Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

Travelers Seeing Delays at La Guardia; Bush Pardons Thanksgiving Turkey; Memo Claims Bush Wanted to Bomb Al Jazeera

Aired November 22, 2005 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: From CNN live headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. Here's the stories we're working on for you right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP0

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, come on, come on, come on!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: An explosion in Iraq, a ceremony marred by a mortar. This hour, veterans' voices, firsthand experience. They tell us their definitions of an exit strategy.

Tough travel. What you need to know before you make that trip over the river and through the woods for Thanksgiving.

And turkey tradition with a twist. We're moments away from the presidential pardon for one lucky bird. We'll bring it to you live.

CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

Let the great migration begin. Travel and turkey go together for millions of Americans during Thanksgiving week. And if you're on the move to get a head start, you've got a lot of company. Airports are packed, including Hartsfield-Jackson right here in Atlanta, Georgia. A crowd is already building, and it's expected to get busier the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

But AAA says more than 80 percent of travelers will drive. A lot of you will have to deal with some of the rough weather, too. This is a live look at the conditions right now in Boston. A strong storm giving parts of the northeast an early taste of winter, already dumping rain and snow in that region.

Our meteorologist Bonnie Schneider keeping a close eye on the weather conditions for you right now.

Hi, Bonnie.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right, Bonnie. Thank you so much. We'll be talking a lot today, of course.

And bad weather and big crowds making it a day of delays at New York's La Guardia Airport already. CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff is there.

Give us a feel for what it's like.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the situation is improving here, because the weather has been improving. Earlier today, very intense thunderstorms. In fact, the thunder was so intense here that we were having car alarms set off.

So the lightning, the thunder, that's all gone. Now we've just got drizzle outside. As a result the planes are getting off of the tarmac, getting into the air.

The delays now in terms of the departure, well, about 20 percent of the flights listed on the board behind me for American Airlines here at the terminal, about 20 percent of them are delayed at the moment. But the delays are only about a half hour or so. Some 15 minutes.

And the poor folks who are flying up to Bangor, Maine, waited five and a half hours, this entire morning. They have finally taken off. So they're on their way. And hopefully, they'll have a good flight and get there at least on a timely basis once they're -- now that they are in the air.

But certainly, the worst delay that we've seen so far today. Most of the people, though, glad to be here, glad to be able to beat the rush.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I confess that the first place I looked was the monitor. But so far, so good. We'll see. I don't have high hopes just with the weather.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The weather is pretty bad. I rushed to work to get out of the office so I could get here as fast as possible, because I heard of the traffic and all the delays that were going on on the way to La Guardia. So I'm trying to beat the snow storm supposedly coming in tomorrow, I heard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: The situation clearly could get a lot worse tomorrow. Of course, that's when the real crowds come to the airport and take off for the holiday.

Also, even this afternoon, they say here after 3 p.m., things typically get busy at La Guardia. People have spent the day at New York and then taking off in the afternoon and the late afternoon.

So tomorrow, likely to be some serious delays whether or not we do have the snow storms. But that is what we are expecting in terms of the forecast.

By the way, the expectation here, the typical expectation here is that you do have delays, because so far this year one-third of the flights arriving at La Guardia have actually arrived late -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So are you going to be flying out of there? Are you going anywhere for Thanksgiving, Allan?

CHERNOFF: Kyra, I'm driving. We're just driving about 15 miles, that's it.

PHILLIPS: All right. That's not too bad.

All right. So we've covered the delays. We've covered the conditions there. One of the fliers you talked to said she was expecting a snow storm, wanting to get out before that snow storm. Bonnie's talked a little bit about the weather. We always know there's the unexpected issue of weather, of course, in the New York area.

What are they saying at the airport? They monitor it there from the tower and from, of course, in the booths.

CHERNOFF: Right. Things are supposed to get quite a bit colder. But in terms of the precipitation that we've had so far this morning, that is easing up. So it looks like it's going to be improving.

But the forecast is for some snow coming later on. So that certainly is a real possibility for tomorrow. They've been talking about that, in fact, for a few days around here. So another incentive for people to get to the airport early, take off, if they are taking a flight for the Thanksgiving holiday.

PHILLIPS: All right. Allan Chernoff, who is driving this holiday season, thank you so much. We'll continue checking with you on conditions there at La Guardia.

Now, something else that we're following. We do it every year at Thanksgiving time. You know that. We go live to Washington, where an annual pre-Thanksgiving ritual is about to begin.

