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American Morning
Iraq Resolution: House Votes Today; War in Afghanistan; Pennsylvania Interstate Open Again: National Guard to the Rescue; Passenger Bill of Rights
Aired February 16, 2007 - 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 to you, Friday, February 16th.
I'm Miles O'Brien.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry, in today for Soledad.
Thanks so much for joining us.
O'BRIEN: It's your first day. You barely know where the pencils are.
Welcome.
CHETRY: I have one spare just in case.
O'BRIEN: There you go. You're on your way.
Good to have you here.
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers will once again take up that resolution opposing the Bush troop buildup in Iraq. In fact, a vote is expected today. And even those opposing the measure say it will likely pass.
So is it purely symbolic, and what happens next?
CNN's Andrea Koppel live on Capitol Hill with more.
Andrea, good morning.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
Well, as you pointed out, it is mostly symbolic, non-binding, which means it won't have the force of law, but it will be the first congressional rebuke of President Bush's Iraq policy. And Democrats say it will be the first step towards forcing President Bush to change course in Iraq. Republicans say that it will be the first step towards cutting off funds for troops in Iraq, but Democrats deny that -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. So let's talk about what happens in the Senate, because there was a similar measure that was debated in the Senate, and the Republicans were able to block it.
What's different this time around?
KOPPEL: What is different is that it's going to be exactly what they are now debating in the House, this same language. It will be basically an expression of support for U.S. troops in Iraq. But by the same time, opposing the president's desire to send more U.S. troops there.
Senator Harry Reid, out of the blue yesterday, said that there would be this special Saturday session, basically a test vote which would be then clearing the way to have a full-fledged debate in the Senate. But he's going to need 60 votes to do that. And even Senator Reid and his staff admit they probably don't have those votes. Republicans have been saying they're going to block it until Reid allows them to have an alternative resolution, something that he has blocked as recently as last week -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Watching those maneuvers, well, it's enough to keep them in town, anyhow. So it seems likely what we're going to end up with is another deadlock in the Senate, right?
KOPPEL: Exactly. Deadlock. They need 60 votes to pass it, and so far, I guess, according to one Democratic leadership aide, if they're lucky, they think they might get up into the high 50s.
O'BRIEN: All right. Andrea Koppel, who's watching it for us, and she's got a long weekend ahead -- sorry about that -- on Capitol Hill -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Meantime, while Congress is debating the Iraq resolution, the focus of the White House as of late, the other war in Afghanistan.
CNN's Elaine Quijano joins us live from the White House this morning with more details.
Hi, Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Kiran.
That's right. In remarks to the American Enterprise Institute yesterday, President Bush touted progress in Afghanistan on a number of fronts, including education, women's rights, as well as healthcare. But he also acknowledged that the Taliban, the group that, of course, United States forces toppled back in 2001, has re-emerged.
He noted that last year, 2006, was the most violent in Afghanistan since U.S. forces were deployed there over five years ago. Yesterday he said he's asking Congress for more money, $11.8 billion over the next two years, and more troops for Afghanistan. Yet, at a time when he is facing continued questions over the future of U.S. troops in Iraq, President Bush yesterday offered no time frame on U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've ordered an increase in U.S. forces in Afghanistan. We've extended the stay of 3,200 troops now in the country for four months, and we'll deploy a replacement force that will sustain this increase for the foreseeable future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Meantime, today President Bush meets with the man who is set to become the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, Admiral William Fallon. That meeting, Kiran, will take place in the Oval Office this afternoon -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Elaine Quijano reporting for us from Washington.
Thanks so much.
And in Iraq today, conflicting reports over what could be a big blow to al Qaeda, if it's true. A spokesman for the Iraqi Interior Ministry says that Iraqi police injured this guy, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, but a top U.S. military source is telling CNN the U.S. does not believe that that happened.
This is the last time in six months that questions have been raised about the fate of al-Masri. Back in October, the U.S. military thought he was dead and it turned out he survived.
(NEWSBREAK)
O'BRIEN: Horror, heroism and everything in between. This morning we're getting an up-close look at what it was like to be pinned down by gunfire inside that Salt Lake City mall the other day.
Take a look at this amateur video. Police rushed into the Trolley Square Mall Monday night after a man armed with a shotgun and a pistol walked in and just started shooting people randomly.
