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Potentially Dangerous Problem With Some Ford Vehicles; Tug of War Among Iraqis in Constitution Issues

Aired August 16, 2005 - 13:32   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: For six months now, CNN has been tracking a potentially dangerous problem with some Ford vehicles made with an electrical switch that ford stopped using several years ago. Certain models could possibly erupt into flames while parked and turned off, and in some cases allegedly catch fire in people's garages, burning down entire home. So what's the government agency that is charged with overseeing vehicle safety doing about this?
Investigative CNN correspondent Drew Griffin has a preview of his probe into whether enough is being done to protect you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN (voice over): The federal agency that is supposed to make sure cars and trucks are safe also issued no warning to the public about the nearly 15 million non-recalled vehicles. For months, CNN asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about any advice or any warning it might give to Ford owners whose vehicle contained the switch.

Finally, last week, the agency known as NHTSA sent us this e- mail: "It is as close as NHTSA has come to issuing a warning. It says, 'Any Ford owner experiencing problems related to the cruise control switch should get the problem repaired at a Ford dealer. And until do you, NHTSA now tells Ford owners, do not park your vehicle in your garage.'"

That warning has never been placed on NHTSA's Web site. NHTSA never took out an ad. The agency never held a press conference.

Nancy Lopez is a friend of the Washingtons.

NANCY LOPEZ, FRIEND OF CAR FIRE VICTIM: If somebody knows, government, whoever, knows that there's a potential risk for such a tragedy, why wouldn't you say something? Why would you not give people the opportunity to fix it before something terrible and tragic happens? I can't understand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Drew Griffin joins us now live with more on this pretty compelling story, that's for sure.

And I guess lot of people wondering what happened to the switch?

GRIFFIN: It's important to say that Ford stopped using this switch two years ago, but there are 16 million vehicles out there that have the same or similar switch. NHTSA, the federal agency, is investigating about four million of them; 1.1 million have been recalled, but for the rest, both NHTSA and Ford are saying the fire rates in those makes and models are just not high enough yet, Kyra, to have a recall.

PHILLIPS: OK, 16 million cars and trucks -- not enough to have a recall?

GRIFFIN: Well, the fire rates in many of those makes and models, is what's NHTSA's saying, is not high enough to warrant a recall.

PHILLIPS: Comparing the two, OK.

But, I mean, there are individuals saying they lost their homes, they lost all their belongings. I mean, isn't one situation enough?

GRIFFIN: Well, you and I would say so, looking at this from an emotional standpoint. But you have to take a look at what the federal government can do and is willing to do in terms of telling Ford recall 16 million vehicles. That is a lot. And the fire rate, the government is saying, are so low in some of these makes and models it doesn't warrant a recall based on, you know, their protocol.

PHILLIPS: So how is Ford taking a responsibility for what is happening?

GRIFFIN: Ford is taking no responsibility for either of two fires now that we know of, that have led to a death. They're take no responsibility, in fact, denying that their vehicles were involved in that. They do say that there are at least 100 fires related to this cruise-control switch catching fire, but they have not admitted anything really in court.

PHILLIPS: All right, so let's say I'm one of those owners, I'm one of the 16 million that might have this car or truck with this switch, what do I do?

GRIFFIN: Prior to today, we were saying, CNN was saying, our experts are saying, if you are concerned about this switch in your vehicle -- and you can see at CNN.com whether or not you have the switch or not -- you should go to a Ford dealer and pay for it yourself to have it either removed, or disconnected, or at the very least, park away from your home. Now the federal agency is saying basically the same thing.

PHILLIPS: OK. So I really don't need it, let's say I have it in my car. I mean, I lose my cruise control.

GRIFFIN: You lose your cruise control. And there isn't a replacement that is available. But again, with no recall mandated by the government, no recall issued by Ford, it will be up to you, the Ford owner, to pay for this yourself.

PHILLIPS: All right, look forward to the follow-ups. Thanks, Drew. Well, just in on a multicar crash on I-95. Actually, this was -- I apologize, I thought I was going on to another story. We're actually taking live pictures right now via one of our affiliates, WTTG. This is actually in Fairfax, Virginia, and it's a multicar crash, obviously, involving trucks and cars. It's on I-95. We can tell you the accident has caused quite a standstill. We're not sure what's happened, if there are any fatalities, but you can sort of see the extent of the collision and the condition of some of those cars. Rescue crews, firefighters, on the scene now. We'll continue to let you know about what's happening here on I-95 in Fairfax, Virginia.

We're following this story. Thanks to our affiliate WTTG.

Also, video just in. You know, we've been talking about that Venezuelan plane crash, 160 people onboard that aircraft. We just got this videotape in. This is new video of the scene of that Venezuelan crash. Now investigators not only in Venezuela, but also Panama, and Colombia and France, want to know what caused this. It's being called the deadliest airline disaster in Venezuelan history. Now a number of investigators working this crash site right now.

