Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
President Bush Hitting the Road; State Farm Settling Hundreds of Insurance Claims
Aired January 24, 2007 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins. For the next three hours, watch events as they come into the NEWSROOM live on Wednesday, the 24th of January. Here's what's on the rundown.
Pitch man, President Bush hitting the road this morning, he's trying to sell Americans on his state of the union plans.
HARRIS: Millions from Mississippi, State Farm settling hundreds of insurance claims. Coastal homeowners gearing up to rebuild.
COLLINS: Grouchy little girl grounded. A conniption fit gets her family kicked off a plane. The airlines' explanation, the parents' outrage, in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: And at the top this morning, the state of the union. The president's call for unity from the moment he weighted into the Democrat-controlled Congress. President Bush seemed focus on building bridges. He called for cooperation both on his Iraq plan and domestic challenges such as healthcare. Here's CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president of the United States.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president who used to boast of having political capital to spend is arguably down to chump change, with his Iraq policy under fire and his domestic agenda now at a screeching halt, this state of the union was an attempt to salvage both.
BUSH: This is not the fight we entered in Iraq but it is the fight we are in. Every one of us wishes this war was over and won, yet it would not be like us to leave our promises unkept. Our friends abandoned, and our own security at risk.
MALVEAUX: Mr. Bush practically pleaded members of Congress to give him more time for his Iraq strategy to work, which includes spend sending more Americans into battle. He cleverly used the call to support the troops to get the Democrats as well as the Republicans on their feet.
BUSH: We went into this largely united in our assumptions and in our convictions and whatever you voted for, you did not vote for failure. Our country is pursuing a new strategy in Iraq and I ask you to give it a chance to work. And I ask you to support our troops in the field and those on their way.
MALVEAUX: But with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi third in line to the presidency standing over Mr. Bush's shoulder, the president did recognize the political landscape had changed.
BUSH: Tonight I have the high privilege and distinct honor of my own as the first president to begin the state of the union message with these words, madam speaker.
MALVEAUX: On the domestic side the president is also trying to prove he is still relevant and able to get things done at home. Mr. Bush pitched new initiatives regarding healthcare, energy, and the environment, which received mixed reviews from the Democrats. But his immigration reform plan got a better reception from than them than from the Republicans.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us now. Chump change, that was good, Suzanne. Let me ask you, what is the president doing to sell his domestic agenda today?
MALVEAUX: Well, of course, President Bush just left the White House. Marine One taking off to Wilmington, Delaware. That is where he's going to be participating and actually visiting a research and development facility of DuPont. He's pushing forward his energy initiatives today. And then Tony of course tomorrow he's heading to Lee Summit, Missouri. He's going to be participating in some sort of round-table to talk about his healthcare plan. And then Friday he certainly hopes to rally his fellow Republicans. He's going to be speaking before the House Republican conference in Maryland. And Tony, the big question, of course, is whether or not the president can convince the American people that he is still credible, he is still relevant and that whether or not people are really still even listening to him at this point. But he certainly hopes to bring that message forward, hopes to get a lot done in the next two years. Tony?
HARRIS: White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux. Suzanne, thank you.
COLLINS: What did Americans think of the president's speech? Well a CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll is out this morning. Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider has results.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): How did the state of the union speech go over? Forty one percent of those who watched it said their reaction was very positive. Sounds pretty good. But that's actually less positive than the response to President Bush's past state of the union speeches. This one was ok but not a blockbuster. One reason is that this year the audience was less partisan than usual. Usually the audience for a Bush speech is disproportionately Republican. This year was evenly balanced between Republicans and Democrats. Apparently a lot of Democrats tuned in to see the new Democratic Congress and new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The viewers believed the speech would be to more cooperation or more disagreement between President Bush and congressional Democrats?
A majority said, more cooperation. But only a narrow majority. One speech does not a uniter make. Were viewers persuaded that President Bush would be able to achieve the goals he has set for Iraq? They were split. Fifty one percent said yes, 46 percent said no.
