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Dry Run for Terror Attack?: Two Men Arrested in Netherlands; Hurricane Earl Threatens East Coast; U.S. Combat Role in Iraq Ends; Obama to Address Nation Tonight; Coping Tips for Trapped Miners; Air Traffic Mistakes; Hate Crime Charges; Is Heavy Drinking Healthy?
Aired August 31, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning on this Tuesday, the 31st of August. Last day of August. September starts tomorrow.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I know. And we certainly have seen the summer go by quickly. And now we've seen hurricane season ramped up.
ROBERTS: Yes. Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks so much for being with us.
CHETRY: I'm Kiran Chetry. We head to the top stories this morning.
Was it a dry run for terror? Two men, now under arrest in the Netherlands, after authorities found suspicious items in checked luggage here in the U.S. Our homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve has been working her sources since the story came to light. We're going to check in with her just ahead.
ROBERTS: The final hours of a seven-year long struggle. America's combat mission in Iraq officially ending today. The president preparing to address the nation taking credit for a promise kept. But for many of the 50,000 U.S. troops left behind in Iraq, it sure doesn't feel like much has changed.
CHETRY: Buried alive. Efforts still continuing now to save those 33 trapped miners in Chile. Progress on hold this morning. We're going to take a look at how miners train to survive what many of us would think would be the unthinkable. Could you survive it? We're going to see firsthand what it's like to be trapped thousands of feet underground.
ROBERTS: And, of course, the amFIX blog is up and running. Join the live conversation going on right now. Just go to CNN.com/amFIX.
CHETRY: We begin with the CNN security watch this morning. Two men are being held in the Netherlands. U.S. authorities suspect that they may have been testing airport security here in the United States for a possible future terrorist attack. They were taken into custody after arriving in Amsterdam on a United flight out of Chicago. Officials say that suspicious items were found in one of the suspect's checked bags but that the luggage wasn't with them but rather on a different plane.
Homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve has been working the story from the very beginning. She joins us live this morning from Washington. What's the latest, Jeanne?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, the two men have been identified by a U.S. law enforcement official as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al-Soofi and Hezem al-Murisi. They are still in custody at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam and according to Dutch prosecutors are still being questioned. A spokesman for those Dutch prosecutors would not say if they have been formally arrested or charged with any crime.
The fear expressed by U.S. authorities that they may have been testing aviation security. The Department of Homeland Security says in a statement, "suspicious items were located in checked luggage. The items were not deemed to be dangerous in and of themselves."
According to U.S. law enforcement sources, those suspicious items included watches attached to a shampoo bottle, cell phones attached to a medicine bottle, knives and box cutters. None of those things are prohibited in checked items. But, something else set off alarm bells. Al-Soofi started his travel in Birmingham, flying to Chicago, according to law enforcement sources. According to a source, he was ticketed on a flight that went on to Washington's Dulles airport, then Dubai and Yemen. His luggage went on that flight but both men actually ended up on a different flight, flying from Chicago to Amsterdam. They were sitting near one another, according to a law enforcement source.
A U.S. government official says at least one bag was pulled off at Dulles and items inside were being examined. A couple of concerns here, how did the men and their luggage get on different flights in violation of U.S. security protocols and what exactly were those items in the luggage? Were these men conducting a test run for some future terrorist plot? Those are the questions that are being asked this morning but as yet there are no definitive answers. Back to you.
CHETRY: And you said that it's not protocol to be able to get on another flight. Was that accidental? Is that what the suspects are claiming or do did they do that on purpose?
MESERVE: We don't know what they're claiming at this point in time. But we do know is that they're supposed to be 100 percent baggage matched. That is every bag that goes on an international flight is supposed to be associated with a specific passenger on that flight. Somehow the bags got on one flight, the men got on another. They're still trying to get to the bottom of how and why that happened.
CHETRY: Jeanne Meserve for us. We'll be checking in with you throughout the morning. I know you're working your sources and have been since this story broke yesterday. Jeanne, thanks so much.
MESERVE: You bet.
CHETRY: We're also going to be getting an analysis of what this may mean in just a few minutes. 6:10 Eastern Time, we're going to be joined by former homeland security adviser Fran Townsend. Also coming up in just an hour, CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen will join us as well. ROBERTS: Well, now to extreme weather in the Caribbean and Hurricane Earl. It is a massive Category 4 storm, a major hurricane and growing. Sustained winds of 135 miles an hour at present. Take a look at that radar picture. It's almost like a perfect hurricane.
