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CNN Live Today
School Bus Driver Dies After Being Shot on Route; Steve Fossett's Quest to Fly Solo Nonstop Around the World in Jeopardy
Aired March 02, 2005 - 11:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It looks like we have some breaking news coming out of Tennessee.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we do, it's a sad story involving a student and bus driver interestingly enough. It's happening in Cumberland, Tennessee. The information we have is that a school bus driver has been shot, apparently, or according to police, by a student who may have been getting ready to board the bus. That's the scene as it looks like right now.
Let's go to Dorinda Carter at one of our affiliates there in Tennessee to fill us in on what she's learning. Looks like quite a scene there, Dorinda.
DORINDA CARTER, WKRN REPORTER: It does, Rick. And much of what we know is unconfirmed at this point. But we are being told that a 15-year-old boy stepped on to his school bus this morning and shot and killed his bus driver, and he is now in custody. Let me give you a live look at the scene here. You can see the big yellow bus with the crime scene tape and white sheet over it. The boy is a high school freshman, a member of the football team, who may have been disciplined recently by the bus driver. One of the boy's friends told me he was a good student, who recently started running with a bad crowd. He also says one of the bus driver's own children rode the bus, and may have been on board at the time of the shooting.
About two dozen other children were also on the bus at the time. They range from kindergarten to seniors in high school. They witnessed the shooting this morning on their way to school. They have now been taken over to local high school for counseling, and some their parents were able to pick them up. Police at this point are releasing little information right now. The bus driver's body was just removed here from the scene, but, Rick, they are planning a news conference for later this afternoon.
SANCHEZ: Sounds like there may have been some kind of planning involved in this, because according to the wire story that I'm looking at right now, this young man never even boarded the bus. He shot -- I don't know if you can confirm that, from police officers that you've talked to. But they say he hadn't even boarded the bus when shooting took place. It was from outside the bus. He shot -- I don't know if you can confirm that Dorinda from police they say that he hadn't even boarded the bus when the shooting took place. He did it from outside the bus.
CARTER: Yes, that is what we're hearing. We're also hearing that the boy's father noticed this morning when he got up that his gun was missing, and he called local authorities to report that. He also noticed that his son was not here, and that was apparently before the bus arrived. But as soon as bus pulled up, he apparently stepped onboard and then immediately fired right away.
SANCHEZ: In other words are right from the doorway. So there was really no prolonged exchange? The bus driver -- the bus had not been en route with him on it, so to speak?
CARTER: That's correct. The bus driver apparently had no warning no idea this was coming. From what we understand, it was that quick that he just walked on, knew apparently what he wanted to do, did it, and then got off the bus.
SANCHEZ: We're talking to Dorinda Carter from Cumberland City, Tennessee, where this situation has arose now. A bus driver has died, according to police reports, after being shot by a student who was getting on the bus. Before we let you go, what's the condition there of the school, the student, and what are they doing to try and console some of the students who may have been on board the bus and actually watched this happen?
CARTER: It was a horrible scene. We watched some little children, as young as 5 years old, 6 years old, kindergartners, coming off that bus, crying, just terrified. And their parents, as you can imagine, are just shocked that this has happened and devastated that these young children especially had to witness this. All of the children, again, are being taken over to local high school for counseling. This sort of thing doesn't happen in this part of Tennessee.
SANCHEZ: Yes, well said. Dorinda Carter, WKRN, one of our affiliates, getting to that story. Thank you for filling us in as soon as you were able to do so, a story that we'll continue to follow for you here at CNN.
KAGAN: Let's take a look at right now what's happening in the news. Michael Jackson arriving at the courthouse in Santa Maria a few minutes ago for day three of testimony in his child-molestation trial. A public relations specialist takes the stand today. And Gabriel Kite was hired by the Jackson family to help manage the fallout from an unflattering documentary on Jackson's life. Jurors saw the documentary yesterday.
