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TSA Answers for Poor Security Test Results; Midair Collision Narrowly Avoided; Evacuations Underway Ahead of Cyclone in Bangladesh; Immigrant Dead after Canadian Airport Tasering Incident; Bush Announces Measures to Reduce Holiday Flight Delays
Aired November 15, 2007 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Some things just aren't meant been recycled. A New York doctor is accused of using the same syringes over and over. Now hundreds of patients may be in danger. We're on the story.
DON LEMON, CO-HOST: They'll check your shampoos, scrutinize your shoes. But you won't believe what airport security screeners didn't catch in the government's own tests. Our Jeanne Meserve shows and tells.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Passengers, luggage, what else is getting waved through airport security these days? Would you believe bomb parts? Well, the head of the Transportation Security Administration is called before Congress.
Jeanne Meserve, how is he explaining this one?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the second year GAO has done these tests. And for a second year, the results are not pretty. Government Accountability Office investigators got liquids and detonators that could be used to make bombs through TSA checkpoints at 19 airports by concealing them in carry-on bags and on their bodies.
They took them onto a plane. They did not assemble them, but they did practice doing that and said it would only have taken 12 or 15 minutes to do it.
They do -- did do testing of these devices, and they have video of what they could do.
The head of the Transportation Security Administration told Congress today that some of these devices were a concern, but he called others scientific experiments that could not bring down an airplane.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIM HAWLEY, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION: Because of the distinctive nature of the video, people say, "Oh, my goodness, this could happen to my plane."
And the situation -- that is not what is actually portrayed in this data. The data points out and recognizes vulnerabilities that we recognize exist. They discovered they exist, and we all agree they need to be closed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: The GAO countered that two experts told it that IEDs made with the smuggled components could, indeed, bring down a plane.
Hawley said his agency is investing in new technology and more training for its screeners. But Congressman Henry Waxman warned his committing would be asking GAO to do the same tests next year, and he expects better results next time -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, you look at the timing of this coming out, Jeanne. A lot of people are going to be traveling for the holidays. Thanksgiving is coming up. Is there a concern about travel?
MESERVE: Well, on the part of the general public, this certainly can't build a lot of confidence. You think you're going through all that screening and that you're going to be safe. This clearly shows that there are still holes in that system.
And Hawley acknowledged, yes, vulnerabilities are there. He insists there's a multilayered system, and even if something does get through the screeners, it will be caught somewhere else in the system. Nothing has happened thus far. Let's keep our fingers crossed we have a safe holiday season, too.
PHILLIPS: Amen to that. Jeanne Meserve, thanks.
LEMON: That's a good way of putting it. We want to keep on this subject, because a lot of people will be heading for the airport next week.
Make sure you pack your patience and get there really, really early. It sounds simple, but it's really good advice.
You and 4.7 million other people plan to fly to grandma's house for turkey dinner. So what's being done to move things along? Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD ANDERSON, CEO, DELTA AIRLINES: I would note that we have -- year over year, we're up 350 pilots, 1,300 flight attendants, 2,700 employees in our airport and customer service branch.
Our spare airplanes, we normally operate the airline with about 10 to 12 spares. And we have an additional ten spares over the holidays, and we're running somewhere around 85 to 90 extra sessions.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: OK. That's what they're doing, spares and extra sessions he's talking about. The industry expects planes to be at least 90 percent full between now and the end of the month.
The government is also trying to relieve some of this pressure. This just coming in on the wires here at CNN. We're being told that White House press secretary Dana Perino just announced this.
She says that the Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Administration would work to open unused military air space to commercial flights. I'm just reading that, because it's just coming in. Which would help reduce delays caused by holiday congestion.
Also, we want to tell you that Perino says that the president and also Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters, they'll make this announcement and maybe some other things, go into detail about this plan, in a statement at 1:30 p.m. Eastern. We'll bring it to you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Flood-prone villages in the bull's-eye as a powerful cyclone targets the border of Bangladesh and India. On the other side of the world, more powerful earthquakes rock northern Chile.
Meteorologist Chad Myers joins us now from the CNN severe weather center. He's been following it all for us.
Hey, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Kyra. It really is. It's a devastating cyclone. We would call them hurricanes here. It's the same thing. And so is a typhoon. They're all the same thing. It just depends on what ocean you're in.
But behind me here, some Channel I (ph) here, information, some of these first waves of this cyclone now finally coming onshore. This was -- was 155 mile-per-hour. Now 150.
And this is the Ganges River delta. We're talking about this area -- you can go 50 or 60 miles inland in this delta, and you're still only going to be about 15 feet above sea level. This storm may have a storm surge of 20 feet as it rolls through this India ocean on up into Bangladesh. Here's India over here, Myanmar over on the other side.