It's threatening communities from Cape Hatteras, north -- Cape Hatteras, North Carolina all the way north to Cape Cod. As we speak, the storm is pushing a wall of wind, water and waves of the islands in the Caribbean. One of our iReporters sent us some video from St. Kitts. The hurricane kicking up dangerous surf, knocking down some trees on the island, cutting power to many people.
And this is what it looked like along northern Puerto Rico late yesterday. This iReporter says that supermarkets are out of stock, gas stations are full, and some people are starting to lose their electricity.
Our Rob Marciano is tracking the storm's every move. He joins us now live from the CNN hurricane center. And the big question that we have here in the United States, Rob, is just how far west is this hurricane going to track?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's -- the forecast track has been shifting west over the past 24 hours. So, certainly folks who live on the Carolina coastline and New England coastline are worried about this and very well should be especially now since it's such a strong storm.
Category 4 as you mentioned with winds of 135 miles an hour. It's been at about that level for the past 12 hours now. So we'll probably continue to see it go through cycles over the next 12 to 24 hours before it eventually moves into cooler water, but we don't expect it to weaken. It may strengthen but it won't weaken any time in the next couple of days.
There you kind of see the movement. You see that eye, it's about 16, 17 miles in diameter. Signature outflow there. And also the tropical storm-force winds, this is a big one. Tropical storm-force winds have expanded to 200 miles from the center of this storm and hurricane- force winds out to 70 miles right now. So a large hurricane and Puerto Rico, even though it didn't see hurricane conditions, it certainly saw tropical storm conditions and still doing that. You kind of see that here a little bit in the satellite or the radar imagery there.
Speaking of satellite, a kind of a satellite, this is a picture from the ISS station which flies much, much lower, of course, than our geostationary satellites way up there so you get a real good look at how distinct that eye wall is. Amazing shot there from the ISS of Hurricane Earl.
All right, let's talk about the forecast track here looking at exactly where this thing is going to go. And there it is. Dangerously close to the Carolina coastline.
Thinking Thursday night into Friday morning, it's probably when it will make its closest pass there. Not weakening all that much until it gets to New England. And all of that coastline is in this margin for error that's allowed by the National Hurricane Center. So to put it in a nutshell, since we've talk yesterday, things have not turned better. We've seen a stronger storm and we've seen the forecast track which has shifted closer to the United States. So folks who do live in the outer banks of North Carolina are certainly making hurricane preparations right now. And folks who live in eastern New England are definitely ramping up their plans also.
On top of that, we've got to get another tropical storm, Fiona, out there in the Atlantic. We are getting into prime time hurricane season. We'll talk more about Fiona and its potential track later in the program -- John and Kiran.
CHETRY: All right.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to it, Rob. Thanks.
CHETRY: And we're going to be speaking in just a couple of minutes to the governor of Puerto Rico. They got what they call a glancing blow but they still are out, 100,000 people without electricity. Schools are open while they're, you know, in session and they had to be closed as well. They're going to be doing a tour in about four hours to see just how much damage the island got.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to that.
America's combat mission in Iraq officially ends today. By tomorrow, only 50,000 soldiers will remain there to train and advise. Our Chris Lawrence has been embedded with some of those soldiers and for many of them, the war is far from over.
CHETRY: Also, coming to auto dealerships across the U.S., a new rating system to help you figure out just how fuel efficient a new car you may be thinking about purchasing really is. We're going to have more on that as well.
It's eight minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Well, it's the final day of August. And it's also the last American combat troops that are now coming home from Iraq seven years after "Operation Iraqi Freedom" began. It is now officially over. "Operation New Dawn" now starts.
ROBERTS: President Obama touting a promise kept heading to Fort Bliss, Texas today to greet the troops, then it's back to the Oval Office to address the nation tonight. Meanwhile, Vice President Biden is in Baghdad this morning to assure the Iraqis that we will not abandon then.
CHETRY: Well, when tomorrow comes, 50,000 American troops will remain in Iraq. Their official capacity now is to advise and assist. Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence is in Baghdad this morning. And, Chris, you've been embedded with some of those soldiers who are staying behind. And for many of them I'm sure it doesn't feel like the war is over.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: No, no way, Kiran. I mean, when you're loaded down in body armor, crammed into some of these Humvees, you know, and it's 125 degrees out here, it is not easy by any stretch of the imagination. And from what I was able to see with some of these soldiers, these are not the kind of guys who walk around carrying clipboards.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE (voice-over): Loaded down in Kevlar (ph), on the same dusty roads, don't tell these soldiers that combat troops are gone.
