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American Morning
JFK Terror Plot: Threat in Trinidad?; Republican Debate: Who Needs to Shine?; TB Scare: Is the Patient Contagious or Not?
Aired June 05, 2007 - 06:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Rising tensions. President Bush overseas this morning.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Cold War is over. It ended.
CHETRY: His message from Moscow ahead.
CNN exclusive. The man prosecutors say may have helped hatch a plot to attack JFK airport.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People who are making accusations, they better be able to back it up. And they can't. So -- and they will pay.
CHETRY: We're live from Trinidad.
Plus, books and battle lines.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bring flow between the two countries.
CHETRY: The border runs right through a small town library. The dilemma dividing two countries in a new immigration showdown on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: And good morning to you. It's Tuesday, June 5th.
I'm Kiran Chetry, in New York.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts, live in Manchester, New Hampshire, site of the second debate. The Republicans go at it tonight.
Stories "On Our Radar" this morning.
New reports that the man infected with tuberculosis is not very contagious. Does it mean that all of those people that he flew with are in the clear? We're going to check in with our Dr. Sanjay Gupta about that in just a few minutes' time.
CHETRY: Here's something that you never heard of before, raising your credit score by renting, as they call it, from people who have better credit scores than you do. It's not necessarily a free ride, but it can bump up your credit score overnight. We're going to explain that ahead.
But meanwhile, to our top story, to Trinidad now, where two of the four suspects in the New York terror plot are fighting extradition this morning. The FBI now on the island, joining the search for the one missing suspect. Trinidad authorities say the group's ringleader, Russell Defreitas, met with extremists.
CNN's Susan Candiotti spoke exclusively to the leader of that extremist group yesterday. She has more now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): U.S. prosecutors claim Ibrahim met in Trinidad with American suspect Russell Defreitas to discuss terror plans. In this newly released FBI surveillance video, Defreitas, seen here on the left, allegedly is meeting with a confidential informant in a New York diner. Defreitas is accused of flying to Guyana and Trinidad and meeting with an unidentified leader of an extreme Islamic sect called Jamaat al- Muslimeen.
In an exclusive interview with CNN, Jamaat's imam, Yassin Abu Bakar (ph), says it's not him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People who are making accusations, they better be able to back it up. And they can't. So -- and they will pay.
CANDIOTTI: Bakar (ph) is the very same man who led a bloody attempted coup against Trinidad's government in 1990. That is him back then. He took over a TV station and held hostages but was given amnesty.
For now, in Trinidad the focus is finding a fourth suspect believed to be in hiding. And a picture-postcard island is trying to make sense of its alleged role in a terror plot.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: So the leader of that controversial Islamic sect says he knows nothing about the plot, doesn't know any of the individuals. And remember, he is not even named in the criminal complaint, though he is considered to be the leader of that controversial mosque which also runs a school here. The watchword of the day, Kiran, is to find that fourth suspect. It is front page news here, continues to be, as authorities try to find him with the help of the FBI -- Kiran.
CHETRY: And what sort of sense did you get when you were interviewing him? I mean, he said the people who are saying this, it's not true and they will pay.
CANDIOTTI: That's right. He is especially angry at the New York City police who are linking him to this plot, or attempting to, if not by name, by reputation, let's say, because of his involvement in the mosque here. But he says, "I have nothing to do with this," and what he meant was, if people continue to name him and link him specifically to what allegedly occurred here, he said he is talking to his lawyer and he might sue.
CHETRY: All right. And also, apparently, it's a pretty drawn out affair to fight the extradition. So we'll check in with you more about that as well.
Susan Candiotti, reporting from Port of Spain, Trinidad, for us this morning.
Thank you.
CANDIOTTI: You're welcome.
ROBERTS: The 10 Republican candidates for president take the stage tonight here in New Hampshire. You can watch that live right here on CNN beginning at 7:00 Eastern.
So, who has got the most on the line tonight? And how much of a shadow is the undeclared candidate going to cast?
Joining me right now is Republican strategist Ed Rollins, who has been watching all of this for the last couple of days.
What are you expecting tonight, Ed? And how do you think it will be different from the last GOP debate?
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, there's two people who feel ownership of this state. Even though it's a national debate, New Hampshire is very critical. And that's John McCain, who won this state in 2000, and certainly the neighboring governor, Romney. And they've been sort of battling back and forth the last week over the immigration issue and some other issues.
So I think it will be pretty feisty. You throw Rudy Giuliani in there, he was a good street fighter. I think it's going to be harder for the second-tier candidates to break out, even though it's a long forum. But I think it's really going to be about the front-runners.
ROBERTS: Are you expecting more back and forth than in the last debate?
ROLLINS: I think much more back and forth. I think John McCain is in a real fight for his life. He knows that. And I think he's really pressed hard on the immigration issue, and I think he's going to defend it tonight.
ROBERTS: In fact, we're talking about pressing hard on the immigration issue. He squared off with Mitt Romney yesterday.