(on camera): Americans are very skeptical about the president's Iraq policies. The speech does not seem to have done much to dispel that skepticism. Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And President Bush unveiling a new healthcare plan in the state of the union speech. CNN's Alina Cho breaks down the plan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BUSH: So tonight I propose two new initiatives.
CHO (voice-over): President Bush's plan to improve health care includes two parts. Part one, a standard tax deduction for health insurance. Here's how it works. Americans who get health insurance through their jobs, and that's the majority, would have to pay taxes on their health benefits. Right now, they don't. But the president says Americans would get that money back through tax breaks, $15,000 for families, $7,500 for individuals.
BUSH: This proposal would mean a substantial tax savings, $4,500 for a family of four making $60,000 a year.
CHO: Professor Sherry Glied says the problem is that's just five percent of Americans. Glied, who counseled both the first President Bush and President Clinton on health care, says the tax break would help some Americans, but not everyone.
PROF. SHERRY GLIED, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Low income people cannot afford to buy health insurance. Letting them deduct $15,000 off their non-existent income to buy health insurance isn't going to make it any easier for them to afford coverage.
CHO: Part two of the president's plan, something he calls affordable choices grants. The idea, take federal funds that otherwise would be earmarked for public hospitals and use that money instead for health insurance.
BUSH: These grants would give our nation's governors more money and more flexibility to get private health insurance to those most in need.
CHO: Professor Glied says the plan would only benefit states that mandate health care coverage and only a few have such plans. In all other cases, she says, public hospitals would suffer and those left uninsured might not have a place to go for care. Even by the Bush administration's admission, the president's proposal would reduce the number of uninsured Americans by only 3 million out of the 47 million who currently don't have health insurance.
Well some have said dead on arrival. Do you think that's true?
GLIED: I think it would be very unlikely that this is going to pass the current Congress.
CHO: Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: The state of the union, Iraq, the trial of his former chief of staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby, tonight a "SITUATION ROOM" exclusive. Vice President Dick Cheney goes one-on-one with Wolf Blitzer. You want to talk about must-see TV, this is it. It happens at 7:00 p.m. eastern in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
COLLINS: In Mississippi, victory for thousands of homeowners who lost everything in hurricane Katrina. CNN's Susan Roesgen looks at a big insurance settlement.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was the beachfront home of Claire and John Tuepker in Long Beach, Mississippi, until a 29-foot wall of water from hurricane Katrina swept the home away. But even worse for the Tuepkers, State Farm refused to pay the $350,000 policy.
JOHN TUEPKER, HOMEOWNER: We've been paying premiums for 17 years. And to just say no, we're not going to pay you anything, you know, look at the house. It's gone.
ROESGEN: The Tuepkers argued that State Farm hadn't required them to carry flood insurance and they argued that wind, which was covered by their policy, is what pushed the water that destroyed their home. Thousands of other property owners said the same thing, and now facing a class action lawsuit, State Farm has agreed to settle.
JEFF JACKSON, STATE FARM ATTORNEY: This gives us an opportunity to resolve pending litigation and to ensure that we can resolve other issues in this state and move forward.
ROESGEN: State Farm has agreed to pay at least $50 million to 35,000 policyholders. And the settlement could climb to hundreds of millions of dollars depending on the amount of the claims. In return, the policyholders agree not to sue State Farm individually. Representing them is prominent trial lawyer Dickie Scruggs who also lost his house to Katrina.
DICKIE SCRUGGS, POLICYHOLDER ATTORNEY: So many people were looking to us and our legal team to set it right and to give them a fighting chance. And I'm so gratified because, you know, when you can have a chance to be a hometown hero, it means a lot more to you than almost anything.
ROESGEN: If a federal judge approves it, policyholders could start getting some of the money in 60 days. And the settlement gives hope to thousands of other property owners on the gulf coast who've lost the fight with their insurance companies, but might now have a second chance at getting something back. Susan Roesgen, CNN, Gulfport, Mississippi.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Let's take you to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland right now. President Bush arriving there, Marine One. A quick jump to Air Force One and the trip to Delaware. President Bush taking his energy proposals on the road this morning. The president, there he is, heading to Wilmington, Delaware, to participate in a tour of the DuPont experimental station. This is a research facility that was established in -- way back in 1903, to conduct and promote scientific research. Now, interesting, this facility has been visited before by members of the administration to highlight research and entrepreneurship. Once there the president will be talking about the work of that corporation in developing clean and affordable bio-based fuels. The president scheduled to speak in about an hour from now. And, of course, we will bring you those comments.
