Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

Risky Repair; Safe at Home; National I.D. Card?

Aired August 02, 2005 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Freaky forecasts. Weather watchers now say to brace yourself for even more hurricanes this season.
Simple solution? Will a hacksaw wrapped in Duct Tape solve a possible problem for shuttle astronauts?

Public education or covert conversion? A public school bible class raises that question.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As you can see, I mean, it is moving -- that is a big concern. We are very afraid that thing could just come down.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's been spinning around like -- it's falling apart. Get back! Get back! Get back!

COOPER: Unbelievable. I've never seen anything like it, John. This is incredible. Have you seen anything like this?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, if you remember that scene from July 10, well, you can bet our Anderson Cooper and John Zarrella sure do. You may shudder to learn that the government has revised its hurricane forecast for the season that began June 1 for the worst. Forecasters now expect 18 to 21 tropical storms, with seven to nine hurricanes, on top of the two that we've already had.

The earlier forecast called for 12 to 15 named storms. And NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, says if the new predictions are right, they're going to be one of the most active Atlantic hurricane seasons on record.

Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is watching the skies and the data from her post here at the CNN center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well, weather won't be a factor in tomorrow's extra vehicular, extra terrestrial, extra delicate repair mission on Space Shuttle Discovery, but spacewalker-gap-filler remover Steve Robinson will have plenty of other issues to deal with. CNN's John Zarrella is keeping tabs from mission control in Houston.

Something that he says he thinks is quite simple.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, quite simple, right. Wait a minute, Kyra. First of all, what do you think, do I look better in a rain slicker or like this?

PHILLIPS: I think I like you out of the eye of the storm and at safe mission control, yes, much better.

ZARRELLA: Oh, yes, thank you. Thank you. Well, let's get to the business of hand.

There's going to be a test tomorrow on gap fillers. We should all know what a gap filler is by now. But the bottom line is that NASA had decided to go ahead and to try to remove or cut off these gap fillers.

And what they are basically are just that, they're fillers between the tiles on the underbelly of the shuttle. And they want a very smooth surface for reentry so they don't build up any turbulence behind where those gap fillers are protruding. There's two of them.

And again, as you mentioned, Steve Robinson saying, you know, from an EVA standpoint, they've done a lot more difficult things in the past, grabbing on to satellites and doing all kinds of other extra vehicular activities. So this should be a fairly simple maneuver, going under the belly of shuttle.

Well, at a press briefing today, Dave Wolf, an astronaut, and who heads EVAs, here at the Johnson Space Center, demonstrated how they would go ahead and try to remove these gap fillers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE WOLF, ASTRONAUT: The work site will be in roughly this range for the person. And they'll come in very slowly. And our nominal plan is simply to get a hold of this gap filler and pull it out. And we expect it will be that simple.

If this is too tight, and it's hard to judge all the thermal conditions that could occur, the next -- our next step will be to use these forceps tools. And we'll come in, get on to that, clip them shut, and that's let us exert more detailed force.

This is an IVA, or a hacksaw, or was a hacksaw that we keep in the shuttle for uses. And we've set it up as an extra vehicular tool. They will simply go in -- we've already started this one -- and do a sawing motion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: Now, the teams here on the ground at the Johnson Space Center have spent the past four days preparing for this. And one of the things they did was they went into what's called the WET F, which is the pool here at the Johnson Space Flight Center. And they had an astronaut actually go under water.

You can see it there. And he's practicing the technique, how they would do it, to give them an idea of how the best ways are to handle it. And so you saw what they've come up with, the idea of using forceps and a hacksaw if necessary.

Now, while all of this was going on, President Bush, this morning, took some time out to talk to the crew in space. And the president spoke with the entire crew and told them that they had been doing a terrific job and that everybody was watching them and routing for them, and he was proud of everything that they have done on this mission.

So they got the word from the president. And that's good enough for me -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: I can just imagine. I guess he sort of has the final word, right, John Zarrella?

ZARRELLA: Yes, he does.

PHILLIPS: All right. Thank you so much.

Well, you can visit our Web site for a special report on Discovery's mission, test your knowledge of the shuttle program's 24- year history by taking an audio quiz, read the biographies of Discovery' crew. It's all at CNN.com/shuttle.

Chaos, casualties and a major capture in Iraq. Officials say that seven U.S. Marines are dead following two separate combat operations. It all happened yesterday just north of Baghdad.

In one incident, six Marines died while fighting near Haditha, about 40 miles away, near the town of Hit. A Marine died in a suicide car bombing. All seven Marines were assigned to the same unit.

Meanwhile, 29 people are hurt after a suicide car bomber attacked a U.S. military convoy today. That blast destroyed 15 vehicles as the convoy passed through a busy square in central Baghdad. The bomb left a three-foot-wide crater right there in the ground.

