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American Morning
Plane Crash Rescue; O.J. Out On Bail; Protest In Jena; Bernanke And Paulson In Congress; One On One: Ban Ki Moon
Aired September 20, 2007 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Rush to rescue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just wanted to make sure everyone was out. All we could smell was diesel fuel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: A desperate scramble to save passengers when a plane crashes in a mall parking lot.
Plus, war talk. Rising tensions over Iran, its president, and his visited to the United Nations. Our one-on-one with the secretary- general.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAN KI MOON, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL: It maybe would be better result to a peaceful means to a dialogue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And home free. The juice jets back to sunny Florida under a cloud of suspicion. The growing cast of characters and the war of words on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And, welcome. Thanks for being with us on this Thursday, September 20th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Lots happening this morning. And we begin with breaking news.
Word of another tape from Osama bin Laden, which reportedly will be released in the next few days, according to Intel Center (ph), a U.S. organization that monitors Islamist websites. The tape is titled "Come to Jihad." And in it bin Laden declares war on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and his army. We'll have more on this throughout the morning because as Osama bin Laden is believed to be in those wild tribal areas of Pakistan, perhaps this is something that he may actually be able to effect.
Now to high drama in a mall parking lot in Tennessee. A private plane coming in for a landing at Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport instead crashed right into a row of cars parked at a shopping center. CNN's Rusty Dornin is live in Chattanooga for us this morning with more on this.
Rusty, what happened?
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, the most amazing thing is, fortunately, no one was killed. Unfortunately we have a hard time showing you the crash site here right now because it's still so dark here. But apparently the Beechcraft King Air twin-turboprop was on its way from Birmingham, Alabama, to Lexington, Kentucky, when it got diverted to Chattanooga. Well, 2,000 feet short of the runway, the pilot had problems. Bystanders saw what was happening and rushed into help. And some of them said the plane came down like a lead balloon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw the plane coming down. It was coming down belly first. Wasn't coming down nose diving. It was just coming straight down. And we didn't know if it was going to hit our parking lot or theirs. So we started running back to our school. And then as it did land, we went and got help and called 911. But they had already maydayed, of course, saying that they were running out of fuel. But I just saw it hit the ground and land on top of two cars.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The guys were flipped upside down, confused, and not sure where the exit was. So me and some other nice gentleman started pulling the guys from the plane one by one. There was four. The pilot was the last one and he was the most injured. I don't think it's life threatening, of course, but he needs to be evaluated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Apparently, John, none of the injuries are life threatening. And thankfully there was no fire after that crash. And another amazing thing was apparently there were people in one of the cars that the plane crashed into and they were not injured in that crash. Of course, they're going to be investigating it later today and the roads all in this area have been closed off.
John.
ROBERTS: Rusty, when you look at that wreckage, it's amazing that no one was killed. What were the worst of the injuries, do you know?
DORNIN: At this point we're not sure. We have not heard from the hospital what the worst of the injuries were. But I know one of the bystanders also had said that the pilot was the most seriously injured.
But you just look at that wreckage. I mean, my goodness, it's just hard to -- you can see the wing and a few other things. And, of course, it's dark, but, boy, it just looks like a pile of rubble.
ROBERTS: Pretty incredible. And, Rusty, a little bit later on this morning we're going to be talking with Robin Flores (ph). He was at a nearby steakhouse with his wife having dinner when the plane came down. He was one of the three people that rushed to help people out.
That's Rusty Dornin for us this morning in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, O.J. Simpson is a free man this morning. Here are some pictures of him leaving the airport in Las Vegas. He arrived overnight on a flight from Las Vegas to Florida. He posted the $125,000 bail yesterday after facing a Las Vegas judge.
Meanwhile, there is another man, Charles Cashmore (ph), who has been rested in connection with the situation at that Las Vegas hotel room. CNN's John Zarrella is live outside of Simpson's Florida home in Miami.
So that is where he is this morning, John?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, he did come back to south Florida last night, but if he came back to his house here, which is behind me, nobody saw him go inside during, you know, all the media members surrounding his house here this morning and no one caught a glimpse of him. So it's not clear where he went last night after he got in shortly after midnight.
He actually flew into Ft. Lauderdale Airport and airport authorities there got all of the passengers off that flight first before they let Simpson come out. And, of course, he was escorted out. A lot of security there for the sake of everyone else, as much as for O.J. Simpson. When he got outside of the airport, he got into a black vehicle and took off.
Now one of the -- a reporter who was on the flight with Simpson said that O.J. was very cordial on the flight. He did not have very much to say. But he did tell that reporter that he may well go back to Las Vegas in October for that scheduled hearing that he has.