Listen closely. You'll hear the gunfire, of course, you hear the shouting, as police shoot it out with the gunman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Police! Put down your gun now!
(GUNFIRE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Now, the shooter turned out to be an 18-year-old refugee of the Bosnian war. He killed five people, wounded four others before a police officer was able to shoot and kill him. Amazing.
CHETRY: It really is, especially when you see that video. Well, shifting gears now to the end of a winter weather nightmare on a Pennsylvania interstate. I-78 through Hamburg is finally clear today. But it was a 50-mile frozen parking lot where drivers were stuck for as long as 24 hours. Many finally pulled out by rescuers, including the National Guard and some good Samaritans.
Amy Buckman is with our affiliate WPVI. She is in Fogelsville, Pennsylvania, along I-78.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMY BUCKMAN, REPORTER, WPVI: We're here along Route 100 in Fogelsville. This is the last turnoff that cars and trucks can take before they hit the ramps for the now closed I-78. Forty-one miles of that roadway remained closed yesterday, with about a three-inch layer of ice on the road.
And so what you're seeing behind me here are a number of trucks that have just pulled up into this restaurant and hotel parking lot. They are waiting for PENNDOT, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, to clear the roadway.
PENNDOT officials are telling us they're not quite sure when that will happen. They're hoping for midday today, but because the temperatures are so low in this area, about in the single digits, the regular ice-melting techniques aren't working. And so they're really having to go through and chop up the surface on I-78 before they can get it reopened. There were hundreds of trucks and cars stranded, many of them for about 24 hours since our snowstorm hit Tuesday night and Wednesday.
In Fogelsville, I'm Amy Buckman. Now back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Wow. What a scene there.
CHETRY: A mess, but unbelievably, no one hurt.
O'BRIEN: Twenty-four hours in a vehicle. And, you know, you've got to be careful how you use the fuel just to stay warm.
CHETRY: Exactly.
O'BRIEN: A lot of stories that are yet to be told on that one.
Tim Hardaway is still on his mea culpa tour this morning. The former NBA all-star speaking out again and apologizing this time for comments he made on a radio show in Miami. You'll remember this.
Hardaway said -- and we're quoting him here -- "I hate gay people. Let it be known I don't like gay people."
That statement causing the NBA to ban Hardaway from this weekend's all-star game festivities in Vegas. He hit the road, went back home to Miami, and there are some fresh comments from Hardaway this morning.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIM HARDAWAY, FMR. MIAMI HEAT STAR: It was a long flight home. You know, it was a long night for me. It's going to be another long weekend for me.
So I messed up, and I'm very, very sorry about it. But, you know, a lot of people don't think so, but I am.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Now, Hardaway's original comments were in response to a question about John Amaechi. He's the first NBA player to say publicly that he is gay -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right.
Well, coming up, flyers unite. We're going to meet a woman who is pushing Congress for a passenger bill of rights. She tells us about her nightmare trip to nowhere.
Plus, the salmonella outbreak, it's been linked to Peter Pan and Great Value brands of peanut butter, and it is spreading. We're going to tell you where the latest cases popped up.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back. The most news in the morning is on CNN.
And the House is set to vote on its Iraq war resolution today. The deadlocked Senate called in to a rare Saturday session to try to get a move on.
Also, traffic is moving again on I-78 in Pennsylvania after a wintry weather nightmare for hundreds of drivers who ended up stranded, some as long as 24 hours -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: If you're headed to a flight this morning, you can only hope you don't end up on an eight or 10-hour journey to nowhere. That's precisely what happened, of course, to hundreds of JetBlue flyers in the Valentine's Day storm here in New York City. The sad truth is, when you're sealed up in that aluminum tube, you really have left your rights behind.
Kate Hanni was stuck on the runway for more than eight hours in December on an American Airlines flight. She was stuck in Austin. She joins us from San Francisco, where she is waging war against the airlines -- well, maybe not quite war, but she's trying to get a passenger bill of rights.
Kate, good to have you with us.
First of all, when you heard about this JetBlue thing, it must have brought back that whole miserable experience to you, like deja vu.