A prominent Republican senator says federal decency standards should include cable and satellite content. Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska tells the National Association of Broadcasters, he will introduce the necessary legislation. Cable industry argues that cable and satellite subscriber can already screen out objectionable material.
The 17-month-old grandson of golfer Jack Nicklaus died yesterday in an apparent hot tub incident. Police say the toddler slipped away from his nanny and was later found drowned in the tub. It happened in the family's home in West Palm Beach, Florida. And high overhead, adventurer Steve Fossett's quest to fly solo nonstop around the world is in jeopardy. This is earlier video of the Global Flyer as it passed over Europe. Officials saying the aircraft has 15 percent less fuel than Fossett thought when he took off from Kansas yesterday. Oops. We will keep you updated, as Fossett and his team decide what to do next.
CNN LIVE TODAY is back after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Millionaire Steve Fossett trying to make history, taking off once from Kansas, and trying to make it all the way around the world. There appears to be a problem with his trek. On the phone with us right now, Lori Levin, with Virgin Atlantic, a spokesman for this journey.
Lori, hello.
LORI LEVIN, SPOKESWOMAN, VIRGIN ATLANTIC: Hello.
KAGAN: Yes, you sound kind of disappointed. We're hearing not the greatest news.
LEVIN: Well, we haven't given up hope yet. There's a good chance he will make it, but it's not looking as promising as it was 12 hours ago.
KAGAN: OK, so this is what we're hearing, he's short on fuel, not just short on fuel, 2,600 gallons short?
LEVIN: Well, basically there was a discrepancy between what the gas gauge was telling us and the tank and the sensors, and apparently where he left with 2,600 pounds of fuel less than they had believed he had. If the tailwinds remain really strong, he could still make it. So we haven't given up hope of that. But there a lot of factors that need be considered between now and then to ensure his safety, especially before he approaches the Pacific Ocean.
KAGAN: OK, Lori, a discrepancy is when they charge you for dessert at a restaurant and you didn't order it. 2,600 pounds of fuel is a huge amount of fuel, even on an aircraft.
LEVIN: Right, and that's why the engineers are completely perplexed. We're not sure if it might have been a mistake when -- putting fuel on board and there was a mistake in the gauge or if there was some type of -- venting leak or something that happened within the first three hours of the flight. Trying to figure exactly what happened.
KAGAN: Is he in any danger at this point?
LEVIN: He's not in danger at this point. He does -- if you're making the decision to cross Pacific, it will be a very serious one and only one that Steve can decide if he wants to do once he has all the information that's available to him. KAGAN: And is he in the right mind to be able to do that? Because he hasn't been slept.
LEVIN: Well, he's been taking little cat naps and he really has sounded very alert, very awake, throughout the flight. There's been no indication that he's suffering from any sleep deprivation at the time or anything. He's just, you know, concerned about, you know, obviously about the fuel situation.
KAGAN: And when will that decision be made, whether to cross Pacific or not?
LEVIN: We believe that somewhere between 12:00 noon Central and about 1:00 p.m. Central we'll have to make that decision.
KAGAN: All right. Well, we look forward to hearing that. Of course, more than anything, we wish him a safe journey. Lori Levin from Virgin Atlantic, giving us the latest on Steve Fossett. Thank you, Lori.
SANCHEZ: Kudos on the dessert analogy.
KAGAN: Discrepancy.
SANCHEZ: That's a discrepancy.
KAGAN: That is a discrepancy.
SANCHEZ: 2,600 pounds of gas? Not a discrepancy.
One of baseball's greatest legends will posthumously be given the nation's highest civilian award today. You like the way I pronounced that?
KAGAN: That was very good. We're going to talk to former teammate about what Jackie Robinson not only meant to the game, but meant to him personally. A big day for Jackie Robinson, as well, getting the big honor. So that's just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Just a few hours from now, the late Jackie Robinson becomes only the second baseball player in history to be honored with the nation's highest civilian honor. President Bush will be there when Robinson's widow Rachel accepts the congressional gold medal on her husband's behalf.