What we want to really tell you is that this storm is going to impact Bangladesh like the storms that you remember from maybe 1970. Remember all the fund-raising and the aid that we had to do for Bangladesh at that time? It wasn't even Bangladesh. It was East Pakistan. They got a name, Bangladesh, about a year later.
But here you go. It's right up into the same area, right into the Bangladesh area. And not so worried so much about here, down through the delta. It's low, but very few people lived right through here.
The population is where it's going to be tomorrow morning. It's going to die off a little bit. Because we know that we get a little bit of decreased energy when it hits land. The problem is, this delta is kind of like the Mississippi Bayou. I mean, there's not much land there. There's as much water mixed in, as well.
And also, one more thing to tell you about. This earthquake we had yesterday, a bunch of aftershocks here in Peru. Some video. One of our I-Reporters actually sent this in. This will be very, very quick.
But one of the aftershocks today, a 6.2. Originally thought to be a 6.8. Thought maybe there could even be a tsunami with the 6.8, but then it was reduced to 6.2. And just a lot of shaking and a lot of lost nerves there.
Two -- two people are dead with that. And it could have been a lot worse than that with a 7.7 yesterday -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: I would not want to be living through that. That's for sure.
All right, Chad, we'll keep checking in. Thanks.
LEMON: So Kyra and Chad, we're talking about safety at the gate. We're also talking about what happens when you -- is there going to be enough air space?
But what about when you're on the plane? How safe are you? A midair collision came close to that over Indiana. We want to get to our Susan Roesgen to tell us about that.
We understand seconds away from colliding, Susan?
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Don. It really could have been seconds away from colliding.
This was Tuesday evening over Ft. Wayne, Indiana, in that area. It was a Midwest Airlines plane, a small plane, about 28 passengers on board and a small United Express plane.
They were both coming into the Chicago area, and apparently, what I've been told today is the two planes were coming in like this. Planes are supposed to, by FAA regulations, be at least five miles apart. These two were within 1.3 miles when one of the alerting devices on board, the technological divide on board, the warning sensor on board the Midwest Airlines plane said, "Go up," and the warning device on the United Express jet said come down.
Now, 1.3 miles may not seem like that much, Don. But these planes were traveling at 12 miles a second.
What had happened, what we've been able to find out today is that there was a controller in the federal aviation center in Aurora who was just in the middle of a shift change and had apparently forgotten. This was a 26-year veteran, knew what he was doing but had apparently forgotten that this Midwest Airlines plane was coming in, in the same general areas as the United Express plane. Now Midwest Airlines tells me that the passengers on board would not have felt a thing. Because I said, "Hey, you go up really pretty quickly. Wouldn't they have known that something was wrong?"
And they say, "No, the crew and the pilot said the ascent was very smooth."
So apparently, the passengers and crew -- at least the flight attendants on each of the airplanes were not even aware of how close they came to a possible midair collision -- Don.
LEMON: OK. Susan, let's get this straight. You said -- were they coming both together, head on, correct? And then going at 12 miles per second? That's pretty -- 1.3 miles, that's nothing.
ROESGEN: That's nothing at 12 miles a second, exactly.
But once again, all airlines are required by the Federal Aviation Administration to have these warning devices on board. And the pilots are trained to ignore the instructions of the people in the control tower if one of these warning devices tells them to do the opposite. They've been totally trained: pay no attention to what you've just been told by the control tower. Do what this warning alert is saying.
But the bottom line here, Don, something I haven't mentioned yet that's very important. That the Air Traffic Controllers Union is very upset about, and Midwest Airlines is very concerned about, and which we know the FAA is very concerned about, is there is so much traffic now in the skies.
Chicago is one of the five busiest airports. Atlanta, where you are, No. 1...
LEMON: Yes, No. 1.
ROESGEN: ... in terms of air traffic congestion. And they are very concerned that too many veteran air traffic controllers have left, and there's just too much traffic going on and these things could happen.
LEMON: Both Atlanta and Chicago O'Hare battle for the title of the busiest airport.
ROESGEN: Seems like it.
LEMON: Susan, this is a very important story. If you get any more information, please check back with us. Thank you.
ROESGEN: You bet.
PHILLIPS: Well, call it a political showdown in Sin City. The Democrat presidential hopefuls try their luck tonight in a Las Vegas debate. You can see it right here on CNN. Our own Wolf Blitzer will be the moderator, starting at 8 Eastern.
A new CNN poll gives Hillary Clinton a huge lead in Nevada, but her party rivals sharpened their criticism of her at the last debate. We're going to check in with our Bill Schneider in Las Vegas in just a few minutes. And we're going to talk with our own Wolf Blitzer and our analyst, Gloria Borger, and a little later in the program.
