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American Morning
School Bus Safety; Presidential Coins
Aired November 21, 2006 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A teen tragedy. New information this morning about that deadly school bus crash. Did a teen-aged driver of a car cause the accident?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A peace plan. Iran is looking to host a meeting with leaders from Syria and Iraq. Will it end the violence in Iraq or could it stir up new problems for the United States?
And save rides. Brand new results out this morning on the safest cars you can buy. We'll tell you what it says.
M. O'BRIEN: And saying sorry. Kramer apologizes for that racist diatribe at a comedy club. Is Michael Richards a standup guy after all? It's no laughing matter on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning. Tuesday, November 21st. I'm Miles O'Brien.
S. O'BRIEN: And I'm Soledad O'Brien. Thanks for being with us this morning.
We're talking about this teen-age driver who's now under suspicion as investigators search for the cause of that deadly school bus crash. It happened on Monday in Huntsville, Alabama. The bus, which was packed with high school students, smashed right through a guardrail and then plunged nose first 30 feet off a highway overpass. Three teenagers were killed. More than 30 others were hurt and some of them are in intensive care this morning.
And of all the dramatic images, we thought it was this photo was the one that really captured the scope of the tragedy. You can see there a student sitting with on of classmates, one of the girls who was killed in the crash.
CNN's Rusty Dornin has more for us this morning from Huntsville, Alabama.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: NTSB investigators were back out on the scene Monday night trying to answer some of the many questions in this tragedy. What we do know, 43 children were riding in a bus going to a technical school nearby. They were on the overpass in downtown Huntsville. A witness says a car swerved towards the bus.
REX REYNOLDS, HUNTSVILLE POLICE CHIEF: A car may have come close to and overstruck the bus, causing the bus to strike the rail and ultimately leave an elevated part of the interstate.
DORNIN: Police now say that the car was driven by another high school student, but it's still unclear whether the car hit the bus or just swerved toward it. Meantime, of course, there are 30 children that were injured, three teenage girls died in that accident. One of the injured, Lawanda Jefferson, told us that many were seen being pulled from the front of the bus.
LAWANDA JEFFERSON, SCHOOL BUS ACCIDENT VICTIM: There was bleeding real bad and couldn't walk and they had blood everywhere on them.
DORNIN: Unlike cars, most school buses are not outfitted with seat belts. But it's unclear in this case whether seat belts could have helped the students in this accident considering that this bus plunged 30 feet.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Huntsville, Alabama.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead in the 8:00 hour of AMERICAN MORNING, we're going to talk to the NTSB spokesperson -- her name is Debbie Hersman about the status of their investigation right now.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: In Iraq this morning, the makings of some unlikely and uneasy alliances that could change the course of the war. Syria and Iraq resuming diplomatic relations after a 25 year rift and Iran issuing an invitation to the leaders of both countries to come to Tehran for a summit. Is it really about peace making or just another ploy to gain a foothold in Iraq and humiliate the U.S.? CNN's Aneesh Raman in Tehran with more.
Aneesh.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, good morning.
That summit on hold for now. But when it comes to Iraq diplomacy, both Syria and Iran are pushing ahead on their own.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAMAN, (voice over): It's an alliance many in the west would like to break. But Iran and Syria seem closer than ever. Both support Lebanon's Hezbollah and both claimed proxy victories after the Israel/Hezbollah War. And now both are quite publicly turning their focus to Iraq.
First came the historic trip to Baghdad by Syria's foreign minister, there to restore full diplomatic ties with Iraq. And now word Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, will be heading to Tehran this weekend to meet with Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Bush administration is skeptical the talks will lead to change on the ground. But if nothing else, it shows Iran and Syria pushing ahead with Iraq policies of their own without the U.S.
But what about the people? How big an issue is Iraq? They're all following events next door closely, of course. But for many of them, concern is trumped by domestic issues like high inflation and unemployment.
When it comes to Iraq, the answers, like those from Ali (ph) seemed all the same and all seemed to go back to the U.S.
ALI, (through translator): The Iraqis that come here, that come to my store, they say the U.S. is the problem, is the reason there is unrest, otherwise there would be no Shia/Sunni divide.
RAMAN: But there is and Iraq is consumed with sectarian violence, fueled, in part, the White House says, by Iranian influence. Iranians says it's because of the U.S., but don't see the U.S. leaving Iraq as the exclusive solution.
"The Americans should leave," Aheed (ph) told me, "as soon as possible. But when it comes to solving this, the U.S. and Iran should talk directly because that way there will be no misunderstanding."