Carl Erskine, a former teammate, who has written a new book. It is titled "What I Learned from Jackie Robinson." Carl Erskine joins this morning from Indianapolis. Carl, good morning, a pleasure to have you on.
CARL ERSKINE, FMR. ROBINSON TEAMMATE: Hey, my pleasure, thanks for inviting me.
KAGAN: From looking over the book, it appears you've learned things both on and off the field from Jackie Robinson.
ERSKINE: Well, you know, this is how I met Jackie. He introduced himself to me in a minor league game, exhibition game, in spring training, in 1948. He had just become rookie of the year the year before, his first year. And I pitched against a big club in Fort Worth, Texas, AA team, and I was just a minor leaguer among several hundred others in the Dodgers' system, but Jackie made his way over to the dugout after the game and he said hey, where's Erskine?
And that surprised me because I didn't know anybody on the big club. I stepped out of the dugout and he shook hands with me and he said, hey, kid, I hit against you twice today. You're not going to be in this league very long. You're going to be with us. And boy, what a boost -- you know, when you're a kid in the minor leagues, you have somebody notices you...
KAGAN: I bet.
ERSKINE: .. .and to have Jackie do it was special.
KAGAN: So when you came up to the big show together. Five national pennant -- National League pennants, one world championship in 1955, a lot of success on the field. But you also witnessed not just history being made, as Jackie Robinson was doing that, but the cost involved on a personal level for him.
ERSKINE: Well, Jackie had to endure a lot of indignities. And Mr. Rickey, Branch Rickey, who signed Jackie, actually signed me also about the same time he signed Jackie, but we took two different routes to the big leagues, and Jackie was there ahead of me one year. But Mr. Rickey told Jackie -- he said, I know you're strong, I know you can fight, but are you strong enough not to fight?
And that was the key to Jackie breaking the barriers which existed, because our society, at that time, was very much segregated. Not just in the South, but pretty much across country. So Jackie could not stay in the same hotels with us in the early years, didn't eat with us in restaurants. And he just had to take those indignities and he did take them and he did not fight back or speak out, according to an agreement with Mr. Rickey.
And in doing so, Mr. Rickey says, this is a way to beat a bully. You don't run, you don't fight back, you stand and face him and have compassion on his misunderstanding. And that's what Jackie did. And it was amazing that he could do that because he was high-spirited, militant...
KAGAN: Carl, let me have you hold you that thought. We have a little bit of breaking news. I want to continue our conversation. Let us get to news and we'll be back with you. Carl Erskine in just a moment.
SANCHEZ: Yes, let's pick this up. Because this is really a follow to a story that we've been telling you about throughout the course of the morning. It's the story of the suspect in the Madrid train bombings in Spain that was found to possess what some believe was a sketch or technical details of Grand Central Station in New York. Well, with that said, this here is Raymond Kelly. He's police commissioner of New York and he's now responding to questions about this development. Let's listen in.
QUESTION: ... you can't say for sure the drawing was at Grand Central Station. Some think it might look somewhat like the entrance. Is that -- you describe this as drawings of the interior. Is that what you saw when you saw the...
RAYMOND KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: Well, these drawings were shown to MTA officials, MTA engineers. And they believe it to be the interior of Grand Central Station.
QUESTION: When they said it was specific (UNINTELLIGIBLE), what specifically does it show?
KELLY: Well, it shows, you might say, the secondary room of Grand Central Station, or two large rooms in Grand Central Station. Obviously are the large terminal area, then an adjacent room. And I think it reasonable to assume it is Grand Central Station.
QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
KELLY: I would call them basic drawings, I wouldn't say their engineer drawings. They don't have specific measurements in the drawings.
QUESTION: Does it look like something that was based just on sights of the drawing or does it look like something that had been based on (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
KELLY: I think it's based on not necessarily schematics, but someone who perhaps had visited the location.