I know, usually it's outside in the Rose Garden. But this time it's inside. You know, this is the 58th time a sitting president has actually pardoned a turkey, not counting the occasional political maneuver, of course.

Now, this proud tradition of executive clemency began with President Harry Truman. And history scholars know it as the origin of Truman's famous expression, remember that, "the pluck stops here"? Actually, two turkeys will be spared during the ceremony, the official bird and, taking a page from the Miss America pageant, an official alternate.

We're just waiting to find out the names of the lucky birds.

Now -- now that's tape from last year. Is that right? All right. So we've got tape from last year in the Rose Garden, of course. You remember the moment. And now inside we're waiting for the live event inside the walls of the White House there. We'll bring it to you as soon as it happens. And news today of an added bonus, by the way, for these lucky ducks, or turkeys. After winning a presidential pardon, what will they do next? You got it. They're going to Disneyland. It had nothing to do with the Super Bowl.

Previously pardoned turkeys were sent to the unfortunately named Frying Pan Park, where they only averaged about six months of life. This time, they'll be honorary grand marshals at Disney's Thanksgiving parade in Anaheim, California, and will live out their natural lives at the theme park.

The animal rights group PETA is putting a faux feather in its cap right now for effecting that switch, so they say. And they've been petitioning the White House, as you know, for five years to send the birds to a better environment.

We'll bring you the pardoning of the Thanksgiving turkeys as soon as it happens live.

Let's talk about the fight for Iraq. In a nutshell...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: I'll tell you, that soldier remained very calm as he sort of went underneath the podium there. A mortar shell actually injecting violence, chaos and fear into what should have been a purely triumphant moment, the handing over of 1,000 acres and 18 presidential palaces from the U.S. military to Iraqi government control.

The U.S. had dubbed the site, as Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, Forward Operating Base Danger. The U.S. ambassador to Iraq and the leader of coalition forces were there for the ceremonies. But no one was hurt.

Danger makes 28 of those forward bases the U.S. has turned over to date. And let's get more about that and some late news of a suicide attack in Kirkuk from Nic Robertson. He's in Baghdad -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, two attacks today in Kirkuk. One coming on a police checkpoint just outside the town about 1:30 p.m. A suicide car bomber driving his car up to a checkpoint. Only two policemen injured in that attack.

But later in the day, the police the focus of another attack. A grenade thrown at a police officer in the center of town, about 10 to 6 in the evening. He was killed. And just as people were gathering around him to try and help him, that's when a suicide car bomber drive right up to where everyone was gathered, detonated his explosives. Seventeen people killed, 28 wounded. Of those killed, four of them were Iraqi policemen. Five Iraqi policemen wounded in that attack, as well. It seems in Kirkuk it's the Iraqi police who were the targets today, Kyra. PHILLIPS: Nic, I'm sorry, we had other things feeding into us. But I'm listening to what you're saying about what's happening in Kirkuk. Let's talk about this attack. There were some high target officials there. Do you think this was well planned?

ROBERTSON: When you look at what happened, this is a large complex of palaces, 1,000 acres. There were very, very high-profile visitors, U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, the head of the coalition forces, General George Casey. It would have been a very attractive target for the insurgents.

It's not clear if they fired intentionally at this hand-over ceremony. But it probably had been talked about in the town. The insurgents seem to know where to fire their mortars and exactly at what time. So it doesn't -- it appears not to have been coincidence. It would appear, at least, as if this was a targeted attack but the mortar failed to go off and it missed by 300 yards. So nobody was injured at the end of it, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Nic, you know just the war of words that's been taking place here in the United States. Congressman John Murtha, 37 years in the Marine Corps, coming forward, saying it's time to get the troops out. There's nothing more that they can do. A lot of controversy about those comments.

You're there, you're on the ground. What do you think? Say American troops pulled out next week. I mean, can -- would Iraq be all right?

ROBERTSON: If they pulled out in a week's time, I think most people here say no, they wouldn't be. When you look at the Iraqi forces that are coming in, getting ready to replace U.S. forces, some places you go they're looking good. They're operating on their own. Yes, they need more backup. Yes, they need some armored cars.

In other areas you go to, the Iraqi army just doesn't seem ready to fill in after the U.S. military. But if you put them in charge now, they would pretty much fall down.

When I talked to General Dempsey here, who's in charge of sort of overseeing that transition, he thinks it's really important not to rush the process of getting the army ready.