But where he is right now, we do not know. We know that his girlfriend, at one point, had an apartment here somewhere in the south Miami area. But again, unclear where O.J. Simpson is this morning. But it is pretty clear that he did not come back to his south Miami home.
Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, John Zarrella in Miami for us. Thank you.
There's another twist in the case, by the way. Memorabilia dealer Bruce Fromong, who was confronted by Simpson and his associates that night in the hotel room, called into "Larry King Live" from his hospital bed. Now Fromong is the one who suffered a heart attack on Tuesday night. He didn't mince words about whether someone had waved a gun at him in the hotel in Vegas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE FROMONG: Let's end the speculation right now. Yes, there was a gun. It was right in front of my face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Fromong went on to say that O.J. was not the person with the gun, but he said that he thinks Simpson needs help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FROMONG: I hope O.J. gets help. You know, I hope O.J. gets help. Does he, you know, what he did was wrong. Absolutely no doubt about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Simpson was released on $125,000 bail yesterday. And, as we said, he returned to Florida. Still unclear this morning if he's in his actual home or where he is in the area.
John.
ROBERTS: Coming up now to six minutes after the hour.
The New York City Police Department is saying no to a strange request from Iran's president. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be in New York this Sunday. He's scheduled to speak to the United Nations general assembly. He asked if he could enter the fenced in World Trade Center site to pay tribute to the victims of 9/11. The NYPD says the area is off limits to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: Construction is ongoing, so we did allow, obviously on September 11th, people to go into the site. Construction is now back in full swing. So I think it would not be possible to have him go to any area other than the area where most of the public goes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, says the United States will not let Ahmadinejad use Ground Zero for a photo opp. And if he wants to honor the 9/11 victims, his country can stop supporting terrorist groups like Hezbollah.
Coming up in just a few minutes, my interview with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon. We talked about Iran and whether or not Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should be barred from the general assembly. Mitt Romney making that demand.
GOP candidate Rudy Giuliani has a strong message for Iran if it stays on a path to making nuclear weapons. He spoke with CNN's John King.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: America should be precise about what it will do and what it wouldn't do. And the reality is, we don't want them laboring under a miss impression that we wouldn't take action and then they'll make some seriously wrong decisions. And we also want everyone to know, you know, what the point of demarkation will be for the United States. Iran would be very sure if I were president of the United States that I would not allow them to become nuclear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Giuliani calls the Iranian president's request to visit Ground Zero outrageous. He was in London meeting with British leaders and also raising money over there for his campaign.
Hillary Clinton is slamming Vice President Dick Cheney in the wake of a loss by Senate Democrats over Iraq policy. Republican senators blocked a measure that would limit the time that U.S. troops spend in Iraq. The proposal was four votes short of passing.
Last night at a fund-raiser in New York, Hillary Clinton blasted Cheney's role in shoring up support for the war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Republicans are restless because the vice president's motorcade pulls into the Capitol, and Darth Vader emerges.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The bill would have required the U.S. troops spend as much time at home as they do on deployment.
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns is expected to resign, clearing the way for a Senate campaign. The White House announcement is scheduled this morning. Sources say that Johanns will run for the Nebraska Senate seat being vacated by fellow Republican Chuck Hagel. Johanns served as Nebraska's governor for six years before coming to Washington to head up the Agriculture Department in President Bush's second term.
And Dan Rather is suing CBS and three of his former bosses there for $70 million. Rather says CBS made him a scapegoat for inaccuracies in a report about President Bush's National Guard experience. He says the network's investigation of that report was biased in order to pacify the White House. CBC's response, "these complaints are old news and this lawsuit is without merit." We'll check in with AMERICAN MORNING's legal contributor, Sunny Hostin, on the merits of this lawsuit. That's later on this hour. And Dan Rather is going to be live on "Larry King Live" tonight at 9:00 Eastern.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Thanks, John.
Well, thousands of protesters are converging on tiny Jena, Louisiana, today, claiming racial injustice for six black students. The six are accused of beating a white student and were initially charged with attempted murder. Those charges have since been lowered to aggravated second degree battery and conspiracy. Protesters say it's still extreme for what they say is a fight among high school students, although family members of the boy say he was badly beaten and injured.
It all began at the beginning of school last year when a black student sat under a tree in the schoolyard that white students always sat under. The next day, nooses were hung from the tree, according to witnesses. Well, three students were suspended from school over the nooses but did not face any criminal charges.
Racial tension began to escalate over the next few months until this alleged beating happened. Well, one of the black students was convicted and is in jail, even though that conviction has since been overturned.