COLLINS: I think we're going to hear him talking about the 2010 proposal where he's trying to reduce our dependence on foreign oil by 20 percent over 10 years.
HARRIS: So we will bring you those comments in about an hour's time.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, tanks in the streets, smoke in the air, American and Iraqi troops cracking down today on insurgents, Baghdad battles in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Also, the president's plea, give his Iraq plan a chance. What's the view from the Hill the morning after? Two senators from opposite sides of the aisle will be in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Plain facts of life, toddlers can be precocious, toddlers can be cranky.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ally, did you like flying on the airplane?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: But Ally's tantrum she gets her family kicked off the plane. Grounded, in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: And a sea creature rarely seen alive. Doesn't even look real. Find out what it is. And its fate, ahead in the NEWSROOM. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: The battlefield, three Baghdad neighborhoods, the goal? Flushing insurgents from their hiding places. Iraqi and U.S. troops battling militants in the streets. Ground zero, the notorious Haifa Street. The operation coming one day after President Bush worked to build political support for his war plan. CNN's Michael Holmes is in Baghdad now and joins us live. Michael, any reaction there to the president's speech from last night?
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, very little. In fact, the reaction we have seen has been largely one of indifference. We've heard from Sunni, Shia, Kurdish, even Christian politicians. Most of them saying by and large that they were under whelmed that this was in the words of one Sunni politician, more of the same. As for the average Iraqi, well Heidi, they don't really care about politics these days as we've discussed before. They're really concentrating on getting through the day alive. And we saw a lot more of that violence today. There were mortar attacks. There were roadside bombs on police and, of course, as you said, the Haifa Street area lit up again. It was only two weeks ago you remember there was a major battle there, well it was on again. A joint operation, U.S. and Iraqi troops taking on Sunni insurgents. Also elements of al Qaeda and former regime elements. Missile fire we watched as heavy machine gunfire reined on the area. It went on for hours and hours. We could area armored vehicles rolling into the area. Predator drones in the air. Several insurgents, nearly a dozen apparently were arrested. We were told that they were carrying IEDs and weapons. They were found in a school, by the way. The U.S. says this was a preplanned operation with Iraqi troops aimed at setting the conditions for clearing operations to follow. It was certainly a very noisy day here in Baghdad. Heidi?
COLLINS: All right, CNN's Michael Holmes reporting to us live from Baghdad this morning. Michael thank you.
HARRIS: President Bush's Iraq strategy under fire on Capitol Hill. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voting on a resolution today. It says sending more troops to Iraq is not in the national interest. It's expected to pass but it is not binding. This resolution sponsored by Democrats Joe Biden and Carl Levin and Republicans Chuck Hagel and Olympia Snow. Alternative measures opposing the president's plan still in the works at the capitol.
COLLINS: A plea from President Bush to Congress, give the new Iraq strategy a chance. That appeal part of the president's state of the union address last night. Joining us now from Capitol Hill, two senators, both members of the Armed Services Committee. Republican John Cornyn of Texas and Democrat Jack Reed of Rhode Island. Senators, thank you for being with us this morning.
Good morning.
COLLINS: I'd like to begin with the president's plan to increase troops in Iraq. First, Senator Cornyn, do you support that idea? SEN. JOHN CORNYN, (R) TEXAS: Well, I think we all agree that what's happening now is not acceptable and we need a new plan. The president has consulted with the best military minds, including General David Petraeus and come up with a new strategy and I think it deserves a chance. Certainly if the president thinks, as commander in chief, we need re-enforcements in order to be able to hold areas after we've cleared them so that then the Iraqis can build, I'm willing to give it a try.
COLLINS: So that's a yes. Senator Reid, from you, is 21,000 enough?