Iran is a country President Bush has called unambiguously evil. And while the leadership here don't yet seem eager to sit down with the U.S. just because they're asked, the people are hoping it might just happen. Not just to bring stability to Iraq, but perhaps to bring American investment to a faltering Iranian economy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RAMAN: That might be the hope. But given where things stand, Miles, it doesn't look like Iran and the U.S. are going to be sitting down at the table any time soon.
M. O'BRIEN: Aneesh Raman in Tehran, thank you.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Happening that morning.
President and Mrs. Bush are in Hawaii. It's the end of a week- long trip to southeast Asia. Mr. Bush is going to have breakfast with the troop and get a briefing from the Pacific command. He's going to head back to the White House tonight.
There's a new poll out this morning on the first family. New CNN polls that show that 61 percent of people surveyed think that George Herbert Walker Bush made a better president. That would be the current president's father. Twenty-five percent chose his son as the better president.
The annual list of the most dangerous toys is being announced in Washington, D.C. It's going to happen at 9:30 a.m. this morning. These toys that you're looking at now are from last year's list. The list targets toys that are made sometimes with toxic chemicals or have extra sharp edges or parts that are easily swallowed and a list of other things as well. The toy that could make the list is some of these popular Polly Pocket dolls. Mattel is recalling them after reports of tiny magnets coming loose from the doll's parts that children then would swallow. In three cases children had to have surgery to remove the little teeny weeny magnets and the children were hospitalized.
Outrage in Minneapolis this morning after Islamic scholars were taken off a U.S. Airway's fight. It happened after three Imam's kneeled for evening prayers on a flight to Phoenix. A passenger complained. The plane stopped in Minneapolis. Six men were taken away in cuffs after refusing to leave the plane.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Near Atlantic City, New Jersey, this morning, police are trying to find out who killed four women. Their bodies discovered overnight in a ditch behind a motel. CNN's Jason Carroll joining us on the line now from Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, right near Atlantic City, with more.
Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles.
Well this morning I spoke to the Atlantic County prosecutor. She told me this morning that yesterday afternoon four bodies were found in an area behind the Golden Key Motel. The Golden Key is one of a series of low-budget motels located on Black Horse Pike. That's just outside of Atlantic City.
Apparently what happened is, yesterday afternoon two women walking on a service road behind the motel found the body of a women. When police arrived, they then discovered the bodies of three more women nearby lying in several inches of water. None of the women have been identified. Investigators could not even say at this point how long the women had been out there. The bodies had been out there.
Autopsies are scheduled to begin just about two hours of now to determine a cause of death. We hope to learn more about this later this afternoon. We're hoping to get more details. That's when investigators will be holding a press conference.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Jason Carroll near Atlantic City. Thank you.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, that mysterious poison plot that's left a Russian former spy on his death bed. Well, now from former KGB officers say they think they know who did it.
Also, Fox is scrapping that controversial O.J. Simpson interview on the murders of his ex-wife and her friend. The hypothetical take on how he would do it. We're going to hear this morning from the family of Nicole Brown Simpson about the move. And Michael Richards doing standup is trying to make amends for his racist ranting at a comedy club. We'll hear what he had to stay straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back. Some of the top stories we're following for you this morning.
That deadly school bus crash in Alabama. Police are now questioning a teen-aged driver of a car that may have cut the bus off just before it plunged over that highway overpass and killed three students.
And a fresh warning this morning from health officials about properly cooking chicken after a recent spike in poultry contaminated with salmonella.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Michael Richards says he's sorry. The Emmy winning actor who played Kramer on "Seinfeld" sparked some outrage during a stand-up routine on Friday at an L.A. comedy club. He launched a racist tirade at some African-American hecklers, shouting obscenities, repeatedly using the n word. Last night Richards appeared on the "David Letterman Show" to apologize.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL RICHARDS, COMEDIAN: I'm really busted up over this and I'm very, very sorry to those people in the audience, the blacks, the Hispanics, whites, everyone that was there that took the brunt of that anger and hate and rage and how it came through.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: The owner of the Laugh Factory, where Richards was performing, says he is no longer welcome there.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: O.J. Simpson finds himself canceled this morning. The planned book and that planned TV special now off the schedule. Now Fox had been heavily promoting a TV interview that would air next week. And in that interview, O.J. Simpson talks about the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman, her friend. An interview that his book publisher said she considered to be O.J.'s confession.