Today's demonstration is being said by the organizers to be reminiscent of the civil rights marches from the '60s. AMERICAN MORNING's Sean Callebs is live in Jena where some demonstrators are already beginning to file in.
Hi, Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
I think you hit the nail on the head. That's exactly what the civil rights demonstrators are saying. This is more than just a case involving six teenagers. You talked about the one who was convicted, Mychal Bell. He was 16 when he was convicted as an adult. They say this is a significant civil rights showdown here in this small Louisiana town.
You can see behind me, there are already a number of demonstrators, protesters, have begun to gather here. This is the way it's going to play out. Some are going to be in this ball field, this recreational field. But the majority of the speeches are going to be here. They expect as many as 60,000 people showing up today. I don't think anybody really knows. The crowd estimates vary widely.
Now yesterday the district attorney, who has been at the center of all this, finally broke his silence. And he says that this is not about race.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REED WALTERS, LASALLE PARISH DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This case has been portrayed by the news media as being about race. And the fact that it takes place in a small, southern town lends itself to that portrayal. But this case is not and never has been about race. It is about finding justice for an innocent victim and holding people accountable for their actions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: Now among the demonstrators here today, we expect the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III. There are actually going to be two groups of demonstrators. Half are going to be meeting here at this park, and they are not going to march. We're about a mile from the courthouse in downtown Jena.
The other half will be marching with the Reverend Al Sharpton. There are buses gathering in Alexandria, which is about a 45-minute ride from this small town. And, Kiran, as you may imagine, the residents of this town do not like all of this attention. They say it is unfair. They say racism has nothing to do with this. And they are concerned they're not getting a fair shake in all of this.
Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, Sean Callebs, we'll check in with you a little later. Thank you.
By the way, CNN's Kyra Phillips goes behind the headlines to investigates just what happened in this case. "Judgment in Jena." It's airing tonight, 8:00 Eastern.
We also want to let you know that we are going to talk to the Reverend Jesse Jackson coming up in about an hour about why he feels this case really is the next generation of the civil rights movement and why he's made comparisons to Selma, Alabama, back in 1965 and Jena today. So we're going to talk to him coming up in about an hour.
John.
ROBERTS: Time now to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for other stories new this morning.
Fed Chair Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson meet with Congress today. Our Ali Velshi is live from Capitol Hill now this morning with a preview.
Good morning to you, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.
This has turned out to be a huge week for Americans and their money. On Tuesday, we had that big rate cut. The Fed 50 basis point, 0.5 percent rate cut, which surprised a lot of people and sent markets soaring. We had another strong market day yesterday.
But today, Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson are going to speak to members of the House of Representatives. And the difference is, they're going to have to speak in a language that they're not used to speaking, particularly Bernanke is not used to speaking in his own Fed environment. They're going to have to answer questions in plain English today, particularly for members like Barney Frank on the House, who chairs the House Banking Committee. Some of those questions are going to be about mortgages and what the Fed and the Treasury are going to do to save so many Americans who are going to lose their homes or continue to face pressure from their mortgages. But what you might also see are questions and answers on other parts of the economy. For instance, jobs and investments. And I want to just give you a picture through the course of this morning about where we do stand.
Take a look at the stock market returns from January until now. From the beginning of this year until now. If you are an investor in the Dow, you're up almost 11 percent.
Same thing on the Nasdaq. If you're a slightly broader investor on the S&P 500, that's 500 major companies, you're still up close to 8 percent. And that's one of the arguments that the Treasury is going to put forward, that the sky is not falling right now. While we've got a problem in the mortgage industry and they're going to try and address that, there are other parts of the economy that are doing quite well.
During the course of the morning, John, I'll come back to you with other numbers about the economy and how they affect ordinary Americans.
John.
ROBERTS: So where were you for the year about August 17th, Ali?
VELSHI: Well, that's the beauty of these numbers, right, you can always find a start and an end date that makes it look good for you, John.
ROBERTS: Or bad.
Ali, thanks very much. We'll see you soon.
More shake, rattle and roll in Indonesia again today. Rob Marciano here with us now with more.
And how bad was this one, Rob?
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: We want to show you some pictures right now that are just coming into us courtesy of WPLG. That's our affiliate in south Florida, Ft. Lauderdale to be more specific. It's a house fire. A building on fire. You see the flames. You see the firefighters trying to douse the building. We are just getting word right now that there are reports that people are still in this building, possibly trapped, and that firefighters are doing what they can to get the flames out and get people out.