Now ahead of tonight's Vegas showdown, check out CNNpolitics.com for analysis, behind-the-scenes blogging, polls and lots more from our best political team on TV and online.
LEMON: No Republican, not one, has served as House speaker as long as Dennis Hastert. Now, Hastert has decided to head home to Illinois. A senior aide tells CNN that Hastert is expected to head to the House floor next hour to announce that he is retiring from Congress.
CNN reported last month that he planned to have leave Washington before his term was over. Hastert was House speaker from 1999 until last November.
We'll have more on Hastert's decision to leave Congress a little bit later on in the program.
PHILLIPS: Millions of people on the run as a powerful cyclone slams ashore in South Asia. Its effects could be catastrophic.
LEMON: An immigrant's hope for a new life in Canada ends in tragedy. We'll tell you why he lost his life at Vancouver's airport.
PHILLIPS: Plus, a New York doctor has a major question to answer: did he put his patients at risk of some terrible diseases?
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: We've been telling you about it, and so is our Chad Myers. We're following this cyclone, Tropical Cyclone Sidr. It's a pretty powerful Category 4 storm. Maximum sustained winds, 150 miles per hour.
It's about 138 miles southeast of Calcutta, India, right now. We're being told that volunteers are helping to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people out of Bangladesh's coastal areas.
Selva Sinnadurai on the phone with us from Bangladesh. He heads up the ICRC, the Red Cross obviously very active in this volunteer effort.
Selva, tell me what you're doing right now.
SELVA SINNADURAI, ICRC: Since the last two days, the depression has been formed. And since yesterday, it has gone from signal No. 4 to signal No. 10. Signal No. 10 is the highest recorded, which states that it is at danger level.
Since last night, volunteers of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, numbering between 20,000 to 30,000, along the coastline stretching around 700 kilometers. And with a population of approximately 10 million people living along the coastline, these volunteers were raising awareness and advising residents in the affected areas for evacuation.
Now, having spoken about evacuation, we are talking of only approximately 1,700 cyclone shelters, which could accommodate much less than 200,000 to 300,000 people. Now, since yesterday evening, more than half a million people stayed in the evacuation centers.
Now, the situation is worsening. It has hit the coastline. And by early tomorrow morning, we will know the extent of damage.
PHILLIPS: So Selva, do you think that you're going to be able to prevent loss of life? Do you think you have enough time? From what it sounds like, you may not have enough shelters for everybody. But do you think you will be able to accommodate everybody that needs to get out of there and prevent the loss of life?
SINNADURAI: From previous cyclones, 1971 cyclone, 1991 cyclone where there was huge numbers of casualties, we hope that the population are much more aware and careful this time.
And, coupled with all these awareness programs, we believe that a major portion of the population would take the advice, although there are not enough cyclone shelters, many would be taking shelters in make-shift shelters like schools, community centers and would-be places away from the coastline. And we expect the casualty figure to be low.
Having said that, we are quite sure, with this kind of impact, that the damage on property and farmland would be extensive.
PHILLIPS: We will follow it. Selva Sinnadurai, the head of the International Red Crescent there out of Bangladesh, helping to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people right now as that cyclone is moving across Bangladesh's coast.
Of course our Chad Myers is working this for us, as well. We'll keep you all updated.
LEMON: Absolutely. And a lot of stories lately about tasers and whether or not they're safe. So pay attention to this one.
This one is caught on tape. A distraught traveler tasered in Vancouver's airport. Dead just moments later. The clash is raising serious questions about police and their use of stun guns.
CBC reporter Terry Milewski has the story. But we want to warn you: some of the images are quite disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TERRY MILEWSKI, CBC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The last moments of Robert Dziekanski captured by a bystander. It's one in the morning, and he's holding a folding table at the door to the arrivals area of Vancouver Airport. He's exhausted, confused and breathing heavily after arriving from Poland on his first-ever plane ride. He's been waiting ten hours for his mother, who told him to wait in the baggage area. But she couldn't go in there, couldn't get a message to him and finally went home after being told he never arrived.
A bystander tries to calm Dziekanski down, but he doesn't understand. Then he picks up a computer and throws it. Then he throws a stool at the glass.
A security man appears, but they couldn't communicate. Another bystander says, "We need an interpreter here."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He speaks Russian. And nobody can help. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
MILEWSKI: But the RCMP arrive, and before they get near Dziekanski, one officer asks another, "May I taser him?" And the answer is yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: May I taser him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MILEWSKI: As the Mounties approach, a bystander tells him the man speaks no English.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He speaks Russian. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) No English.