KATE HANNI, SUPPORTS PASSENGER BILL OF RIGHTS: Absolutely. I watched as the passengers deplaned, I listened to their exit interviews, and it was almost identical to the things that we were saying after our flight, the powerlessness that we felt, and almost identical languaging in terms of what the pilots told them while they were stuck in the planes.
O'BRIEN: Interesting how it's -- you know, you're talking about different airline, different city, a little different circumstances. You were diverted to Austin. You were on your way somewhere else, bad weather, ended up with no gate to go to.
But the fact is, so little information gets from the employees to their customers. Why?
HANNI: We don't understand it. All we were being told and all they were being told at JFK is that we were not going to be allowed a gate and that they could not answer as to why we weren't. And in our case, we could see empty gates, and it's my awareness that it's not the airport. And the FAA has made it clear that the airlines were responsible that evening, at least in our case, for not allowing us to go to the gates.
We don't really know what the ultimate bottom-line reason is for them keeping us stranded on the tarmac when we knew we couldn't fly.
O'BRIEN: You know, a good idea. A little memo to the airlines -- it would be nice to treat your customers with a little respect.
HANNI: Wouldn't it?
O'BRIEN: That's just my interjection here.
Let me just -- let's go through the highlights of your passenger's bill of rights here and what you'd like to see Congress implement.
HANNI: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Among the things on your list -- and it's pretty long, but I'm going to go through some of the highlights -- no plane allowed to sit on the tarmac over three hours. Obviously right to the point here.
Airlines provide essential needs of delayed passengers. You know, in other words, you can't run out of water and expect people to stay in a tube like that.
Passengers delayed 12-plus hours compensated up to 150 percent, instead of just the free ticket thing.
Establish procedures to aid the elderly and special needs. There were a lot of diabetics, for example, on these flights who had issues.
HANNI: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And then finally, this is the one that must make the airlines' blood run cold, a passenger review committee. In other words, the ability for passengers to somewhat get in the middle and adjudicate these things.
Is this why the airlines are opposing what you want to do?
HANNI: I think probably. You know, we -- we don't believe that the airlines will police themselves or have even remotely our well- being or best interests at heart. And they've committed twice and broken their word twice to adopting the prior bills of rights that were proposed and nearly legislated in '99 and 2001.
So we are urging Congress and the Senate to pass this legislation, which is being introduced by my congressman, Mike Thompson. And Barbara Boxer, on the Senate side, has came out with a statement yesterday saying she's going to legislate the Senate side.
And I'm urging the public to call their legislators and get them behind -- get behind their legislators and let them know how important this is so that this happens.
O'BRIEN: Well, you know, I want to share with you just a couple reactions to your idea.
HANNI: Yes. Yes.
O'BRIEN: American Airlines says this -- just a one-word response, two words -- "an overreaction," says a spokesman for American Airlines.
JetBlue said this: "We prefer to be solely responsible for serving our customers. If we don't' sere our customers well, our customers will not put their trust in us again."
They have a point. The free market will dictate weather these airlines succeed, and if they treat people poorly, people will vote with their feet, won't they?
HANNI: Absolutely the power of the purse. I think that people could boycott these airlines, if they have an alternative airline that they could travel on. But I also believe that in many instances, there isn't an alternative.
I believe air travel has become very necessary for many people to get from place to place anymore, and that it's become dangerous for many people to be stuck in an airline for as long as we were. And without some kind of legislation, there is no guarantee that someone's not going to die in a situation like what we had on December 29th and what happened at John F. Kennedy.
O'BRIEN: God forbid that happens.
HANNI: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Kate Hanni, thank you very much. Good luck in your cause.
HANNI: OK. Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Kiran.
CHETRY: It's 16 past the hour now, and Chad Myers is at the CNN weather center. He's watching the brutal wind-chills across the Midwest.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, the complaints that have forced Volkswagen to pull a controversial ad. You may have seen it. It's actually a lot like the FedEx crash video we showed you today. We're going to have more on why they're pulling those ads.
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: The question, is the digital video recorder, you know, the DVR, or the TiVo, the death of the television commercial? Maybe not.
It's 20 past the hour now, and Stephanie Elam is "Minding Your Business."
They have to make the commercials more interesting, right?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, something like that. But actually, it turns out that a lot of people take a lot of time watch commercials, which kind of surprises me. I know sometimes I'll TiVo something and then come back to watch it so I don't have to watch the commercials, but people are finding out -- what Neilsen has actually found out here is that a lot of people will still start watching the program when it starts airing live.