Once again, this is coming to us from our affiliate in Florida, Ft. Lauderdale, WPLG. And we don't know much right now. But you can see from the pictures that it looks like that building is engulfed in flames. An apartment complex to be more specific. And the firefighters are furiously working there to try to douse those flames. The reports from the scene are that they believe people are still trapped in the building. We'll continue to follow that as we find out more information.
We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, a run of bad luck on the Las Vegas Strip. A car plows into people on a crowded corner. Why the driver lost control.
Also, the secretary-general of the U.N. sits down with us coming up. What could be done about Iraq? And should Iran's president have been barred from speaking to the general assembly? John Roberts gets into all of that when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: I want to update you right now on a breaking story. An apartment fire in Florida where firefighters are doing all they can to douse those flames. This is a three-story apartment complex according to affiliate WPLG in Miami. This is if Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Looks like they're getting shots from their helicopter above.
We are hearing reports that the roof has collapsed in this building. Three stories, once again. And you can see the firefighters trying to fight it from all angles there. And it looks like they've done a good job. The flames have gone down considerably since about two minutes ago when we first brought you the pictures.
There are reports that there are people trapped inside. So it looks like after they try to get these flames down, they're going to do what they can to get in there and see if everyone made it out OK.
But again, a three-story building, an apartment complex in Ft. Lauderdale. And you can still see the flames inside at least one of those apartments. You see the balcony there. And inside you see the flare-ups that keep happening. There's also something burning right by the side of the building as well, and a little bit more on the top roof.
So we're listening. Our producers are listening to PLG as they update us on this story as well. So as soon as we find out more details, we'll bring them to you. Pictures of a three-story apartment building on fire this morning in Ft. Lauderdale.
John.
ROBERTS: Kiran, the United Nations is preparing for its annual general assembly next week. On the agenda, high level meetings on Iraq and Darfur, as well as continuing debates about Iran's nuclear enrichment program. And for the first time, the meetings will be presided over by newly appointed U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, the former foreign minister of South Korea. I had the opportunity to talk with the secretary-general yesterday. In this first part of my interview with him, we talked about Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ROBERTS: The United Nations was preparing to release its quarterly report on human rights in Iraq. That report apparently has been delayed. And we're hearing from some sources inside the United Nations that the reason it's being delayed is because you did not want to have that report out prior to your high-level meeting with Prime Minister Maliki on the 22nd and when President Bush is trying to garner new support for his plan for Iraq.
BAN KI MOON, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: There seems to be some misunderstandings on the delayed release of this human rights report. This report will be released shortly. But as a matter of courtesy, we have shared this information with the Iraqi government, as it directly concern government. But our judgment and our report will not be changed.
ROBERTS: But is it being held until after your meeting with the prime minister?
KI MOON: That is not the case. We are now reviewing, among the department concern within U.N. systems, in close coordination again with the Iraqi government. That does not -- nothing to do with a high level meeting or any other reasons.
ROBERTS: So when will this report be released then?
KI MOON: My target is before the end of September.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: My conversation with Ban Ki Moon continues in our next hour here on AMERICAN MORNING. We'll talk more about Iraq, Darfur, and whether Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should be barred from speaking at the U.N. general assembly. That was a request put to the secretary-general by presidential candidate Mitt Romney. That's coming up in our 7:00 a.m. Eastern hour.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, an emotional, political reversal topping your "Quick Hits." San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders fought back tears yesterday as he announced that he would now support same-sex marriage. He revealed that his adult daughter is a lesbian and he said he would sign a city council resolution calling for a legal fight against California's ban on same-sex marriage. He had previously promised to veto that resolution.
And Duke University, home of the lacrosse team scandal that later fell apart, plans to invest more than $1 million in a program to fight similar cases. The school's president says they will open a center at the law school devoted to training lawyers to specifically fight wrongful convictions.
Will the real Judge Ito please stand up. How a look-alike stole the spotlight and made some people very upset during all this O.J. hysteria. We'll explain coming up. Also, a film crew kicked out of a church for mocking Jesus and the last supper. We're going to tell you what happened, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Another live look from WPLG. An apartment on fire in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. We are getting some new details. Still don't know about the conditions of anybody inside. There you see people gathered in the street. There are police cars blocking off the streets.
But this is a three-story apartment building where, according to the reports, portions of the roof have collapsed. They say the initial call was for a possible explosion in one of the apartments. They reported officers banging on the door and saying to dispatch, "we're trying to get someone to open up." It looks like the fire is spreading very quickly and that's, of course, when the fire department was called in as well.