ROLLINS: Right.
ROBERTS: John McCain said something at a campaign rally, Mitt Romney came back. But let's sort of contrast their two positions. We're going to play a little bit of John McCain from yesterday, his event in Coral Gables, and what Mitt Romney had said to him about immigration at the last debate.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Pandering for votes on this issue, while offering no solution to the problem, amounts to doing nothing. And doing nothing is silent amnesty.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My fear is that McCain- Kennedy would do to immigration what McCain-Feingold has done to campaign finance and money in politics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You know, Romney's got a pretty good line there.
ROLLINS: He's got...
ROBERTS: He keeps brining the word "Kennedy" up every time he mentions McCain.
ROLLINS: Well, it's very important, because obviously to Republicans Kennedy is not a magic word.
John McCain has drawn a line in the sand on this issue, and by challenging other people to say you're not patriotic or you don't have a solution, I think, is forcing him to debate back.
ROBERTS: What does Romney have to do tonight? What does Rudy Giuliani have to do tonight?
ROLLINS: Well, I think Giuliani has to have another moment like he had in the last debate to stay right in this thing. And I think Romney has too good performances. He has to have a better performance here tonight. And I think McCain obviously can't get too offensive.
ROBERTS: Ed Rollins, thanks very much for your expertise, as always.
ROLLINS: My pleasure.
ROBERTS: Good to see you.
And again, that Republican debate tonight here on CNN, 7:00 this evening. Wolf Blitzer again moderating. Expecting lots of fireworks this evening.
In the last hour we heard from President Bush in Prague, in the Czech Republic. He talked about plans to build a missile shield in the Czech Republic, as well as in Poland.
Russian president Vladimir Putin said that he would aim missiles at Europe, potentially nuclear missiles, if that shield is built. President Bush and Putin meet tomorrow at the G8 summit. And, of course, they're going to have another meeting at Kennebunkport, Maine, the first weekend of July.
Our White House correspondent, Ed Henry, is live in Prague.
And Ed, this war of words seems to keep escalating. What are the two sides doing to try to, you know, ratchet down the tensions here?
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Mr. Putin certainly seems to be trying to ratchet up the pressure and the rhetoric by the day, almost by the hour. What Mr. Bush is trying to do is to lower the temperature on this, try to calm everyone down.
You saw him making his pitch a short while ago, meeting with Czech officials, making that pitch for the radar for the missile defense shield to be based here in the Czech Republic. The actual missiles would be in Poland, as you noted.
Now, both those stops, though, here in the Czech Republic, Poland later this week, riling Mr. Putin even more. He's worried that these so-called defensive missiles could be offensive missiles on the doorstep of Russia, used against Russia down the road. Mr. Bush, though, trying to reassure him that there will be no such problem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: And my message will be, you know, Vladimir -- I call him Vladimir -- that, you know, you shouldn't fear a missile defense system. As a matter of fact, why don't you cooperate with us on a missile defense system? Why don't you participate with the United States? Please send your generals over to see how such a system would work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: The question hanging over all of this, whether or not the U.S. and Russia are in the brink of yet another Cold War. That is a question that could end up dominating the agenda at the G8 summit in Germany -- John.
ROBERTS: It really is pretty incredible after the warm friendship these two apparently declared for each other back in the early part of this decade, that they are now at the sense of odds that they are.
Ed Henry for us in Prague in the Czech Republic.
Ed, thanks very much. We will check back with you a little bit later on.
HENRY: Thank you.
CHETRY: There seems to be confusion this morning over the definition of "contagious". Some conflicting messages about the health of the man at the center of the TB scare.
Is he contagious or not?
For the answers, we are paging Dr. Gupta this morning.
Hi, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
This can be a little bit confusing. There's no question about it.
There's really three things that doctors and health officials want to look at to determine if someone is contagious versus not contagious. One is, are they sick? Are they actively sick? Do they have a fever, are they coughing or sneezing? That's number one.
Number two is they do something called a sputum test, where they actually look at the saliva to determine if the bacteria is in there. With Mr. Speaker, both those things appear to be negative.
A third thing, though, appeared to be positive, which is they let the bacteria sort of grow for a few days, several days, and see if the bacteria actually show up on that same test. And if they do -- and again, that could take several days to come back -- he is still considered contagious, but very minimally so. The way that they keep putting it is that he is contagious but the risk is somewhere closer to zero, he's minimally contagious -- Kiran.
CHETRY: It's starting to look more and more like the concerns of the passengers that were on these planes and people who had contact with him have less to worry about today?
GUPTA: I think so. You know, I mean, when you talk about risk, you know, and especially when it comes to medicine, you really have to balance two things. One is the likelihood versus the seriousness. So, you really have you to combine both those things.
The likelihood of someone actually getting it appears to be low, certainly very low. Not zero, but very low. But the seriousness of it is still very high.