So they have to sit through the commercials, even though they are planning to tape it. So that's part of the reason there.
And they're saying about 40 percent of the ads are being watched by people who do have DVRs in their homes. So, obviously, this means that more people are tuning in, so the commercials have to make it a little bit more interesting for people to watch them, but it doesn't mean the death of the commercial. And also, if you keep making them fun and interesting, people do want to see them.
O'BRIEN: Well, that's the challenge for advertisers, make them fun and interesting. A lot of times what I'll do now is I'll wait until about 15 minutes into the show and then start and be able -- but eventually, I catch up to the commercials and I have to watch them.
ELAM: Right. Eventually you do. You have to start a little bit -- maybe 20 minutes, I think.
O'BRIEN: Yes. It's a careful timing thing.
ELAM: There is. And I play that game, too, as well. But it's much better for shows that are dragged out.
Now, let's move on and take a look at one commercial that has come under some heat here. It's a Volkswagen commercial, and it's getting pulled.
What it's about, it's a man jumping -- well, thinking about jumping from a building, actually, because he has concerns about the world problems. But then he changes his mind because he finds out that there is three VWs that under $17,000. I mean, sure.
Anyway, this came under fire from five mental health groups. And so because of that -- at first they defended the ad, and then went on to say that, no, they are going to now pull it.
CHETRY: Volkswagen has another controversial ad,, the one where the two guys are in the car talking, having a normalal conversation, and suddenly hey get in a crash, and the airbag deploys.
ELAM: Right.
CHETRY: That one was shocking.
ELAM: That one was shocking, but that one serves a purpose, right? It shows you something. It's not like they're trying to hurt themselves. So it's interesting.
But you see this trend. With the Super Bowl ads, we had the GM ad with the robot that was thinking about suicide. We had the Snickers ad, where we saw two men kissing over a snickers and then freaking out about that. That ad getting pulled, the GM one getting reworked.
So, you can see here, a lot more groups having some influencing over what we're seeing in our commercials.
O'BRIEN: But it seems like they're trying to create buzz for every spot. Because the more buzz they get, the more -- you know, it's kind of a forced multiplier for the ad, right?
ELAM: I argue that, because it makes you start wanting to see the ad.
O'BRIEN: Absolutely.
ELAM: You can go to YouTube and find it. It just seems like it helps -- you know, I haven't thought about having a Snickers in a really long time. At the Super Bowl, I was like -- I mean, you know, it could have that effect.
O'BRIEN: Absolutely.
ELAM: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And have you had one together with somebody?
ELAM: I have not one, and I haven't had one at all. So -- yes.
O'BRIEN: OK. Stephanie, thank you very much.
Let's find out what's ahead this weekend on CNN. Betty and T.J. at the CNN Center with a look ahead.
Hello, guys.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, Miles.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to be talking about your home and its value. What is your home really worth?
NGUYEN: Well, if you own or are in the market to own a home, we have some answers for you. Two words, actually. One is Zillow and the other is Zestimate.
Zillo.com is a relatively new Web site that's trying to do for real estate what Expedia did for travel. In fact, the same men are behind both Web sites.
HOLMES: And what they've done, they've developed a new way to find your home's value. They use public data to figure it out.
Now, here is the Web site here. It's going to be a new thing, a cool thing.
We're going to check out a home actually here in Seattle. You can type in any address and you get a Zestimate of what the house is worth.
Now, this thing, they have got some kinks in it right now. Not sure how it's going to work out. But, for example, we've got this house here in Seattle. It's in the $3.4 million range, like in the Betty Nguyen range, you know?
But actually, on zillow.com, you see the info and some other information and you find the zestimate. They say it's actually worth about $1.1 million. So some kinks to work out. Why the huge discrepancies? We're going to be talking about that.
You can also check out, I don't know, your ex-wife's house, maybe the house she took from you, see what it's worth these days.
NGUYEN: T.J.
HOLMES: Or you can check out celebrities homes as well. Brad -- and I think we've got Brad and Angelina's home in here somewhere. But you can check out celebrity houses and see what they're worth as well.
But Zillow is creating a lot of buzz right now. It's on the cover of this week's "Fortune" magazine. And tomorrow we will talk with the creators of Zillow about why they think their Web site will level the playing field between buyers and sellers.