And an update on a story from last year involving a brazen attack on troops eating at a U.S. military mess hall in Mosul. Iraqi police say they've nabbed a top commander of the terror group thought responsible.

You'll remember the December suicide bombing killed 22 people, including 14 U.S. troops inside this tent. Officials say the top commander of Ansar al-Sunna, the group suspected of carrying out that attack, was picked up, along with a dozen others in that group, members in a series of raids in July.

Now, to London terror probe. British authorities will have to wait a few more weeks to learn if a suspected bomber will return to the U.K. An Italian judge says that he will set a date for Hamdi Issac's extradition hearing by early September. Because Issac is fighting extradition, Italian authorities have up to 60 days, with a possible 30-day extension, to decide if they'll return him to Britain.

Now, Italy has charged Issac with international terrorism. No word yet if those charges will interfere with the extradition process.

With the two-week anniversary of the second London attacks just two days away, the city is on high alert. And today, police sealed off several streets after reports came in of a suspicious package and smoke on a double-decker bus. But it turned out the bus was just having engine trouble.

Straight ahead, a search on the subway. Cameras watching who comes and goes. Are the tradeoffs in your privacy worth it for your security? We'll go in-depth.

And later, a bible curriculum for public schools raises some questions about the separation of church and state. We'll debate it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: In our "Security Watch" today, concessions for safety. Americans have endured a number of changes since 9/11, all in the name of homeland security. Surveillance cameras, random pat-downs at airports, bag searches, more changes are coming, too, that could push the envelope even further. That has privacy advocates worried.

Here's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the four years since the world came to face greater fears, greater forces, greater security, Lisa Kasmer has accepted one thing above all else.

LISA KASMER, HAIRSTYLIST: I think the world has changed a lot. I mean, it's a difference place to live.

FOREMAN: Living and working near Washington, D.C., she watches America's security revolution up close. And she doesn't always like it.

KASMER: Well, I have to worry every time I go anywhere about emptying my pockets and having somebody look at everything that I have and look through my purse.

FOREMAN (on camera): Some people say we just have to put up with this and it's worth it.

KASMER: To some extent, I definitely agree. But, like I said, I think that there is such a thing as too much, as excessive.

FOREMAN (voice-over): But jump forward five to 15 years, and security analysts say most Americans will be in for a lot more. Commuting? Count on cameras. Experts say the millions of police and private surveillance cameras already at work will be increasingly watched by computers. So, if you circle a government building too many times, license plate recognition software could give police instant pictures and a map of everywhere else you have been. Then match that with your driver's license, cell phone, Internet and credit records.

JAMES LEWIS, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: There are some really big gaps in our security.

FOREMAN: Jim Lewis is with the Center For Strategic and International Studies.

LEWIS: We're seeing some of these things tested for power plants, where cameras will notice if a car is driving around, if someone appears to be in a vehicle and surveilling the plant.

FOREMAN: At some offices and large public places, biometric systems are already becoming more common, scanning eyes or fingerprints to guard access to buildings and especially computers. Sophisticated I.D. badges designed to thwart counterfeiting are also growing in use at work and at schools. And more contain radio tracking devices to record your location every second, again matching your electronic record with any suspicious activity.

LEWIS: The use of sophisticated software to do data mining is already something that the private sector is doing. And it will be natural to look for solutions in antiterrorism there as well.

FOREMAN: The biggest challenge is public transportation because it involves so many people moving so rapidly. Today, security is obvious at most hubs, with police sometimes armed with machine-guns making their presence known. Bomb dogs, random bags searches, and experts are promoting more of all of this in the name of future safety.

In a dozen years, they say, when you enter many train stations, subways or airports, you will walk through built-in biohazard bomb and weapon detectors. Even highly advanced x-rays that look through your clothing may become cost-effective. No wonder, in the rush to security, privacy experts say American laws, written long before such technology, much also be scrutinized.

CEDRIC LAURANT, ELECTRONIC PRIVACY INFORMATION CENTER: The problem is that there no privacy framework in place that specifies what's going to happen with that data, for which purpose it could be used.

FOREMAN (on camera): Whether it's pictures, electronic data?

LAURANT: Who will get access to it.

FOREMAN: Still, the Security Industry Association says, while, right now, the nation's security infrastructure is like an unfinished building, with bare beams and wires hanging everywhere, over the next decades, it will be completed. And in the process it will largely disappear.

(voice-over): So much so, that they dream of a day when at the airport you will be so thoroughly scanned, identified and tracked walking through the building that you'll get right on to your plane.

Lisa Kasmer can't wait, because right now the endless of talk of terror and security is unsettling.

KASMER: And it definitely makes people more aware.