I'm sorry?
Yes.
Any other questions? Yes.
Well, I think it -- the pictures are fundamentally different. The information's fundamentally different. Again, this is a very basic sketch. The so-called Al Hindi information was much more detailed. Obviously took many visits to compile that information, was very specific, talked about some of the vulnerabilities of the building, was, in fact, a narrative. This is not a narrative, this is a sketch.
No. No, not that I know of, no.
QUESTION: Do you have any information at all, sir, there was a lag between when you had it and when it became public? Can you talk about your process, and your decision-making as to when or whether or not you share this sort of intel?
KELLY: I don't think there was a particular lag with Al Hindi. There was -- it's a process of downloading. And much of the information was encrypted. So obviously, there's a challenge to download that information. But Al Hindi, when we received the information, that was put out, at least the alert level was raised by the federal government right after that information was obtained.
Again, I think there's fundamental difference between this information and the Al Hindi information. This is very basic schematic. It is not an operational plan. It is not something that would indicate an immediate threat to a facility.
Well, you know, these are also being used for investigations.
SANCHEZ: Let's do this for you now, because we cut into this news conference just a little bit late. Let's try and take you back to what may have been the headline into all of this, and which seems to make it appear that New York officials were given, or were privy, to this information and had responded to it in the past.
Let's go back to something the police commissioner said earlier on. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: We put these additional proportions into effect eight months before the discovery of this more recent material. And they remain in place today. Nothing in this newer material has caused us to make changes in our security plans or procedures.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: So once again, they're saying, or it does appear that they have been made aware of this. No detailed information, he goes on to say. He says the engineers looked at these plans and says it does appear that this is, in fact, Grand Central Station. There had been a lot of questions about that in the past. So that's pretty much where that story sits right now.
KAGAN: Our apologies to Carl Erksine. We were having a nice conversation with him when the breaking news happened, so we had to cut our conversation short. Once again, his book is learned "What I Learned From Jackie Robinson." So thank you to Carl Erksine for dropping by.
SANCHEZ: And he looked good, didn't he?
KAGAN: He did look good, and I had about 20 more questions to ask him.
We take a break. We're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. Big news, good news I suppose coming out of Wall Street today.
KAGAN: Yes, and we're going to get to business news in just a minute. First, though, "Vanity Fair" magazine out this morning with its list of best dressed for 2005. CNN anchor...
SANCHEZ: Thank you very much -- oh, Anderson!
KAGAN: Well you weren't available for the photo shoot that day.
SANCHEZ: Oh, so they had to get him, yes.
KAGAN: Exactly.
Actor Jude Law's style is called messy school teacher by the magazine.
SANCHEZ: That's not bad.
George Clooney, "classic, yet modern," in quotations.
KAGAN: And our own Anderson Cooper. He says that he doesn't have a personal style, but Ralph Lauren purple label is tops.
SANCHEZ: Is that what he said?
KAGAN: I guess so.
SANCHEZ: What does he mean by that? That he likes purple. It is purple label.
Moving on to the women now, one word -- Oprah.
KAGAN: Oprah, The queen of talk says the key to style is wearing things that make you come alive. She loves La Perla sweats.
And director and actress Sophia Coppola says her personal style is indie film.
SANCHEZ: Indie film? Oh, that means looking like Indiana Jones?
KAGAN: No, indie, like independent film.
SANCHEZ: Oh, sorry.
Kate Moss, the model, says her favorite thing these days is waist coat, and her least fave, cowboy boots. There you have it.
KAGAN: That's going to do it for us. Big business news is ahead. The Dow doing really well, hitting a three-year high at one point today, coming down. We will get -- there you go, a look at the Dow. It's up 23 points, 10852. Flirting with 11000.
SANCHEZ: It has been a busy day here. We've been able to bring you all these stories here as they happen, and somebody else coming along to do just the same.
