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Travel Aftermath of Blizzard '06; Storm Over Katrina; V.P. Hunting Mishap

Aired February 13, 2006 - 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: Remember the blizzard of '06? Well, if you were in it, you surely have a story when the question comes up decades from now. If you weren't, our Miles O'Brien has a story, and it is one for the books.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love a Nor'easter. There's nothing like it. Nor'easters.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Old Man Winter had spent the season in Russia, but he came home over the weekend and he wasn't in a good mood. Blizzard conditions from Maryland to Maine, with high winds, bitter cold and snow measured in feet. A whiteout for the record books.

In New York City, a single storm record -- 26.9 inches in Central Park. In Boston, a foot-and-a-half. In Philadelphia, a foot. Baltimore, two feet. And heavy snow was the only thing flying.

Thousands of flights in and out of the Northeast Corridor were canceled, tens of thousands of passengers stranded. Washington's Reagan National Airport and all three major New York airports closed for a time Sunday. And when JFK reopened, a Turkish Airways jet slid off a runway. Luckily, no one injured.

Trains were better than planes, but not by much. Amtrak rolled on, but many commuter trains were not making tracks.

And automobiles were not so mobile. The plows and the salt trucks hit the slick roads, but couldn't keep up with the frozen deluge.

In many places, it was a blizzard -- high winds, low visibility. And where the snow was heavy and wet, the power lines were no match. Two hundred thousand homes in the Northeast in the dark and cold in the wake of the Nor'easter of '06, the day Old Man Winter came home, a story to tell and retell for the grandkids some day.

Miles O'Brien, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

PHILLIPS: What a difference a day makes in a snowstorm. On Cape Cod today, you can actually see in front of you, and then some. See for yourself. Here's CNN's John King.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A spectacularly beautiful morning after the blizzard here in Chatham, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, and pretty much across the region. Some power outages, but officials say they believe most of this state, and especially this part here on Cape Cod, escaped any major damages. Snow accumulations in some areas up to about 18 inches. More than a foot fell here on Cape Cod.

The big problem, the big concern yesterday was coastal flooding, not just the snowfall. We were here during the height of this storm over on the fish pier to my right. And, in fact, at high tide, water was surging over the pier and the boats were bouncing about in the water. But the flooding was not as bad as some had feared.

Much the same situation on the other side of town. At one point they thought they might have to close the main raid through because of coastal flooding. We saw the waters coming up but they never did reach the roadside.

The plows were out all day. There are drifts around town. Considerable snow accumulation.

But it is a beautifully sunny day today. The school is closed but spectacular weather. And they say this weather should last throughout the week making the cleanup much easier.

The big reason they think they escaped significant damage here is the difference of the snow. Usually New England get as very wet, heavy snow. They thought that would bring down the power lines, especially with the combination of the high-gusting winds we had all day yesterday.

But as you can see, this snow, while it's beginning to pack, is still quite powdery. So while it was swirling in the winds yesterday making a spectacular whiteout conditions, it did not bring down power lines here on Cape Cod or across most of this region. So officials believe in the aftermath of this storm some more cleanup to do but mostly just spectacular beauty here on Cape Cod and across the region.

John King, CNN, in Chatham, Massachusetts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, the sun is out, the flurries are gone. The groundhog is vindicated, more or less. Does this mean that we're off the hook for the season?

Let's check in with CNN's Jacqui Jeras and Dave Hennin in our weather center.

(WEATHER REPORT) PHILLIPS: Well, it took a lot of criticism over Hurricane Katrina. Now Michael Chertoff is fighting back. The Homeland Security secretary accused critics of trying to drive a wedge between concerns about terrorism and concerns about natural disasters. He spoke at a House panel that was preparing a report that calls the overall governmental response to Hurricane Katrina "a failure of leadership."

CNN Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve standing by with more.