They've been dousing this thing with flames for awhile now. We saw some of the flames knocked down pretty well earlier, but there still appears to be some hot spots around the area, including what looks like a portion of a car on fire right underneath the side of the apartment complex.
Again, we still don't know about any of the conditions of anyone inside, if everybody was able to get out safely or if they believe there are still people trapped. But again, you can see, it's still a very active scene. The firefighters continuing to spray with the hoses, trying to get all of the flames out. And it appears that the fire started in that -- one of the apartment that looks to be on the third level there and that is where they're talking about a portion of the roof collapsing at this apartment complex.
ROBERTS: Yes, judging by the number of balconies there, it's at least two apartments that were involved underneath that roof collapse. And if they're the same on both sides of the building, it would be four at least.
Twenty-nine minutes after the hour.
A church in Boston kicks out a film crew. The crew of "Bachelor No. 2," starring Kate Hudson and Dane Cook, rented Saint Leonard's Church hall and parking lot to use while filming the movie. The pastor told them to leave after he found out that they remade a local pizzeria into a joint called cheese's crust. He says a mural on the wall of the Last Supper with Jesus serving pizzas mocked Christian symbols. The pastor fired off an angry letter to the studio and then returned the $1,300 check that they gave him to use the church.
CHETRY: Well here's a story coming up that you can't miss. Celebrity website tmz.com, of course, that was the site that first got the audiotape of the O.J. Simpson hotel situation, well, they had a little bit of a slip-up posting a video that they claimed was Judge Lance Ito, of course from the first Simpson trial. ROBERTS: The only problem though, it wasn't Judge Ito. What the website is saying today. We'll have that story and more when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to "AMERICAN MORNING." It's Thursday, the 20th of September. Good to have you with us this morning. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. We begin this half hour with breaking news.
ROBERTS: Word of another tape from Osama bin Laden which reportedly will be released in the next few days. According to Intel Center, a U.S. organization that monitors Islamist websites, the tape is titled "Come to Jihad." And in it, bin Laden declares war on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and his army.
We're also following breaking news out of Florida. This in Deerfield Beach. Initially, the reports were it was in Ft. Lauderdale. Deerfield Beach 15 miles north of Ft. Lauderdale. It's a three-story apartment building fully involved, in the top floor, in flames. And apparently, according to sources that we've been listening to this morning, it started with an explosion. You can see there just in the top floor by one of those streams of water shooting out, on the right-hand side of the screen, an enormous hole in the side of the apartment building, bricks down below on the cars. That may have been a result of that explosion that witnesses were talking about.
Then the top floor at least a portion of it fully engulfed in flames. The roof collapsed. At least two apartments, it would appear, by looking at the pictures underneath that roof collapse, perhaps more. Apparently, people were inside the building at the time. As you could imagine it's an apartment building. Don't know if everyone got out. But firefighters, doing a pretty good job of getting that fire under control.
These are pictures from earlier where you can see the amount of flame and the top of that apartment building. The flames almost out at this point, some lingering hot spots and firefighters and emergency workers going through that apartment building now to see if anybody was caught inside. But apparently a fairly substantial explosion was the trigger for this. And again you can see that hole in the side of the building. We'll keep following this for you and get you to the latest information from the ground.
CHETRY: Meantime, some other stories new this morning, protesters are gathering at this hour in Jena, Louisiana, marching against what they feel is racial injustice in the charging of six black students for the alleged beating of a white student. Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, are expected to march through Jena, a town of about 3,000 people.
The Reverend Jesse Jackson will be marching and he compares Jena to the march on Selma, Alabama, four decades ago. We're going to be speaking to him in the next hour.
Also tonight's CNN's Kyra Phillips goes behind the headlines to investigate just what happened in this case. "Judgment in Jena" tonight, 8:00 eastern.
O.J. Simpson free on bail and back in south Florida. He was released on $125,000 bond. Simpson has to come back next month for another hearing, where he faces 11 charges, 10 of them felonies, including armed robbery and kidnapping. Simpson says he was only taking back stolen memorabilia that belonged to him.
A small plane crashes into a shopping center parking lot. It happened in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The plane was preparing to land at a nearby airport but it crashed into parking lot, landed on a car. People were inside the car, but no one on the ground was hurt. And all four people in the plane survived. They were taken to a local hospital after bystanders jumped in and helped pull them from the plane.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MELISSA DAVIS, PLANE CRASH VICTIM RESCUER: The guys were flipped upside down, confused and not sure where the exit was. So me and some other nice gentleman started pulling the guys from the plane, one by one. There were four. The pilot was the last one. He was the most injured.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Authorities still do not what caused the plane to crash. It crashed about 2,000 feet short of the runway. Later on in the show we'll speak to one of the people who jumped in there and helped save the lives of those people trapped in the plane.
