to create the type of havoc that al Qaeda would like. But it still is a concern for the lone wolf that may be sympathetic to a radical fundamentalist cause or any type of cause across the globe that may want to commit suicide to conduct this type of attack.
FEYERICK: Counterterrorism officials talk about the possibility someone could load a plane with explosives or use the plane itself as a flying bomb, as happened in 9/11. Commercial planes have much tighter security than private planes and corporate jets that take off from small airports across the country.
At places like Teterboro Airport, where Cory Lidle began his flight, pilots and passengers are supposed to show identification. But experts say there are many small airports where essentially no one is overseeing who's really on those planes. No one is screening bags or cargo, and the pilot doesn't even have to file a flight plan.
Air space over Manhattan is restricted to commercial planes. But private aircraft can fly along the city's rivers.
D'AMURO: I'm sure there's going to be review of what happened in this situation, and does there need to be a further review of what small aircraft can access what air space around the city? And will they continue to allow some of these corridors to be accessed by this particular type of aircraft?
FEYERICK: An aviation security official tells CNN the country faces threats every day, and it would be a stretch to suggest rules governing general aviation are the problem. Even so, small planes are not allowed to land at Reagan National in Washington, D.C., for fear a terrorist could slam into the White House or other high-value targets. A plot first conceived by the 1993 World Trade Center bomber, Ramzi Yousef.
Though fighter planes were scrambled following the crash, a counterterrorism official tells CNN even if those planes were in the air, it takes only seconds for a small plane to change course, with deadly results. Asked, "Are we safe?" One counterterror expert replied, "When it comes to smaller planes, the door remains wide open."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: And the military says it has no intention of putting fighter planes up in the sky full time. They mobilize only when there's a threat or some high risk -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Let's try to put it in perspective a little bit here. That plane weighed about 3,000 pounds, filled with fuel. And that is less than a typical SUV driving down the street here. So -- and the point is probably well taken here, that sadly, the two onboard the airplane died, but there were no injuries in the building. So when you rate all the potential risks out there, do security analysts have a sense as to whether this is a high priority item? FEYERICK: It's -- everything has a value. Everything is analyzed based on sort of a threat assessment. The problem here is that if somebody wanted to do something bad, they could fill a plane with some sort of explosives. They could choose a high-value target. And that's what they're worried about. But to try to protect against that, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.
O'BRIEN: Deborah Feyerick, thank you very much.
This morning is Miles Cam day, special edition today. We're going to stay right here in the shadow of that building where the crash occurred yesterday. And take your questions about this very subject, aviation security, restricted air space, celebrities flying airplanes. Whatever's on your mind, we'll be here at 10:30 Eastern time on CNN.com/pipeline. Your questions, though, are what we need right now. Send them to milescam@CNN.com right now. We'll field those questions for you a little bit later.
NGUYEN: Looking forward to it. Thank you, Miles.
Well, less than four weeks until the midterm elections, President Bush is stepping up his defense of his Iraq strategy. Yesterday the president was asked about Democratic complaints that he misrepresents their position on Iraq.
Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Maybe their words are more sophisticated than mine, but when you pull out before the job is done, that's cut and run, as far as I'm concerned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: So, what is the Democratic plan? Well, back in June, 12 Democrats voted for a plan calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops by July 1st, 2007. And 37 Democrats voted for a different proposal, a phased withdrawal of troops from Iraq beginning at the end of the year. It did not set any specific date. So what do Iraqis think about setting a date for the withdrawal of U.S. troops?
Rajiv Chandrasekaran spent several years in Iraq as Baghdad bureau chief for the "Washington Post." He is the author of a book, titled "Imperial Life in the Emerald City," and he joins me now from Washington.
Good morning to you.
RAJIV CHANDRASEKARAN, "IMPERIAL LIFE IN THE EMERALD CITY": Good to be here with you, Betty.
NGUYEN: Well, before we get to how Iraqis feel about this possible timetable, let's talk about what the president had to say. Is that an accurate assessment to say it's cut and run politics if you set a timetable, or is a timetable essentially providing some kind of game plan so that the U.S. policy in Iraq isn't open-ended?
