Return to Transcripts main page
Live From...
Abandoned Cars from Katrina Still Clogging New Orleans; Heavy Rains in Mid-Atlantic Bring Flooding
Aired June 28, 2006 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
PHILLIPS: We want to get straight to Fredricka Whitfield working a developing story for us -- Fred.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Kyra, this coming out of Syria, where Syrian television is reporting that that country says its air defenses fired at Israeli jets flying over the president's house, forcing the Israeli jets to flee. Well, we, CNN, have been reporting to you this morning that Israeli jets were flying over the Syrian president's Assad country home, which is in Latakia, in the northwest portion of the country.
In this latest show of force, Israel has said that it sees a direct link between Syria and Hamas, which is the group holding the Israeli soldier in Gaza strip. So, this latest information coming from Syrian television that the Syria air defenses are firing now at Israeli jets that have been flying over the president's country home -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, we'll stay on top of the story. Thanks, Fred.
Now the cars of Katrina. Thousands of them. Cars, trucks, SUVs, junked, abandoned, forgotten, are clogging the streets. Each one an obstacle to cleaning up and moving on. Well, now, finally, some of them are.
CNN's Sean Callebs got an eyeful for "THE SIT ROOM."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): One by one, the junk cars that have been a blight on the New Orleans landscape since Katrina are being hauled away. And for residents who had gazed daily at these mud-encrusted, flooded-out vehicles, it's about time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I think they can clean them up a little faster than they've done.
CALLEBS: For 10 months, empty promises from city leaders pledging to have the cars, trucks and boats hauled off. Now Mark Stafford's company, DRC, based in Mobile, Alabama, has a $33 million contract to do the job, and he's pledging to have the 26,000 cars abandoned in New Orleans out of here by the end of August. MARK STAFFORD, DRC: It's a complete eye sore, and it's -- it's very demoralizing to drive down your neighborhood streets and see this day in and day out.
CALLEBS: Back in March, the city had a contract with a different company to remove the vehicles, but that fell apart after questions were raised about the company's ability to do the work. FEMA has funneled close to $60 million to the state to do the job. But officials say hooking them up and hauling them away isn't as easy as it sounds, because each vehicle, even though it's junk, still belongs to somebody.
CHUCK BROWN, DEPT. OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY: So it's really not an easy concept to have somebody's private property taken to a staging area without notifying them and allowing them a chance to claim that property.
CALLEBS: Right now DRC is hauling away about 300 cars a day but hopes to soon be removing close to 1,000 each day. That's what it will take, a thousand a day, to meet Stafford's August deadline.
(on camera): Police are going through tagging all of these vehicles since they are private property, basically saying enough is enough. If you want it, come and get it. If not, the final ride will be on the back of a tow truck to the junkyard.
Sean Callebs, CNN, in New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And you can catch more of Sean's reporting from the Gulf Coast with Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM," afternoons at 4:00 Eastern and again in primetime at 7:00.
Thousands battle rising floodwaters in the East. And in Maryland, the big question, will a dam hold? The governor of Maryland will update us on the situation in the next hour of LIVE FROM. Stay with CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, it's deep, all right: both the water and the despair in much of the eastern U.S.. And even though the storm clouds are receding in many places, the danger is not.
CNN's Alina Cho with more on extensive floods.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it was just coming in everywhere.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From Virginia to New England, much of the Mid-Atlantic underwater. Days and days of heavy rain swamping homes, turning basements into muddy pools, and creating havoc for travelers. Flood warnings and states of emergency are posted up and down the East Coast. Across the region, police are warning residents to evacuate, like here in Pennsylvania.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See anybody from the city down here helping out? No. They come down, tell everybody they got to evacuate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All residents are to leave their house and leave the area by 7:00 p.m.
CHO: But many of those people aren't going anywhere. Instead, they're doing whatever it takes to stop the rising waters.
In New York State, major highways are being shut down, the high water making travel just too dangerous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In my years here, this is the worst I've ever seen. And I've been here 35 years.
CHO: There is hope on the horizon. The rains are tapering off from the south. But the cleanup is only beginning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Politics anyone, as opposed to violence? Well, we're hearing seven armed groups have so far reached out to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who offered this week to talk it out with any interested insurgents and to possibly grant amnesty in certain circumstances, killers of Iraqis or coalition forces need not apply. The insurgents are said to be demanding the withdrawal of all U.S. and British forces within two years.