A wreck on the side of the Las Vegas strip. A car plowed into a crowd of tourists. Police say a dozen people were hurt after the elderly driver passed out, apparently during a diabetic episode. He was hospitalized along with the other six people that he hit. Police say two women suffered head injuries.
ROBERTS: Another earthquake in Indonesia this morning. A 6.7 magnitude quake hit the island of Sumatra. No tsunami warnings were issued. Last week an 8.4 quake struck off the island's coast, killing at least 23 people, following a number of aftershocks since then.
A brief scare in Japan after the world's largest nuclear plant caught fire, again. It's the same plant that started leaking radioactive water after an earthquake back in July. It has been under repairs since then. The Tokyo Electric Power Company says the fire was out in about a half hour. It didn't cause any major damage or new weeks.
Madeleine McCann's parents will not face new police questioning over the disappearance of their daughter. According to the family spokesman, Kate and Gerry McCann are still formal suspects in the case. But a Portuguese prosecutor says no new evidence has been gathered against them. 4-year-old Madeleine has been missing since back in May. She disappeared days before her fourth birthday while on vacation with her family in Portugal. Her parents vehemently deny they had anything to do with their daughter's disappearance.
CHETRY: It's 37 minutes past the hour right now. Rob Marciano is tracking a possible hurricane? Iva?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, we've got all these different basins that we talk about. Of course, we're most concerned about the Atlantic basin but the Pacific and Mexico is an issue as well. This fired up, a hurricane with winds of 75 miles an hour and looks like it wants to head towards the Baja of California. Likely won't be very strong. So that's the good news with that.
Let's roll on to what is a more pressing issue for the U.S., and that is the potential for tropical system developing across Florida, and this is bringing some rainfall into the Carolinas. So there has been flash flood watches posted for this area. You see the rain moving into not only Carolinas but coastal Georgia and there are coastal issues with this, rip tides, acting like a nor'easter.
We have some flooding video out of Florida, yesterday, talking about especially northeast Florida, the amount of rain that they have seen. Look at that, that's the nor'easter conditions for sure across Jacksonville. The rain has lightened up in that area today so that's good news and maybe they won't have so much beach erosion.
Back to the radar, quick, to show you that this swirl just offshore of Naples, Florida, could very well be our next tropical system of the Gulf of Mexico and that is of serious concern, Kiran, to anybody who lives along the Gulf Coast. We'll fly an airplane into that later on today and check out to see what's happening.
CHETRY: Still looks a little disorganized.
MARCIANO: It is disorganized, very good.
CHETRY: When we see that big circle in the middle and it's bright red, that's when we get nervous.
MARCIANO: This time of year, it doesn't take that much time for it to get organized. And it's pretty close to land.
CHETRY: All right, Rob, thanks.
MARCIANO: OK.
CHETRY: John?
ROBERTS: With the O.J. Simpson media circus in full swing, tmz.com was duped by apparently a Lance Ito look-alike. The web site posted a clip of the guy who already reached a verdict in the new case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you first heard about O.J.?
FAKE JUDGE ITO: He's guilty.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Guilty?
FAKE JUDGE ITO: He's guilty as sin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Well, the only problem with the posting was, it wasn't Judge Ito. He wasn't even one of the dancing Itos. Take a look at the side-by-side comparison. Tmz admitted the goof saying it was a stupid mistake. The real Lance Ito, no longer the world's most watched judge, is still hearing cases in the Los Angeles Superior Court system.
A congressional investigation into toy safety finds more recalls ahead and a stunning amount of lead in some popular children's toys. We'll talk with Illinois Democrat Bobby Rush about the toxic danger for kids ahead on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: We're continuing to bring you the latest out of this apartment fire. A three-story building in Deerfield Beach, Florida, about 15 miles away from Ft. Lauderdale. This is coming to us from WPLG. You see rescuers on the ground with flash lights. They are trying to enter this building, if you look at the middle part of the screen where you see the smoke billowing. There were reports of a partial roof collapse. They've made significant progress in the past 30 minutes that we've had this picture. You could see flames shooting out of many sides of this building about 30 minutes ago.
It looks like they have been able to put those flames down but when you look at the apartment buildings, the brick just literally moved away, completely blown out, it looks like. And just a blackened and charred mess. We're actually seeing the firefighter not only from the opening where it was burned but also from the roof, where it looks like it crumbled away.