SEN. JACK REED, (D) RHODE ISLAND: No, 21,000 troops is not enough. The doctrine which General Petraeus developed at Fort Leavenworth, calls for about 120,000 troops in a city the size of Baghdad. So we're far below that, even including our Iraqi allies. In addition to that, when I questioned General Petraeus yesterday, there's some concern about whether they have enough translators, civil affairs officers, the enablers to make the operations work. Also there's a serious question about unity of command. They have an Iraqi commander commanding Iraqi troops, they have American commanders commanding American troops. So I think this is a very high-risk strategy and indeed it misses the point. The real point is that the Iraqi politicians have to step up and that is a fact that is, I think, without regard to the size of our force in Baghdad.
COLLINS: So what should be done then, sir instead? You're part of the Senate Armed Services Committee. If you agree or feel that it needs to be closer to the 120,000 mark to deploying more troops, what can be done? Clearly, it does nothing to say that that is not the plan and it's probably not going to work. What really can be done if you think there needs to be more troops?
REED: Well the critical issue, and I don't think there's need for more troops. The critical issue is what will force, compel, persuade the Iraqis to make tough political decisions. And I think it's not adding more troops, it's making clear to them that our presence will be limited, that it's their responsibility that they have to start making accommodations with all their different sectarian communities. We still have an important mission in Iraq and that is to train their security forces so the country will not crumble. We still have an obligation to go after insurgents. Al Qaeda insurgents, wherever they are, including Iraq. And then we want to provide regional stability. That's a different mission than going into Baghdad and providing house by house security for the people of Baghdad.
COLLINS: Senator Cornyn, the Iraq resolution as you well know is in committee today. Do you support that?
CORNYN: I do not because I think it's an admission of failure and basically with no alternative for the terrible ethnic cleansing, the regional conflict and the failed state that Iraq will become if we are simply to give up and leave. I don't disagree with Senator Reed that it is the Iraqi's responsibility to lead, but I don't think they're capable of dealing with the sectarian violence by themselves now. Prime Minister Maliki apparently feels the same way. So why the Iraqis will lead the Americans and coalition forces will be there to stiffen their spine to provide them the capability so that we can ultimately bring our troops home, but after Iraq is a stable area where they can govern and defend themselves.
COLLINS: Senator John McCain was a guest of ours on an earlier program today, "AMERICAN MORNING." He said something I found interesting, he said, "We've got to sell it, meaning the new plan, and it's got to be done. We've got to explain better the consequences of failure. And that is chaos in the region." Did the president explain those consequences well last night in his address, Senator Cornyn?
CORNYN: I thought he did. You know the problem is that I think we need to continue to ask people, what is your plan for the terrible consequences that will ensue? And I think the responsibility, the new majority in the Congress, is to come up with an alternative. If they don't like this one, what do they like? What is their plan for success? Because failure, I think, is just too terrible to contemplate in terms of our own national security.
COLLINS: Let's move on to some of the domestic agenda. There were many things that were laid out last night. Senator Reed, the healthcare initiative that President Bush put forward last night. Your thoughts on that?
REED: Well I'm pleased that the president's focusing on healthcare. It's a major issue that confronts all of our families. I believe his approach is not particularly workable. Essentially he's going to tax people that have healthcare and then give a deduction for many people with good healthcare plans. A deduction won't meet the increased burden of taxation. For those people without healthcare, an incentive, a tax incentive is not particularly compelling because many of them frankly don't have the kind of tax liability where a deduction would be influential in decision making and health insurance is expensive. So I think he should get credit for looking at the issue but the proposal I don't think would be adequate, workable and beneficial to the families of America.
COLLINS: Very quickly gentleman before we have to go, I want to get your reaction and your answer to this question from both of you. The president laid out some pretty bold domestic initiatives last night. Mainly healthcare as we have just spoken about and also energy, the 2010 initiative. How likely are we to see these things get done? Senator Reed to you first.