CHANDRASEKARAN: Well, that's the fundamental disconnect and dispute here. The White House believes that if you were to set a timetable, that it would simply let the various factions in Iraq hold out, that they would wait for the American troops to leave. And that upon that time, the civil conflict would get even greater, that the daily death toll would go from several dozens killed to hundreds potentially killed.
On the other hand, the Democrats say that the presence of U.S. forces there today really isn't stopping the civil conflict, that Iraq has become deadly and bloody and the fighting between Sunnis and Shiites continues unabated, despite the presence of 140,000 U.S. soldiers there, many of them now being concentrated in Baghdad. And the Democrats also point to recent polls taken that show a clear majority of Iraqis, both Sunnis and Shiites, wanting American forces to leave.
NGUYEN: Yes, I want to talk a little bit more about that. Because, essentially, it's what the Iraqis think that really matters. After all, it is their country. So you spent a lot of time in Iraq. Are you getting the sense that they want U.S. troops to leave?
CHANDRASEKARAN: Well, they're growing increasingly frustrated and very fearful. The Iraqis I talked to on a regular basis are more fearful today than at any time in their recent history. In fact, more fearful than they were in many cases in the years under Saddam Hussein. Because back then, they knew that if they kept their head down, if they didn't criticize the government, they at least stood a good chance of escaping any sort of official punishment.
Today, death can come to them by simply taking a trip to the shopping market, going to school, going to work. And that really spooked and panicked a lot of Iraqis. And I think that they're searching for any possible way out. And I think what that has done is that it's led many Iraqis who at one point supported the presence of American forces to stabilize the situation, to start thinking, maybe we'd be better off if they left. It's time to try something different.
NGUYEN: OK, but if Iraqis are very fearful still to this very day because of the escalation of violence (AUDIO GAP) same level as they are today through 2010, is it even feasible to talk about a possible timeline for redeployment?
CHANDRASEKARAN: Well, you know, the talk of the Pentagon yesterday was more planning talk than actual operational talk. It was the Army chief of staff saying he wants to be prepared in case the ground commanders need the troops to stay at that current level for the next couple of years.
But it certainly sends a message to the Iraqis who don't grasp in many cases these nuances that, hey, look, American forces might be staying there in large numbers for many more years. And it certainly doesn't send the message that I think the administration wants to send to the Iraqis who say, hey, get your act together, start really training up the security forces or increasing that. Take the militia members out of the police forces. Do all of those steps that the U.S. government wants Iraqis to take. It certainly sends something of a contradictory message.
NGUYEN: It does. Senator John warner says that you know, Iraq is drifting sideways. And you've got James Baker saying that the U.S. strategy should change, yet the president says all of that is cut and run.
So do you feel the situation in Iraq is at a point where the president simply has to stay the course, because of the violence, and that he knows that this is a problem for essentially the next president?
CHANDRASEKARAN: Well, I think this is going to be a strategy the president will continue through the November elections. I think after the elections, we might see here in Washington something of a more robust, hopefully bipartisan discussion about what to do. The Baker Commission will come out with its findings after that. It seems that Senator Warner will also engage in this debate. And hopefully, we can sort of put politics aside in this town and really have a good, wholehearted discussion about what it's going to take to stabilize Iraq, and ask the appropriate questions about the current policy, and see whether there really need to be recalibrations here and do it in a nonpolitical way.
NGUYEN: Rajiv Chandrasekaran, as always, we thank you for your time, the author of course of "Imperial Life in the Emerald City." Thanks so much.
CHANDRASEKARAN: Good to be here with you.
NGUYEN: And coming up, our health series for people in their 30s, 40s and 50s. Today Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at how women can improve their odds of surviving breast cancer. You definitely want to stay with us for that.
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NGUYEN: Breast cancer is the No. 1 cancer women face. But here's the good news, the rate of breast cancer deaths, that is going down. And this morning in our health series, for people in their 30s, 40s, 50s, Dr. Sanjay Gupta tells us how women can improve their chances of beating this disease.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bet Suitt was 30 years old, pregnant with her first child, Conner (ph), when she discovered she had breast cancer.