When you talk about Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis -- and this is some people still aren't sure how to fix or how to cure. So it's a balance of those two things. But I think the likelihood of any of the tests coming back appears to be dropping.
CHETRY: And what about his long-term prognosis? Can he be cured?
GUPTA: Well, you know, I actually visited the hospital in Denver where he is being treated, and they do a couple of things there.
First of all, they're still going to try all of the different antibiotics to see if any of them will actually work. The other thing they offer there which they don't offer in many places here in the country or around the world is surgery, is an operation to actually remove that part of the lung that has the tuberculosis in it. What I learned when I was out there is that his tuberculosis appears to be confined to one area of his lung, and if that area can be removed he could be cured. He probably would be treated with antibiotics still, but he could be cured.
CHETRY: Oh. That's good news, for sure.
All right, Sanjay. Thanks so much.
GUPTA: Thank you.
CHETRY: By the way, if you have a question for Dr. Gupta, go to cnn.com/americanmorning. E-mail us. Sanjay will answer your questions right here on AMERICAN MORNING every Thursday.
ROBERTS: A 94-page indictment against a Louisiana congressman tops our "Quick Hits".
Democrat William Jefferson was charged yesterday with accepting nearly $500,000 in bribes over five years. Ninety thousand dollars of that money ended up in Jefferson's freezer. Jefferson has denied the charges. Court TV's Savannah Guthrie joins us in a minute to talk more about this.
And Lewis "Scooter" Libby learns his fate today. The former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney will be sentenced for lying about the leaking of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. Prosecutors have asked that Libby serve up to three years. Libby's attorneys say he has some momentum in his favor.
We'll explain just ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (voice over): Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, a library where the bookshelves literally straddle two countries.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in the reading room right now, I'm on the U.S. side. But cross the line here, and I've arrived in Canada.
ROBERTS: A fun way to check out your favorite novel, or an easy opportunity for potential terrorists to check into the United States. Alina Cho has that story next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: "Quick Hits" now.
There seems to be an epidemic of erratic driving across the country. In Dallas, an elderly driver smashed his car into a restaurant. Police say that he hit the gasoline pedal instead of the brake. Five people, including customers and the driver, were hurt in that incident. And an SUV plowed into a home in southern California, leaving a toddler badly hurt. Police say a 12-year-old boy was behind the wheel at the time. They are trying to figure out how he got his hands on the family SUV. The 2-year-old toddler and a 12-year-old girl in the apartment were hurt pretty extensively.
And an out of control SUV slammed into a bus shelter in Las Vegas. Three people managed to get out of the way, but police say one person was trapped under the vehicle and was seriously hurt.
It's coming up to 14 minutes after the hour now. Chad Myers in the weather center down in Atlanta tracking our extreme weather of the day.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Well, former White House aide Scooter Libby learns his fate later today. Libby was convicted in March of lying to federal investigators about leaking the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Prosecutors are calling for actually two and a half to three years of prison time. Libby says he not guilty, and his lawyers are now lining up support to show that he should not go to prison.
Court TV's Savannah Guthrie joins us now with more on what we can expect.
Savannah, great to see you.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, COURT TV: Good morning.
CHETRY: Any word on what type of sentence or how long of a sentence Scooter Libby could be facing?
GUTHRIE: Unfortunately, we're in suspense, but we'll find out this morning. And this is one of those cases where the judge has full discretion.
He could give Libby no jail time at all, he could give him the three years, the three and a half years that the prosecutors are asking for. And this judge has a reputation around town as being very tough when it comes down to handing the sentence.
CHETRY: And it looks like his defense lawyers are armed with something like 160 character letters from different people, much more than normal, trying to show that, look, he's done more good in his life than bad. And maybe that should be taken into consideration.
GUTHRIE: That's right. They've amassed all of these letters, really trying to ask the court to show leniency on Libby and say, don't look at this one -- couple of acts, but rather, look at this man's lifetime. They say he was a devoted public servant who worked tirelessly on behalf of the government, and they've amassed all of these voices and these letters which will become later today. So it will be very interesting to see who came out and supported Libby in these letters to the judge.
CHETRY: And what about a presidential pardon, if it does come down?
GUTHRIE: It's always a possibility. And you know what makes this particularly interesting? If he is sentenced to jail time, I would expect Libby's lawyers to ask him to remain free while he pursues a bond -- while he pursues his appeal. But if the judge says no to that, he could go more or less straight to jail, that puts the pressure on the president, does he want to pardon him. If so, he'd have to do it pretty quickly.
CHETRY: Let's talk about Congressman William Jefferson, indicted now on 16 counts, including racketeering, soliciting bribes, wire fraud, money laundering.
How solid is this case against him?
GUTHRIE: Well, if you read the indictment -- and it would take you hours and hours to do so, it looks pretty solid. I mean, it's a 16-count indictment, the indictment is this thick.