Well, there was all that criticism. Tons and tons and tons of it and Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch decided to drop the project all together. Both projects really. In a statement he said this. "I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill- considered project." The family of Ron Goldman reacted last night on "Larry King Live."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRED GOLDMAN, RON GOLDMAN'S FATHER: I think on behalf of Kim and I and our family and all victims in this country, we want to say, thank you, thank you to everyone in this country who raised their voice and stood up for the right thing and made certain that a corporation the size of News Corp wasn't and won't make money on this nightmare.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: Last night the book was at number 20 on Amazon already. And only a few of the books have actually been sold. Fox has said it may destroy the rest of the copies.
Twelve minutes past the hour. If you're about to head out the door, let's get a check of the weather forecast from Rob Marciano, who's in for Chad today.
Hey, Rob, good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: And now a page-turning spy thrill that is not a work of fiction. In this case, the clandestine meeting and the poisoning is all too real and a former Russian spy is clinging to life in a London hospital. CNN's Matthew Chance in Moscow picks up the story from there.
Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, thanks very much.
Well, there's already been reaction from the Kremlin. They said it's sheer nonsense these accusations that they were in any way involved in the severe poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko. Nevertheless, friends of the former Russian security agents say that they believe he was targeted by Russian agents, his former colleagues, because of his outspoken criticism of the Kremlin and of President Vladimir Putin himself. At the moment, Alexander Litvinenko is fighting for his life in a British hospital.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHANCE, (voice over): The latest dramatic images of Alexander Litvinenko fight for his life. And when this image is shown alongside a picture of the former Russian agent in good health, the startling effects of his ordeal become clear. Doctors say he must have been poisoned with the toxic metal thallium. The question is, who did it.
It was this wave of apartment bombings across Russian, blamed on Chechen rebels, that first soured Litvinenko's relationship with his Kremlin bosses. He published a book alleging the bombings, which killed hundreds in 1999, were orchestrated by the Russian government as a pretense to resume war in Chechnya. Before defecting to Brittan, he also accused the Russian security services, in which he was a colonel, of plotting to kill Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky and another Kremlin opponents. The FSB, successors to the KGB, denied it.
But it was his investigation into the killing last month of leading Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya he says he believes he was targeted for. A few weeks before his poisoning, he blamed the Kremlin and the Russian president for her murder in this webcast.
ALEXANDER LITVINENKO, (through translator): Somebody has asked you directly who is guilty of Anna's death. Who has killed her?
CHANCE: But former KGB officers, now living outside Russia, say that poisoning bears all the hallmarks of a Russian covert operation and would have been ordered from the very top.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's poison, thallium. It is only in the possession of the KGB.
CHANCE: And Litvinenko has long believed his former employers were capable. In an interview after his defection, he spoke about the threat to his life that he felt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think will happen to you if you go back to Russia?
LITVINENKO, (through translator): I think if I go back to Russia, I won't last long there. I won't live long. I think perhaps it will be better for me to die here in England in the fresh air.
CHANCE: As his family attends his London hospital bed, they may well prove prophetic words.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHANCE: Well, British police are now stepping up their investigations into what they regard as a deliberate poisoning on British soil. But as yet, no evidence has been made public, at least as to who may have carried it out or for what reason.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Matthew, as this investigation progresses, there could be all kinds of jurisdictional issues.
CHANCE: Absolutely. But as the poisoning took place on British soil, this is very much being treated by the British authorities as a crime that is to be investigated by their police. I think a wired question is, if it is found to be at the -- on the hands of Russian security agents, that may have quite a chilling effect on Britain's relationship with Russia. Obviously there's a great deal of mistrust in the west at the moment about what the Kremlin gets up to in its own country and now overseas as well.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Matthew Chance in Moscow, thank you.
Soledad. S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, if you're looking for a new ride, there is a new list of safest cars on the road. We'll tell you which ones made the cut and why.
Plus, it's a buyer's market. News this morning about your biggest investment, your home. We're "Minding Your Business" straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: The U.S. insurance industry is out with its latest list of the 13 safest cars for the year 2007 and they have two things in common. One, they're all equipped with electronic stability control. Two, not one is American. CNN's Brianna Keilar is live for us in Washington, D.C., this morning.
Good morning, Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
That's right, three of the winners are Hondas, including an Acura SUV. Three of the winners are Subarus. There are no Fords or Chevys on this list. Both of them not making that requirement for the top safety pick for having electronic stability control.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR, (voice over): The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's 2007 top safety pick award goes to vehicles with top ratings in front, side, and rear crash tests. New this year, the institute requires that all models have electronic stability control. Research shows ESC reduces the risk of serious crashes involving SUVs and cars, particularly in single vehicle crashes, reduced 40 percent by the addition of ESC.