Four Russian men kidnapped and killed in Iraq, one Russian president determined to respond in kind. Vladimir Putin today ordered Russian agents into Iraq to, in his words, "destroy whomever is responsible." The four diplomats were snatched in a Baghdad ambush June 3rd. A group linked to al Qaeda claims to have killed them.
It's raw, real, and it's a new documentary shot by soldiers serving in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: IED!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are we on fire?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: IED! IED! IED! (EXPLETIVE DELETED), IED!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Straight ahead on LIVE FROM, we're going to talk with one of the soldiers who lived the battles and helped make this movie.
Straight ahead, entertainment news also with Sibila Vargas of "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." Sibila, what's on tap?
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been a surprising morning. One departure in daytime T.V. was expected while another shocked the landscape. I'll have the details when LIVE FROM continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, he's blamed for killing as many as 14 people and terrorizing thousands more. He's known as the "railway killer," and last night, he was killed, executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas. Angel Resendiz asked his victims' families to forgive him but added, you don't have to. Resendiz used to travel by freight train, and many of his victims lived near railroad tracks.
Ohio is changing the way lethal injections are given. Executioners took 90 minutes find a vein last month in death row inmate Joseph Clark. He begged them to find another way to kill him.
Now a report from the state prisons director says executioners will try to find two injection sites, and use a new method to make sure veins stay open once the procedure begins. Prison staff will also be told not to rush. There is no set timeframe for completing an execution.
Gunfire at the Las Vegas Airport, a terrifying ordeal for a 3- year-old boy and his mother. It happened yesterday. Police say a 19- year-old Oregon man snatched the toddler from an airport store. He allegedly held a knife on the child and ran through a security checkpoint before police stunned him with a taser.
He dropped the boy but lunged at the cops, two of whom shot him at close range. The boy was unhurt. It turns out the suspect, Michael John Allgood, has a history of mental illness. He's recovering in the hospital and facing several charges, including felony child endangerment.
T minus three days -- the first space shuttle mission in almost a year is set to begin Saturday. Discovery's seven-member crew arrived yesterday at Kennedy Space Center, where controversy surrounds the decision to launch. Two shuttle managers say design changes are still needed before Discovery should fly. A top engineer who agreed has been reassigned, but NASA's chief insists there's no undue risk to the crew.
You can watch Discovery's liftoff right here on CNN. It is scheduled for 3:49 p.m. Eastern on Saturday. Our special coverage with Miles O'Brien begins at 3:00 Eastern, noon Pacific.
Roads are rivers, basements deluged and waters are rising by the hour. The latest on the flood zone, straight ahead. You're watching LIVE FROM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, in Pennsylvania, at least three people have been swept to their deaths and dozens more forced to their rooftops by water that's still rising. The Susquehanna River could crest 17 feet above flood stage in some places, its banks no match for the heaviest rains in 200 years. Many Pennsylvania roads and bridges also just a memory now. And now we're getting word that up to 200,000 people are being told they must evacuate in Wilkes-Barre. In Wayne County, emergency management headquarters has moved to higher ground once and may have to do it again. But the latest that's just in. Possibly up to 200,000 people being told they must evacuate from Wilkes-Barre.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Now, some goodbyes are classy and some get ugly. There's Charlie's farewell and the latest round in Barbara vs. Star. Well, here to tell us about that, Sibila Vargas, live from Hollywood -- Sibila.
VARGAS: What a way to start the day. Lots of surprises in daytime this morning, Kyra.
First, let's start with "Good Morning America." It was a sweet morning on "Good Morning America" as the show said goodbye to longtime anchor Charles Gibson. The newsman is leaving his A.M. duties for a nighttime gig at World News Tonight.
Surrounded by his family, including his three-and-half-month-old son -- grandson -- his wife Arlene, who also said that her husband has always been a night person, despite the fact of getting up at the crack of dawn for the last 19 years. His partner Diane Sawyer teased him about getting him in the "A.M. Loop." Gibson's day will begin much later as he moves to his evening post as anchor of ABC's "World News Tonight." The 63-year-old replaces the pregnant Elizabeth Vargas and the on-the-mend Bob Woodruff.