REED: Well I think there are some initiatives that there is already a template of potential success. Immigration is one of those issues. I don't think we'll settle on the tax proposals for healthcare but the issue of healthcare, we can meet on some issues better information systems, better technology for healthcare, more efficiency. So there's some potential and we have to work to try to achieve it.
COLLINS: Senator Cornyn?
CORNYN: Well I think it's really -- the question is whether Democrats will meet Republicans halfway. The president's handed out or at least reached out with an olive branch on some very important issues. I think one of the messages that we heard in this last election is, people are tired of the partisanship and the blocking and blaming and they want to see results. And I think this is an opportunity, with divided government, to provide the kind of political environment that will allow us to do some good things. I hope we take advantage of that opportunity.
COLLINS: Senator John Cornyn, Republican from Texas, and Senator Jack Reed, Democrat from Rhode Island. To the both of you, thanks for your time.
HARRIS: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the state of the union sales pitch. President Bush takes his ideas on the road. What are people thinking at stop number one, ahead in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Clean-up after the chaos, the Lebanese capitol a day after deadly protests. Coming up in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Free at last, a Georgia man wrongly convicted in a rape case is released.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The moment they told me, well we found your DNA, it was like, oh, my God, you know, I'm going home.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: His 22-year ordeal, ahead in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Kids on a plane, a family's trip ruined.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you need to get off the plane now. And I kind of looked up and I was, are you serious?
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: What led to the airline kicking a family of three right off the flight? Ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Want to go ahead and bring this information to you just as we are getting it here at CNN. We have confirmed here at CNN that the North Carolina State Bar has gone ahead and added additional ethics charges to a complaint filed against this man. It's the prosecutor who brought sexual assault charges against the three Duke Lacrosse players. This is obviously Mike NiFong. They are accusing him of withholding DNA evidence and making misleading statements to the court. These charges just made public just about an hour before the Durham County district attorney was scheduled to appear at a conference to talk about the details of the ethics case. Now the important part here, these changes could actually lead to Nifong's removal from the bar.
So once again, to repeat, CNN has confirmed that the North Carolina state bar has added additional ethics charges to the complaints filed against former prosecutor Mike Nifong. This is the duke lacrosse case. Those charges are accusing him of withholding DNA evidence and making misleading statements to the court. We will continue to follow this, bring anything else to you just as soon as we get it.
HARRIS: President Bush pledging cooperation, appealing for patience just hours after his State of the Union speech. The president is on the road today. He is heading to Delaware to promote his plan to increase alternative fuels, like ethanol. Cutting America's gas consumption was one of the major themes of the address. He also called for tax breaks aimed expanding health insurance coverage. The war in Iraq, the president urged Congress to give his new strategy a chance. He conceded the war being waged now, quote, "is not the fight we entered," but he again warned of dire consequences if the U.S. fails in Iraq.
COLLINS: The State of the Union sales pitch begins today. President Bush travels to Delaware to promote alternative fuels. So what do the people there think about what the president has planned? CNN national correspondent Bob Franken with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president of the United States!
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Instead of the usual Tuesday night basketball, the monitors at Kichelene's (ph) restaurant and sports bar were tuned not to games, but to the deadly serious business of a president trying to seek common ground with a newly Democratic Congress, a Congress aggressively challenging the new addition of troops to the Iraq war.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: Our country is pursuing a new strategy in Iraq, and I ask you to give it a chance to work.
FRANKEN: With all the turmoil over Iraq policy, the reaction, at least at this place, was surprisingly sympathetic, even among those who would not normally be the president's supporters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm encouraged with the positivity of the president. I am kind of a gives peace a chance generation. And you know, I'm -- like I say, I evolved in the give peace a chance, but you know what, I think we should probably give success in Iraq a chance.
FRANKEN: This was a diverse group, and those watching had diverse agendas.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was wildly disappointed that the rebuilding of New Orleans was not mentioned at all. There's this supposed ongoing commitment to it, and yet it gets no attention. We talked about how important economic development is in Iraq, and there's no urban policy and specifically there's no policy for New Orleans.