RUSS RADER, INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY: It can brake individual wheels. In some cases, it can even reduce the throttle to help you keep the vehicle pointed in the direction that you want to go.
KEILAR: Top safety picks this year, the Audi A6 in the large car category. The Audi A4, the Saab 93 and the Subaru Legacy for midsize cars. The Hyundai Entourage and the Kia Sedona among minivans. The Mercedes M class and the Volvo XC90 both luxury SUVs. The Acura RDX , the Honda Pilot, and the Subaru B9 Tribeca in the midsize SUV category. And for small SUVs, the Honda CR-V and the Subaru Forester. One thing all 13 of these cars have in common, side air bags come standard even though it's not a government requirement.
RADER: Almost 10,000 people die every year in side impact crashes and side air bags can provide that little bit of cushion between you and what's coming at you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Seventeen other vehicles would have received the top safety pick award for 2007, but they didn't meet the institute's highest standard for performance in rear crashes. And if you want to see how all of these vehicles performed, you can check that out at www.iihs.org.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Good place to go in case you're looking for a new car. Brianna Keilar for us this morning.
Thanks, Brianna.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, it's a good housing market if you're a buyer. If you're a seller, we're sorry. Ali Velshi is here with the grim details.
Good morning, Ali.
ALI VELSHI: That's pretty much what it is.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
VELSHI: Good to see both of you.
We have a report out yesterday from the National Association of Realtors which says that existing homes -- now, remember, we talk about existing homes and new homes. Existing homes are 85 percent of the market. So that's what you have to look at. Existing home sales are down across the country, specifically they describe it as plummeting in 38 states. And the states leading that plummet . . .
M. O'BRIEN: Plummeting.
VELSHI: And the states leading that. Now here's the part that makes sense. It's Arizona, Nevada, Florida and California. Places where sales have been traditionally hot in the last few years. Where prices have been higher.
Now, obviously, when sales are plummeting, that means prices are going down. So prices -- sales are down about 12, 13 percent year- over-year. We compare it over the same period last year.
Now, you look at prices, we're going to be down about 1.2 percent. So the average price of a resale home, about $224,000. So if you're a home buyer, it's looking good. Interest rates are still low.
M. O'BRIEN: The number of sales is down dramatically.
VELSHI: Right.
M. O'BRIEN: The price is still . . .
VELSHI: The price is just eking down.
M. O'BRIEN: Moderately down.
VELSHI: Right. Right.
M. O'BRIEN: But that probably will go down further.
VELSHI: Yes, we'll probably be about a wash at the end of the year.
M. O'BRIEN: OK. What else you got?
VELSHI: Yesterday was a massive merger day. About $50 billion in mergers, putting 2006 on track to be one of the biggest merger years, in fact possibly the biggest merger year in history. Merger's mean a strong economy. We, in the U.S., are going to do about $3.5 trillion worth of mergers in 2006.
M. O'BRIEN: That's real money.
VELSHI: That's bigger than the entire economy of Germany.
M. O'BRIEN: Wow! Why the urge to merge now, though? I mean is a lot of it just kind of a group mentality?
VELSHI: A big one yesterday was Freeport-McMoRan, a copper and gold company taking over Phelps Dodge. Because copper prices are so high, the only way this company could get their hands on more copper, in order to sell it, was to buy another big producer. So all sorts of reasons why companies are being merged. Some of them are going private. But sign of a good economy, $3.5 trillion in mergers.
M. O'BRIEN: Wow! What's next?
VELSHI: We're going to talk about coins. Presidents on coins. They're going to do something like those quarters -- the state quarters. We're going to do president coins. President dollars.
M. O'BRIEN: Silver dollars, right?
VELSHI: Yes, they're kind of a gold color but they're going to be silver, yes.
M. O'BRIEN: Silver gold dollars, sorry.
S. O'BRIEN: And you can use them to (INAUDIBLE).
VELSHI: And you can use them. Yes, absolutely.
M. O'BRIEN: That's the idea, use them.
S. O'BRIEN: Sorry. Cheap tease. I get it.
Thanks, Ali.
Ahead this morning, outrage at the Minneapolis airport. Six Muslim religious leaders are taken off a plane they say simply because they were praying. Plus, we'll have more on that deadly school bus crash in Alabama. Could seatbelts have made a difference. A look at that straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Tragedy on the highway. Questions now for a teenage driver and for investigators as well about that deadly bush crash in Alabama.