There they are with flash lights, looking for -- well, at this point, hopefully people were able to get out. I don't know if they're double checking to see if there's anyone in there or if everybody was able to make it out OK.
ROBERTS: Forty-four minutes after the hour. One question that many holiday shoppers will be asking this year, are America's toys safe?
Toy manufacturers, retailers and the Consumer Products Safety Commission came under fire at a congressional hearing yesterday. Lawmakers expressed outrage over the recall of millions of Chinese- made toys with high levels of lead. Even more recalls are expected in the coming weeks.
Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush is chairing the child safety hearings, which resume today. He joins us now from Capitol Hill.
Congressman Rush, on the subject of more recalls, what are you expecting?
REP. BOBBY RUSH (D), ILLINOIS: Well, John, we're not certain. We haven't been guaranteed any amount of safety for America's toys that we're going to be giving to our children under the Christmas tree. We're trying to get to the -- that precisely -- we're trying to get to the answer of that question, you know, are America's toys safe for our children?
ROBERTS: What is your initial assessment of that?
RUSH: Well, I think it's doubtful. You know, we don't know. We expect to see some additional recalls. The president of Mattel, Mr. Eckert, came and he testified that he thought the toys that Mattel would be selling under their brand name, that they would be safe but there are other kinds of toys and we're not certain right now. The jury is still out. We want to hear from the witnesses today. We want them to tell us what we might be able to expect. We're still very, very doubtful.
ROBERTS: Let me reprise a little of what Mattel CEO Robert Eckert said yesterday before your committee and then I'll ask you about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT ECKERT, CEO, MATTEL: These recalls should never have happened, especially at Mattel. Our standards were ignored, and our rules were broken. We were let down, and we let you down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Congressman Rush, do you think that companies like Mattel have lost control of their production? And what about this idea, too, that they go overseas to places like China to save in production costs and then they blame the Chinese. Do they not bear some responsibility to make sure that whatever is manufactured in China is good for the United States market?
RUSH: They have to bear most of the responsibility. They have to bear the lion's share of the responsibility. Toys are being sold under their brand name. They're importing the toys. They're paying for the production of toys overseas. These people have a responsibility to ensure that the toys that they sell to the American public is safe. And they're...
ROBERTS: So what do you think about the whole blame China?
RUSH: China is a scapegoat right here. But, you know, China doesn't enforce their own lines. At the end of the day, Bob Eckert and others like him, they are responsible, and we're going to hold their feet to the fire.
ROBERTS: What about the Consumer Product Safety Commission, are they doing enough?
RUSH: They're doing as much as they can with the kind of resources that they have. You know, this agency has been decimated over the years. They're less than half of what they used to be in terms of manpower. At one time, there were 1,000 employees, now they're down to about 400 employees. Their budget has been decimated.
Under the Bush administration there's been a diminishing of the resources to this agency and we intend to reform this agency. We intend to empower it. We intend to make sure this agency has the resources, the manpower, the mission to accomplish what we want it to accomplish for the American public to make sure that imports are safe for our constituencies and our people.
ROBERTS: Congressman Bobby Rush from Illinois. We'll be watching the hearings today. Yesterday they were pretty interesting. Thanks for being with us this morning.
RUSH: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: Dropped anchor. Suing CBS, Dan Rather's $70 million lawsuit against his former network. Whether he has a case, ahead on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Nine minutes to the top of the hour. Breaking news this morning. Reports of a new tape coming out from Osama bin Laden. It is expected to be released very soon according to Intel Center, a U.S. organization that monitors Islamic web sites. The tape is titled "Come to Jihad." In it, bin Laden declares war on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and his army.
On the phone to talk to us more about the tape is terrorism analyst Laura Mansfield.
And, Laura, in terms of timing, any idea when we expect this tape to come out?
LAURA MANSFIELD, TERRORISM ANALYST: I would expect it to be released before morning. It's already being prepositioned on the Internet. We can already to see that.
ROBERTS: Do we know if this is another video or would it just be an audio tape?
MANSFIELD: It's hard to tell from what's been released at this point. It could be an audiotape where it's presented as a video where the audio video plays beside a still image. It may also be a video. Really hard to tell from the banner at this point.
ROBERTS: Does this idea of "Come to Jihad" and declare holy war on Pakistani President Musharraf and his army, it's widely believed that bin Laden is hiding in those wild tribal areas along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Given bin Laden's proximity to the seat of power in Pakistan, is this a threat he might be able to make good one?