KAGAN: Wolf Blitzer will do that for you at the top of the hour. We'll see you tomorrow morning.
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Aired March 2, 2005 - 11:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It looks like we have some breaking news coming out of Tennessee.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we do, it's a sad story involving a student and bus driver interestingly enough. It's happening in Cumberland, Tennessee. The information we have is that a school bus driver has been shot, apparently, or according to police, by a student who may have been getting ready to board the bus. That's the scene as it looks like right now.
Let's go to Dorinda Carter at one of our affiliates there in Tennessee to fill us in on what she's learning. Looks like quite a scene there, Dorinda.
DORINDA CARTER, WKRN REPORTER: It does, Rick. And much of what we know is unconfirmed at this point. But we are being told that a 15-year-old boy stepped on to his school bus this morning and shot and killed his bus driver, and he is now in custody. Let me give you a live look at the scene here. You can see the big yellow bus with the crime scene tape and white sheet over it. The boy is a high school freshman, a member of the football team, who may have been disciplined recently by the bus driver. One of the boy's friends told me he was a good student, who recently started running with a bad crowd. He also says one of the bus driver's own children rode the bus, and may have been on board at the time of the shooting.
About two dozen other children were also on the bus at the time. They range from kindergarten to seniors in high school. They witnessed the shooting this morning on their way to school. They have now been taken over to local high school for counseling, and some their parents were able to pick them up. Police at this point are releasing little information right now. The bus driver's body was just removed here from the scene, but, Rick, they are planning a news conference for later this afternoon.
SANCHEZ: Sounds like there may have been some kind of planning involved in this, because according to the wire story that I'm looking at right now, this young man never even boarded the bus. He shot -- I don't know if you can confirm that, from police officers that you've talked to. But they say he hadn't even boarded the bus when shooting took place. It was from outside the bus. He shot -- I don't know if you can confirm that Dorinda from police they say that he hadn't even boarded the bus when the shooting took place. He did it from outside the bus.
CARTER: Yes, that is what we're hearing. We're also hearing that the boy's father noticed this morning when he got up that his gun was missing, and he called local authorities to report that. He also noticed that his son was not here, and that was apparently before the bus arrived. But as soon as bus pulled up, he apparently stepped onboard and then immediately fired right away.
SANCHEZ: In other words are right from the doorway. So there was really no prolonged exchange? The bus driver -- the bus had not been en route with him on it, so to speak?
CARTER: That's correct. The bus driver apparently had no warning no idea this was coming. From what we understand, it was that quick that he just walked on, knew apparently what he wanted to do, did it, and then got off the bus.
SANCHEZ: We're talking to Dorinda Carter from Cumberland City, Tennessee, where this situation has arose now. A bus driver has died, according to police reports, after being shot by a student who was getting on the bus. Before we let you go, what's the condition there of the school, the student, and what are they doing to try and console some of the students who may have been on board the bus and actually watched this happen?
CARTER: It was a horrible scene. We watched some little children, as young as 5 years old, 6 years old, kindergartners, coming off that bus, crying, just terrified. And their parents, as you can imagine, are just shocked that this has happened and devastated that these young children especially had to witness this. All of the children, again, are being taken over to local high school for counseling. This sort of thing doesn't happen in this part of Tennessee.
SANCHEZ: Yes, well said. Dorinda Carter, WKRN, one of our affiliates, getting to that story. Thank you for filling us in as soon as you were able to do so, a story that we'll continue to follow for you here at CNN.
KAGAN: Let's take a look at right now what's happening in the news. Michael Jackson arriving at the courthouse in Santa Maria a few minutes ago for day three of testimony in his child-molestation trial. A public relations specialist takes the stand today. And Gabriel Kite was hired by the Jackson family to help manage the fallout from an unflattering documentary on Jackson's life. Jurors saw the documentary yesterday.