BUSH: The State of our Union is strong. Our cause in the world is right. And tonight that cause goes on. God bless.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He seemed kind of humbled tonight, not as forceful in the way that he made his ideas and his viewpoints across. And I think -he's finally getting the message that the two parties need to work together in order to get anything solved.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Cautious calm in Beruit. The Lebanese Capitol cleaning up one day after Hezbollah led protesters burned tires, cars and clash we'd government supporters. Three people were killed in the chaos. It was the worst violence yet in Hezbollah's campaign to topple Lebanon's U.S.-backed government. The attacks show how quickly tensions between Sunnis, Shiites and Christians there can explode.
Meanwhile, Lebanon's embattled prime minister was now in France for an international donor's conference. He's hoping to raise billions of dollars in aid to rebuild after last summer's battles between Israel and Hezbollah.
COLLINS: Free at last, a Georgia man wrongly convicted in a rape case is released.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The moment they told me, well we found your DNA, it was like, oh, my God, you know, I'm going home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: His 22-year ordeal ahead in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: And look at this, it's not a horror movie prop. This thing is real. Pretty neat. Looks like one of those computer- generated images, one of those CGI effects. Mystery from the deep. We show it all here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MARKET REPORT)
COLLINS: I want get back to the story we just mentioned regarding the Duke rape case. The Durham County district attorney Michael Nifong, former prosecutor in this case, going to be some more charges here. And this is the case -- CNN has confirmed that the North Carolina State Bar has added additional ethics charges now to these complaints filed against him. This was in regard to, if you remember, sexual assault charges against three Duke lacrosse players. These new charges are accusing him of withholding DNA and making misleading statements to the court.
Again, CNN confirming this information. These charge just made public today. Very shortly before Nifong was scheduled to appear at a conference to discuss the details of ethics case. And possibly, this could lead, these additional charges could lead to Nifong's removal from the bar. So we will continue to follow it for you. We'll bring you anything new if we hear it.
HARRIS: And take a look at these pictures. Pretty dramatic from what I'm told. Oh, from the short time ago, new video in to CNN out of Long Beach, California. A horrible accident there. A jackknifed big rig collided with a passenger car on the Long Beach Freeway this morning. Lighting up as you can see for a while there. Earlier pictures had the rig on fire. All lanes southbound had been shut down. No injuries reported, if you can believe that. But here's the thing, the truck driver was missing at the scene. We will continue to follow developments on this story and let you know when the traffic starts to move for our friends in Southern California.
In the meantime, his first request as a free man, steak and potatoes. Willie Pete Williams can have any meal he chooses. He is free after DNA evidence cleared him of a rape conviction.
Ryan Young of CNN affiliate WSB has details of William's 22-year ordeal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIE "PETE" WILLIAMS, CLEARED BY DNA: I'm just happy. I'm just overwhelmed with joy.
RYAN YOUNG, WSB CORRESPONDENT: Pete Williams, free from conviction, free from prison and able to share with the world something he's always known.
WILLIAMS: The moment they told me, "Well we found our your DNA," I was like, "Oh, my God, you know, I'm going home."
YOUNG: Thanks to help from the Georgia Innocence Project, Pete Williams had his DNA tested and finally proved that he did not rape a woman in Sandy Springs nearly 22 years ago.
Full of smiles, Pete Williams says he's looking forward to working again and that anger doesn't bind him.
WILLIAMS: I was for about ten years and then I gave it over to the Lord.
YOUNG: After enduring so much, Williams can enjoy some home touches and some new family moments.
WILLIAMS: I can't even explain it. Not in words. It's fantastic.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And new information coming in to CNN, let's get you to our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.
Barbara, you have news of another round of air strikes in Somalia against suspected al Qaeda targets?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Tony.
U.S. military officials are now confirming there has been a second U.S. military air strike in southern Somalia, the second this month. This strike took place earlier this week in the Monday-Tuesday overnight timeframe. A U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship striking targets in southern Somalia, suspected al Qaeda targets. Sources are telling us that what they were going after specifically was someone described a mid-level al Qaeda operative, not one of the top three that they're looking for, people associated with the U.S. embassy bombings in east Africa back in 1998.