Hi, Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

As you know, this draft report from the House committee investigating Katrina came out over the weekend and was very critical of the Department of Homeland Security and Michael Chertoff in particular. He did not respond directly to that report today while speaking to a group of emergency managers. However, he did say that the response to the storm had been unacceptable, and he took responsibility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I want to be clear. As the secretary of Homeland Security, I am accountable and accept responsibility for the performance of the entire department, good and bad. I also have the responsibility to fix what went wrong so we can meet the president's expectations and the public's expectations for helping disaster victims as quickly and effectively as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: Some of the specific things that Chertoff said he was working on in preparation for the upcoming hurricane season: a unified command structure within the Department of Homeland Security that would make sure that all people across the department got information in a timely manner and they all got it at the same time; improved communication so they had a better idea of what was happening on the ground; improved logistics so they can get supplies to victims of storms; improved debris removal so you can turn the corner into recovery more quickly; and an improved claims process to assist victims of various and sundry disasters.

Some people say it's no coincidence that the secretary unveiled these proposals just a day before he is scheduled to appear before a Senate committee investigating Katrina -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jeanne Meserve.

Thanks so much.

MESERVE: You bet.

PHILLIPS: Back to our top story now, the man the vice president shot. A pretty grabbing headline, isn't it?

Well, he's a prominent Texas Republican and a Bush-Cheney campaign contributor. Harry Whittington is recovering at a Corpus Christi hospital right now.

That's where we find our CNN's Ed Lavandera.

What do we know, Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we understand that Mr. Whittington is doing well, that he's been sitting up in a chair in his hospital room actually joking around with nurses, we've been told, about how he's become an instant celebrity because the vice president of the United States shot him over the weekend.

Of course this hunting accident taking place Saturday afternoon, but it wasn't almost until 24 hours after the incident that we found out about it. A family friend of the vice president who owns the ranch where this hunting expedition was taking place had called the local newspaper here to inform them as to what happened, and then that news was spread out over The Associated Press. And of course the frenzy has begun here to kind of get to the bottom of what happened over the weekend.

But Mr. Whittington is in the hospital. He is alert, talking to people, doing quite well, although he is being held in the intensive care unit. But we're told here by officials that has more to do with his age. He's 78.

He was hit by these shotgun pellets across the face, the neck, and the torso area. So they won't talk about exactly how deep the wounds were, but Mr. Whittington was about 30 yards away from the vice president when this shooting took place. And of course it all boils down to, apparently in this hunting group, the group had become separated, and Mr. Cheney was with one group, and this other -- and he was in the other.

And he came up behind the vice president, and the vice president didn't know he was there, about 30 yards away. And when the vice president fired at some quail, he was hit and then airlifted here to this hospital and has been treated here for almost 48 hours now -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Ed, you might not know this technical question, but I'm going to throw it at you anyway just in case. Do you hunt? Let me ask you that, first of all. Are you a hunter?

LAVANDERA: No, but, you know, having lived Texas all my life, I know a few.

PHILLIPS: OK, so you know -- all right, so bird shot, that's the small led shot in the shotgun shells, right?

LAVANDERA: Well, you know, I have a little prop here we can play around with if you like. PHILLIPS: Yes, I'm trying to figure -- I'm trying to figure out the difference between bird shot and I guess a regular bullet. I hope -- I'm probably sounding really stupid right now, but I'm just -- I'm trying to -- yes, kind of explain.

LAVANDERA: All right. Well, for the hunters in the audience, they will think this is just, you know, goofy and way too basic. But for those of...

PHILLIPS: But a lot of people don't know, yes. Like me.

LAVANDERA: I understand. I understand. I'm just -- you know -- you know -- we will get the e-mails later.

PHILLIPS: Yes, I'm coming right out and just telling you, I want to know. Explain it to me.

LAVANDERA: So, the shotgun shell basically -- and inside this little red part here is full of these pellets which, for lack of a better term, it probably looks a lot like BBs. What happens is, when this is shot, this launches from the shotgun shell, and the closer it is to the firing point, the closer those pellets are together.