STAFF SGT. ADAM STEFFENS, 3RD BRIGADE, 4TH ID: It's a misnomer. It sounds like, that, you know, we all went home. But really -- we're all still here.
LAWRENCE: Or in the words of Staff Sergeant Adam Steffens --
STEFFENS: These are the same guys that rolled in here in 2003 that just unleashed the fury.
LAWRENCE: Sergeant John Roberts is on his third tour. Lieutenant Colonel John D.G. (ph) Batista deployed to Diyala, Baqubah and Baghdad. Third Brigade, Fourth ID is on its fourth deployment here. Some of the soldiers conducting "New Dawn's" non-combat mission are some of the most battle-hardened troops in the Army.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were times and places when, you know, you'd had streets run red with blood.
LAWRENCE (on camera): So it's better, much better. But the sergeant told me he'll never be able to totally let his guard down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The IED threat is always there.
LAWRENCE: Buried in the ground, camouflaged as trash. And if enough insurgents get together, the sergeant says they'll even try a complex direct attack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They want to mount up on us. They want to get squirrelly and go toe-to-toe for a while. It's rare. Most of those guys are already dead so it doesn't really happen too much. But it's something that we've got to be careful of.
LAWRENCE (voice-over): Even before "New Dawn's" official beginning, American and Iraqi troops have been living together on bases like Kumsa (ph). Their new advise and assist mission means U.S. troops are still in convoys, still on patrols, but following the Iraqis, not leading them.
FIRST LT. WILL SWEARINGE, U.S. ARMY: We're there but we're watching and we're teaching, we're coaching. We're kind of prodding them on to the right decisions.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: So it works something like this. Say an Iraqi team is going to conduct a raid and they ask the Americans for helicopter support. There would be maybe two or three American Humvees on the ground supporting that helicopter team, having maybe a remote video terminal there so the Iraqi commander could see real-time video of what his troops are doing and make some decisions like that on the ground.
One of the other things that the American troops really want to work with the Iraqis is getting those high-value targets. Right now, when the Iraqis stage those kind of operations, they're getting their target about 20 percent of the time. The Americans want to try to raise that up to about 70 percent success rate -- John, Kiran.
CHETRY: That is fascinating. Do they feel any less safe that they're sort of, you know, taking a back seat in terms of making the calls about when to go into combat?
LAWRENCE: Well, they definitely see a difference. I mean, one soldier told me, you know, from when I was here a couple years ago, we would go outside that wire and we knew every day we were going to be hitting those IEDs, that we were going to be coming under fire. He said the difference is breathtaking in the amount of violence that has gone down here when it comes to targeting American troops. So they've definitely seen that difference. But to say like these guys aren't combat troops, that they won't face any danger, that's totally the wrong message.
CHETRY: Interesting. Chris Lawrence embedded with the troops there in Iraq, the 50,000 that remain. Thank you.
Well, President Obama is delivering a prime time speech on Iraq from the Oval Office tonight. In the next hour, we're going to get a preview when we're joined live by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, 7:30 Eastern here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Also, CNN special coverage of the president's address begins tonight, 7:00 p.m. Eastern with "JOHN KING USA." At 8:00, President Obama, live from the Oval Office. And that's followed at 9:00 by "LARRY KING" with live reaction and analysis.
ROBERTS: Well, it's flu season, and, for the first time, health officials are recommending nearly everyone get their shots. This year's vaccines are a lot different than last year's. We'll explain, coming up.
CHETRY: Also, toast to your health? New study out says that drinking helps you live longer. We'll read the fine print, though.
Sixteen minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
It's 19 minutes past the hour right now, and we are following the quite large, in fact category 4, storm, Hurricane Earl, this morning. Right now it moved by Puerto Rico, a glancing blow, I guess you could say. And joining us on the phone, Puerto Rico's governor, Luis Fortuno.
Thanks so much for joining us this morning, Governor.
GOV. LUIS FORTUNO, PUERTO RICO: My pleasure.
CHETRY: So, I guess you guys did dodge a bullet when it comes to the storm. I mean, we see how monstrous it is. How big of an impact did Earl make on Puerto Rico?
FORTUNO: Indeed, we - we have been quite fortunate because there was no direct hit in this case. However, there was - has been a lot of - lots of rain and some winds in certain areas. We have about 174,000 clients without power. Hopefully that will be restored today, early today. And about 33,000 clients without water.