MILEWSKI: For a moment, the four Mounties try to talk to Dziekanski, but it's no good. He seems to shrug and move away. And that is when he is tasered with 50,000 volts of electricity.
He falls and is tasered again. The Mounties pile on top of him as he writhes and moans.
At this point, the man behind the camera becomes concerned.
PAUL PRITCHARD, VIDEOTAPED POLICE ENCOUNTER: Probably the most disturbing part is one of the officers uses his leg and his knee to pin his neck and his head against the ground.
MILEWSKI: Within moments, Dziekanski loses consciousness.
We showed the tape to retired Superintendent Ron Foyle, a 33-year veteran of the Vancouver Police.
RON FOYLE, RETIRED VANCOUVER POLICE OFFICER: I don't know why it ever became a police incident. It didn't seem that he made any threatening gestures toward them.
MILEWSKI: Before the video became public, the RCMP claimed that Dziekanski fought with them. Now that the video has been returned to its owner and he's made it public, the RCMP say it's not the whole story. CORPORAL DALE CARR, ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE: But it's only one piece of evidence and it's one person's view. It's through the viewfinder of one individual.
MILEWSKI: But for Dziekanski's mother, the video shows the taser is too dangerous.
ZOFIA CISOWSKI, VICTIM'S MOTHER: Get away from taser. They should do something, because that is a killer, people killer.
MILEWSKI (on camera): There will now be several investigations: by the coroner, by the RCMP, by the RCMP complaints commission, and all of that will take many months.
But for the Robert Dziekanski's mother, the verdict is already in, that her son died for nothing.
Terry Milewski, CBC News, Vancouver.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Fifty-thousand volts of electricity. We'll have more on this story later on this hour as CNN medical correspondent Judy Fortin takes a closer look into this. That will happen in about 20 minutes.
PHILLIPS: And at the bottom of the hour, about 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time, we're expecting the president to talk about his plans about flying.
Back in September, he promised to do something about all those planes in the sky and the long delays on the ground. Apparently, he's going to hold a news conference now and talk about his plans, 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The Democratic presidential hopefuls place their bets on Nevada. Their Las Vegas debate kicks off in just a few hours right here on CNN. If the last debate is any guide, the odds favor a tough test for Hillary Clinton.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: And we're expecting the president of the United States to step up to the mikes any minute now to talk flying.
Back in September, you may remember, he promised to do something about all those delays on the ground and the massive amounts of planes in the sky and dealing with the FAA.
He's expected to make a statement right here at the mikes any second -- actually, any minute. And we'll take it live when he steps up there.
LEMON: Absolutely. Talk -- he's going to talk about opening up federal air space. So that should be very interesting.
Susan Lisovicz, you heard that. We may have to cut out if the president comes up. But we want to talk about CD changers -- right -- heated seats, navigation system. They're nice, but there's a safety concern when people are shopping for cars with all of this.
What do you have?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a good news story, Don. Cars are safer than ever. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has released its annual list of the safest new cars. And this year, 34 vehicles made the cut of safest cars. That's nearly triple the number that made the list last year.
All told, Ford and Honda have the most vehicles on the list, some of which show up on the safest cars list year after year. For the first time ever, a pick-up truck made the cut, the Toyota Tundra. Other new additions include the Audi A3, Honda Accord and Saturn VUE, among others. All of these are 2008 model year cars -- Don.
LEMON: OK. So why such a big jump in safe cars? It's good news, but what happened? Did the standards get higher and the companies sort of live up to what the safety folks said or what?
LISOVICZ: Well, you know, Don, it's something we've talked about right here. The key difference is every...
LEMON: Susan -- Susan, I hate to cut you off in the middle of your answer.
LISOVICZ: Bye-bye.
LEMON: The president is walking up and talking about air safety for the holidays. Let's take -- take a listen.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is really a time for joy for our families. Unfortunately, this is also a season of dread for too many Americans.
Holiday travelers are faced with the prospect of long delays, cancelled flights and lost baggage and other problems. It's become all too often an occurrence. There's a lot of people that are worried about traveling, because they've had unpleasant experiencing when they've been flying around the country.
And so this is a topic I've just discussed with Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters and the acting administrator of the FAA, Bobby Sturgill.
It's one thing to analyze a problem, but the American people expect us to come up with some solutions. And that's what we -- that's what we've been talking about.
And one of the reasons we have a sense of urgency about this issue is that these problems that we've been discussing are clear to anybody who's been traveling. Airports are very crowded. Travelers are being stranded. And flights are delayed, sometimes with a full load of passengers sitting on the runway for hours. These failures carry some real costs for the country: not just in the inconvenience they cause, but in the business they obstruct and family gatherings they cause people to miss.
We can do better. We can have an aviation system that is improved. And that's what we're talking about.