BETH SUITT, BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR: It felt very different. It was very sore, so I wanted to go ahead and have it checked out, and I did, and it turned out to, you know, be cancer at that time.
GUPTA: She was diagnosed with the most common form of breast cancer, called invasive ductal carcinoma.
SUITT: It was very surreal. Your body is harboring, and generating and giving this protective environment for a new life, and on the flip side, I had cells that were inside of me that were cancerous that could potentially kill me.
GUPTA: Breast cancer in your 30s is still rare. Only five percent of breast cancers occur in women under 40. However, according to the National Cancer Institute, breast cancer during pregnancies does occur, most often between the ages 32 and 38, about once in every 3,000 pregnancies. Genetic mutations are often the cause of breast cancer in young women.
DR. CAROLYN RUNOWICZ, PRES., AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: For women with mutations are at very high risk, we may begin screening with mammography or with MRI. For the average woman over the age of 30, though, we discuss breast self-exams.
GUPTA: Beth had no known family history of breast cancer. She did do breast self-exams, which is how she found her cancer. After treatment, she's been cancer-free for five years.
Starting at age 40, the American Cancer Society recommends annual breast exams by your doctor and annual mammograms, X-rays of the breast that can detect abnormalities inside the tissue. However, some women in their 40s can still have very dense breasts making it hard for mammograms to pick up abnormalities. That's why oncologists, like Dr. Carolyn Runowicz, president of the American Cancer Society, encourage women to do breast self-exams. It's how she found her own tumor when she was just 41.
RUNOWICZ: I thought I'll never get cancer, because this is what I do for a living, I am very careful about my diet, my exercise, and it can't possibly happen to me. And of course, I was incredibly naive, and I felt the lump, and I had a mammogram. It was normal. I had a needle put in and it was cancer.
GUPTA: Now in her mid 50s, this cancer survivor knows how important regular screenings are, especially since the majority of new breast cancers occur in women 50 and older. Until more is known about the cause of breast cancer, catching the disease early is still the best way to reduce cancer deaths.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And coming up, you have to see this, a big piece of CNN history gets a major overhaul. Chad Myers is outside the CNN Center in Atlanta with the latest on this.
Good morning, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Betty. We have been overhauled. "Warrior 1," the Hummer that went to Baghdad with all the journalists in it behind me. It looked awful. Six weeks ago the guys from "Overhaul," they came out and did a job on it. We'll reveal it live right here and on Pipeline in two minutes on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MYERS: An important piece of CNN history made its way out to Irvine, California. This is Warrior I behind me, part of a show on TLC called "Overhaulin."
This is Chip Foose, the designer. Chip, thank you so much for coming.
CHIP FOOSE, TLC'S "OVERHAULIN": Good to be here.
MYERS: Thank you so much for doing this for CNN, for the people of the U.S. This is an amazing feat, what you did in seven days, to the vehicle that went to Baghdad with our journalists, photographers inside this thing, broadcasting live at times off the front lines. I want to know, what did you do? What did you do?
FOOSE: Well, the A-Team came through. We actually -- you know, not only did we treat the body as a piece of artwork, but there's a pedestal underneath that's a piece of artwork itself.
MYERS: You picked this up a few weeks ago, took it to Irvine. I was actually out there. I got to fly out there for a little bit. I worked on this thing for about 24 hours. There's a little bit of bondo on this. It wasn't really straight, was it?
FOOSE: It wasn't a perfect body. We straightened that out, we got everything so that we could actually do the artwork on the body that we wanted to do. And again, I have to thank the A-team and all the talent -- you know, the artists that came out and did this work.
MYERS: You had Drew Blair (ph) you had Mickey Harris (ph) and Mike Levally (ph) out there painting this. Should we waste any more time, guys? Hey, I've got a cast of thousands. Are you ready?
CROWD: Yes!
MYERS: Chip, do it, man! I've got to see it.