Allegedly, the prosecutors have wiretap evidence, have obviously informant witnesses who are willing to testify against Jefferson. They say they've got documents, and it's a wide-ranging fraud. Basically, though, it's simple. They say he solicited bribes, received bribes, paid bribes.
CHETRY: Right. And so how he is going to defend himself is going to be an interesting one, for sure. But we have to save it for another day.
Savannah Guthrie of Court TV, thanks for joining us.
GUTHRIE: Nice to see you.
CHETRY: The search now for survivors topping your "Quick Hits".
A medical plane carrying six members of an Oregon transplant team plunged into Lake Michigan. It had just taken off from Milwaukee's airport, then dropped off the radar just minutes after the pilot requested to turn back.
A high-flying solution to airport security. The Homeland Security Department is considering using armed but unmanned planes to patrol U.S. airports. They would fly at about 50,000 feet and be armed with lasers or radio waves that could zap shoulder-launched missiles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (voice over): Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, imagine borrowing a stranger's credit card, shopping until your heart's content. And it's not only legal, but it will improve your credit score?
We'll explain next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, it was a long time coming, but some good news on gas prices tops our "Quick Hits".
The prices dropped a nickel since last week. Now $3.14 a gallon, the national average, according to AAA. That's also down from all- time high of $3.22 set almost two weeks ago. Here in New Hampshire it's down about $2.95. Good bargain.
An arson attack caught on tape. Surveillance tapes show a man breaking into a convenience store in Rome, Georgia. Take a look at this. He sprays lighter fluid all over the place, lights the fire, and then steals lottery tickets. Police think the same guy has hit the area about six times in a little more than a year.
And a tennis ball spiked with explosives? Police in Fairfield, Connecticut, say a family found the ball and was playing catch with it. One of the kids missed. The ball hit the ground and suddenly burst into flames. Apparently, it was filled with match heads. No one was hurt, though.
CHETRY: Twenty-two past the hour now. Carrie Lee is "Minding Your Business" today.
And it's a very unusual story that you're telling us about, where you can almost borrow or rent someone's credit history to up your score.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. Now, credit scores, as you know, very important if you're applying for, say, a mortgage on a home. This is really the big thing that affects the rate that you get. Well, now there are a bunch of Internet companies that are basically acting as middlemen, letting you piggyback on somebody else's credit score and their good credit records.
Now, piggybacking, essentially, you're paying to be added to a healthy credit card account, and then that information is reported to a credit bureau, and you can increase your credit score.
So, let's say Kiran has good credit, I have bad credit. Well, Kiran goes to the middleman, gives them her credit card information, which they basically on a limited basis provide to me. So I am then listed on her, say, credit card number. I am an authorized user, technically.
I don't actually get a card. I can't really charge anything. But the fact that I'm listed on Kiran's credit card means that that information goes to the credit reporting agency, and the good credit boosts my score.
And a credit number can make a huge difference in the amount of money you can save on a mortgage. Let's give an example here.
If you have a credit score of 500 to 559 and you're looking at a $300,000, 30-year mortgage, FICO says you will get an interest rate of about 9.5 percent. That's more than $2,500 a month you pay. Well, with a credit score between 760 points and 850, you can get a rate that's 6 percent, and look at that, your monthly payment goes down to $1,800.
CHETRY: Wow. So it makes a huge difference for the person with bad credit. What would be the motivation, though, just to make a couple of hundred bucks to risk your healthy credit if you're the person they're borrowing from?
LEE: Exactly. Well, that's why people do it. They do make a couple hundred dollars, $100, maybe $200 per credit card you're issuing. And think about it. They can give your number to, say, me and maybe four other people since we're not actually using the cards. You can make $800.
In fact, there was one guy I was reading about who actually quit his job and is raking in $2,500 a month doing just this.
CHETRY: Wow.
LEE: Yes. It's very risky, though. Clearly, you know, you're giving your Social Security number in some cases. You're giving your credit card information. And also, if I'm listed as one of your users, one person was even getting things in the mail.
So, for example, you could get something for me saying Carrie Lee is an authorized user. Here is another card she could get. You can open up something in my name. So you get the idea. It can get complicated and risky.
CHETRY: All right. Carrie Lee, thanks.
LEE: Sure.
CHETRY: "Quick Hits" now.
The top story on CNN.com, GOP 10 jostle for spotlight. Republican candidates preparing for their debate taking place tonight in New Hampshire. Of course you can catch it right here on CNN. It starts at 7:00 p.m.
Also, the most popular right now on CNN.com, laundry letters worth millions. A treasure trove of historical letters found in a filing cabinet in a Swiss laundry room. They were collected by a wealthy Austrian banker and include letters from Napoleon, as well as Winston Churchill and Peter the Great.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (voice over): Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, one woman says GE also brings bad things to light -- discrimination against women. She's a lawyer for GE and she is suing. Does she have a solid case?
Find out next when she joins us live on AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Good morning. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It's Tuesday, the 5th of June.