Secretary Peters and acting administrator Sturgill have been working with the airline industry on practical improvements. I want to announce a series of preliminary actions to help address the epidemic of aviation delays.
First, the military will make available some of its air space over the East Coast for use by civilian airliners this Thanksgiving. These new routes will help relieve air congestion from Maine to Florida for nearly five full days surrounding the holiday.
Second, the FAA is taking new measures to head off delays. Bobby Sturgill will impose a holiday moratorium on all non-essential projects, so that the FAA can focus its personnel and equipment exclusively on keeping flights on time.
The FAA is also partnering with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to reduce bottlenecks in the New York metro area, which is the source of most chronic delays.
Third, the Department of Transportation and the FAA are encouraging airlines to take their own measures to prevent delays.
Pleased to get the report from Secretary Peters and acting administrator Sturgill. Airlines have agreed to make more staff available to expedite check-in and boarding, to set aside extra seats, and even extra planes to help accommodate passengers affected by cancellations and delays. They agree to bring in additional ticket kiosks and baggage-handling gear, as well as rolling staircases.
Fourth, the federal government is using the Internet to provide real-time updates on flight delays. People in America have got to know there's a Web site called fly.faa.gov. It's where the FAA transmits information on airport backups directly to passengers and their families. If you're interested in making sure that your plans can -- and aren't going to be disrupted, you can get on the Web site of fly.faa.gov.
As well, if you want to, you can sign up to receive delay notices on your mobile phones. In other words, part of making sure people aren't going to be inconvenienced, they'll get a transmission of sound, real-time information.
Fifth, we're proposing new regulations to help ensure that airline passengers are treated fairly. Proposing that double the amount of compensation passengers receive when they're forced off overbooked flights. For example, a passenger forced to wait more than two hours for another flight would receive a minimum of $800 under our ideas, instead of the current $400. We want people who are responsible for moving passengers to understand that there will be consequences for these delays, all aiming to get the system to work better. We're proposing a requirement that airlines collect better data on flight delays and provide that data to the Department of Transportation. We're evaluating a number of other recommendations for the airlines, including mandatory contingency plans to aid stranded passengers and penalties for chronically delayed flights.
Finally, the Department of Transportation and the FAA are working on innovative ways to reduce congestion in the long run. While short- term improvements in flight operations and passenger treatment can help, they do not cure the underlying problem. In certain parts of our country, the demand for air service exceeds the available supply. As a result, airlines are scheduling more arrivals and departures than airports can possibly handle, and passengers are paying the price in backups and delays.
The key to solving this problem is managing the demand for flights at overloaded airports. And there are a variety of tools to do this in a fair and efficient way. For example, fees could be higher at peak hours and at crowded airports, or takeoff and landing rights could be auctioned to the highest value flights. Market-based incentives like these would encourage airlines to spread out their flights more evenly during the day to make better use of neighboring airports and to move the maximum number of passengers as quickly and efficiently as possible. This concept is called congestion pricing. It has shown results in other areas of our economy.
There's other parts of our economy that use congestion pricing. Some states offer discounts to drivers who use EZ Pass, which reduces long waits at the toll plaza. Phone and electricity companies balance supply and demand by adjusting their rates during peak usage hours. Applying congestion pricing to the aviation industry has the potential to make today's system more predictable, more reliable, and more convenient for the travelers.
For the past seven weeks federal officials have raised this idea with airlines and airport representatives in the New York area. I've asked Secretary Peters and acting Administrator Sturgill to report back to me about those discussions next month. My administration will work swiftly to carry out the measures I've announced today. But to reform our aviation system in the way American consumers deserve, we need action from the United States Congress.
In February my administration sent Congress an FAA modernization bill that would improve the aviation system for all involved. The bill would upgrade aviation technology by adopting a safer and more automated air travel control system based on GPS technology instead of the radar- and radio-based systems designed during World War II.
If we really want to solve this problem and it's time for Congress to modernize the FAA. And we've given them a blueprint to do so.
The bill would employ market pricing to reduce congestion and ensure that airports manage their schedules efficiently. The bill would establish a new financing mechanism and governing structure to ensure these reforms are carried out in wise and cost-effective ways. There are people in Congress who understand the need to act. Starting with Senator Trent Lott and Senator Jay Rockefeller, they're leaders this area of modernization of the FAA. They understand that business as usual is not good enough for American travelers, and so do I, and so does my administration.
I look forward to working with them to get a good bill passed as soon as possible. By working together, we can restore the confidence of America's consumers, improve the efficiency of America's airports and bring order to America's skies. Thank you very much.
(END LIVE FEED)
LEMON: The president there along with the secretary of Transportation, the acting director of the FAA, both flanking the president.