M. O'BRIEN: Canceled. O.J. Simpson's controversial book and TV show called "If I Did It" is now called off. We'll have reaction just ahead.
S. O'BRIEN: And outrage at the airport. Muslim religious leaders pulled off a plane for praying? That's that side of the story.
We've got those stories and much more straight ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Welcome back, everybody. It's Tuesday, November 21st.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien.
Thanks for being with us.
In Alabama this morning, a federal investigation is under way into that horrible school bus accident yesterday. It may lead them to a teenage driver of a car which possibly cut off the bus. Three teenagers are now dead after that bus plunged off a highway overpass.
It happened along Interstate 565 in Huntsville. The bus was carrying 43 students from a local high school.
Police say a small car driven by another teenager might have hit the bus and forced it through a guardrail and then off the side of the overpass. It fell nose first 30 feet on to the street below. No seat belts required on buses in Alabama.
The accident overwhelmed the Huntsville Hospital.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DORIS HARRIS, GRANDMOTHER: They were coming in, telling people that their kids had died in front of everybody, and they were just falling on the floor, you know. And I imagine that, where's my child? You know? I need to know where my child is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think this would have been different if you had seat belts on?
LAWANDA JEFFERSON, SCHOOL BUS ACCIDENT VICTIM: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How would it have been different?
JEFFERSON: Because you can strap down, even though some people don't use seat belts. And others, everybody wouldn't have been injured like they were.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: Right now only five state require seat belts on school buses. Why aren't they on every bus in every state? The latest research in the "Journal of Pediatrics" has some surprising findings on this.
CNN's David Mattingly with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Over the years, statistical information shows that taking the bus is the safest way to get to school. But, according to researchers behind a new national study, school buses should be even safer.
GARY SMITH, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR INJURY RESEARCH AND POLICY: Seventeen thousand children are injured each year on school buses. And that number is more than three times higher than previous estimates.
MATTINGLY: The findings, published in the "Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics," shows thousands of strains, sprains, cuts, and bruises are treated at emergency rooms every year after mishaps on buses. Forty-two percent of the injuries happen during crashes.
In this extreme case, from 2003 in Ohio, a bus rollover tossed kids out of their seats. The injuries weren't serious, but, according to researchers, these injuries and many like them could be prevented.
SMITH: Well, it can be a traffic-related swerve, a quick breaking. And, if a child's thrown to the side, there's absolutely nothing to keep them from flying through the air.
MATTINGLY: These crash tests by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show how higher seat backs and padding provide good protection in front-end collisions. But adding seat belts and shoulder straps actually caused more injuries to the head, neck and abdomen.
(on camera): But researchers behind the new study argue that seat belts could be effective in preventing injuries in those cases where students are thrown sideways, out of their seats, and into the aisles. They also suggest that better supervision and better behavior on the part of the students themselves could go a long way to cutting down the number of injuries on buses every year. David Mattingly, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: In our 8:00 Eastern hour we'll check in with federal crash investigators live on the scene in Huntsville -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Happening "In America" this morning, in New Jersey, right near Atlantic City, four unidentified women have been found dead behind a strip of motels. People walking by found the first body. Police then found three more. Autopsies on those bodies are expected today.
In Indiana, a utility worker is missing and now feared dead. A house exploded last night in the town of Huntington. The worker was checking out a possible gas leak at the time of the explosion. Two people in the home are now being treated in the hospital.
School officials in Savannah, Georgia, are being criticized for waiting a day to report a student-made bomb. A 14-year-old boy used a firecracker, gun powder, metal shavings and BBs to make the device, then carried it to school in a paper bag. The school master said he didn't consider the device dangerous.
In Washington State, a 31-year-old woman who disappeared on Saturday while snowshoeing is now safe and sound. She got separated from her friends during an outing near Seattle. A police helicopter finally spotted her and was able to pull her to safety.
An outrage in Minneapolis this morning after Islamic scholars were taken off a US Airways flight. It happened after three imam's meals for the evening prayers on a flight to Phoenix.
A passenger complained. The plane stopped in Minneapolis. The six men were taken away in handcuffs after they refused to get off the plane -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, one of the biggest names in the car business takes some swipes at "Consumer Reports". We'll tell you why in "Minding Your Business".
Plus, more on Michael Richards' racist rant at an L.A. comedy club. Is his late-night apology enough?