So, as more distance goes, you know, past this, the pellets kind of spread apart like this. So, if you are closer to the -- obviously to the barrel of the gun, the force with which this hits you is much -- much more intense and probably very likely deadly. But at 30 yards away, it gives the pellets time to kind of spread across, and that's why you see that he was hit over a little bit larger area. So, across the face and the neck and the torso area.

We understand that, you know, in cases like this, there are, you know, plastic surgeons and doctors that are brought in to -- to see, you know, how deeply these pellets penetrate. The doctors here won't -- won't exactly say how severe the wounds have been, but since we've been told that he's walking around, talking, and that sort of thing, we can kind of deduce that perhaps the penetration of these pellets into the body hasn't been that severe.

PHILLIPS: Got it. All right. Ed, thank you so much. And I should have known that you would have the prop to be able to explain.

Ed Lavandera, thank you very much.

LAVANDERA: Just missing the gun.

PHILLIPS: Yes. You know what? It's OK, because there's something in me, I don't want to see a gun in your hands right now.

LAVANDERA: There you go.

PHILLIPS: Ed Lavandera.

All right. Thanks, Ed.

LAVANDERA: I'm a bad shot. PHILLIPS: Well, more on our top story straight ahead. We're expecting a hospital briefing, updating the condition of this Austin lawyer, Harry Whittington, that we have been talking about. We will bring you the latest.

More LIVE FROM after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Dr. David Blancher is introducing himself. He is the medical director of ER here at the hospital in Corpus Christi. Trying to find out the update now on the Austin lawyer, Harry Whittington. As you know, the man the vice president shot in a hunting accident.

DR. DAVID BLANCHARD, EMERGENCY ROOM DIRECTOR, CHRISTUS SPOHN HOSPITAL: ... that it's not going to turn to any tragedy whatever. There will be a good outcome in this particular situation.

We are not experiencing any difficulty, any problems. We have not encountered any at this point. And we are very fortunate to have a wonderful team that is taking care of our gentleman.

If there's any questions, now is the time to ask.

QUESTION: Can you just update us generally on his condition? (INAUDIBLE)?

PETER BANKO, ADMINISTRATOR, CHRISTUS SPOHN HOSPITAL: No, I'll handle the statements regarding Mr. Whittington's condition.

The trauma team evaluated him this morning. He is going to be moving to our trauma step-down unit later on today.

Despite some of the rumors that have gone around -- and they have not come out of the hospital -- he was -- never planned on being discharged today. He's moving to our trauma step-down unit, which is basically a normal medical surgical unit. He will continue his care there. We have no -- he's not being discharged today, but we don't have a specific date and time of his discharge.

QUESTION: But the condition, is it stable, is it (INAUDIBLE)?

PHILLIPS: We'll continue to follow that live news conference. It's good news, good outcome. No problems at this point about Austin lawyer Harry Whittington.

We'll now take you straight to the president. U.N. Chief Kofi Annan meeting at the White House.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... common interest in our desire for peace and liberty around the world. And we had a good discussion on Sudan, with a particular emphasis on Darfur. I told the secretary-general that Mrs. Garang was in to see me the other day and that we had a long discussion.

She and I had a long discussion not only about the Darfur region but about implementing the North-South accords. And I appreciate the secretary's leadership on that issue.

We talked about the broader Middle East. And there's a lot to talk about. I am very optimistic, however, that democracy and liberty will prevail.

And so I want to thank you for your interest in leadership on those particular issues.

We talked about U.N. reform, structural reform, management reform, as well as the reform of the Human Rights Commission. I was most interested in the secretary-general's thoughts.

I appreciate very much his leading on these issues, and we'll continue to work closely through Secretary Bolton -- Ambassador Bolton -- with the Security Council and the United Nations.