There are some roads that are blocked because trees have fallen, and those are being removed as we speak. And hopefully we'll be able to get back to normal during the course of the day and tomorrow will be a regular working day.
CHETRY: All right. So as I understand it, schools - schools in session for the year but you have them closed right now as well. What about - are people able to move out and about or was it just recommended that you stay at your house?
FORTUNO: Well, we are asking people to stay home if they can. Again, we have to remove those trees that fell and there are some power lines down. Again, none as serious as it could have been, but there are some power lines that came down last night. We'd rather deal with that in a safe way, so we're asking people to stay home if they can.
CHETRY: I see - even looking at the pictures right now of where the storm is going, right behind it, it looks like another storm making its way there. How prepared are you for the last half, I guess you could say, of the hurricane season and - and what are you expecting?
FORTUNO: Well, let me tell you, we - we are following what the National Weather Service is telling us. They're telling us that it is not as organized as Earl. However, it could bring - bring about some rain and that's what concerns me. So we're - we'll just keep an eye - a very close eye on it and see what happens.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we wish you the best of luck. As I understand that you're getting out there a little bit earlier - a little bit later in the day, going on a tour to see the extent of the damage. But it looks like you guys are making progress in trying to get things back to normal on the island.
Governor Luis Fortuno, thanks so much for joining us this morning.
FORTUNO: Thank you. Good day.
ROBERTS: Was it a practice run to blow up a U.S. jetliner? Two men are being held in Amsterdam after a flight from the United States. Officials say items resembling mock bombs were found in one of the suspect's checked bags. That luggage was on a different flight bound for Washington, D.C. and then ultimately on to Dubai and Yemen. The items included cell phones and watches that were taped to plastic bottles.
Joining us now on the telephone is Fran Townsend, CNN's National Security Contributor and a former Homeland Security advisor under President Bush.
Fran, it's good to talk to you this morning. So these - these men were charged in Amsterdam with preparing for a terrorist attack. What do you think this was? Was - was this potentially a dry run or do you think these were just a couple of quirky guys carrying some weird items with them?
FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Well, as you say, John, you know, these - there were box cutters, there were cell phones, all of this would be very odd.
But I talk to a senior counterterrorism official last evening who said we really don't know what we have yet. On the one hand you've got guys changing their flight plans in Chicago, checking bags on a flight that they're not - that they're not themselves flying on. On the other hand you've got one of these guys was a legal permanent resident which is a very valuable thing to al Qaeda if this was in fact a terrorism plot. And he's traveling with a guy who's overstayed his visa.
So even whatever he would have learned he couldn't have transferred back that knowledge to people inside the United States because he couldn't have re-entered. So it's certainly a mixed bag right now, lots more questions than we had answers.
ROBERTS: So - so what do you make, Fran, of what they were carrying with them? A cell phone that was taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, three cell phones that were taped together, a bunch of watches that were taped together. U.S. authorities are calling this, you know, it looked like a mock bomb. Do you think that's what it might have been?
TOWNSEND: Well, it's - you know, it's very reminiscent - you recall the 2006 airliner plot, which was a liquid explosives plot. That was supposed to be in carry-on bags. But this - it looks as though the way this is put together it may have been reminiscent of the liquid explosive type plot.
The other thing we heard, the al Qaeda talked about the intelligence channel, is the use of cell phones as detonator. And so all of those things together in a single bag, they right - it rightly raised concerns with officials.
ROBERTS: Right. You said last night on CNN that one of the bags had tested positive for the presence of explosive residue. Now, these are field tests, you know, the swipe that they do at an airport. They are not always reliable. Do you have any more information on that?
TOWNSEND: I don't, John. The official I spoke to last night said it had been a field test and cautioned to me they are typically unreliable, which is all that would have told them is they needed to do more extensive testing, and the government may know the outcome. We haven't heard yet what the outcome of those explosives tests.
ROBERTS: Nine-eleven is in a couple of weeks, and last year we saw that 9/11 plot on the - on the New York Subway system. Do you think this could potentially be linked to the 9/11 anniversary?
TOWNSEND: You know, John, going back to my time in government, we often look for links to anniversaries like that, and rarely were we able to find them. Of course, the 2006 plots that I mentioned, that happened in August of - of that year. And so, it's right around that time as well.