See for yourself later on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This should be a very proactive type of industry. It was right after my dad's 55th birthday, and they find that he has a tumor. We go probably five months of chemo, 22 rounds of radiation, and then we have the CAT scan and the cancer's back.
One of the frustrating things for me is we're not looked at as individuals. You're basically told statistically here's what works for your type of cancer. People literally die more or less from the treatment than the actually cancer itself.
M. O'BRIEN: Our country's medical labs have developed some amazing drugs, but when it comes to administering those drugs, many questions remain. Can we find a way to treat disease without causing unnecessary pain and suffering?
(voice over): Meet Mansoor Amiji, a professor at Northeastern University. He believes breaking drugs down into tiny nanoparticles could be the answer.
PROF. MANSOOR AMIJI, NORTHEASTERN UNIV.: You're talking about lining up 10,000 of nanoparticles that we make in this lab on a pinhead.
M. O'BRIEN: By using nanomedicine, Amiji says drugs are delivered directly to the deceased areas of the body, making them more efficient and less harmful to the patient.
: Lower doses can be administered and overcome some of the problems of cancer, such as side-effects.
M. O'BRIEN: In addition to drug delivery, these tiny particles can also monitor a patient's response to the drugs, giving doctors a quicker way to make adjustments to the treatment. And in the future, Amiji says nanoparticles could multitask, performing several missions in a single dosage.
In cancer, we could have drugs that shut down the blood vessels and drugs that kill the tumor cell in one package, being able to deliver drugs in such a way that one could come out before the other. So there's a lot of potential of this particular technology.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Here's a look at what CNN correspondents all around the world are covering today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ben Wedeman in Jerusalem.
Another Israeli civilian has been critically wounded in a rocket attack on Sderot, the Israeli town near Gaza which has endured thousands of rocket attacks by Palestinian militants in the last six years. A 57-year-old Israeli woman was killed last week in a similar attack which brought to the total of six the number of Israelis in Sderot killed since the year 2000. Pressure is mounting on the Israeli government to do something to stop these attacks, but the Israeli military has yet to come up with a tactic which actually works.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SETH DOANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Seth Doane in New Delhi, following the story of a bombing on board a local passenger train in the northeastern state of West Bengal. At least eight people are dead and more than 60 wounded. But based on whether you talk to district or state officials, those numbers are still fluctuating, and officials say the death toll still could rise.
The bombing took place in a rural area of India very close to the border with Bangladesh. And while the investigation is now under way, early-on fingers have started to point blame at two separatist groups operating in the area.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Karl Penhaul in (INAUDIBLE), Venezuela.
Thousands of people are gathering here for a rally to support President Hugo Chavez, who's running for reelection on December 3rd. You'll remember how recently Chavez branded U.S. President George Bush "the devil."
Out here on the campaign trail, Chavez is vowing to step up the fight against what he calls the U.S. empire. He's also promising to turn Venezuela into a socialist state.
Most polls predict a Chavez victory. Opponents say that will mean the country's sliding toward dictatorship, but Chavez says he's leading a revolution for the poor.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: For more on these or any of our top stories, log on to our Web site, CNN.com.
Let's get a weather check now. Rob Marciano is in for Chad. This week Chad's, I don't know, on a beach somewhere, or cooking a turkey. I don't know what he's doing.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, an Olympic superstar goes into early retirement. The stunning end to a stellar career. We'll tell you who it is straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Welcome back to the program. Let's take a look at some of the feeds we are watching right now on our news grid.
Incoming 85, take a look at the scene there. That is the location in Huntsville, Alabama, that horrible school bus accident. Three teenagers killed, 14 in the hospital this morning. The bus driver as well. And there are reports -- there are reports that a driver of a car, a teenaged driver of a car, might have cut that bus off.
We're going to check in with the federal investigators on the scene very shortly and get you the latest on that.
Incoming 18, there's Brianna Keilar. We had her on just a little while ago talking about the safest cars in America.
Over here on incoming 12, that's Charlottesville, Virginia. That's the place where they do this. Their job is to crash cars and determine which ones do best.
We have the list of the safest cars. I'll just give you a couple: the Audi A4, the Acura RDX, and the Honda CRV. But there are more. So stay tuned and we'll give you the full list.
Finally, the White House. The president and the first lady in Hawaii this morning. They'll spend some time reviewing troops' specific command there, then make their way to the White House, ultimately on their way to Camp David for some Thanksgiving. And we'll keep you posted on that -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: O.J. Simpson finds himself canceled this morning. The planned book and TV special now off the schedule. FOX was to air the interview next week, which is where Simpson talks about the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman.