PHILLIPS: Nic Robertson, live in Baghdad, thank you so much, Nic. We appreciate you giving us some time today. A lot going on there.

You can catch Nic's in-depth report on the status of Iraq's army tonight on "ANDERSON COOPER 360." That's a new time now, 10 p.m. Eastern.

Well, coming up, Al Jazeera back in the news. The Middle Eastern television network is a lightning rod for critics, but did President Bush really want it to be bombed? Wait until you hear what a British newspaper is reporting.

The news keeps coming. We're going to be bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Don't know if that's Marshmallow or Yam, but the names have been revealed. The turkey that will be pardoned, the alternate somewhere around. We're going to go ahead and listen in to the president here. See if he says anything more.

I don't know. This may -- he's already made his speech about, of course, this annual pre-Thanksgiving ritual that you see playing out right now. It's the 58th time that a sitting president has pardoned a turkey.

I'm just getting word, that's Marshmallow. So Yam is the alternate. That's probably a good move. Don't more people like marshmallows than yams anyway? Or do you always have to put them together.

Anyway, this is always a great event for the kids. It's a proud tradition, as you know, of executive clemency that began with President Harry Truman. And history scholars know that the origin -- is he going to say anything? What do you think?

All right, here we go. Yes, here it comes. He's going to do the -- of course, we're going to get blocked out by all the photographers. There we go. We'll get the moment here for the official pardoning.

And while we wait for that, as you know -- actually, I don't know if you knew this. After winning the presidential pardon, guess where the turkeys go next? They're going to Disneyland. What a controversy with PETA on whether the previously pardoned turkeys should have gone to the unfortunately named Frying Pan Park, where they only averaged about six more months of life.

So now PETA, of course, is seeing this as a victory and the fact that these honorary grand marshals, Marshmallow and Yam, after being pardoned, will go to Disney's Thanksgiving parade in Anaheim, California, and live out their natural lives at the theme park.

All right. Let's talk about the jobs right now. A new survey shows that manufacturers are having trouble filling certain jobs. Susan Lisovicz has the story live from the New York Stock Exchange now.

Easy job there at White House right now, pardoning the turkey.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is one press photo op that I think the president does enjoy every year.

PHILLIPS: He doesn't mind taking questions.

LISOVICZ: We have some turkeys we can tell you about here at the stock exchange.

But let me answer your first question, Kyra. And that is that there is a severe shortage of skilled workers for manufacturing positions. That's according to a survey by the National Association of Manufacturers and Deloy (ph) Consulting.

Most manufacturers said 10 percent or more of their positions have gone unfilled for lack of the right candidates. In addition, eight out of 10 employers say they face moderate or severe shortages of qualified workers.

The shortfall is even greater in skilled trades for positions like welding and machinists. Critics say manufacturers have brought the problem upon themselves by cutting back on training programs and shifting work away from unionized locations. But of course, that was an area that saw a big job cuts in recent years.

(STOCK REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Back here live at the international desk, you can see everybody working the phones and working stories for you from Iraq to bird flu to what we're about to talk about now.

Did President Bush want to bomb Al Jazeera Television? Well, a British newspaper is stirring up talk and controversy here in America right now. The "Daily Mirror" says that a British civil servant has been charged with leaking a government memo that reveals an alleged U.S. plan to bomb Al Jazeera.

The Bush administration has long been highly critical of Al Jazeera, accusing the middle -- Mideast-based satellite television network of spewing anti-American propaganda.

Well, according to the "Daily Mirror," the British government memo suggested that Prime Minister Tony Blair had to talk President Bush out of bombing Al Jazeera headquarters in Qatar. The newspaper says that its sources differ on whether Mr. Bush was serious about an attack on Al Jazeera or just joking.

Either the British government nor the U.S. embassy in London are commenting right now.

Octavia Nasr, CNN senior editor for Arab affairs, Al Jazeera is saying a lot about this report, obviously, on its web site, on its air. What are they saying?

OCTAVIA NASR, CNN SENIOR EDITOR FOR ARAB AFFAIRS: They're all over the story. Once again, Al Jazeera is the story, is the news story. It's just not -- it's not only reporting on it.

Basically, it is the lead story. They are reporting it basically based on what the "Mirror" is saying. But take a look, for example, here at their web site. You see here, this is the Arabic web site. It has -- the main story, there is the headline. And also it is two subheadlines here.