As you know, there were 160 people on board. It was a West Caribbean Airways jet. It crashed overnight. It was heading to the island of Martinique. We have Karl Penhaul, of course, from Bogota, working details on this story. He told me, of course, nothing is being ruled out at this ever, investigators are looking at engine failure and, so far, I asked him if, indeed, terrorism could be associated with this. He said nothing's been ruled out, but more than likely it looks like engine failure on that West Caribbean Airways jet. We're going to take a quick break.

More LIVE FROM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: As we go back to Iraq now, let's take a moment to look back at the framing of the United States constitution. This was a brand-new nation. The founding fathers were all men, and they had similar religious and ethnic backgrounds.

Now, fast forward to 2005 Iraq. The drafting of a constitution with thousands of years of ethnic and religious contention. A far more difficult task than the daunting draft that America's architects drew up. Let's talk about some of the contentious issues at play, all determined to be heard, of course.

For more on the tug-of-war among Iraqis, I'm joined by Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Michael, good to see you.

MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Nice to be with you.

PHILLIPS: First of all, let's start out by looking at a map and how we can divide up the percentage of Sunnis, the percentage of Shia and the percentage of Kurds. Obviously, 60 percent of the population, Shia. Now that we sort of see the numbers, let's talk about what each group wants. Starting, of course, with the Shia. Of course, they want religious law in the constitution. What else is important to them?

O'HANLON: Well in a sense, as you know, any democracy -- any democratic system's going to work to their advantage, because, as you say, they are 60 percent of the population. They could be expected to win a lot of the votes if they vote along ethno-religious lines.

But they've gotten a little bit greedy, I have to say. They've been a great ally of the U.S. for the last two-and-half years, and they've shown a lot of restraint. But now it appears they also want, in addition to what you mention -- they want, potentially, the opportunity to keep most of the oil revenue from the southern part of Iraq, where 80 percent of the country's oil is located. And that's even more than their share of the population, obviously.

And they also want some special role for their religious clergy in the constitution, not just in cultural or religious life, but encoded and enshrined in the constitution itself. Exactly what that means, I don't know. I'm not even sure they have been clear or specific. But in other words, they want specific rights on oil, special rights on religion, and not to mention, just being the largest voting bloc in a democratic country

PHILLIPS: OK now let's take a look at the Sunnis and what the Sunni want and sort of compare it to the Shia.

O'HANLON: The Sunnis are primarily concerned about holding Iraq together. Because if Iraq doesn't stay together, they don't get any oil revenue. They don't get any of Iraq's general resources, which are primarily petroleum, and they're left in a barren desert in the northwest of the country. Very little farmland, very few major cities. They have a slice of Baghdad and that's about it.

And then, of course, they're a minority, without any particular ability to re-exert their influence in Baghdad. So, for them, holding the country together with a sharing by the national government of oil revenue on a per capita or per region basis, that's the key issue.

They also care about Islam and they care about the role of religion in public life. It's not that they're more secular, necessarily, than the Shia, I don't think, but they, of course, have a different kind of Islamic religion. And they don't want to see Shia clergy given a special role, nor do they want to see anybody associated with Iran, also a Shia state, given a special role in the constitution. So for them, it's primarily about a strong central government without a big role for religion.

PHILLIPS: All right, I think we're definitely setting the scene for how difficult this is in putting a constitution together, because of all these different wants and needs.

Then you bring in the Kurds, the smallest percentage in Iraq. But, boy, under Saddam Hussein's regime, the Kurds suffered so much from the gassing, to the mass graves. Basically, they just want autonomy more than anything else, don't they? And, the -- I guess, the ability to leave Iraq.

O'HANLON: Yes, and they want the oil along the ethnic fault line, where they might establish an international border, if they ever become independent. So they don't just want autonomy, to go back into the hills and weave rugs, they want the oil, too. And they want the cities of Kirkuk and Mosul, Kirkuk especially, which are historically largely Kurdish -- but other groups have some claims as well -- and which sit on top of most of the oil, which is in Kurdistan.

So it might be more doable for them if, indeed, they were prepared to share that oil on an equitable basis with the Sunni Arabs, the other large ethnic group in that region, and also the Turkomen and others. But frankly, they seem to want to claim that these cities and the oil around them are Kurdish, and to take a large fraction of the oil revenue as a result.

So it's not just an innocent sort of autonomy, leave us alone, let us be our own people. They have very specific claims on some of these contested cities and oil resources.

PHILLIPS: So distribution of oil wealth, the role of Islam, and women. We've been talking a lot about the rights of women. How do you find a balance of power with that? Who's been more sensitive to the role of women when it come to being a part of the government?