NGUYEN: Yes. You may want to stay away from that ex-wife's house, just to stay out of a little bit of trouble.
But also coming up this weekend, I'm going to speak with a remarkable teenager about his mission to end modern-day slavery.
And learn how to get a financial life from author and actor, also former White House insider, Ben Stein.
HOLMES: So, as always, very busy weekend here. We don't have a choice but to not miss it. We hope you won't miss it either.
So please, join us tomorrow morning at 7:00 Eastern.
NGUYEN: Be there, Miles.
O'BRIEN: We zestimate it will be excellent. Thank you very much, guys. We'll see you.
It's the video everyone's talking about. We showed it to you right here on CNN. A tandem semi-truck trailer crashing into a police cruiser, captured on the cruiser's dashboard cam.
Everyone walked away from this. Everyone walked away. And we're still amazed by what some of them told us a few moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHLEY WALKER, RESCUED FROM CRASH: I had seen the police officer's car on the left-hand side, and as soon as I had seen it, I tried to get over in the other lane to pass up the police cruiser. I pressed on my brake, and I lost control of my car.
I almost hit the median, and I swerved out of the median and I hit the police cruiser. As soon as I hit that, the police officer ran over to me and said, "Get out, get out!" He took me out of my car, threw me to a median and threw himself over top of me. And after that, a semi had totaled my car.
O'BRIEN: Just imagine if you were in that car. I'll tell you what, to tell people understand what was going on here, we're going to slow this down. And let's play it -- we'll go through it very quickly so they can see what was happening.
Your car is the kind of reddish car that is slamming in. You're not in it. And if you can see in it, there was some damage there from the previous wreck. As a matter of fact, let's go to -- if we can get a freeze in here, we can show you what was going on.
This car was obviously disabled. There you see the damage from the wreck with the police officer. And the truck obviously unable to get out of the way in time.
I've got to tell you, to both officers, you had such a little amount of time to react. Was it pure instinct? Officer Eagler, you take it away.
OFFICER DOUG EAGLER, ERLANGER POLICE: Yes, it was. There wasn't time to do anything. But we saw a truck coming, we started yelling to each other, myself and Officer Allen, that there was a semi coming.
And we knew that Ashley -- and there was another car out there with our cruiser, and we had to get her out of the -- out of the way. She got her seatbelt off, and somehow, she got herself out, opened the door, and then we got to her and pulled her. And I just threw her down in the median, against the wall.
O'BRIEN: Wow. And Officer Allen, did you -- was it pure reaction like that? And at any point, did you think, oh my gosh, I've got to run for my own life?
OFFICER BILL ALLEN, ERLANGER POLICE: I don't think we had any time to think really at all. We just kind of reacted and worked as a team to save the three of us. And between all three, we just took over and reacted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Amazing story.
CHETRY: Yes. And you have to love police officers. They're always -- it's the understatement of the year.
O'BRIEN: Yes, just doing their job.
CHETRY: "We were a little concerned." But they really saved her life...
O'BRIEN: Yes.
CHETRY: ... when you look at that car.
O'BRIEN: It's kind of like those pilots that get on. :Well, we might have lost an engine, folks. Don't worry about that." You know, that kind of thing.
Anyway...
CHETRY: We're still on the plane debate this morning.
O'BRIEN: Yes, exactly.
CHETRY: All right. We're going to take a quick break. And when AMERICAN MORNING continues, we're going to take you live back to Washington, where there is the debate raging on the House floor. There's a live look right now at Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, and they continue to talk more about whether or not they're going to oppose the war in Iraq and the increase in the number of troops on the ground.
That enters its third day today, and we'll have it for you live when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Along the Gulf coast, a vicious cycle to tell you about this morning. The rebuilding process going so slowly for some, and that leaves employers in the region making tough decisions about whether to stay and rebuild or pull up stakes.
AMERICAN MORNING's Sean Callebs joining us from Long Beach, Mississippi, where that whole vicious cycle is being felt ever so poignantly.