A prominent Republican senator says federal decency standards should include cable and satellite content. Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska tells the National Association of Broadcasters, he will introduce the necessary legislation. Cable industry argues that cable and satellite subscriber can already screen out objectionable material.
The 17-month-old grandson of golfer Jack Nicklaus died yesterday in an apparent hot tub incident. Police say the toddler slipped away from his nanny and was later found drowned in the tub. It happened in the family's home in West Palm Beach, Florida. And high overhead, adventurer Steve Fossett's quest to fly solo nonstop around the world is in jeopardy. This is earlier video of the Global Flyer as it passed over Europe. Officials saying the aircraft has 15 percent less fuel than Fossett thought when he took off from Kansas yesterday. Oops. We will keep you updated, as Fossett and his team decide what to do next.
CNN LIVE TODAY is back after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Millionaire Steve Fossett trying to make history, taking off once from Kansas, and trying to make it all the way around the world. There appears to be a problem with his trek. On the phone with us right now, Lori Levin, with Virgin Atlantic, a spokesman for this journey.
Lori, hello.
LORI LEVIN, SPOKESWOMAN, VIRGIN ATLANTIC: Hello.
KAGAN: Yes, you sound kind of disappointed. We're hearing not the greatest news.
LEVIN: Well, we haven't given up hope yet. There's a good chance he will make it, but it's not looking as promising as it was 12 hours ago.
KAGAN: OK, so this is what we're hearing, he's short on fuel, not just short on fuel, 2,600 gallons short?
LEVIN: Well, basically there was a discrepancy between what the gas gauge was telling us and the tank and the sensors, and apparently where he left with 2,600 pounds of fuel less than they had believed he had. If the tailwinds remain really strong, he could still make it. So we haven't given up hope of that. But there a lot of factors that need be considered between now and then to ensure his safety, especially before he approaches the Pacific Ocean.
KAGAN: OK, Lori, a discrepancy is when they charge you for dessert at a restaurant and you didn't order it. 2,600 pounds of fuel is a huge amount of fuel, even on an aircraft.
LEVIN: Right, and that's why the engineers are completely perplexed. We're not sure if it might have been a mistake when -- putting fuel on board and there was a mistake in the gauge or if there was some type of -- venting leak or something that happened within the first three hours of the flight. Trying to figure exactly what happened.
KAGAN: Is he in any danger at this point?
LEVIN: He's not in danger at this point. He does -- if you're making the decision to cross Pacific, it will be a very serious one and only one that Steve can decide if he wants to do once he has all the information that's available to him. KAGAN: And is he in the right mind to be able to do that? Because he hasn't been slept.
LEVIN: Well, he's been taking little cat naps and he really has sounded very alert, very awake, throughout the flight. There's been no indication that he's suffering from any sleep deprivation at the time or anything. He's just, you know, concerned about, you know, obviously about the fuel situation.
KAGAN: And when will that decision be made, whether to cross Pacific or not?
LEVIN: We believe that somewhere between 12:00 noon Central and about 1:00 p.m. Central we'll have to make that decision.
KAGAN: All right. Well, we look forward to hearing that. Of course, more than anything, we wish him a safe journey. Lori Levin from Virgin Atlantic, giving us the latest on Steve Fossett. Thank you, Lori.
SANCHEZ: Kudos on the dessert analogy.
KAGAN: Discrepancy.
SANCHEZ: That's a discrepancy.
KAGAN: That is a discrepancy.
SANCHEZ: 2,600 pounds of gas? Not a discrepancy.
One of baseball's greatest legends will posthumously be given the nation's highest civilian award today. You like the way I pronounced that?
KAGAN: That was very good. We're going to talk to former teammate about what Jackie Robinson not only meant to the game, but meant to him personally. A big day for Jackie Robinson, as well, getting the big honor. So that's just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Just a few hours from now, the late Jackie Robinson becomes only the second baseball player in history to be honored with the nation's highest civilian honor. President Bush will be there when Robinson's widow Rachel accepts the congressional gold medal on her husband's behalf.