O'HANLON: Well, I have two things to say here. One, I think that, ironically, the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein, with largely a Sunni Arab support, was one of the most pro-feminist or pro-women regimes in the entire Arab world. Not necessarily saying a lot. But women did have a lot of good professional jobs and relatively few restraints or asymmetries in their legal standing. So, in a way, the Sunni Arabs have been the best protectors within Iraq.

I can't quite figure out to what extent the role of women in future Iraqi life, however, is likely to be a big divisive issue among ethnic groups. It's obviously a big issue in general, in a more abstract sense, in a long-term sense, and in a very practical sense for the well-being of women. But I'm not sure how much it's likely to either contribute to or mitigate these strains among Shia, Sunni Arabs and Kurds. In that sense, it may be a different kind of issue, less contentious, less likely to pour gasoline on the insurgency or the potential for civil war.

PHILLIPS: Michael O'Hanlon, senior follow at the Brookings Institution, thank you so much.

O'HANLON: My pleasure.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead on LIVE FROM, putting words to the picture we all know so well. The voices of 9/11.

And we're taking more of your e-mails today. Dr. Otis Brawley from Emory University joins me next hour to answer your questions about cancer. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: The Associated Press confirming this for us. Evidently, Madonna has suffered a few broken bones in a horse riding accident. It turns out, on her 47th birthday, during the celebration, it was -- took a bit of a different turn. She suffered several broken bones in this horse riding accident evidently at her country home outside of London. We're told, according to her publicist here in the A.P., it says that she was hospitalized with three cracked ribs, a broken collarbone and a broken hand.

We'll continue to bring you more information on Madonna's condition there after a horse riding accident there at her country home.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Coming up in our second hour of LIVE FROM, the enormous response to our cancer special yesterday.

Dr. Otis Raleigh (ph) is back with me to answer some of your e- mail questions that we didn't get to yesterday. So stay tuned for that.

Now, the images of 9/11 -- well, they're already seared into our collective memory. But now newly released audiotapes are stirring renewed grief and shock over what actually happened on that fateful September morning.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick with more on the voices of 9/11.

We dare you to turn away from them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The World Trade Center, Tower Number 1 is on fire, the whole left side of the building. There was just a huge explosion.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are the voices from that day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Engine 1-0, World Trade Center, 10-60, send every available ambulance, everything you've got to the World Trade Center now.

FEYERICK: Everyone racing to help, unaware of how bad it would get.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got 02, what I say, 02 Victor, 1-0 Adams conditions, 0-4. Come on, I can't have everybody over here, just give me a second.

FEYERICK: The radios were jammed. Too many people, too few frequencies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All units at this time, unless you are assigned to the MCI, you need to keep off the frequency.

FEYERICK: MCI, short for mass casualty incident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mayday, mayday, another plane hit the second tower.

FEYERICK: Everything moving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All companies assigned to 1377 box, you are to respond (INAUDIBLE) Manhattan fifth alarm at 2 World Trade Center.

FEYERICK: Everything standing still.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey Central, somebody's got to call (INAUDIBLE) and get them to open up the highways. We have numerous ambulance stuck on (INAUDIBLE) because of the traffic.

FEYERICK: It was the largest attempted rescue in New York City history.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 86th floor, Building 1, Room 8617, people trapped. Also in Building 2, 97th floor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't get there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have six people trapped.

FEYERICK: A rescue shattered by the unspeakable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Be advised, we have jumpers there, jumpers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.

Division 1 be advised, Battalion 2, advised you have jumpers from the World Trade Center.

FEYERICK: Then, this warning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've just been advised, the North Tower is leaning north. All operations are being moved north of the tower.

FEYERICK: Even today no one knows how many firefighters actually heard the warning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The World Trade Center collapsed. Building 2 has collapsed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Urgent! Urgent!

Everybody get out. We had a collapse of the second tower. Everybody is running from there.

FEYERICK: And then, darkness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are in total blackness with a cardiac arrest patient. Honestly, we have no way to get out of here. The visibility is none and we're not able to breathe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything south of the Brooklyn Bridge is in a dust cloud. There's no visibility. People all over the streets.

FEYERICK: The rescue had become a retreat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're retreating toward the water because the debris is still falling on us.

Second going down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 10-4. 10-4.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Building 2 has come down. Building 2 has come down.

FEYERICK: And with it, more than 2,700 lives; 343 of them firefighters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any injuries to members of the department, volunteers or firefighters at your location?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's multiple injuries.

We're still trying to ascertain. Myself, injured and Chief Browne is checking himself out now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, we're trying to recoup. We lost all units here at this area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George, have them mobilize the Army.

We need the Army in Manhattan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, all units stand by. Everybody try to calm down.

FEYERICK: Voices of history frozen in time.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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