Sean, good morning.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
That's exactly right. If you look where I am right now, you can see the debris, devastation, clearly a legacy, a year and a half after the storm hit this area. But to give you an idea how much was wiped out, we have another camera here. If you pan over, you can just see block after block, mile after mile, businesses and homes simply wiped out. So what's it going to take to rebuild? it's going to take time. And this area, Long Beach, is right now coping with another major setback.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's it, right there in front of us.
CALLEBS (voice-over): Beaten and battered by Katrina, Long Beach, Mississippi, just got another kick in the teeth. Oreck, the vacuum maker and the town's most important employer, is leaving town, not for cheap overseas labor, but for Tennessee. Five hundred jobs here will disappear.
MAYOR WILLIAM SKELLIE, LONG BEACH, MISSISSIPPI: For this to come on the heels of this disaster, certainly, it's a -- it's a hard, hard lick, you know, for communities.
CALLEBS: Company president Tom Oreck says post-Katrina insurance costs, double the price for one-third of the coverage, and not enough workers have forced his hand.
TOM ORECK, PRESIDENT/CEO, ORECK: Less than half our people came back after the storm, and repopulating the plant has been very difficult.
SKELLIE: I don't buy it. I mean, they can, you know, take it to the bank, whatever, but, I mean, I don't buy it. There were enough workers before. There were enough workers to put them back in business.
CALLEBS: This is the daunting task facing Mayor Skellie and his city. All these red blocks highlight homes and businesses destroyed. Just 20 miles to the east it is a completely different story.
Biloxi's casino business is booming. The Beau Rivage, just one of ten casinos trying to fill thousands of jobs after rebuilding and after so many were forced to leave the area.
BRUCE NOURSE, BEAU RIVAGE CASINO: There was a lot of anxiety, obviously, when we got to the point of rehiring. We needed to hire about 4,000 people. We were very pleasantly surprised, to be honest with you. We had over 25,000 applications for those 4,000 jobs.
CALLEBS: The casino pays $1.5 million in taxes each month to Biloxi, giving the city a leg up on its coastal neighbors still trying to rebuild.
SKELLIE: We still have our Gulf Coast here, our beautiful beaches, our water, our great fishing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: Yes, with that weather, the view, it only goes so far. What this area needs, long-term reconstruction. The mayor says they take it day by day, week by week, 40 businesses lost in this area alone. And, Miles, that plant, the Oreck plant, is going to begin its layoffs very soon, and by October, shut down and move to Tennessee.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, I guess the irony here is that Oreck made such a big deal out of being the first to reopen in the wake of the storm. And now they're scurrying out of town. What happened?
CALLEBS: Basically, there are two things. It's a combination -- their insurance costs went through the roof. There is no denying that. You know the insurance industry took a big hit here. They're passing it on, especially to those people with deep pockets, like businesses. They can't afford that. Secondly, they allege that there simply aren't enough people in this area to work that plant. But the mayor is very upset. He says he feels like the legs have been kicked out from underneath of him. He says this community put rebuilding their homes, their lives on the back burner to get that plant up and running because it is a significant economic linchpin. So they feel very victimized again, a year and a half after the storm.
M. O'BRIEN: I can see how they'd feel abandoned by that. Sean Callebs in Long Beach, thank you.
Coming up, another fallout on the Gulf Coast, as long as we're on the subject -- State Farm says it won't issue policies in Mississippi anymore. Good neighbor? Well, it's not the only insurance company to get out and not the only part of the country where this has happened. We'll tell you about that.
And word is that the salmonella outbreak is spreading. We'll tell you where the latest possible cases of contaminated peanut butter are.
You'll want to stay tuned before you make that PBJ for the kids this morning. The most news in the morning, right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: "CNN NEWSROOM" just moments away. Betty Nguyen at the CNN Center with a look ahead.
Hello, Betty.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there. Good morning, Miles.
We've got these stories are on the rundown for you today: Iraq troop debate. The House headed toward a symbolic vote today. Several Republicans breaking ranks to oppose President Bush's troop buildup. We'll ask two congressman about this emotional argument.
And check this out -- highway hell. Hundreds of motorists finally rescued. They were stuck almost a full day on an icy Pennsylvania freeway. We have more on that.
Plus, temper, temper, temper! This is what happens when you make an elephant angry. Amazing pictures of four tons of trepidation on the loose. Kind of looks like Miles on a bad day.
Tony Harris joins me at the top of the hour -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right, where does AN elephant push the truck? Anywhere he wants, right?