His book publisher had said that she considered it O.J.'s confession. Well, after furious criticism, FOX CEO Rupert Murdoch decided to drop the whole thing altogether. And in a statement, he said, "I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project."
The family of Ron Goldman reacted last night on "LARRY KING LIVE".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRED GOLDMAN, RON GOLDMAN'S FATHER: I think on behalf of Kim and I and our family, and all the victims in this country, we want to say thank you, thank you to everyone in this country who raised their voice and stood up for the right thing and made certain that a corporation the size of News Corp wasn't and won't make money on this nightmare.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: Keep in mind the book was at number 20 on Amazon already, and a few of them have already been sold. FOX says it might destroy the rest of the copies.
M. O'BRIEN: Michael Richards says he's sorry. The Emmy-winning actor who played Kramer on "Seinfeld" sparked outrage Friday during his standup act at an L.A. comedy club. He launched a racist tirade at some African-American hecklers, shouting obscenities and repeatedly using the "N" word.
Last night, Richards and his friend Seinfeld appeared on the Letterman show and Richards apologized.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERRY SEINFELD, COMEDIAN: He is extremely upset about it. And I asked him if he would come on the show tonight so that he could explain what happened, because it's just -- it was one of those awful, awful things.
DAVID LETTERMAN, "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": Right. Right.
SEINFELD: And I think he's a little mystified about what happened, but I think most importantly he wanted to...
LETTERMAN: We have him live via satellite from Los Angeles.
SEINFELD: Yes, we do.
LETTERMAN: All right. This should be Michael Richards.
Michael, are you there?
MICHAEL RICHARDS, ACTOR: Yes, I'm right here.
LETTERMAN: Hi, Michael. Welcome to the show.
RICHARDS: Hello. Hi.
LETTERMAN: How are you doing?
RICHARDS: I'm not doing too good.
LETTERMAN: Why don't you explain exactly what happened for the folks who may not know?
RICHARDS: I lost my temper on stage. I was at a comedy club trying to do my act, and I got heckled. And I took it badly and went into a rage and said some pretty nasty things to some Afro-Americans, a lot of trash talk.
SEINFELD: Stop laughing. It's not funny.
RICHARDS: I'm really busted up over this, and I'm very, very sorry to those people in the audience, the blacks, Hispanics, whites, everyone that was there that took the brunt of that anger and hate and rage and how it came through. And I'm concerned about more hate and more rage and more anger coming through.
Yes. I went out there. I tried. I went out there, and I did talk to some people.
I even went back to the club that night to get back on the stage and to work, to get back on the horse, as they say. And I did. I apologized to quite a few people, but I didn't -- I didn't talk to all of everyone. They left. And I don't know how to get in touch with those people.
And then, of course, they've gone to the press, as I think they should. The fact that there's that kind of solidarity in confronting that kind of -- those kinds of remarks, I think it's important for the Afro-American community to make sure this kind of crap doesn't -- doesn't come about. And I'm sorry that it happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: Now, the owner of the Laugh Factory, where Richards was performing, says he is no longer welcome there.
Coming up, we're going to speak with comedian Paul Rodriguez, who was at the club when Richards launched into that diatribe. That's a little less than an hour from now, 7:45 Eastern.
Stay tuned for that -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: I wonder if it's going to be career-ending for him. I mean, some people have said, you know, that could be a career-ender.
M. O'BRIEN: He certainly went to the Mel Gibson school of comedy, didn't he?
S. O'BRIEN: That's a tough one.
Ahead this morning, Susan B. Anthony, Sacagawea -- is that how you pronounce it?
M. O'BRIEN: Sacagawea.
S. O'BRIEN: Sacagawea -- once again we're talk another stab at the dollar coin. You may say, jeez, Susan B. -- I don't remember that coin. Sacagawea? I didn't know Sacagawea had a coin.
M. O'BRIEN: They came, they went.
S. O'BRIEN: They came, they went. They may come again.
We'll take a look at the dollar coin as we mind your business straight ahead.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: We've got a shocker to tell you about in the world of swimming. After a career that includes five Olympic gold medals and 11 world titles, the Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe is calling it quits. He's only 24 years old.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IAN THORPE, AUSTRALIAN SWIMMER: As of 2:53 on Sunday afternoon, I decided that I wouldn't be swimming in the world championships. I also made another very difficult decision that day, that I'm actually going to discontinue my professional swimming career. It was a tough decision, but one that I'm very pleased that I've made.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: Wow.