Essentially what he's saying is that he called this an epidemic, this aviation delay, especially during the holidays and he's saying Congress needs to take action in all of this. Announcing several things, higher fines, doubling the fines from $400 to $800 when passengers have to be diverted, or taken off a flight because of being overbooked.
He said holiday operations and projects, they're going to focus on that, the FAA, on essential matters that have to do with traveling during the holidays instead of focusing on other things. But more importantly, he said they're going to open up military air space to commercial flights, especially over the East Coast, which is something that is usually done by the FAA, but the White House is stepping in on this one and asking for that.
We have what we call flight tracker and Chad Myers mans that for us. Tell us about all the flights over the skies.
Chad, I was just looking at some information here. I think it says late arrivals, at least a million so far this year. Late departures, at least a million, almost 2 million, cancelled flights, 125,000; 13,000 diverted, and that's this year and 2007 is not even over yet.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, this is when it starts to get bad. Literally, I mean, probably those numbers could double between now and the end of the year. The president was talking about a Web site, fly.faa.gov. As a viewer, you can do something even quicker than that one, it's the www.fly.faa.gov, and do a slash, and put on the letters, ois. You can take a way -- you don't have to look at the map. You can actually look at the individual airports.
So this is a current fly.faa.gov/ois, Boston, BOS, you're under delays right now because of weather and rain. The average delay is 31 minutes. The arrival rate is 32 planes per hour. They need more planes than that to keep all the planes on time. Here's Newark, right there. We come across, how many minutes? 102-minute delays here. You're down to La Guardia, 105-minutes delayed. Not every plane is going to be that. But that's the average of the delay at this point.
Here's why. Here's Flight Tracker, we were talking about earlier. Don, there are the number of planes in here. Let's look at the number of planes in the air right now. You can hardly even find New York City. The good news is not all these planes are that big, because they'll be bumping into each other. We already had that story from Susan Roesgen, earlier, how two almost did over Indiana last week. So a lot of planes in the air and a lot of people have to do a lot of jobs to keep all these planes safe and in the air and not bumping into each other -- Don.
LEMON: You said it. Again, I quote the president, epidemic. We have to do something about this epidemic of aviation delays. That says it all.
MYERS: Hold it, I'm going to walk down to the screen here, I'm going to walk down to the screen because I can tell you -- on the bottom, I can't see it from here. But if I go to my computer, I can tell you how many planes are actually in the air at this point; 6,089 planes are in the air right now, over U.S. air space, 6,089. This is just the eastern one third of the country, amazing.
LEMON: Chad Myers, on top of it. Thank you, sir.
MYERS: You bet.
PHILLIPS: Brutal winds, flooding rains, a powerful cyclone targets coastal Bangladesh and India. We're going to talk about it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK, the political spotlight is on Nevada tonight. Candy Crowley told us yesterday Nevadans like to be called Nevadans not Nevadons. The presidential hopefuls will try their luck Las Vegas and you can see it right here on CNN. Of course, our Bill Schneider is there.
And, Bill, on the Election Express. We're very excited about that. Hope you took some odds in Vegas -- and you won.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: That's right.
LEMON: We have to joke a little bit because it is an unusual venue. And it is Las Vegas and all these folks are going to be there, these presidential hopefuls. OK, Bill so some people are saying this debate is Hillary Clinton's to lose, if there's anybody to lose, it's hers. What does she have to do to take the high ground in all of this?
SCHNEIDER: She has to reassure Democrats that she speaks from conviction that she's being honest with the people. That she doesn't talk like a typical politician, which is what she sounded like at the last Democratic debate and took a lot of heat for that. Evasive, waffling, tried to have it both ways. She's got to make at least one statement on immigration, and other issues, essentially saying to Democrats this is where I stand, you know where I stand. And I'm going to speak straight to you.
LEMON: OK. So let's talk about immigration now, because that's going to come up. It's a huge issue, always sparks a lot of debate here. Are we going to hear one campaign has already come out with swinging with on that issue? What's that about?
SCHNEIDER: That's right. Well, the Obama campaign has issued a statement from the campaign spokesman, let me show it to you. It says when it takes two weeks -- this is about Senator Clinton -- when it takes two weeks and six different positions to answer one question on immigration, it's easier to understand why the Clinton campaign would rather plant their questions than answer them."
Very cleverly worded statement that manages to get a couple of digs in at Senator Clinton. But that's why she's on the defensive, that's the kind of heat she's taken and that's why she has to come out with some straight answers on immigration.
You know the candidates don't disagree all that much. All of them, save Chris Dodd, do support comprehensive immigration reform, and even drivers licenses for illegal immigrants. Although, Hillary Clinton most recently has said when she becomes president, she says, she will not support driver's licenses. But that's not a big issue in the campaign. The issue is how she addresses that and other issues.