Carl Erskine, a former teammate, who has written a new book. It is titled "What I Learned from Jackie Robinson." Carl Erskine joins this morning from Indianapolis. Carl, good morning, a pleasure to have you on.
CARL ERSKINE, FMR. ROBINSON TEAMMATE: Hey, my pleasure, thanks for inviting me.
KAGAN: From looking over the book, it appears you've learned things both on and off the field from Jackie Robinson.
ERSKINE: Well, you know, this is how I met Jackie. He introduced himself to me in a minor league game, exhibition game, in spring training, in 1948. He had just become rookie of the year the year before, his first year. And I pitched against a big club in Fort Worth, Texas, AA team, and I was just a minor leaguer among several hundred others in the Dodgers' system, but Jackie made his way over to the dugout after the game and he said hey, where's Erskine?
And that surprised me because I didn't know anybody on the big club. I stepped out of the dugout and he shook hands with me and he said, hey, kid, I hit against you twice today. You're not going to be in this league very long. You're going to be with us. And boy, what a boost -- you know, when you're a kid in the minor leagues, you have somebody notices you...
KAGAN: I bet.
ERSKINE: .. .and to have Jackie do it was special.
KAGAN: So when you came up to the big show together. Five national pennant -- National League pennants, one world championship in 1955, a lot of success on the field. But you also witnessed not just history being made, as Jackie Robinson was doing that, but the cost involved on a personal level for him.
ERSKINE: Well, Jackie had to endure a lot of indignities. And Mr. Rickey, Branch Rickey, who signed Jackie, actually signed me also about the same time he signed Jackie, but we took two different routes to the big leagues, and Jackie was there ahead of me one year. But Mr. Rickey told Jackie -- he said, I know you're strong, I know you can fight, but are you strong enough not to fight?
And that was the key to Jackie breaking the barriers which existed, because our society, at that time, was very much segregated. Not just in the South, but pretty much across country. So Jackie could not stay in the same hotels with us in the early years, didn't eat with us in restaurants. And he just had to take those indignities and he did take them and he did not fight back or speak out, according to an agreement with Mr. Rickey.
And in doing so, Mr. Rickey says, this is a way to beat a bully. You don't run, you don't fight back, you stand and face him and have compassion on his misunderstanding. And that's what Jackie did. And it was amazing that he could do that because he was high-spirited, militant...
KAGAN: Carl, let me have you hold you that thought. We have a little bit of breaking news. I want to continue our conversation. Let us get to news and we'll be back with you. Carl Erskine in just a moment.
SANCHEZ: Yes, let's pick this up. Because this is really a follow to a story that we've been telling you about throughout the course of the morning. It's the story of the suspect in the Madrid train bombings in Spain that was found to possess what some believe was a sketch or technical details of Grand Central Station in New York. Well, with that said, this here is Raymond Kelly. He's police commissioner of New York and he's now responding to questions about this development. Let's listen in.
QUESTION: ... you can't say for sure the drawing was at Grand Central Station. Some think it might look somewhat like the entrance. Is that -- you describe this as drawings of the interior. Is that what you saw when you saw the...
RAYMOND KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: Well, these drawings were shown to MTA officials, MTA engineers. And they believe it to be the interior of Grand Central Station.
QUESTION: When they said it was specific (UNINTELLIGIBLE), what specifically does it show?
KELLY: Well, it shows, you might say, the secondary room of Grand Central Station, or two large rooms in Grand Central Station. Obviously are the large terminal area, then an adjacent room. And I think it reasonable to assume it is Grand Central Station.
QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
KELLY: I would call them basic drawings, I wouldn't say their engineer drawings. They don't have specific measurements in the drawings.
QUESTION: Does it look like something that was based just on sights of the drawing or does it look like something that had been based on (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
KELLY: I think it's based on not necessarily schematics, but someone who perhaps had visited the location.
I'm sorry?
Yes.