M. O'BRIEN: Wow.
S. O'BRIEN: The last time he competed was -- in a major event was two years ago at the Athens Olympics. He won two gold, two silvers, and a bronze medal.
What's that about that? What do you think is behind that?
M. O'BRIEN: I don't know. I know I've got a 14-year-old boy at home who was very upset about that. The Thorpedo no longer.
S. O'BRIEN: Can you believe it?
M. O'BRIEN: Wow. Maybe he'll be back.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes. He's not -- he wouldn't be the first athlete to retire and then unretire.
M. O'BRIEN: Do you think?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: Laying the ground for a big comeback.
And speaking of comebacks, the silver dollar, or the gold dollar, or whatever...
VELSHI: The dollar coin.
M. O'BRIEN: ... the coin dollar...
VELSHI: Talk about a comeback. This has not been -- unlike the Thorpedo...
S. O'BRIEN: Why?
VELSHI: ... the dollar -- because dollar coins last longer. They last about 30 years.
S. O'BRIEN: Because no one uses them. That's why they last long.
VELSHI: Because nobody uses them.
The almighty dollar itself, the dollar coin would last 16 times as long. It would last 30 years.
So the Mint is introducing a new presidential series of dollars which is going to be like those state quarters which have done phenomenally well. In fact, the Mint would like you think of this as the state quarter program.
They're going to introduce starting in 2007 four presidents a year. It will rotate around the presidents. And they're hoping that if people collect them, they'll get into them and they will actually use them.
M. O'BRIEN: But people think they're quarters. That's the problem.
S. O'BRIEN: Right, that's the problem.
VELSHI: Well, they're making them bigger than quarters. And, of course, like the Sacagawea, they will be bigger -- they will be gold. But it's all in the marketing. You know, up in Canada we use dollar coins and two-dollar coins. They call them loonies and toonies.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, that's Canada.
VELSHI: That's -- exactly.
(LAUGHTER)
M. O'BRIEN: Anyway...
S. O'BRIEN: You know, the subway only gives these out as change, obviously.
VELSHI: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: And it's such a pain, because...
VELSHI: They're going to try...
S. O'BRIEN: ... you give them to people as quarters, and then all of a sudden you realize you've just handed someone five bucks.
VELSHI: You hand them five bucks, exactly.
S. O'BRIEN: But you meant to give them $1.25.
VELSHI: Well, they're going to be -- they're going to feel different on the edges, too. They'll have printing on the edges. So they're hoping that's going to work.
I want to tell you about Mercedes. You know, "Consumer Reports," which many people read to buy their next car, "Consumer Reports" surveyed its six million subscribers about quality, and in the list of least -- least reliable luxury cars, three of the six are Mercedes.
S. O'BRIEN: Wow.
VELSHI: The S class, the CLS, and the E class sedan. The least reliable mid-sized SUVs, the M class.
And of the 11 Mercedes reviewed by "Consumer Reports," none of them are recommended. Seven of them because of poor reliability, and four of them because they're too new to review.
So Mercedes not loving "Consumer Reports" right now.
M. O'BRIEN: And they're kind of lashing back at "Consumer Reports," which doesn't take advertising, is kind of, you know...
VELSHI: They're perceived as reliable and...
M. O'BRIEN: Switzerland.
VELSHI: The Switzerland of the auto world, yes.
S. O'BRIEN: You hate to read that once you've spent $60,000 on your Mercedes. Ouch.
M. O'BRIEN: What else you got coming up?
VELSHI: I'm talking about house prices again when I come back, the fact that house prices are down a little bit, home sales are down across the country.
M. O'BRIEN: You're just rubbing it in this morning.
VELSHI: Forty-five major cities. You might be in one of them where house prices are way down.
S. O'BRIEN: Is New York one of them?
VELSHI: I'll tell you when we come back.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you, Ali.
S. O'BRIEN: That's a question for you.
All right, Ali. Thanks.
M. O'BRIEN: The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING begins right now.
S. O'BRIEN: Tragedy. New information now about that deadly school bus crash and the teenaged driver of a car that may have been the cause.
We're live with the very latest straight ahead.
M. O'BRIEN: Please plan. Iran offering to step in to help control the violence in Iraq. Will it work or just stir up new trouble for the U.S.?
S. O'BRIEN: Saying sorry. "Seinfeld's" Kramer is apologizing for his slew of racist remarks.
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