I'm John Roberts, live in Manchester, New Hampshire, scene of the second in our series of CNN debates.
The Republicans squaring off tonight -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes, it should be exciting.
I'm Kiran Chetry, here in New York.
But is Fred Thompson going to be showing up for that as well, or not?
ROBERTS: No, he's not. Fred has decided to do something else rather than show up today.
CHETRY: All right. Well, there's 10 others that we'll certainly hear from. So it should be very exciting.
Meanwhile, some other stories "On Our Radar" this morning.
A lawsuit against one of America's biggest companies, General Electric. A senior employee claims that she was targeted for a demotion because she is a woman.
Does she have a case? Well, she is here. She's also a lawyer for GE, and she thinks so. So we're going to with her, as well as her attorney, coming up in just a couple of minutes.
ROBERTS: And a new flash point in the immigration battle to show you today. It's a border town library between Vermont and La Belle Province of Quebec. It literally separates America and Canada.
There is the line right there. One side, you're in Vermont. The other side, you're in Canada. We'll take a look about the concerns that this might raise for security here as the immigration debate rages, and will be front and center at tonight's debate as well.
CHETRY: That's interesting. IT makes returning library books a bit tricky at times, I'm sure.
All right, John. We'll check in with you in just a couple of minutes.
Lorene Schaefer, she's is taking on one of the world's biggest companies claiming that General Electric has a system of systematic bias against women in both pay and promotion and she's hoping to enlist other women employed by GE in a class action lawsuit. Lorene Schaefer joins us now along with her attorney, David Sanford. Thanks for both of you for being with us.
LORENE SCHAEFER, SUING GE FOR GENDER DISCRIMINATION: Thanks for inviting us.
CHETRY: Lorene, first of all, briefly explain your case. What happened to you at GE?
SCHAEFER: I've been a lawyer for the General Electric Company for 13 years. I've always been rated a top talent. I was promoted throughout the ranks. I first became what we call an entry level executive band (ph) in 1997, continued to proceed through the ranks, always remaining at the entry level, but increasing authority. In May of 2005, I was promoted by Charlene Begley (ph), who was the CEO at that point of GE transportation. I accepted the job and, in May of '05, moved to Erie, Pennsylvania. It was a great job. I loved it, very inclusive, great business.
CHETRY: You say all of that changed with the hiring of a new boss, John Dinene (ph). What happened then?
SCHAEFER: The culture changed at the business. We went from an inclusive open great leadership style to what I would characterize as an old boy's network. I continued to perform. I met all of my goals and objectives directly aligned with John Dinene's growth strategies for the business. Despite that, in April of this year, '07, after a meeting with Jeff Immelt, John Dinene, numerous other executives, all male, the HR person walked into my office one afternoon, couldn't meet my eye and told me that session C, the HR process, the HR performance reviews had, quote, not gone well for me and that John Dinene wanted to replace me with a big-time GC and upset (ph) all of the other male executives in the performance review agreed with him. I was to be taken out of my job, demoted and when I asked, well, what does that mean? And he said oh, everybody loves you, Lorene, everybody likes you. Jeff likes you, John likes you, Bracket Denniston (ph) likes you but John wants a big-time GC and everybody has agreed.
CHETRY: Let me ask you about this, David. How are you going to prove the case that you're making that it was a discrimination based on her gender?
DAVID SANFORD, SCHAEFER'S ATTORNEY: The truth of our allegation lies in the statistics. There are 15 percent women at the highest level executive band positions at GE. That's not a good statistic for GE.
CHETRY: You know what GE says? They say we strongly deny the allegations made by Miss Schaefer. Miss Schaefer claims that the number of female senior executives at GE has quote held steady for five years are demonstrably untrue. So they take that same statistic, but say that it's a good thing. They had 42 female executives back in 2001 and now have 62 which as you said makes up 15 percent.
SANFORD: The statistics were bad in 2001 and they're bad now. If GE want to come out and tout their statistic saying that 15 percent is enough they should tell the world that. They should tell the court that. The court is not going to buy it and the world shouldn't buy it.
CHETRY: Are you getting support from other women in GE? SCHAEFER: I'm getting a great deal of support. They're coming forward. They're calling our lawyers, my lawyers.
CHETRY: Are they going to join up with this class action lawsuit?
SCHAEFER: I think each woman has got to make her own decision, but I can tell you that what I want to tell women at GE, you're not alone.
CHETRY: Well, Lorene Schaefer, please keep us posted as well as David Sanford. Thanks for giving your side today.
SCHAEFER: Thank you.
SANFORD: Thanks.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Thirty three minutes after the hour. Tributes are pouring in on Capitol Hill today, your quick hits now. Republican Senator Craig Thomas of Wyoming died after a battle with leukemia. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Wyoming had no greater advocate and taxpayers no greater watch dog. Thomas, who won reelection in November despite his illness, was 74 years old.