This time a mid-level al Qaeda operative, the reports that sources are telling us they are receiving is the person was not killed in that air strike in southern Somalia just along the Kenyan border to the south. But actually, in fact, that person is now in custody of the Ethiopian military. You may recall Ethiopia basically invaded Somalia to try and restore order in that country, to drive out the Islamic militia that had been ruling there that was affiliated with al Qaeda. That put a lot of al Qaeda operatives on the run.
And now the U.S. military, of course, for the last several weeks has been keeping a very close eye, trying to chase these people down. Our sources are also telling us that for the second time now a team of U.S. operatives that are not being identified went in on the ground in southern Somalia after they the air strike to look at the scene and try and determine what exactly had taken place and what the results of the air strike were.
Finally, sources saying that aircraft from the Navy warships offshore are continuing to fly their missions over Somalia, doing surveillance and reconnaissance, continuing to look for al Qaeda in that country -- Tony.
HARRIS: And, Barbara, just to be clear on this, so now we're talking air strikes, another round of air strikes. And we are certainly talking about some ground forces on the ground in Somalia right now?
STARR: Well, let's be as clear as we can about what we don't know.
HARRIS: Absolutely.
STARR: This is an extremely sensitive mission is our understanding being conducted by some of the U.S. military's most covert special operations, most secretive forces. It is a very delicate matter for, of course, any U.S. personnel to be on the ground in Somalia.
What -- no one is identifying the unit or whether they are all military people, in fact. It may well be that there are members of the U.S. intelligence community also on the ground.
But what we do know is in both of these air strikes, relatively quickly after the air strikes, U.S. personnel, they're simply being identified that way. We believe they are special operations forces, went in on the ground in southern Somalia to look at the scene, to try and make the determination of who they got and whether they did get any of those top al Qaeda operatives that the U.S. believes has been hiding out in Somalia for years. So far they haven't got those people -- Tony.
HARRIS: Very interesting.
And you'll be watching it for us.
Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
Barbara, appreciate it. Thank you.
COLLINS: We want to get to your weather now. Chad Myers is in the Weather Center to do just that.
Hi, there, Chad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: A grumpy toddler, an impatient flight crew. They added to one invitation to deplane.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: .... get off the plane now. And I kind of looked up and I was, "Are you serious?"
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: A three year-old tossed for a tantrum. Baby blues in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: And we are minding your business this morning. Carrie Lee is filling in Ali Velshi. She is here with a preview.
Carrie, great to see you.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Tony. Great to see you, as well.
State Farm is settling hundreds of Hurricane Katrina lawsuits in Mississippi. We'll have that story coming up in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Score one for the little guys. State Farm agrees to pay millions to Katrina victims.
Carrie Lee is minding your business this morning.
Hard to -- but this is huge, isn't it, Carrie?
LEE: It's huge, Tony. And we don't know exactly what the dollar amount is going to be. Depends on how many people are involved. We know, though, that State Farm is agreeing to multi-million dollars' worth of settlements for Hurricane Katrina lawsuits in the state of Mississippi.
Now, breaking it down, the insurer will pay $80 million to 640 policyholders who sued the company for refusing to cover damages from this storm. And then State Farm has also agreed to pay at least $50 million, but it could be hundreds of millions of dollars more to thousands of policyholders whose claims were denied but they didn't sue the company. So those cases, Tony, will be reopened. And potentially 35,000 people involved here. So that latter number is the big question mark.
HARRIS: And, Carrie, I'm curious. How do you think the pot will be divided up individually? I mean, Will some folks gets the full value of their home while others perhaps won't?
LEE: Well, the people whose cases haven't sued, and they're going to be reopened, not exactly clear there. But of the 640 who have sued, the 300 people whose homes were swept away, well, they are going to receive the full insured value, and then the 340 others on average will receive $125,000. But it really depends on how the extent of damages. So that's what we know so far.
HARRIS: And let's be clear about this -- folks who didn't sue, there is a chance here for a second bite of the apple, isn't there?
