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CNN Live Today

Heatwave; A Debate Over Time

Aired July 26, 2005 - 11:30   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now in the news, the Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off from Kennedy Space Center less than an hour ago, marking NASA's return to human space flight. The launch was the first since the Shuttle Columbia tragedy two-and-a-half years ago. The seven Discovery astronauts are on a 12-day mission to rendezvous with the International Space Station.
Chaplains and grief counselors are on hand at the annual Boy Scout jamboree following the deaths of four boy scout leaders. Authorities say the four were apparently electrocuted when a tent pole they were erecting struck an overhead power line. The accident happened as tens of thousands of Scouts gathered in Bowling Green, Virginia for that jamboree.

And a magnitude 5.6 earthquake rattled southwestern Montana. The quake was centered about 13 miles north of Dilley (ph), Montana. Authorities there say they have received reports of broken glass and some other minor damage, but nothing significant. There are no reports of injuries.

British police, they are searching an apartment in London linked to two suspects in last week's attempted transit bombing. They say one of the suspects lived in the apartment, and the other recently visited. Also today, police say they seized a vehicle in North London as part of that investigation.

You probably know this by just stepping outside. It is going to be another sizzler across much of the U.S. today, especially on the East Coast, where some areas expect triple-digit highs.

CNN's Kimberly Osias is in Washington to tell us what's being done to bring residents a little relief. Boy, it already looks hot outside. You know it's hot when it looks hot outside.

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is hot, Betty. I can definitely tell you that from firsthand experience, being out here all day. The temperatures are just about 91, 92 at the moment, but they are expected to soar, as you said, to the triple digits. We are expecting, with the heat index, temperatures about 105 or 110.

Now what makes it really even more oppressive is the fact that there's so much humidity here. Basically D.C. is a filled-in swamp, so you add that, it just compounds things.

And of course there are a number of things that like to enjoy the outdoor sights. A lot of the monuments, of course, are outside. So there are all kinds of strategies, they told me, for dealing with the heat. My favorite, one little boy actually put some water in his cap and then tossed it on his head. And folks are actually seeking some pockets of shade that are given from some trees.

One individual, he's traveling here with his family from Denmark -- of course tons of water there -- he said he probably picked the worst time to come to D.C. He said that they have a unique strategy. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are up early in the morning, and then we'll see the things before 12:00, and then go back to the hotel and sit in the air-conditioning until 3:00, 4:00, and then go out again. That's the plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: Now, there are heat advisories and warnings through much of this area, through Maryland, through Virginia as well. Then extending even farther north, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and even the Carolinas, down South where you are, have heat. So hopefully we're going to get a brief respite. We're hoping to get some rain. I think there's a 30 or 40 percent chance tomorrow. Everybody's hoping for that -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Well, you know, they say misery loves company, so you are not alone. Thanks, Kimberly.

OSIAS: I know. take care.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Well, it is a very timely debate. Every year millions of Americans lose an hour when they move their clocks ahead by one hour in observance of Daylight Savings Time. As seen here in the year 2007 -- you see it in the green -- it runs from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. Now, what if in 2007 the time was extended. Look here in the blue, starting on the second Sunday in March and ending the first Sunday in November. Last week, members of Congress agreed to that extension to Daylight Savings Time as part of a larger energy bill that could pass Congress as soon as this week. But there are both pros and cons with this issue.

Here with more are U.S. Representative Fred Upton of Michigan, and James May, president and CEO of Air Transport Association. They are both in Washington. We appreciate you being on the show.

Representative Upton, let's start with you first. Why is this needed?

REP. FRED UPTON (R), MICHIGAN: Well, the studies from the federal government back in the '70s show that for every day we extend Daylight Savings Time, we will save 100,000 barrels of oil. Now that's when we had 50 million fewer people. I suspect -- we asked the Department of Energy to give us another study in the next nine months. My bet is we'll, in fact, save more energy than what was forecast back in the '70s.

The other thing we did with this successful amendment was we really tracked the sun in a much better way. So by starting the second week in March, and going through the first week in November, including Halloween, insurance studies showed that we're actually going to be safer, we'll save dozens of lives that otherwise probably would have been killed in auto accidents, and at the end of the day, let's face it, we're going to be out there in the sun a little bit more. So it's a good thing. It passed on a wide bipartisan basis. It's part of the energy bill Congress will probably take up Thursday or Friday of this week, and obviously I expect it to pass.