Stepping up the search for a missing teen in Kansas. Police say surveillance tape show 18-year-old Kelsey Smith being forced into her car in a store parking lot. They're releasing this video of a person of interest. Investigators say they believe he may have information in the case. The family is offering $10,000 for information.
Still to come this morning, the border town library that's becoming a new flash point in the immigration battle. "AMERICAN MORNING's" Alina Cho is there. Good morning, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to you, John. I am literally on the U.S./Canadian border so what does this black line that I'm standing on have to do with the immigration debate? I'll tell when you AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: A possible big-time TV promotion topping our quick hits now. Fred Thompson, of course, he has his presidential ambitions now. It could mean a promotion for Sam Waterston because Thompson quit "Law & Order" last week and insiders are saying that Waterston is in talks now to move up from assistant prosecutor and to take over Thompson's role as DA on the popular show.
Speaking of popular, it's back, the world's custard pie-throwing championship. Who knew, 32 teams dressed in various uniforms, they're calling those uniforms, by the way, tossed pies at each other this weekend in Kent, England. A direct hit in the face got the most points. It took two hours to crown a champion. Congrats.
Tropical storm Barry shaved six feet off the top of the world's tallest sand castle that towered over Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The sun fun festival castle is now just over 43 feet tall. But it's still good enough to be considered the tallest. John?
ROBERTS: They're for immigrants' rights and they want to make sure that everyone knows it. Protesters are camping out right now in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. They began a planned 48-hour vigil yesterday, one that they say is aimed at bringing the focus of the immigration debate back to the families affected by it. Organizers say progress is being made but that parts of the plan being debated right now in Congress are too hard on immigrants.
Not far from the scene of tonight's Republican debate here in Manchester, New Hampshire is a century old library that is literally on the border of Vermont in the Canadian province of Quebec. The shared landmark is being swept up in the current immigration debate. AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho is in the Haskell library this morning on the Canadian side and I got a question for you Alina. Did you go through immigration to get there?
CHO: John, you know the answer to that! The answer is no, of course. It was very very easy. You just walk over a line. This is something you really have to see to believe. The Haskell library is literally on the border. Here is the black line that runs through the middle of it that separates Canada from the United States. For instance, right now, I'm in Stansted (ph), Quebec but walk over the line and I'm officially back in the United States in Derbyline, Vermont. Now here's the problem. The only entrance to the library is on the U.S. side and if the border patrol has its way, soon, Canadians may have to show a passport to check out a book.
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CHO (voice-over): People often joke the Haskell free library and opera house is the only library in America with no books. The books are in Canada. The library literally straddles the border, built more than a century ago so that both Americans and Canadians would have access. Today, tourists come to marvel at the black line that cuts the library in half. Here in the reading room right now, I'm on the U.S. side but cross the line here and I've arrived in Canada. If I want to check out a book I can only do so here on the Canadian side. Upstairs in the opera house, the stage is in Canada but here in the audience, many of the seats are in the United States. The only entrance to the building is in Derbyline, Vermont. Canadians like Don Korman (ph) simply park their cars in Canada, walk over the border and enter in the United States without showing ID. But U.S. and Canadian border agents say there's been an increase in the number of illegal immigrants crossing the border so they are considering closing three unmanned side streets. If it happens, Canadians who want to check out books would have to detour through a port of entry. A good thing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not for me. I mean it depends on your point of view. Good thing in terms of security, sure.
CHO: People around here say the more than 100-year-old gentleman's agreement allowing people to cross the border freely at least to get to the library should not be changed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to make things more inconvenient for people who want to enter the country illegally, but it's not going to stop them.
CHO: Others say sealing the streets run counter to the bilateral, bilingual spirit of the library.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The original purpose of this library was to draw a line down the middle and have a free flow between the two countries. So that would probably stop or at least the spirit of it would stop.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Now, remember, this library was built more than 100 years ago, deliberately on the border as a gift to both countries. Now, the goal really was to inspire mingling of the two cultures and that certainly is the case now. Today if you take a walk around the library, you will hear French as often as you hear English and people here are afraid that that might disappear if border agents get involved. Keep in mind there's no decisions yet on what's going to happen to those three side streets. All parties are going to meet at the library here later this month and they'll talk about options John, barriers for one, and doing nothing at all. I can tell you overwhelmingly, the people around here prefer the status quo. John?
ROBERTS: I'm sure they do. Pretty unique place you've introduced us to. Alina Cho, thanks very much.
CNN's Lou Dobbs is going to be with us in the next hour here on AMERICAN MORNING to talk about what is going into the immigration bill being hotly debated on Capitol Hill here.