But, typically, al Qaeda does these things when they have the main equipment that - that are ready as opposed to tie it to an anniversary.
ROBERTS: And, you know, Fran, there's one other issue involved in this. These - these men were singled out for extra screening in Birmingham, Alabama when they boarded a plane. In Chicago, they knew that there were suspicious items in their luggage. They were still allowed to board the plane for Amsterdam.
And one of the suspects, al-Soofi's, luggage was put on a different flight to Washington, and then on to Dubai. The plane that had the luggage on has left Washington Dulles Airport. It had to be called back and his luggage taken off.
Should - should they have been allowed to get on the flight? And how - how do you think that luggage got on a different flight that they were on?
TOWNSEND: Well, as to the - as to al-Soofi and al-Murisi, there wasn't - it doesn't appear that there was sufficient intelligence or information or contraband that would have allowed officials to prohibit them from boarding.
But you are absolutely right. There's a real question as to why when - when those two guys got on the plane to Amsterdam, al-Soofi's luggage was able to fly from Chicago to Washington, D.C. That's a problem that shouldn't have happened and the Department is going to have to be able to explain that and prevent that from happening the next time.
ROBERTS: Fran Townsend for us this morning. Fran, great to talk to you. Thanks so much for joining us.
TOWNSEND: Thanks, John.
CHETRY: We've been following the story of the 33 miners that are still trapped underground as rescue efforts continue, but what is it like to survive a disaster deep underground? We're going to see firsthand how miners are trained to deal with the unthinkable when help is nowhere in sight.
ROBERTS: And President Obama preparing to address the nation tonight about the end of our combat mission in Iraq. The two words that you wouldn't hear him say, just ahead.
It's coming up now on 27 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
We have some breaking developments right now in the efforts to save the 33 trapped Chilean miners. Finally, drilling has started again. Early this morning, they began drilling that rescue tunnel. It was delayed. It's a process that still could take more than three months.
Rescue workers are also making plans to begin sending down hot food as well as sandwiches. Until now the men have been surviving on liquids.
And in about 10 minutes we're going to be speaking to Homer Hickam. He is a former astronaut training manager for the International Space Station. He's actually trained astronauts on how to handle confined spaces for a long period of time, something that is similar, of course, to what the miners are going through right now.
How do you deal with it? How do you make sure that you're able to keep in the best shape possible, both physically and mentally in conditions that for most of us are unthinkable?
ROBERTS: Yes. He knows what he's talking about, too. He's a former miner and his father invented that mine rescue cage that was used at the Cue Creek Mine back in 2002.
Coming up at the half hour. That means it's time for this morning's top stories.
Hurricane Earl has grown now to a category 4 storm, with winds of 135 miles an hour. Right now, it is battering Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, and Earl has its eye on the East Coast later on this week. Forecasters say the hurricane could pose a serious threat from the Carolinas all the way up to Maine during the Labor Day weekend.
CHETRY: Authorities say that two men now being held in Amsterdam may have been trying to test U.S. airport security, perhaps a dry run for a future terrorist attack. They were detained after suspicious items in their checked luggage raised concerns. We just spoke about this with Fran Townsend. Items including plastic bottles with cell phones taped to them, among other things.
ROBERTS: And an Alaska Airlines flight taking off from Los Angeles was forced to make a cautionary landing after a bird strike. The plane with 159 passengers on-board returned safely to LAX last night. Officials say the bird struck the plane's fuselage just above the plane's windshield.
President Obama addresses the nation from the Oval Office tonight, declaring America's combat role in Iraq officially over.
You can count on two things. He will take credit for keeping the campaign promise to end the military mission in Iraq by this day, and he won't say the two words that still haunt his predecessor -- even though he actually didn't say them -- "mission accomplished." It was the banner on-board the aircraft carrier that said that. George Bush still regrets the whole scene there on the Truman -- that scene taking place seven years ago now.
Dan Lothian is live at the White House this morning.
And, Dan, the president -- oh, sorry, the Lincoln, not the Truman -- the president is going to choose his words very carefully tonight, I would suspect.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He really will. And aides say that the president won't talk about, you know, declaring a victory in Iraq. There won't be that "mission accomplished" moment, as you noted. Instead, it will be a "change of mission" moment where the U.S. combat troops change their role to one of assisting, advising, supporting the Iraqi forces there.