Very interesting, because you look at the titles here. I'm going to translate them for our viewers. This title says, "Experts believe Bush's plans to bomb Al Jazeera show the bankruptcy of his administration."

Whereas this headline here says, "Bush's plots are one of a series of the war on Al Jazeera."

And this one here is the actual story, which is you see here the picture of the "Daily Mirror" and Al Jazeera, this is their logo, and Blair and President Bush here.

So, you know, they're all over the story. They're upset about the story. But at the same time, they say that they want to look more into this.

This is the statement that they issued. I'm going to read a part of that statement. They say, "If the report is correct, then this would be both shocking and worrisome, not only to Al Jazeera but to media organizations across the world."

And then they continue to say, "It would cast serious doubts in regard to the U.S. administration's version of previous incidents involving Al Jazeera's journalists and offices."

PHILLIPS: So are they saying they want to investigate this memo, if indeed this story that "The Mirror" printed is true? I mean, will there be actual journalists from -- journalists from Al Jazeera pursuing this?

NASR: There will. That's what their statement says. Also, they are asking -- they're saying, "We sincerely urge both the White House and Downing Street to challenge the 'Daily Mirror' report."

So basically, they're saying they're not yet buying the information of the "Daily Mirror," but they want answers.

And their correspondent in Washington earlier said, Washington hasn't been so mute about anything, because basically Al Jazeera is calling the White House, the State Department, anybody that they can, to get some kind of reaction to the story, and they're not hearing much.

PHILLIPS: Let's say that this story is confirmed, that we're able to confirm it, that Al Jazeera can confirm it, and that indeed President Bush did want to bomb Al Jazeera and Tony Blair talked him out of it. Let's say Al Jazeera got bombed. How would that have affected war coverage and coverage of Arab issues?

NASR: You may remember during the war, Al Jazeera and the Arab -- the other networks were the only ones in Iraq. The western media was sort of kicked out in the beginning of the war. So with Al Jazeera not being there, it would have been a totally different story.

Now, it's interesting you mention that, because take a look at this on Al Jazeera's web site. Again, this one here, look at this picture. Very, very telling. This is their reporter who died in Iraq. This is Tarif Ayub (ph). He died from a bombing, a direct hit that their offices took in Baghdad. Al Jazeera logo again and the Statue of Liberty. And basically, the translation of this title is that Bush's plans are just one in a series of a war on Al Jazeera. So Al Jazeera does feel a little bit as being the target by the U.S. And basically, their statement speaks volumes here.

PHILLIPS: Was it confirmed that it was a U.S. bomb that...

NASR: No, not confirmed. And Al Jazeera didn't even point any fingers. But listen to their statement. What they're saying in the statement is that if this turns out to be true, that it would cast serious doubts in regard to the U.S. administration's version of previous incidents involving Al Jazeera's journalists and offices.

Al Jazeera's offices in Baghdad were bombed in 2003, and their Kabul offices were bombed in 2001. So they say Al Jazeera is not taking this lying down. They're saying, "We're going to investigate. We're going to look into this."

They want answers from both Downing Street and the White House. And they're saying, if this is true, then they want answers. Because as they say, this is very worrisome.

PHILLIPS: Well, sure, and here at the international desk I know everyone here is -- a number of people assigned to that beat are investigating that memo. Octavia Nasr, thank you so much.

NASR: Any time.

PHILLIPS: All right.

Well, we're also talking bird flu, of course. If you like Canadian duck, well, you're out of luck, at least for right now. The U.S., along with Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, banned all poultry from mainland British Columbia after a duck tested positive for a strain of avian flu.

Local authorities say that they're doing more tests to determine if the duck had the lethal H5-N1 strain or a less virulent form. But at the farm where the infected duck was found, they're taking no chances right now. At least 56,000 other birds are being pulled -- or culled, rather, to prevent the possible spread of the disease.

Meanwhile, as mainland China records at least 17 outbreaks of H5- N1 in birds since mid-October, officials order the immediate caging of all free ranging domestic birds in one eastern province. The measure is meant to prevent domestic poultry from coming into contact with potentially infected wild birds.

Today's move comes on the heels of new rules that require local Chinese officials to set up disease warning networks and stockpile emergency supplies. The government warns that officials who fail to detect and report outbreaks may face firing or jail.

China has confirmed one bird flu death in humans and suspected H5-N1 in another fatality. Well, we've heard what the politicians have to say about the Iraq war. But what about the men and women who have to fight it and have been left disabled by it?

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