FOOSE: It's an honor to be here at CNN to present the work that we did on "Overhaulin."
MYERS: Wow, this is my first look. I really have not seen this at all since it was -- wow, this thing was flat gold paint, whatever color it might be, CNN Warrior I. Look at some of these things. Here's one of our photographers, going to kind of walk around. We'll walk around with him. What are some of the things that you did to the truck here, guys?
FOOSE: Well, we wanted to keep that satin finish. So it's not a high gloss finish. It is this -- you know, this -- kind of a champagne color. Satin finish, pearl. But what I wanted to do was this dual tone type print. So all the artists came together and we did the images on the vehicle that represent...
MYERS: Get a shot of some of the images up here. Especially -- what have we got up here on the hood?
FOOSE: They represent some of the stories that we were told, as well as images from the war over in Iraq. And then we -- you know, we tied in a lot of the CNN logos that we pulled into this front cover. We got rid of the diesel motor, because now it is a civilian hummer, it can on the streets. And we replaced it with a big block Chevy, you know, gasoline-powered engine. A lot more power than it had before.
MYERS: I saw that engine. That engine was full of sand, too.
FOOSE: It is. We've got one offseat of Foose wheels. We've got the B.F. Goodridge tires. We've raised the body so you can see that pedestal underneath.
MYERS: Right.
FOOSE: We've got an incredible Kicker stereo system. All new interior.
MYERS: Chip, unbelievable.
FOOSE: So when you look in here -- we actually also took the cards, the playing cards that we've heard so many stories about. And Terry (ph), one of the illustrators, put all of the airbrush artists' faces on those. The leather is to represent a tank track coming around here.
MYERS: Oh, interesting.
FOOSE: And like I said, there's a Kicker audio/video system that's beyond belief once you hear this.
MYERS: Well, this is going to a special place. This is a gift from you guys to CNN. But the gift that we're giving back is this is going to be auctioned off at the Barrett-Jackson Auction. We've got Saturday night primetime, dude. I can't believe we got Saturday night! At the Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale.
FOOSE: And it's all for a great cause.
MYERS: And it is going for a -- it is going for a great cause. And that cause is Sanjay Gupta. He's going to talk to us. Dr. Gupta, Fisher House, tell me about this.
GUPTA: Yes, it just keeps getting better and better. Because after it tours around for a while, the Fisher House is going to be the auction -- it's going to -- all the money's going to go to this particular foundation. They do some incredible work. You know, so many people are coming back from Iraq who are injured. They need care. Military hospitals, V.A. hospitals.
What Fisher House has done is taken it one step further, and saying, how about the families of those people? Where do they stay? Who takes care of them during that time? So they actually build these houses for the families of people who are getting care in these hospitals. They've saved the families about $60 million already. They've got these houses all over the country. And it's a pretty remarkable foundation.
MYERS: Dr. Gupta, thank you. Thank you for join us, explaining that. Chip, you did an amazing job with this vehicle.
FOOSE: And you need to clarify that the money from the auction is going to go to the Fisher home.
GUPTA: It is. It is. Absolutely.
FOOSE: One hundred percent.
GUPTA: Yes, the money is going to go there, build more of these homes. More families coming back. Really important cause.
MYERS: Chip, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you very much. Betty, I can't believe what this looks like. This is the most amazing sight, compared to what it looked like just a few days ago.
NGUYEN: I remember what it looked like. You know, Chad, I have to tell you, I don't think I've seen you so happy in a long time. Who needs "Pimp My Ride"? "Overhaulin" did a great job.
MYERS: You know, I went out there with these guys, and at seven days, no excuses. And by God, they did it. And it was amazing.
NGUYEN: All right, Chad. Maybe they'll let you drive it before it's auctioned off. Be very careful if you do. Thanks, Chad, Sanjay and Chip of TLC's "Overhaulin." Great job there.
And coming up, let's talk about this. The key witness in the Mark Foley scandal gets ready to testify on Capitol Hill. We're going to tell you what he's expected to say, and why it could mean big trouble for GOP leaders.
Stay with us.
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