And as you pointed out, you know, this really is a completion, the administration would say, of the president's campaign promise where he talked about drawing down the number of troops in Iraq and now, it's less than 50,000 -- the end to the combat mission -- and then, ultimately, pulling out all U.S. troops by the end of next year. So, aides point out that the president again delivering on his promise and when he makes the address tonight, he will talk about this day as being a very important milestone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He's obviously outlining for the American people what's involved in our drawdown, the missions that have been changed, the number of troops that have been moved out, and where that leaves us in Iraq. Obviously, somebody asked the "mission accomplished" question. Obviously, there's still work to be done without that on the political side in terms of government formation. And, you know, Vice President Biden is there now to continue to help spur that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Forming a unified, stable government in Iraq still remains a major challenge and there's still a lot of questions about whether or not Iraqi forces will be able to handle their own security. One administration official is telling me that he believes that they are indeed prepared.
Now, I should point out that the president's address tonight in the Oval Office is expected to last about 15 to 20 minutes or so. This is only the second time that President Obama has used the Oval Office to deliver a message to the American people. The last time was back in June when the message was about the BP crisis -- John. ROBERTS: And the president's going to Fort Bliss to see the troops before his address tonight. Why the choice of Fort Bliss and what will the message be there?
LOTHIAN: Right. You know, one aide told me that the reason he's chosen Fort Bliss is because tens of thousands of U.S. troops have been going through that base on the way to Iraq or back either from Iraq. So, the president wanted to go there, thank U.S. service members for their sacrifice, talk about those who have paid the ultimate price, by giving their lives in Iraq.
And I'm told that's also part of the president's message tonight from the Oval Office, thanking U.S. service members for their sacrifice and also talking about the continued effort that will be need by U.S. service members on the ground there.
ROBERTS: Dan Lothian for us this morning -- Dan, thanks so much.
Coming up in the next hour, by the way, we're going to get a preview of the president's Oval Office address when we're joined live by White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs. That's at 7:30 Eastern, right here on the Most News in the Morning.
CHETRY: Well, right now, we're "Minding Your Business."
Fuel economy stickers on new cars may be in for a major overhaul. The Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the Transportation Department, want consumers to be better informed about how much mileage they're actually getting a gallon. So, by 2012, they are posting new stickers that use a letter grade, A-plus through D to rate the vehicle's fuel economy and also its level of greenhouse gas emissions. Buyers will also be informed how much money they'll save over five years by comparing hybrids with gas-powered only cars.
ROBERTS: The Food and Drug Administration has uncovered a host of serious safety violations at nine Iowa farms that are linked to a recall of more than half a billion eggs. Inspectors finding rodents, piles of manure, and uncaged birds, and too many flies to count. A salmonella outbreak has already sickened close to 1,500 people.
CHETRY: Well, flu season's here. Health officials are urging just about everyone to get vaccinated. There is a new high-dose shot being offered to people 65 and older. A record vaccine supply is expected this year, offering all-in-one inoculation which promises protection against the swine flu strain, plus two other types of influenza.
I remember last year -- I mean, there was a big flurry of people racing to try to get the swine flu shots when weren't enough available, and then a ton available and ended up expiring.
ROBERTS: Yes, just throw it all out.
Well, how do you cope with being trapped deep underground for months? We'll talk to a man who has trained astronauts on how to handle confined spaces over a long period of time. CHETRY: And we're continuing to track Hurricane Earl, still a strong category 4 hurricane and growing stronger, possibly setting its sights on parts of the Eastern Seaboard. We're going to be checking in with Rob Marciano about just how likely the United States is in potentially getting a direct hit. We're tracking the storm's every move.
It's 37 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Thirty-nine minutes after the hour.
The 33 trapped miners in Chile possibly facing months of confinement. The long and painstaking process to get the men out is going to take a lot of patience. And learning how to cope more than 2,300 feet beneath the earth's surface is coming from lessons learned above high ground.
NASA is sending a team of experts to Chile.
And joining me now is Homer Hickam. He's the author of the book, "Rocket Boys." Homer is also a former astronaut training manager for the International Space Station and, believe it or not, a former miner himself.
Homer, it's great to talk to you this morning.
You work in mines. Your father did as well. Take us 2,300 feet beneath the earth.
What are those men going through right now? What are they sensing? What are they feeling?
HOMER HICKAM, AUTHOR, "ROCKET BOYS": Well, of course in this case, they're sensing a lot of high temperature which is very, very dangerous. Normally, say, in a coal mine accident where you might be trapped, you don't have extremely high temperatures. So, we are concerned very much about that.