NGUYEN: Anywhere, absolutely. And he'll never forget.
Thank you, Betty. And we'll looking forward to seeing you.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Coming up, State Farm says it won't issue policies in Mississippi anymore, and it's not the only insurance company to get out, and it's not the only part of the country where this is happening.
We have more details. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
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M. O'BRIEN: That's some of the damage in the wake of Hurricane Katrina along the Mississippi Coast. Live picture this morning from Long Beach, Mississippi, 28 degrees there this morning. That's cold for that part of the world. Going up to only 48, but a beautiful, clear, sunny day. If we pan around, what you'll see there is a whole lot of damage. Actually, where that is right now, there used to be homes. They've just been completely raked clean from the ground by Hurricane Katrina. The whole state is coping with difficult news this morning on a couple of fronts.
Sean Callebs has been telling you about the vicious cycle, jobs versus people to do the jobs, versus the ability to rebuild, and now State Farm is no longer writing new policies in Mississippi. It's not the first time, of course. You've heard of this before, an insurance company bailing out when the going gets tough.
CNN's Gerri Willis joins us with more on this now.
And you know, this is not just folks on the coast; this is everybody in Mississippi, right?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm telling you. You know, this is really tough news, but you've got to understand, these companies are in business to make a profit; they're not nonprofit companies. They want to make some money there, and they're not making money in that area.
O'BRIEN: They're making money elsewhere, a lot of it, right?
WILLIS: That's right, but let me tell you, they could have gone a step further -- they could have not renewed existing policies. They haven't said that yet. But I've got to tell you, Miles, that happens all the time.
In fact, some states have rules or laws that prevent them from doing the non-renewals in big numbers, limiting it to say 4 percent a year.
O'BRIEN: So it is legal to do what they're doing?
WILLIS: Oh, sure, you betcha, you betcha.
O'BRIEN: Where else has this happened? We've heard about stuff like this in Florida, post-Hurricane Andrew and other hurricanes. Has this happened elsewhere?
WILLIS: Well, it's happened in a lot of places. And as you know, this industry has been making a ton of dough.
You brought up this question, and we should probably answer it -- you said hey, Gerri, they're making a lot of money, record profits in fact last year, in fact, $60 billion, two times the 2003 profit. It's a lot of dough out there, but they weren't making money in this part of the world, so they're going to pull out.
I mean, it's sad, but it's true. It's going to be harder to do business. It's going to be harder if you're a homeowner. And I'm hearing right now from my sources that in Florida, the real estate industry there is having a very tough time because people can't get homeowner policies. That's one of the reasons.
O'BRIEN: It's difficult for these companies, I'm sure, to explain this, when they have such tremendous profits. What do people do in this situation? What are the alternatives?
WILLIS: There aren't a lot of good alternatives at this point. You guys reported a story just this morning about how Florida is saying, hey, let's have a multistate plan, but let me tell you, there aren't going to be a lot of states out there that will want to sign up with Florida, because Florida has so many storms, so many people making claims on their state-pooled insurance. And what's more, that insurance is really pretty expensive. It's not cheap. It's more expensive than private carriers insurance. Yes, there will be some other people out there, some other options for people who are losing their State Farm coverage, but not a lot. They're really going to have to shop around.
O'BRIEN: I mean, this really undermines the very foundation of insurance. The idea is to collectively share the risk. And when you start partitioning places off, the price goes down in one place and goes way up in another place, and the whole notion of insurance kind of goes out the window, doesn't it?
WILLIS: Yes, well, and the people left in the lurch are really the homeowners here, who have to pay so much and get so little in return. There was a lot made of flood-insurance protection. Do you remember that?
O'BRIEN: Mm-hmm.
WILLIS: Such a big problem. It's not that expensive, but how much coverage do you get? Not a lot. I have to tell you, most people have to go elsewhere to buy up to add onto. If you have one of those expensive homes on a beachfront somewhere, you sure as heck aren't getting enough flood insurance coverage from the government.
O'BRIEN: And yet at the end of the day, people still really want to live right there on the coast, don't they?
WILLIS: Oh, you betcha. Well, it's beautiful. Who doesn't want to live there?
O'BRIEN: Big price to pay.