As they saluted au revoire to Gibson, things were a little stormy at "The View." Yesterday Star Jones shocked everyone and her co-hosts by telling them that she'll be leaving the show after nine years next month. A second "oh, oh" moment came this morning when Reynolds was missing from her familiar place at the table. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA WALTERS, "THE VIEW": And then there were three.
JOY BEHAR, "THE VIEW": And then there were three.
WALTERS: We didn't expect her to make this statement yesterday. She gave us no warning. And we were taken by surprise. But the truth is that Star has known for months that ABC did not want to renew her contract and that she would not be asked back in the fall. The network made this decision based on a variety of reasons which I won't go into now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The table seemed awfully empty when only the series regulars, Joy Behar and Elizabeth Hasselback, along with creator Barbara Walters, were seated. According to insiders, Reynolds' departure was already decided, but the news of the change was not to happen until tomorrow. Well, this week Reynolds told "People" magazine in an exclusive interview that she felt like she was fired.
Now, Walters said in the past she did go to bat for Reynolds when research had shown that viewers were turned off by her sudden weight loss and her lavish wedding with all the freebies that went with it.
We'll have more on this story tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." "Star Wars," the inside story on Star Jones' bombshell announcement on live TV that she's quitting "The View," and why Barbara Walters is furious. The very latest on TV's most provocative entertainment news show, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," 11:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN Headline Prime.
Did you get all that, Kyra?
PHILLIPS: All the dish, Sibila. I know. All the dish. All right. And I'm being told, too, that Larry King live, Sibila. You -- I'm sure you know this. 9:00 Eastern Time Thursday night, Star Jones Reynolds will give her first prime-time TV interview to Larry. So, I'm sure we'll get all kind of more dish, right, Sibila?
VARGAS: Absolutely. I can't wait for that. That will be interesting, for sure.
PHILLIPS: Thank you, my dear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: The American flag is a monument, a symbol of our freedom, our country and our way of life. Why in the world would we refuse to protect it against desecration?
SEN. HARRY REID (D), MINORITY LEADER: What are we doing here in Congress? We're dealing with same-sex marriage, we're dealing with the estate tax that affects .02 of 1 percent of the people in this country, and we're talking about flag burning? No matter how you feel about flag burning, is that a priority issue for right now with all the things we have going? The answer, young man, is no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On this vote, the yeas are 56, the nays are 34. Two-thirds of the senators voting, a quorum being present, not having voted in the affirmative. The joint resolution is not passed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, the flag burning amendment is dead for now. But both sides will have banners to wave in November. The Senate came one vote short of approving the measure and sending it on the states, 38 of which would also have to approve. Backers say the flag is a national monument that needs to be protected against desecration. Opponents the amendment is a veiled ploy by Republicans to just rally conservatives.
Well, American history is littered with political scraps over the stars and stripes. Here's a "Fact Check."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD (voice-over): The continental Congress adopted the stars and stripes as the nation's flag in 1777. Then it was all but forgotten, generating little interest or public display. That changed with the outbreak of the Civil War, at least in the north.
One of the first acts to protect the flag occurred after New Orleans fell to union forces in 1862. The military governor of the city, General Benjamin Butler, ordered one resident hanged for burning the U.S. flag that flew over the New Orleans' mint.
Pushed by veterans and other patriotic groups, all 48 states had passed flag desecration laws by the early 1930s. During World War I, Congress made the public destruction of the flag a misdemeanor in the nation's capital. In the '60s, the flag was frequently burned to protest the Vietnam War. Congress responded in 1968, passing a law that imposed criminal penalties on anyone burning or otherwise desecrating the flag.
For the next 20 years, the Supreme Court declined to review lower court decisions upholding the constitutionality of the law. Then, in 1989, the Supreme Court changed course, ruling that burning the American flag is protected free speech under the First Amendment. Since then, several flag desecration amendments have passed the House,only to die in the Senate.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Top of the hour now in Pennsylvania. At least three people have been swept to their deaths and dozens more forced to their rooftops by water that's still rising. The Susquehanna River could crest 17 feet above flood stages in some places, its banks no match for the heaviest rains in 200 years. Many Pennsylvania roads and bridges are just a memory now, and evacuations are mandatory, up to 2,000 people, we're told in Wilkes-Barre. We're going to have a live report from our Jason Carroll in just a few minutes.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