CHETRY: Sure is, 42 minutes past the top of the hour now. We check in with Chad Myers. He's going to bring you up to date. Are you going to show us that unbelievable picture again of a cyclone that is forming quite far away from us but it's still unbelievable?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: At 8:15. I was trying to do that every hour like 6:15, 7:15, 8:15 so you don't get tired of it. Now you have to stay tuned for half hour to see it. San Antonio - but I will show it - San Antonio (INAUDIBLE), big time severe weather across parts of west Texas for today but the big story is the amount of severe weather that is going to roll through the plains. Big time severe weather fire danger out in the west and Phoenix and Las Vegas today. Probably have to show you pictures of fires out there as the wind is going to blow very dry air around. This is the story. This is the big time weather for tomorrow for Wednesday afternoon from North Dakota right through Omaha and down into Wichita, Kansas. We do expect many tornadoes, large hail and all of the above with wind likely here and so I need you to pay attention to that storm. Right now it's still in the Pacific making rain for Portland and Yakima back to Spokane but it'll be right through the plains tomorrow afternoon. I promise, Kiran, I'll have that picture for you in 30 minutes. It's just not loaded.
CHETRY: Keeping us waiting. All right, Chad, thanks so much.
MYERS: Sure. CHETRY: Hurricane prep is topping your quick hits now. The National Guard staying in New Orleans at least through the end of the hurricane season. They've been patrolling some of the less populated areas since last June. Mayor Nagin asked for an extension and Governor (INAUDIBLE) agreed to keep the troops there until November.
It's a friendship born from tragedy and maybe something more than friendship. Beth Twitty, she's the mother of Natalie Holloway and John Ramsey, the father of Jon Benet Ramsey are denying rumors that they are dating. They do say though they have become good friends. Twitty separated from her husband last year and Ramsey's wife Patsy Ramsey died a year ago.
Still to come this morning, out of the box but how? We are going to show you the crashing end to a magic trick in Manhattan this morning. How did Chris Angel come out on top?
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CHETRY: And welcome back. We are joined by AMERICAN MORNING'S Lola Ogunnaike, who's going to be talking about a couple of things. First of all, you've heard of Criss Angel right, the magician or illusionist. They never liked to be called magicians.
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, illusionists. It's fancier.
CHETRY: He pulled a little stunt that was finished live just about 30 minutes ago so we're going to show some pictures of it right now and you can tell us. He made it. The good news is he survived.
OGUNNAIKE: He's alive!
CHETRY: Let's check it out. That's a picture of him. There it is. He survived being dropped in a box.
OGUNNAIKE: That's the thing. We don't know if he was dropped in the box or not.
CHETRY: This was done right here in New York City.
OGUNNAIKE: Yeah, in Times Square around 46th and 8th. The box came crashing down. But he wasn't in the box! Wait. Hold on. He is going to appear in the corner over there! You got people -- there is a massive countdown and then Criss Angel emerges but he is not in the box, he is over there.
CHETRY: So the whole illusion was that he was able to escape from a box that was taped but not locked.
OGUNNAIKE: He was padlocked. The box was covered in cement. It was three inches of cement covering this 4 by 4 by 4 box and he escaped and no one knows how he did it. No one knows when he did it because people have been standing out there watching the box since last night. He's been in the box since yesterday. So again, the illusion is he tricked us all and no one knows how he's done it. I guess that's why (INAUDIBLE) I bet you that impresses Cameron Diaz.
CHETRY: Yeah! They've been linked. How did you know? Now let's see if he can make her reappear (INAUDIBLE) David Blaine (ph), also a ladies man. Who knows what they have. I don't know.
OGUNNAIKE: They have something. They have some sort of spell for sure.
CHETRY: Something else that is just a little more serious. It's Princess Diana, the crash photos, very upsetting news that British television channel is planning on airing photographs of her fatal crash in an upcoming documentary and her sons weighing in.
OGUNNAIKE: Yes, her sons want those photos to disappear actually. They don't want those photos involved in the documentary which is supposed to air on British television tomorrow on channel four and they are saying that the photos are grossly inappropriate. They're disrespectful to their mother's memory and they do not want them to air at all but channel four is saying look, this is done. It's tasteful, it's well done and we're sorry that you're upset about it, but we're going to run these photos anyway.
CHETRY: How different are they or what level of detail do they show because we all remember seeing the mangled car and seeing the tunnel and all of that play out over and over again after her death.
OGUNNAIKE: And that is channel four's argument. They're saying look, these photos have been out there before and they're also saying this is something that is in the interest of the general public and we understand the princes' feelings but we also have our public to serve and in this case we're going with the public.
CHETRY: All right, Lola Ogunnaike, thank you.
OGUNNAIKE: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Friendly fire for the founder of Focus on the Family, quick hits for you now. A coalition of evangelical, Protestant and Roman Catholic groups are criticizing James Dobson for applauding a Supreme Court ruling that upholds the ban on partial birth abortions. They say that Dobson should be encouraging a ban on all abortion procedures and that the ruling actually energized abortion rights groups.