FOREMAN: And when she turns on the news each evening, though she knows she is safer, she doesn't always feel that way. Even safe at home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The nature of the bombs is critical...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All for more surveillance cameras...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that we're starting to see a pattern here...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Multiple bombings spaced shortly apart...

FOREMAN: Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So could a national I.D. card be part of your future?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANK SESNO, CONTRIBUTING CORRESPONDENT (on camera): You know what people are going to say, "There goes Tom Ridge. What's wrong with Tom Ridge?"

A national I.D.? A central database in the United States of America? Are you crazy?

TOM RIDGE, FMR. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: It doesn't have to be a central database, but it does have to be a standard form of identification. I am optimistic enough and confident enough that we can come up with a system that would protect privacy rights, but also significantly enhance security.

SESNO (voice-over): Would it prevent another 9/11? Those hijackers all managed to get valid drivers' licenses or state-issued I.D.s Would it have stopped Timothy McVeigh? He had a license long before he bombed Oklahoma City.

Would a national I.D. have stopped the London bombers? Apparently, they were all legal residents.

RIDGE: It should not be viewed as the be all and end all and the answer to every security problem that we have. It should be viewed as one of a series of steps, particularly in a post-9/11 world, that has definite security benefits, but also other benefits to the 21st century world in which we live in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So why does the former head of Homeland Security support them? We're going to tell you as our special "Safe At Home" series continues on "PAULA ZAHN NOW." That's right here on CNN, starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

We're committed to providing the most reliable coverage of news that affects your security. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest information day and night.

Live picture now via our affiliate WFAA in Dallas-Ft. Worth. What we can tell you now is that American Airlines, that DC-9 that landed in Dallas-Ft. Worth not long ago, had an electrical problem on board. That's where those reports of smoke in the cockpit came from.

We're told now that was the cause. Everyone on board that aircraft has been evacuated. What you're seeing now are the buses that are taking the passengers from the aircraft back to the airport.

So it look like everything's -- it looks like everything's safe and sound. This is a few minutes ago, the plane that landed. And the passengers evacuate safely, due to an electrical problem. That's what cause the smoke in the cockpit.

DC-9, American Airlines, landing safely in Dallas, Texas. It was coming, I'm told, from Arizona.

Well, straight ahead, you've seen the ad. American carmakers are offering deep discounts. But are those deals driving away? We'll tell you about it ahead on LIVE FROM.

President Bush signs CAFTA. What does the trade deal mean for you? A little CAFTA 101 straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And live from beat control (ph), the ink is dry on CAFTA. President Bush sign the hard-fought Central America Free Trade Agreement today. It eliminates U.S. and Central American trade barriers. The president says it will advance peace and prosperity in the region.

The agreement gets rid of foreign tax on exports, saving more than $1 billion. The countries taking part with the U.S.: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

One out of every 10 jobs is directly linked to U.S. exports. The Bush administration says the average family sees annual benefits of $1,300 to $2,000 from two major trade agreements in the 1990s.

Now, other money matters now.

Bargain basement prices, employee discounts. The big three U.S. carmakers used a lot of gimmicks to lure buyers into their showrooms, but are some of those deep discounts disappearing?

Chris Huntington with more in New York.

Hi, Chris.

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, for now, the automakers are going to extend those so-called employee price discounts. More on that in a second.

But first, let's give you a quick tally of the July sales figure. Absolutely astronomical. In fact, those incentive plans are working and working well, getting a lot of people into the showrooms and moving a lot of cars and trucks off the floors.

GM reporting that its total vehicle sales in July up 20 percent. Ford up 29 percent. Chrysler U.S. car and truck sales up 25 percent.

In fact, Ford is saying that its sales of the popular F-150 pickup, which is the best-selling light vehicle in America, hit an all-time record. They're saying, Ford is saying it's the highest monthly sales of any particular model since the Model T.

Now, back to these employee discounts, which all the automakers are offering. It's proved incredibly successful.

What we're showing you here is basically crunched by Edmunds.com. This is the total value of the savings, considering all incentives, including the employee discount plan now versus the spring. So basically, since April or May.

And you can see that the incentives offered are up at GM and Ford. They're actually down at Chrysler.

What's interesting, though, Kyra, is that overall cost of these incentive plans to the automakers are down considerably from a year ago. So, in fact, what the automakers have achieved by going to these employee discount plans is a simpler price structure that gets more people into the showroom floors, but, in fact, doesn't really save people a whole lot of money from what they were paying a year ago, and in many model cases, from what they even would have paid a couple months ago -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Chris Huntington, thank you so much.

Straight ahead, faith or facts? That's what we're talking about next. A public schools district plan to teach a bible course is coming under fire from critics. Two guests with a very different view on that subject, they're going to join me live straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com