Any other questions? Yes.
Well, I think it -- the pictures are fundamentally different. The information's fundamentally different. Again, this is a very basic sketch. The so-called Al Hindi information was much more detailed. Obviously took many visits to compile that information, was very specific, talked about some of the vulnerabilities of the building, was, in fact, a narrative. This is not a narrative, this is a sketch.
No. No, not that I know of, no.
QUESTION: Do you have any information at all, sir, there was a lag between when you had it and when it became public? Can you talk about your process, and your decision-making as to when or whether or not you share this sort of intel?
KELLY: I don't think there was a particular lag with Al Hindi. There was -- it's a process of downloading. And much of the information was encrypted. So obviously, there's a challenge to download that information. But Al Hindi, when we received the information, that was put out, at least the alert level was raised by the federal government right after that information was obtained.
Again, I think there's fundamental difference between this information and the Al Hindi information. This is very basic schematic. It is not an operational plan. It is not something that would indicate an immediate threat to a facility.
Well, you know, these are also being used for investigations.
SANCHEZ: Let's do this for you now, because we cut into this news conference just a little bit late. Let's try and take you back to what may have been the headline into all of this, and which seems to make it appear that New York officials were given, or were privy, to this information and had responded to it in the past.
Let's go back to something the police commissioner said earlier on. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: We put these additional proportions into effect eight months before the discovery of this more recent material. And they remain in place today. Nothing in this newer material has caused us to make changes in our security plans or procedures.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: So once again, they're saying, or it does appear that they have been made aware of this. No detailed information, he goes on to say. He says the engineers looked at these plans and says it does appear that this is, in fact, Grand Central Station. There had been a lot of questions about that in the past. So that's pretty much where that story sits right now.
KAGAN: Our apologies to Carl Erksine. We were having a nice conversation with him when the breaking news happened, so we had to cut our conversation short. Once again, his book is learned "What I Learned From Jackie Robinson." So thank you to Carl Erksine for dropping by.
SANCHEZ: And he looked good, didn't he?
KAGAN: He did look good, and I had about 20 more questions to ask him.
We take a break. We're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. Big news, good news I suppose coming out of Wall Street today.
KAGAN: Yes, and we're going to get to business news in just a minute. First, though, "Vanity Fair" magazine out this morning with its list of best dressed for 2005. CNN anchor...
SANCHEZ: Thank you very much -- oh, Anderson!
KAGAN: Well you weren't available for the photo shoot that day.
SANCHEZ: Oh, so they had to get him, yes.
KAGAN: Exactly.
Actor Jude Law's style is called messy school teacher by the magazine.
SANCHEZ: That's not bad.
George Clooney, "classic, yet modern," in quotations.
KAGAN: And our own Anderson Cooper. He says that he doesn't have a personal style, but Ralph Lauren purple label is tops.
SANCHEZ: Is that what he said?
KAGAN: I guess so.
SANCHEZ: What does he mean by that? That he likes purple. It is purple label.
Moving on to the women now, one word -- Oprah.
KAGAN: Oprah, The queen of talk says the key to style is wearing things that make you come alive. She loves La Perla sweats.
And director and actress Sophia Coppola says her personal style is indie film.
SANCHEZ: Indie film? Oh, that means looking like Indiana Jones?
KAGAN: No, indie, like independent film.
SANCHEZ: Oh, sorry.
Kate Moss, the model, says her favorite thing these days is waist coat, and her least fave, cowboy boots. There you have it.
KAGAN: That's going to do it for us. Big business news is ahead. The Dow doing really well, hitting a three-year high at one point today, coming down. We will get -- there you go, a look at the Dow. It's up 23 points, 10852. Flirting with 11000.
SANCHEZ: It has been a busy day here. We've been able to bring you all these stories here as they happen, and somebody else coming along to do just the same.
KAGAN: Wolf Blitzer will do that for you at the top of the hour. We'll see you tomorrow morning.
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