LEMON: And that is -- we have an old saying, they're aiming for the head when you get to this level. He's talking about the college student who claims that the Clinton campaign sort of planted a question and wanted her to ask during a Q&A session.
OK, Bill Schneider, can't wait to see this debate. I hope you're having a good time in Vegas. Kyra and I both wish we were there.
SCHNEIDER: Oh. OK, we're looking forward to it.
LEMON: We're going to get on the bus with you guys pretty soon --
PHILLIPS: For nonpolitical reasons.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: So don't eat all the food in the frig and all that stuff.
Thanks, Bill Schneider. We'll be watching for you tonight.
SCHNEIDER: We welcome you.
LEMON: All right. Thank you.
It all gets started at 8:00 Eastern tonight. The Democratic presidential hopefuls take the stage right here on CNN. Wolf Blitzer, none other, the moderator, he will be joined by -- get this -- our newest member to the CNN team, Campbell Brown. You know this guy, John Roberts, as well. Ahead of tonight's Vegas showdown, check out cnnpolitics.com for analysis, behind-the-scenes blogging, polls and much, much more from the best political team on TV and online.
PHILLIPS: A storm so strong, millions of people have fled to higher ground. They have reason to be afraid, too. Right now, Tropical Cyclone Sidr is sweeping across the Indian/Bangladeshi border. That is one of the world's most flood-prone areas. And experts had warned of a storm surge of up to 20 feet. Let's head over now to Isha Sesay, on the CNN International Desk. She's been following it for us -- Isha.
ISHA SESAY, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kyra. Yes, we are monitoring this storm very, very closely indeed. It made landfall about three hours ago. We already knew that we were to expect heavy rains, fierce winds, and as you mentioned, that storm surge.
Given the landscape of Bangladesh, the fact that it has so many low-lying coastal areas and isolated villages, there's concern for these places because they are very susceptible to a storm surge. The Bangladesh Meteorological Society saying that you could see a storm of 15 to 25 feet above normal tides. That is something quite incredible. And according to the Red Cross delegation we spoke to, the head of the Bangladesh delegation, they told us up to 10 million people in these areas could be affected by Sidr.
So we're carefully monitoring the TV stations. Channel I, from Bangladesh, we're keeping an eye on it. We're also watching CNN IBN, to monitor all the pictures that are coming in. We're also keeping a close eye on news wires, monitoring all the feeds we can to bring you those pictures, to really bring you a sense of what the conditions are like on the ground there.
For anyone who's got any comment, anyone who's hearing from relatives in the area, please get in touch with us. We also are appealing to our I-Reporters, any images, any comments. All you have to do is go to cnn.com click on the I-Report and let us know what you're seeing and hearing. But again, this is one of those times when we say to anyone who maybe watching, do not put yourself in any danger. Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right, thank you. We'll keep tracking it with you.
LEMON: You go to the doctor, right, to get rid of a diseases? But what happens if the doctor is accused of giving you a deadly disease?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right, this just in to CNN. Mark Dean Schwab, why should you know that name? Well, he is a convicted child killer and there's some concern, some controversy about his execution, the stay of his execution in Florida. Susan Candiotti, on top of this story for us.
What do you have, Susan?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Mark Dean Schwab got what he was after, an 11th-hour stay of execution from the highest court in the land, the U.S. Supreme Court has now stopped Mark Dean Schwab's scheduled execution that had been set for 6:00 this evening, here in Florida.
This was not a matter of guilt or innocence, but mainly the debate has been here in Florida, and in other states, using lethal injection. Whether lethal injection violates his constitutional -- the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution -- whether it amounts to cruel and inhumane punishment? Cruel and unusual punishment?
The debate here, Don, has been over whether that lethal cocktail that is given to death row inmates in more than 30 states, in effect, can cause pain and suffering to inmates. this particular mixture that is commonly used. And so the U.S. Supreme Court just a couple of months ago decided to review a case out of Kentucky. They won't complete that review until next year. But in the meantime, in at least three other cases, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued stays based on this very same argument in other states. And now they have also agreed to a stay in Mark Dean Schwab's case.
This is, obviously, going to come as a great disappointment to the victims' parents in this case. Their names are the Martinez, the mother and father of little Junie Martinez. And they live here in Florida. They had suspected this would happen. They say they're greatly disappointed in the criminal justice system, as a result of it. Back to you.
LEMON: And I'm sure those families would probably say that their children -- it was cruel and unusual, too, in the manner that they died.
CANDIOTTI: Exactly.
LEMON: All right. Susan Candiotti. Thank you. We'll get back to you.