With the 333 men in a -- in a very tight place, I think the main thing is that -- and it sounds like to me that the ground, top side, is doing this -- is to keep them occupied, keep them thinking that they're being part of the rescue, keeping the line of communication open -- very, very important.
ROBERTS: Now, they are actually going to be a part of the rescue because as they drill that bore hole down, that rescue shaft down, so that they can get the miners out, it's going to be dropping tons and tons of rock -- potentially thousands of tons of rock -- into that confined space which they will then have to shovel to the side so that the work can continue to get down to them.
Will they have the strength? Will they have the stamina to be able to keep that work up? HICKAM: Well, they're miners. And miners are typically physically very, very tough guys and also I might say intellectually, they tend to be pretty tough because that's simply their profession. That's -- it's very good -- of course, it's dangerous that this rock is going to be coming down, but from a psychological standpoint, the fact that they are going to have to be moving all of this rock is very, very good.
But they'll have to be very careful to watch their physical condition. In this situation like this, if one gets sick, they all get sick. So, keeping those line of communications open is going to be very, very important. And that means of those 33, they should be talking to them every day.
They should have a medical check every day. You know, how are you doing, Jose? That kind of thing. And they need to have a chart and see how often they are talking to everybody. If they're missing somebody, they've got to make sure that clicks don't open where the strong start overwhelming the weak and the weak get kind of pushed aside.
So, all of that is very, very important.
ROBERTS: Wow. It's such a complex undertaking. And it's one that's probably going to last for at least two months, maybe as long as four months.
You know, if we roll this video again, the miners for the moment at least seem to be in pretty good spirits. The challenge is going to be keeping them sane over the long run.
And how do you think NASA -- because it sent four experts down there -- can help do that?
HICKAM: Well, NASA has a long experience. You look back to the Apollo 13, of course, they went (AUDIO BREAK) keep spirits up, and the sky lab series which (AUDIO BREAK), the International Space Station. So, there is a lot of expertise in NASA about how to keep spirits up, how to really reach out and touch them and help them. It all has to be remote. So, I think NASA's bringing a lot of experience to bear here.
ROBERTS: Yes, wouldn't you know it? Homer, just as you were talking about NASA and its expertise, we started to lose your Skype signal just a little bit there.
You know, Jerry Linenger, an astronaut who spent four months aboard the Mir Space Station up there on orbit after that fire in 1997, and knows what it's like to be in the worst case scenario, said that the miners must be told the best and worst case scenarios.
You said that people should e talking to them every day. Do you think people should only give them the good news, or give them the good news and the bad? Full disclosure.
HICKAM: They need to give them all news. And that's one of very, very -- Jerry knows that very well that it's very important that the ground be extremely honest with these miners. If the miner catches the ground in one lie, even a small one, they're going to start to distrust them and anxiety is going to rise. So, good news, bad news, you have to trust the people you're working with. You give it to 'em straight.
And -- but you always, when you give them bad news, you always give them the work-around. "OK, this is what we're going to do, guys. This is how we're going to get out of this."
ROBERTS: Yes. You know, one other point that we should make, too, is your father, Homer Sr., test-invented and tested that cage that rescued those nine miners from the Quecreek mine back in 2002. They were only 242 feet deep. And your father tested it to 700 feet. But we're talking 2,300 feet here.
Does something like that work?
HICKAM: It will work. I am very concerned about it being four months. I think that that's going to be on the outside of the survival ability range, mainly because of pathogens, molds, illnesses that might occur down there during that period of time.
I just urge them to make it faster, have a plan B, have another bore hole going, try to get in from the side, get some spelunkers in there, see if you can worm your way in through the main entry, whatever. Have a number of plans to get in and get these guys out as soon as possible.
ROBERTS: Homer Hickam, it's great to talk to you this morning. Thanks so much for joining us. We really appreciate it.
HICKAM: You bet. I enjoyed it.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks.
CHETRY: Yes. He had some great insight as well.
ROBERTS: Yes, his dad invented that rescue cage. So, if they're not using that exact one, something very similar.
CHETRY: 2,300 feet though. Wow.
ROBERTS: It's a long wait in.