More problems for Rudy Giuliani with religious conservatives this morning. Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island, says Giuliani's views on abortion are pathetic, confusing and hypocritical. Giuliani says while he is personally opposed to abortion, women should be able to decide for themselves whether to terminate a pregnancy. The Giuliani campaign is not commenting on the bishop's criticism at this point.
Can you really fight cancer with a zap of radiation? Important developments are coming from a national cancer conference. Dr. Sanjay Gupta breaks it down for us coming up at the top of the hour. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Bulking up on safety, quick hits for you now. The government is buying millions of doses of the smallpox vaccine for $ .5 billion. It's going to go into the strategic national stockpile. There is already enough vaccine for every American, but these new doses are said to be safer for people with weak immune systems.
A new list is out this morning. It's the list of the nation's worst airports for delayed flight arrivals. Anybody who has been through there will have been no surprise what tops the list, Newark Liberty on top. Flights arrived on time only 55 percent of the time. LaGuardia slightly better, 58 percent of the time and JFK 60 percent. O'Hare in Chicago also came in at 60, Philadelphia 65 and Charlotte flights arrived on time only 66 percent of the time.
And Honda is pulling the hybrid version of the Accord. The 2007 model will be the last Honda says no one was buying them. Only 439 Accord hybrids sold last month. Compare that to Toyota which sold more than 24,000 Prius'.
CHETRY: It's five minutes until the top of the hour. Ali Velshi is off. Carrie Lee is "Minding your Business" and you're giving us a little more detail about that. So as we talk about gas prices and we talk about whether or not there is a demand out there for hybrids, this car company is pulling theirs.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Honda is pulling the plug on the gas electric version of its Accord sedan. Basically they say it was a victim of a high sticker price and low gas mileage. Cost over $31,000 for this car, gets just 31 miles per gallon though. Compare that with the Prius which gets about 55 miles per gallon on Honda's own Civic gets about 50 miles, so they are pulling the plug after the 2007 model year.
CHETRY: Can't they just make it more --
LEE: Can't they just make it better? Maybe they will bring it back. Some car companies will do that. They'll retool something and then bring it back. So that's what's happening on the Accord.
Going back to airlines, John Roberts talking about this a little bit. Despite the fact on-time arrivals were the worst ever in at least 13 years for the first four months of this year, JetBlue was named number one in customer service. This according to a "Consumer Report" study. They earned 87 out of a possible 100 points for thinks like checking, seating comfort, in-flight service and on-time performance. All of the big carriers really fared worse than some smaller ones. Midwest Air Group is number two, Southwest number three and then some of these other ones, Continental, Delta and American were numbers nine through 12. So people liking Jet Blue.
CHETRY: It goes to show you offer them DirecTV and they will take it.
LEE: Those individual seat backs (ph) and leather seats tough to beat. Interesting that this survey though was done right before that huge mishap in February where all those people stuck in lines for hours but then "Consumer Reports" revisited these folks in April and found that the carrier still ranks very well.
CHETRY: All right, Carrie Lee, thank you.
ROBERTS: What could have been a tragedy turned into a near miracle in southern California. Take a look at this, a twin engine Piper Seneca lost power and slammed into homes in the town of Upland. That's just east of Los Angeles. Amazingly the pilot and two passengers on board walked away with only minor injuries and no one on the ground was hurt. The cause of the plane's power failure is now being investigated. The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING begins right now.
CHETRY: Border battle, a new fight over immigration this morning on Capitol Hill and on the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Pandering for votes on this issue while offering no solution to the problem amounts to doing nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Lou Dobbs joins us live to cut through the fray.
Plus, without a trace. Security cameras show a teenager feared kidnapped at the mall and a man police call a person of interest on this AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning to you. It is Tuesday, June 5th. I'm Kiran Chetry in New York.
ROBERTS: And I'm John Roberts live in Manchester, New Hampshire, site of the Republican debate coming up at 7:00 tonight. I hope you'll stay around and watch that.
Also on our radar this morning, the GOP candidates are debating this evening. We've got our A-game players here as well. Candy Crowley, Wolf Blitzer, who'll be moderating it, John Dickerson here to show us who to watch and what to listen for this evening.
CHETRY: And also ahead, we're going to be talking about the Senate taking up the immigration bill. Today Lou Dobbs is going to be joining us in the studio to talk about it. I think there is something like 100 different amendments that have been introduced and tacked on to this bill, some who actually helped architect it now are now saying that if some of these amendments go through, they're not going to support it anymore so we're going to talk more about that with Lou Dobbs.
Also some new developments coming in from a national cancer conference, including a new way to treat cancer with a shorter but more intense burst of radiation. Less could be more in this case and we are paging Dr. Sanjay Gupta to give us details and insight on that just ahead John. ROBERTS: Looking forward to that. All roads to the White House go through New Hampshire. And tonight that is exactly where the GOP contenders are going to be. They are getting ready for their first Granite State debate but there is already a major rift between two rivals over immigration. CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley joins me now live with a breakdown.
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