NGUYEN: All right, Representative Upton, let's go back to the numbers that you put out there. According to the Department of Transportation study in the '70s, it would save 100,000 barrels of oil. But we're not in the '70s anymore. Do you think that our energy usage has changed? So is there really any way to guarantee it's going to make that big I have difference?

UPTON: Well, we'll see. I mean, 100,000 barrels a day is not anything to laugh at. I think it'll be more, because people will get up more with the sun instead of having the sun get up ahead of them. I think statistics show that it's going to be safer, and we had broad, again, bipartisan Republican/Democratic see this happen, tracking with the sun charts we looked at, looked at real science here. So I think, for the most it was part, it was a good amendment with broad support, when we not only passed it in the House in the spring, in March, but also as we came to agreement with the House and Senate negotiators this last week as part of the final bill, and therefore, we'll have it up for a vote Thursday or Friday.

NGUYEN: OK, Mr. May, let me ask you this, you are with the Air Transport Association. Why is the airline industry against this?

JAMES MAY, AIR TRANSPORT ASSN.: Well, you know, I'm a charter member of the Fred Upton fan club, but we think he is absolutely wrong on this issue. First, on the basis of energy savings, I think the DOT questioned the results of their study in '74. They questioned it again 10 years later. The principal reason they suggested you could save 100,000 barrels of oil was because it was being used to burn, to create electricity. That doesn't happen anymore. And people go out in the evening and drive around, and so I think it's a net zero on energy savings.

From the perspective of the airlines industry, we've got a very serious concern that, if we change, the rest of the world won't, and you are going to have 50,000, 60,000 international flights that no longer work on the schedule that they are intended to work on. That's going to put us at a significant disadvantage with our foreign competitors, number one, and number two, we estimate it's going to inconvenience up to 500,000 people in terms of making connections for those 50,000 international flights, and tens of thousands of connecting domestic flights where they're either going to have to sit in the airport and cool their heels longer, or they're going to find themselves missing connections. I think it will be a major inconvenience. We don't think there is policy justification for this change, other than people will feel sunnier.

NGUYEN: Mr. May, besides the inconvenience what is it going to cost the airline industry? Let's talk money here.

MAY: We've estimated the cost somewhere in the range of $140 million to $150 million.

And I think the big problem is that it's going to have a very disconcerting effect on what is called slot selection for international airports, and we're going to lose a lot of those valuable slots to our international competitors, and if we lose them, it will be on a permanent basis.

NGUYEN: All right, Representative Upton, along with that, what Mr. May presented also the national PTA says that it's going to put children at risk, because they'll be going to school in the dark, which could raise the number of abductions, also raise the number of accidents. So how do you address all of these concerns from critics?

UPTON: Well, a couple of things. First of all, I'm a fan of Jim May's as well. I've known him a long time. He and his wife Bonnie are personal friends. As relates to school kids, at least in my district, our kids go to school in the dark now. And unlike the '60s and '70s, when I was in school, when school started at Lincoln School at 9:00, it now starts at 8:00, so our kids go to school in the dark, but unlike in the '60s or '70s -- and I've got a middle-schooler and high-schooler -- our kids, particularly girls, have girl sports. So they're not going home in the light, whereas before they went home much earlier. So that's an advantage, and that's why the accident statistics actually show that we'll be better off with our kids having this new time than we had before.

As it relates to the time, the slots, as Jim May indicated, one of the things that we did in this bill was we delayed the implementation until March of '07, that allows other countries if they choose to go along with what we've done now. We've already had calls, as an example, with Canada. I suspect that the Canadians will look at what we've done on the time zones, and they're likely to change it. We'll see.

I know Japan, which doesn't have any Daylight Savings Time at all, has a bill before their diet to bring about Daylight Savings Time. And I would remind the viewers back in the '70s when we went through the energy crisis then we went to daylight savings time for 12 months of the year. So Europe is not on the same time sync we are on today, they are not on if we pass this legislation, but let's think we have enough time that we can work this out, to get the slots working out. We agreed to delay implementation until March of '07, or a year after enactment after the bill, should something happen, whatever is later, to allow these time adjustments to take place.

NGUYEN: All right, that's going to have to be the last word. Representative Upton, Mr. James, we appreciate your insight and your time, thank you.

MAY: Thank you, Betty.

UPTON: Thanks.