CHETRY: We're also watching hurricane Earl. It's a powerful category 4 storm right now battering the Caribbean. We just talked to the governor of Puerto Rico. They came out pretty good considering. Right now, Rob Marciano, though, is tracking it all from the Extreme Weather Center. How is the U.S. mainland possibly faring, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Definitely threatened. Definitely under the gun. This thing banged up some of the lesser Antilles Islands pretty good. As you mentioned, category 4 storm now. Take a look at it. Winds of 135 miles an hour, distinct eye and heading towards the East Coast that forecast, right? But look just a little bit further to the east, another blob from the satellite picture. Fiona formed overnight. Three storms in the Atlantic. Your forecast is coming up.
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CHETRY: Check out those clouds as they're waking up in Miami. It's already 84 degrees right now. They're looking at some showers later on today. High of 91. I bet you it's nice and sticky in Miami today.
ROBERTS: Always is this time of year.
Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano in the Extreme Weather Center, and all eyes on Earl today, and the big question is how close is it going to come to the East Coast?
MARCIANO: Closer than we would like, that's for sure. And it's stronger than we'd like. Category 4 storm, as you mentioned. Winds of 135 miles an hour. It is a doozy. It doesn't really show signs of weakening here. The eye very well defined, maybe getting a little bit tighter. It will go through these fluctuations over the next 12 to 24 hours, but over the next day or two, there's not a whole lot that's going to slow it down or weaken it until it gets into much, much cooler waters.
And then right behind this, we got Fiona which formed overnight. So, we now have three storms in the Atlantic. Fiona is going to kind of run into a little bit of interruption from Earl. Earl kind of being the lead blocker in that it will take a similar track, but a bit of a wait behind it and not the best of atmospheric conditions. Likely, Fiona will be much, much weaker and hopefully will stay out to sea, although it's too far away to determine that. Let's concentrate on Earl. Here is the forecast track.
Keep it at category 4 for the next day and a half. Make a pass toward Cape Hatteras as a category 3, but North Carolina, the Delmarva, New York City, Boston all within this margin of error, this cone of uncertainty. So, everybody who lives in those areas definitely got to keep an eye right here especially in North Carolina. You need to be making hurricane preparations especially if you live on the outer banks because you're going to get some sort of effect.
It's just a matter of how bad it's going to be. All right. Nothing here on the East Coast. Little storms on the Midwest. That's the front that's going to help kick Earl out to sea eventually. Just a matter of when that front gets to the East Coast. Until it does, it's going to be a warm day for you folks. Temperatures in D.C. will be 95. It will be 95 degrees in New York City and 97 in Raleigh.
So, you're not sweating because of the hurricane. You're sweating because it's just hot out on the East Coast. We'll continue to update you about hurricane Earl throughout the morning. John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: All right. Rob, thanks so much. Women may be running with the bulls on Wall Street, but they are still outnumbered on the trading floor. We're going to take a look at why. It's part of our A.M. Original series, "Making It In a Man's World," coming right up.
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ROBERTS: Five minutes now to the top of the hour. Danger in the skies over the capitol region. "The Washington Post" reports this morning mistakes by air traffic controllers in D.C. are occurring at a record pace. The report cites an FAA review that found on-board systems designed to prevent mid-air collisions have been triggered more than 45 times this year.
CHETRY: The man accused of stabbing a Muslim cab driver in New York City is now facing hate crime charges. The 21-year-old Michael Enright now being held without bail. He's at a psychiatric facility. He allegedly slashed the driver, Ahmed Sharif, after Sharif told him he was Muslim. Enright could get up to 25 years in prison if convicted of attempted murder.
ROBERTS: A sticky situation for Paris Hilton. According to a police report, Hilton claimed she thought the cocaine that she was charged with possessing this weekend was gum. She also claims the cocaine wasn't hers and the purse belonged to a friend. Hilton faces felony drug possession charges and will be arraigned in October.
CHETRY: Coming from her, maybe that's not so farfetched.
Good news for your local bar. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin that say heavy drinkers live longer -- yes, longer than people who don't drink at all. The study tracked 1,800 people over a 20-year period. During that time, 69 percent of non-drinkers died compared to 60 percent of heavy drinkers. So, you're only in about a 9 percent difference there. They say moderate drinkers though only 40 percent of moderate drinkers died in that 20-year period.
So, why, you would ask? It appears that just the action of getting out and engaging, like you do, sometimes when you're drinking, that actually boosts your mood and makes you a happier person, likely to live longer. They say people who don't drink at all tend to not be as social.
ROBERTS: They say that they're less stressed, but isn't it stress that drives a lot of people to drink?
CHETRY: Moderation. Key.
ROBERTS: In everything.
Top stories coming your way right after the break. Stay with us.
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