And so, Mr. Secretary-General, thanks for coming. It is always a pleasure to welcome you here to the Oval Office.

And the floor is yours.

KOFI ANNAN, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL: Thank you very much, Mr. President.

I also enjoy our periodic exchanges, and I'm very happy that we have agreed to work together on the Darfur issue, working with other governments from Europe, from Asia and other regions to ensure that we do have an effective security presence on the ground to protect the IDPs and show the humanitarian workers have access to those in need. And of course this an issue where all governments after today (INAUDIBLE).

On security -- on the U.N. reform and Human Rights Council, I think the president and I agree that we need to reform the Human Rights Council and it should be done as soon as possible. The president of the general assembly, Jan Eliasson, is working very hard to ensure that we will have that done by this month. And that from the Human Rights Commission in Geneva, which will be in the process of transformation to (INAUDIBLE) business as usual.

And I also thank the president for all the support he has given us on U.N. reform, on the broader U.N. reform. And there are quite a lot of things that we are going to do.

We also discussed the Middle East and the Hamas elections and the need for transformation of Hamas into a political party along the lines that the quartet had discussed. And I think there is an opportunity here for Hamas to transform itself into a political party and work with the international community and the Israeli government.

We also touched on the issue of the nuclear issue in -- of Iran. And here again, I hope the -- between now and the time the Atomic Agency issues its next report, there will be indications from the Iranian side to indicate that negotiations are not dead and that both sides can come back to the table and find a way out of this crisis. We need to be able to work to resolve it, and I hope there will be no steps taken to escalate the situation.

Thank you very much.

BUSH: Appreciate that. Good job.

Thank you.

PHILLIPS: U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan meeting with the president there at the White House, talking about the Human Rights Council, Darfur.

Also want to let you know Wolf will be interviewing Kofi Annan tonight on "THE SITUATION ROOM" at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. It's an exclusive interview. It will be happening live.

Also, our top story. As you know, Dick Cheney accidentally shooting, we are told, Austin lawyer Harry Whittington on a hunting trip. We just heard from doctors moments ago there in Corpus Christi that Whittington is in good condition. The outcome looks good.

There haven't been any problems at this point. It should be a success story.

We will let you know as soon as he is released.

Well, the very symbol of America may lose its endangered status soon. LIVE FROM flies like an eagle right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Let's go straight to Betty Nguyen in the newsroom. She's following the Haiti elections.

What do you know, Betty.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Kyra, violence has erupted on the streets of Haiti. Here's what we know so far.

Crowds have gathered outside the Montana hotel. You are looking at video just into CNN of these protesters on the streets.

Now, this Montana hotel is where many of the foreign press have been staying. That's where they are getting these election results. And what's at issue is the results and how it's dealing with Rene Preval. He is the leading presidential candidate.

And because of this violence, what we're learning so far is that two people -- according to witnesses, two people have been killed, four have been injured. However, U.N. peacekeepers are denying those reports. But this protest really erupted after it was understood that Rene Preval may have fallen short of the 50 percent needed to win this election outright, and that he may have to undergo a runoff.

And at this hotel there are not only foreign press that we're seeing there getting this information, but also Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu was at this hotel where you see these crowds gathered. Because of the violence there, they had to evacuate some of the people staying there by helicopter, but again, all of this violence on the streets of Haiti has to do with the presidential election and the possibility that there may be have to be a runoff with the leading candidate, Rene Preval.

We'll keep on top of this and bring you the latest -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Betty Nguyen.

Thanks so much.

Well, it's unlikely Dick Cheney will go hunting for one of these babies any time soon, but today the bald eagle, symbol of the United States, king of the skies, may be on its way off the threatened species list if the government has its way. Expect to hear plenty of complaints from environmental and animal rights groups.

The company behind those addictive BlackBerry devices has one more reason to be worried. Microsoft is reportedly zeroing in on its territory.

Susan Lisovicz has the story live from the New York Stock Exchange.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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