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Hayden Hearing; Heathrow Welcomes Airbus A380

Aired May 18, 2006 - 13:34   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The general sticks to his guns. As you know, if you've been watching CNN, Senate hearings are under way on Air Force General Michael Hayden's nomination to head the CIA. And so far at least, senators interested most in Hayden's former job as head of the NSA, the National Security Agency. Hayden declared the NSA's domestic eavesdropping program both necessary and legal, and accused the program's critics of playing politics.
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GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN, CIA DIRECTOR NOMINEE: The American intelligence business has too much become the football in American political discourse. Over the past few years, the intelligence community and the CIA have taken an inordinate number of hit, some of them fair, many of them not. There have been failures, but there have also been many great successes.

Now, I promise you, we'll do our lessons-learned studies. And I will keep you, I will keep this committee and your counterpart in the House, fully informed on what we learned. But I also believe it's time to move past what seems to me to be an endless picking apart of the archaeology of every past intelligence success or failure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Hayden promised that as CIA director he'll protect the agency's independence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAYDEN: If confirmed as director, I would set as a top priority working to reinforce the D.I.s, the director of intelligence's, tradition of autonomy and objectivity, with a particular focus on developing hard-edged assessments. I would emphasize simply getting it right more often.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: CNN congressional correspondent Andrea Koppel joins me now from Capitol Hill. You've been following every breath.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Just about, yes.

Kyra, they've been on a break right now for lunch, and I believe General Hayden and the chairman, Pat Roberts, have just come back into the room. This hearing -- you want to talk about what a difference a year makes. General Hayden was up here about a year ago to be confirmed to head over to the new DNI to work for -- and to work along with John Negroponte. He had been at the NSA, as you pointed out, and he was really given an incredibly warm welcome a year ago, and was unanimously confirmed.

This time around, pretty much as expected, we're seeing a pretty obvious divide between Democrats and Republicans, for the most part. In particular, you've got the chairman, Pat Roberts, coming out in very strong defense of what this NSA surveillance program has been all about, really calling on the carpet those people who have leaked the stories to media in recent weeks and months. And you've had on the other side Democrats like Carl Levin, who's the top Democrat on the committee, and Ron Wyden, who've been asking very pointed questions. It's actually gotten quite heated, questioning whether or not General Hayden himself had perhaps even misled deliberately the American people when he came before Congress, when he appeared at various public events around town. And there were some moments in which you could feel the tension in the room.

That said, and we expect this to good on for a number of hours, to go -- each senator's getting about 20 minutes. At the end of the day, Kyra, they -- most Democrats and Republicans will tell you, General Hayden will be confirmed. But I think that you can expect to see, again, from more Democrats, pointed questions about his role when he was the director of the NSA in developing those wireless surveillance programs.

PHILLIPS: Andrea, as you've been talking about, what's happened to this point, we're watching actually a live picture right next to you, and you could see General Hayden mixing it up with folks, smiling. He kissed his wife. It Looks like he's in pretty good spirits. But do you think he's said or done anything to this point that could hurt his confirmation?

KOPPEL: No. I think that General Hayden has been very careful in what he said. In fact, in a number of instances, he said that they were going to have to go behind closed doors later to discussing details, to give a thorough answer to some of the senators. But no. This is for most part -- I mean, Democrats are frustrated right now. This is a political year. They're frustrated by the fact that many of them have been kept out of the loop on the surveillance program. They weren't involved in getting these detailed briefings from the administration until yesterday, when the Senate Intelligence Committee and the House Intelligence Committee got a thorough briefing from the current head of the NSA. And they're saying, why were we kept out of the loop? Why weren't we involved. And in fact, some Republicans were also not involved in these briefings. And they feel that the Bush administration has, perhaps, stepped over the line between defending national security and respecting personal privacy.

And General Hayden did a if job of defending himself, I think, thus far -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: The hearing has resumed. I know you've to pay attention to that.

Andrea Koppel, thanks so much.

And you can also go to CNN.com/pipeline. It'll be carrying those hearings live, every second of it, throughout the day. So you can tune into pipeline.

Well, muck and misery along the Merrimack. Just how bad the flooding in New England was won't be known for weeks. And in the words of one spokesperson, it's hard to evaluate the damage when most everything is underwater. Elsewhere, river levels are dropping, major roads are reopening and the Red Cross is setting up camp. Many displaced residents, though, don't know what they'll find when they're finally allowed to go home.

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PHILLIPS: Somewhere, the Wright Brothers are slack-jawed with amazement. LIVE FROM takes you inside the world's biggest passenger jet, just ahead. Now boarding rows 200 and higher.

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PHILLIPS: Fire at a landmark in Akron, Ohio. The building where the original Goodyear blimps were built caught fire this morning and last we heard, it's still burning. A so-called air dock is so tall that, at 211 feet, firefighters can't reach all the flames that's shooting out of it. It's now owned by Lockheed Martin, which is building a high-altitude air ship for missile defense. There are no reports of anybody hurt.

Well, you're going to need a bigger runway, and that's just for starters. About $850 million worth of upgrades. London's Heathrow Airport was ready to welcome the Airbus A380. Large clouds of plane spotters turned out to watch the happy landing of the world's biggest passenger plane, including our Richard Quest.

Richard, give us the scoop.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, I'll accept the accusation -- you're calling me a plane spotter and you've got it spot on! And what a plane there is to spot. Just look at it. Isn't she a beauty? She is the largest passenger plane in the world. Those four Rolls Royce engines that develop such vast thrust. This plane will carry roughly 500 to 800 people on long distances, over 12,000 kilometers.