All right, what about what's coming up on the program this weekend? "OPEN HOUSE," one of my favorites.
WILLIS: "OPEN HOUSE," yes "OPEN HOUSE" is coming. We've got a lot of great stories for you there, 9:30 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN. Check it out. We're going to be talking mortgage meltdown. Miles, we have a story about a woman denied a mortgage because of her race. So we'll tell you about that.
O'BRIEN: Really? And they proved that? Wow, that's something.
WILLIS: Yes. The Department of Housing and Urban Development found in her favor. Very interesting story. We're from Atlanta. You'll be interested in that. Very lucky to be here this morning after the week's storms.
O'BRIEN: I bet. Well, it's good thing you weren't flying JetBlue, that's all I can you.
WILLIS: Yes, that would have been worse.
O'BRIEN: Gerri Willis, we'll be watching "OPEN HOUSE" this weekend. Thank you very much -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Thank you.
Thanks, Miles. And here's a quick look at what "CNN NEWSROOM" is working on for the top of the hour.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: See these stories in the "CNN NEWSROOM": The House planning a vote today on Iraq. The symbolic measure opposes President Bush's troop buildup for Iraq.
Snowy rescue -- hundreds of people stranded for almost a day on an icy stretch of Pennsylvania interstate.
Seattle outbreak. A second girl dies, apparently from the flu.
Multimillion dollar matrimony. It is called the world's most expensive wedding gown. You are in the "NEWSROOM" 9:00 a.m. Eastern, 6:00 Pacific.
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CHETRY: And welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is here on CNN. And the House is debating right now on that Iraq War resolution. A deadlocked Senate also called into a rare Saturday session to talk about it.
And it is a tough slog through parts of Pennsylvania still. Big chunks of Interstate 78, 80, and 81 remain closed -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: And now words that changed a nation. From the private papers of Martin Luther King Jr., just revealed. Soledad sat down recently with the king confidante and friend, Andrew Young. He was with Dr. King on that fateful day in Memphis and described their emotional last 24 hours together.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REV. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: So I'm happy tonight, I'm not worried about anything! I'm not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): He delivers a speech, "I've Been to the Mountaintop." Do you remember the preparation for that and that night?
ANDREW YOUNG, KING FRIEND & CONFIDANT: There was no preparation. I've been to the mountaintop speech is something that he'd made before, but he always made that at a time when things were dangerous.
S. O'BRIEN: Is there anything now that strikes you about that speech in hindsight?
YOUNG: Nothing, except he basically spelled out -- he almost planned his funeral. Because he'd done it before and we'd gone onto the next place, I wasn't really taking it seriously; it was just a great speech. But I never thought I was listening to his last speech. KING: We've got some difficulties ahead.
YOUNG: But the next day, he was more silly, and goofy and playful than I'd ever seen him. And he grabbed a pillow off the bed and threw the pillow at me. And he and Ralph, they just kept throwing pillows and I was throwing pillows back. And I mean, they were just -- they were playing like 10-year-olds. And they finally pushed me down between the two beds and put all the pillows up on me and sat on me. And this was my punishment for not calling in all day. He came out after this pillow fight thing, and he didn't have a coat.
S. O'BRIEN: Where were you in the Lorraine Motel?
YOUNG: We were waiting for him to go to dinner. So I was telling him he needed to go back to get his coat. And then a shot rang out, which I thought was a firecracker. And when I looked up there and didn't see him, I thought he was clowning again, until I ran upstairs and saw, you know, him laying in a pool of blood.
S. O'BRIEN: At that moment, what did you think?
YOUNG: Well, I thought two things -- I thought that there was nobody who was more deserving to go on to claim their reward. And then I was mad because I was left with all this mess. I really didn't know how we would survive. Actually, his spirit has never left us.
S. O'BRIEN: Is it something you think about a lot or something you don't think about at all?
YOUNG: Something I think about all the time.
S. O'BRIEN: Really? In what way?
YOUNG: Well, everything I do I have to put in the context of what we were committed to.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: Andrew Young, just one of the voices you'll hear as Soledad reports for this CNN Special Investigations Unit: "MLK Papers: Words That Changed a Nation," just one of the many emotional moments in that. You'll see it Saturday and Sunday, 8:00 Eastern and Pacific. and that's all from here on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Betty Nguyen begins right now.
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