PHILLIPS: A fatal Tasering at Vancouver's airport is reigniting debate over the so-called non-lethal weapon. A 40-year-old Polish immigrant, who didn't speak English, died last month after being Tasered by Canadian police. CNN Medical Correspondent Judy Fortin joins us with more on this -- Judy.
JUDY FORTIN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, you know that Tasers are designed to immobilize a person. And you can tell from the video we've been watching today, that clearly happened in this case.
The Polish passenger appeared agitated in the video and he was sweating, before being hit with a 50,000-volt Taser. He fell to the floor, as you can see, shortly after being shocked and he lost consciousness. One Canadian TV station is reporting that police did not perform CPR and it took 12 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. An autopsy report revealed there were no drugs or alcohol in his system. A Canadian coroner's inquest is now pending. I spoke with a doctor a short time ago who conducted the first large study on the medical impact of Tasers. He has nothing to do with this case in Vancouver, but he says it is possible that a pre-existing medical condition contributed to the man's death.
The doctor told me experts have two main theories about how a jolt from a Taser could kill someone. First, electricity could somehow stop the heart and the victim could suffer cardiac arrest. Secondly, the Taser could trigger a metabolic or respiratory-related condition that affects chemicals in the blood that could cause harm to the victim.
Now, the doctor also mentioned that some of these conditions do not leave a telltale sign that could be revealed during an autopsy. So, it may actually be hard to determine the exact cause of death. One other point to mention, the researchers say that death from Tasers are relatively rare. That's important to point out.
PHILLIPS: What exactly does the Taser do to the body?
FORTIN: It's important to know how these devices work, so I'm going to give you a little bit of a graphic description here. Tasers use compressed nitrogen to project two small probes. An electrical jolt of up to 50,000 volts is transmitted through the wires to where the probe touches the body or the clothing. Now, the shock lasts only about half a second, and it causes intense pain and muscle contractions. And that results in an immediate loss of the person's neural muscular control, and of course the ability to perform coordinated action for any length of the impulse, while it lasts. The Taser maker say recovery is supposed to be instantaneous and there are rarely side effects, according to the manufacturer, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Have there been other deaths related to Tasers?
FORTIN: Well, there have been deaths reported. And that's a little bit controversial here. Amnesty International and other groups report that more than 245 people have died from complications after being shot with a Taser. That doctor I spoke to said that there is no clear evidence that Tasers had anything to do with those deaths and more study needs to be done.
His recent study, funded by the National Institute of Justice, looked at Tasers safety in 1,000 cases and it revealed in 99 percent, people had mild injuries, or none at all. So, the bottom line from researchers, most injuries from Tasers occur when people actually fall to the ground, and hit their heads, and there's no evidence of long- term serious side effects.
PHILLIPS: All right. Judy Fortin, thanks.
FORTIN: You're welcome.
LEMON: How do you know for sure that the syringes your doctor is using -- that they're clean, unless you see him take it out of the pack? Well, it's business as usual at this New York doctor's office despite some very serious accusations of reckless medical recycling. State authorities are asking an estimated 600 patients Dr. Harvey Finkelstein to get checked for hepatitis and for HIV. This after he allegedly reused syringes on multiple patients. Two patients have reportedly contracted the potentially fatal strain of hepatitis C. Some are stunned to learn the doctor's medical license has not -- has not -- been revoked.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CATHY SCHMITT, FINKELSTEIN'S FORMER PATIENT: It not only affects me as a patient, but now my entire family, my husband, my kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: One patient who reportedly contracted Hepatitis C has sued Dr. Finkelstein. The doctor defends his actions, though, and says he is cooperating with authorities -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Airport insecurity. You won't believe what investigators were able to smuggled past security checkpoints. Explosive new findings.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: This is just incredible, incredible video. Also incredible what happened. You know what, Chinese crew members they are not talking after the ship hit a bridge in San Francisco Bay. They've even hired attorneys. Federal investigators were hoping the crew would help them understand what happened. Two of the ship's fuel tanks ruptured spilling 58,000 gallons of oil into the bay. Some beaches are still closed. Commercial fishing has been banned in that immediate area.
PHILLIPS: Exhausted volunteers, slick, smelly oil-soaked beaches. The clean up effort in Russia's Black Sea region is expected to last another 45 days. On Sunday a storm pummeled a discrepid (sic) tanker, sending more than 1,000 tons of fuel oil into the water; 30,000 dead birds have now died. Some of the slick is headed north. Environmentalists fear that the damage could last 15 years.
Next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
LEMON: Millions in danger, hundreds of thousands in flight to higher ground. A monster storm bears down on a region known for disaster. The eyes of the world are on Bangladesh this hour.
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