And the interesting part about it today, Kyra, was it had to come to Heathrow to make sure it could fit in. Was everything going to work? And that's what's going on at the moment. All these people that you see behind me, they're learning how to open the doors, how to refuel it, how to put more cargo back in. This has been going on, and it will continue, as it will here, Kyra, and in other airports around the world, before the A380 goes into service in December 2006.

PHILLIPS: All right, now, take me inside. I can get a massage. I can get my hair cut. There's even a casino, right?

QUEST: Kyra, if you go in that one at the moment, you're more likely to get an electric shock, because the thing is bristling with technology, computers. Vast water barrels, where they alter the center of gravity. In the fullness of time -- ooh, I'll tell you what there is. At the back, right at the back, there's a spiral staircase that goes from the upper deck to the ground floor.

And at the front of the plane, there's a -- I was going to say a Titanic-like ballroom staircase, but that's not terribly appropriate, is it? There's a big staircase that comes down where people will be able to parade around. Of course, it will only be the business and first class passengers that will be parading. I'll be somewhere -- probably at the back, somewhere near the toilet and definitely at the top.

PHILLIPS: And hopefully not in a ball gown.

QUEST: Hey, hey, hey! Those pictures later!

PHILLIPS: OK, Richard Quest. I've never been more excited about an aircraft in my entire life. We'll continue to check in with you as we learn more about this Airbus. Richard Quest, thanks so much.

Well, I'm being told we're getting new video in right now, and it's concerning the young man that says that he's innocent and he can definitely prove it. We're talking about Reade Seligmann. He's expected to be in court next hour to hear the charges against him. He's one of the Duke University lacrosse players indicted last month for allegedly raping a woman hired to dance at a team party.

At today's hearing, we may see his attorney demand the prosecutor hand over certain evidence, including the accuser's cell phone logs and any criminal record that she may have. Two of Seligmann's teammates also have been charged. All three right now are free on bond. We'll stay on that story.

Well, lights, camera, Cannes. The legendary festival attracts movie stars and movie whores to the south of France. Highlights, straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

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PHILLIPS: The glitz, the glamour, the spectacle and, oh, yes, the movies. For almost 60 years, the Cannes Film Festival has drawn movie stars, movie makers and the media masses to the south of France. CNN's Brooke Anderson is in the last group with the preview of this year's offerings.

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BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From leaping lizards ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is that?

ANDERSON: ... to animated animals and animated humans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're in my hair, on my skin, they're all over the place.

ANDERSON: Characters of every kind are heading to the French Rivera for the Cannes Film Festival. But there's no question which film is attracting the most attention.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dear God.

ANDERSON: "The Da Vinci Code," the Cannes opener, a fizzy debut to a 12-day cinematic celebration.

KENNETH TURAN, FILM CRITIC, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": It's a great launching pad for the film, and it's the kind of film that I think Cannes loves to have. It works for everyone.

ANDERSON: Among the other world premieres, "X-Men: The Last Stand" and "Over the Hedge," featuring the voice of Steve Carell.

STEVE CARELL, ACTOR, "OVER THE HEDGE": I say I'd like a cookie.

I think it will win the Palme d'Or. I have no other sort of expectation but that.

ANDERSON: Actually, "Over the Hedge," like "Da Vinci" and "X- Men" is playing out of competition, meaning it's not eligible for the coveted Palme d'Or, Cannes top prize.

Several high-profile films could be crowned with that honor, including "Marie Antoinette," from director Sofia Coppola; "Babel," starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and Gael Garcia Bernal; and "Fast Food Nation," based on the best-seller by Eric Schlosser.

(on camera): This is the 59th edition of the film festival, which takes place along the famed Boulevard de la Croisette. From the beginning, stars have made this place synonymous with glamour.

(voice-over): In the early days, it was Monroe and Bardot, Taylor and Grant who helped put the festival on the map.

In recent years, Allen, DiCaprio and Stone have joined the parade of stars. For some, Cannes is heady.

DEBRA MESSING, ACTRESS: It's as chaotic as everyone says it is and -- but it's fun and it's thrilling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's interesting. It's liked a lot and we have a lot of fun.

ANDERSON: For others, it's grueling.

IAN MCKELLEN, "THE DA VINCI CODE", "X-MEN": I did also go for the announcement of "Lord of the Rings" and -- where there was the most fantastic party and I gave 75 interviews in two days. ANDERSON: Over the years, Cannes has earned a reputation for a circus-like atmosphere as studios and stars compete for the attention of the world's media. This year, more than 30,000 film industry people and members of the press are expected to attend.

TURAN: When you have that many journalists and you have people who are hungry for this city, a lot of things happen.

ANDERSON: Let the lunacy begin.

Brooke Anderson, CNN, Cannes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Now we have proof that Paul McCartney is the hopeless romantic his lyrics have always suggested. Alas, the former Beatle passed up a prenup before marrying Heather Mills. And, baby, he's not going to be such a rich man when it's all said and done.

British legal experts figure McCartney well, he may forfeit a quarter of his $1.5 billion fortune. That's if McCartney and Mills divorce. And so far, all they've said is they're separating. If they do make it legal, well, you do the math. McCartney's ex could wind up with almost two million bucks for every week of their four-year marriage.

We're monitoring the state confirmation hearing for CIA nominee General Michael Hayden. Live coverage straight ahead. The news keeps coming, we'll keep bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM next.

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