LEE: Exactly. Exactly. So they can choose to get involved with this. They can choose not to, but bottom line, State Farm is going to send letters in writing to all of these people, and then they have 18 business days to either accept the offer and agree not to sue at that point, or reject it and start their own lawsuit. So people will have that option. But really, this could set a precedent, Tony, not only for others states. because these are all Mississippi, but also for other insurers. You know, this has been such a big debate, and the settlement does pretty much finish up Mississippi attorney general's filing of the civil suit, and it also ends the criminal investigation against State Farm here.
And there she is, "Minding Your Business," Carrie Lee this morning. Carrie, thank you.
LEE: Sure.
COLLINS: Plain facts of life. Toddlers can be precocious. Toddlers can also be cranky.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ellie, did you like flying on the airplane?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: But Ellie's tantrum gets her family kicked off instead. Grounded, in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Back to a live shot here of a story we've been telling you about this morning. If you look way to the back of your screen there -- oh, look, we've highlighted it for you. That is Durham County D.A. Michael Nifong. He is sitting at a preliminary conference. This is before the North Carolina state bar. Going to happen at about in about six minutes or so, 10:00 a.m. What it is, they're going to be providing evidence against him. Most importantly, what we have learned this morning here, CNN has confirmed that they have now added additional ethics charges to the complaints filed against Nifong. They include withholding DNA evidence and make misleading statements to the court.
So what will happen is they will provide this evidence against him. You see him walking out of the screen there. And then they will have another hearing coming up on March 11th and decide where to go next. The important thing here, among the many important things in this case so far, is that with these additional charges now he could get disbarred. So we're going to continue to follow that and let you know what happens coming up in five minutes or so.
HARRIS: Story of the day, so far you think, this one?
COLLINS: Yes.
HARRIS: You think so?
COLLINS: Yes.
HARRIS: Cute toddler. She's adorable, isn't she? But her behavior on a plane leads to some drastic consequences for her and her parents.
Byron Barnett of affiliate WHDH reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BYRON BARNETT, WHDH REPORTER (on camera): Ellie, did you like flying on the airplane?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
BARNETT (voice-over): Three-year-old Ellie Kulesza of Wooster (ph) may say she likes flying, but that wasn't the case last week when she and her parents boarded an Airtran flight to return from a Florida vacation.
JULIE KULUESZA, MOTHER: When I went to pick up Ellie to put her in her seat, that's when she started to cry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a strong solid, rah! She wasn't happy. Not happy at all.
BARNETT (on camera): She was really letting loose? KULUESZA: She was, yes.
BARNETT (voice-over): But Ellie's parents were stunned by what the airline employees told them next.
KULUESZA: They were talking to my husband. They said, sir, you need to get off the plane now. And I kind of looked up and I was, are you serious?
BARNETT: Serious, they were. Off the plane they went. Their luggage and car seat heading to Boston without them.
(on camera): And to make matters worse, they were told because they were thrown off the plane they couldn't get on another plane for 24 hours.
(voice-over): Airtran says it regrets the situation but that we have an obligation to the 112 other passenger on board the flight. We had to make an operational decision to ask the Kuluesza party to deplane so the flight could depart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was outraged and embarrassed. I'm a full- time EMT in Boston, and if I treated anybody the way they treated me, I would be out of a job.
KULUESZA: I just wanted to make the public aware of what happened and that this, too, could happen to them if their child is crying too much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Now, this is what people worry about when they fly with their kids, right?
HARRIS: OK.
COLLINS: No? On the airplane.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
COLLINS: Holding the child in your lap when they become of age to be able to do that, trying to eat, hadn't eaten in hours, and actually ended up putting the flood on the floor in the aisle of a plane as all of the people around me looked at me like I had leprosy. Child screaming, flailing. It's quite the scene. It happens! It does happen.
HARRIS: Yes, but you need to control that. You need to get off my plane. I'm not sure where I need to be.
COLLINS: Wow. You have what, two kids?
HARRIS: I have two kids, absolutely. Control those babies. Sorry. There you go.
Still to come, in the NEWSROOM this morning -- how do you like me now, Heidi? President Bush on message and on the road hours after his State of the Union speech. He's taking one domestic initiative to the people, details in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