MANSFIELD: It certainly is one he may have the potential to make good on because al Qaeda has, to a large degree, has a lot of influence in the area. There's a lot of tension between al Qaeda and Musharraf's government and has been for quite some time. And Musharraf has been under attack from al Qaeda for several years in terms of messages from bin Laden and Zawahiri. So, yeah, it's something that's going to need to be watched very carefully.
ROBERTS: From what you know, Laura, we have heard about the resurgence of al Qaeda along that border in those tribal areas and the establishment of terror training camps there. Just how strong a presence are they in Pakistan?
MANSFIELD: Al Qaeda is a strong presence in Pakistan and I believe it's continuing to increase in terms of prestige and in terms of its reach. The incidence of the Red Mosque has greatly inflamed the situation. And that was addressed in the message in the al Qaeda tape that came out yesterday afternoon.
ROBERTS: Laura Mansfield on the new bin Laden tape. The second we get that we will pass it along to you. Laura, thanks very much.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Dan Rather has been away from CBS for about 15 months. He's saying that CBS news made him a scapegoat and is he suing.
There are more twists and turns in the O.J. case as well. Here to break it down, former prosecutor and "AMERICAN MORNING" legal contributor Sunny Hostin.
Sunny, thanks for being with us.
SUNNY HOSTIN, "AMERICAN MORNING" LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you.
CHETRY: Dan Rather, more than 15 months. What took him so long to put this case together, announced yesterday, $70 million?
HOSTIN: I'm not sure what took him so long but I have to say I've been riveted. This is the complaint. It's a 32-page complaint. And the only way I can describe it is it's explosive. He's saying he was made into a scapegoat. He was forced to make a public apology because CBS was in bed with the Bush administration. He says they wanted to pacify the White House at his expense. And interestingly, I think the strongest claim is that they breached his contract.
CHETRY: By cutting his "60 Minutes" air time.
HOSTIN: Exactly. He was promised in 2002, when he signed this, he would get a base salary of $6 million. If he left the anchor chair, which he did, he would get full and regular time as a correspondent. All one has to do to prove that, look at the tape. He did not get that time. He's asking for $20 million in compensatory, $50 million in punitive damages.
CHETRY: That's what I wanted to ask you about. Earlier he did talk to Larry King. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN RATHER, FORMER CBS NEWS ANCHOR: What I do know is that there was a contract which went unfulfilled, and there were promises not kept.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: He says it. How does he get to the $70 million figure from that?
HOSTIN: Well, $50 million is in punitive damages, means they have to be penalized for this. They have to pay for it. $20 million is in compensatory, what he is owed. If he had a $6 million base salary, he lost that salary and it really did ruin his reputation. I think many people will agree with that and the $20 million is what he could have made, had they not done what they did.
CHETRY: Well, here's CBS said. They said these complaints are old news and this lawsuit is without merit. So it will remain to be see whether or not it does go publicly.
Really quickly, one thing that caught our eye about the O.J. trial, we talked about the old cast of characters seem to be everywhere. You see Mark Furman. You see a lot of different people weighing in, one of them Marcia Clarke, who looks completely different, by the way. I think she's doing something for "Entertainment tonight.
There she is back in 1995 as a prosecutor in the case. Does it look like the same person in 2007?
HOSTIN: It does not. Having been a former prosecutor, I have to say, you know, we reincarnate ourselves but she certainly does not look like the person that I watched riveted in 1995.
CHETRY: We have to try to get a hold of Sunny Hostin video from 1995, see if there's another prosecutorial makeover.
HOSTIN: Oh, no.
CHETRY: Thanks for being with us.
HOSTIN: Thank you.
CHETRY: John?
ROBERTS: Check out Larry King's exclusive interview with Dan Rather. It airs tonight eastern here on CNN.
Defending the housing slump. All eyes on Capitol Hill as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke makes a push to help people keep their homes, ahead on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: A minute until the top of the hour. Under the premise of you can't hit a moving target, our Ali Velshi is in Washington this morning where there are some pretty interesting hearings on the Hill today.
Morning, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS ANALYST: Good morning, John. In about three hours, we'll hear from Treasury Secretary Hendry Paulson and from the Big Kahuna himself, Fed Chair Ben Bernanke. They're going to speaking and answering questions from representatives, who are going to ask them questions in plain English.
They're going to be talking about the housing mess but they're also going to be talking about the economy in general. And that's what we want to talk about.
One of the legs of the economy is the job situation. And I want to run you through some numbers to give you an understanding of where we stand in the world of jobs in America. Our unemployment rate at 4.6 percent is historically quite low. It has been lower. But there are a lot of economists who say that 4.6 percent -- under 5 percent is actually considered full employment. So we've got that.
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