NGUYEN: Time for a quick reality check. The theory of Daylight Savings dates back to Benjamin Franklin, but it was first used by Germany in 1916 to conserve energy during World War I. The U.S. adopted it in 1918, but repealed it a year later because the measure wasn't popular with rural America.

And areas that still do not observe serve Daylight Saving Time are Arizona, parts of Indiana, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa.

So how much privacy would you be willing to give up for a better chance at good health? That's what New York City is asking hundreds of thousands of people.

And look at this, there they are. They melt in your mouth, not why your hand, but could they also cure what ails you? The story is coming up in our "Daily Dose" segment.

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NGUYEN: Taking a look at the markets today, the Dow is down 6.36 at 10,590 and the Nasdaq up $3.63.

Checking health headlines for you, got diabetes? Had a stroke? Vascular disease? Dementia? Take two of these. Yes, M&M's and call me, or better yet, a doctor in the morning. Maybe not the candy, but Mars Candy says it is developing medications using compounds and cocoa to help treat several ailments. Now new research shows compounds in cocoa can improve blood flow.

A birth control patch is getting a critical look. Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ortho McNeil (ph) has been hit with a lawsuit, alleging that Ortho Evropatch (ph) is defective. Ten women are plaintiffs, and they claim the patch cause them to suffer strokes and blood clots. The FDA says the risks are similar to those associated with British -- or birth-control pills, and the agency believes the patch is safe.

Well, the issue of medical privacy is being raised in New York City. The board of health is proposing to track people with diabetes. They want to track them. Now the plan would require medical labs to report how patients are controlling their diabetes. The board expects it'll cost $5 billion annually to treat the disease.

To get your daily dose of health news online, all you have to do is log onto our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address, CNN.com/health.

Despite a few stitches, an American diver involved in an unfortunate accident is doing fine today. Friday, though, look at this. Yes, right there. Oh! At the World Aquatic Championships in Montreal, Chelsea Davis Was attempting one of her best dives when she hit her face on the board. She spoke about that incident earlier today on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHELSEA DAVIS, DIVER: I was conscious through the whole thing, and I remember being up on the board, and I was really excited to dive, and do my next two dives, because they were my best two dives, and I was doing really well, so I remember the whole thing as it happened, and I hit the board and I fell in the water, and I saw all the blood around me. It was really shocking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: After Davis hit the water, blood streamed from her nose and her U.S. coaching staff jumped in to help her. Amazingly she suffered no major injuries.

This just in to CNN. Look at these pictures. We have very little information, but what we do know is what you see right there. A helicopter has crashed in Chicago. Actually it's in Bridgeview, Illinois, is the locator here, which is a suburb of Chicago.

We understand at this point that there are no injuries, but of course information is still coming in to CNN, and what we know is still very little. We don't know exactly how it happened, why it happened, but we are being told no one is injured, but there are traffic backups in the area. Obviously crews are on the scene. You can see the fire department dousing water or some kind of liquid on this helicopter there, which has crashed in a suburb of Chicago.

Just to repeat, this crash happened moments ago, I would assume, not too long ago. We don't have an exact time at this moment. But as far as we know, there are no injuries. We'll continue to follow this and bring you the latest as we get it. Stay tuned for more LIVE TODAY.

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NGUYEN: More now on that developing story that we just told you about. A helicopter has crashed in Bridgeview, Illinois. This is a suburb of Chicago. This happened on the Tristate Tollway, the accident occurred this morning, and at least five ambulances are on the scene. We understand that the helicopter crashed just off the shoulder of that tollway, coming to rest on its side, which is what you're seeing right there, along a sound barrier that lines the road.

Now there's no word yet on how many people were on board, what caused this, or if there are any injuries, but at this point, no injuries are reported.

And just to recap, you're looking at live pictures now of crews on the scene of a helicopter crash in the suburb of Chicago.

Also want to update you on another story we've been following today. Boy Scouts Jamboree, which is taking place in Virginia, four Scout leaders were killed yesterday while erecting a tent. Well, today we are learning more about exactly what happened. I want to take a listen to Gregg Shields. He is the national spokesperson for the Boy Scouts. This is what he said just moments ago at a press conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREGG SHIELDS, BOY SCOUT SPOKESMAN: Our hearts go out to the families of these dedicated scout leaders who gave so much to their sons, their troops and their communities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Obviously a very emotional time. Thousands of Boy Scouts from all across the nation are there. This was supposed to be a celebration, but of course in light of what's happened, the mood is definitely dampened. But just to recap, four Scout leaders were killed in that accident.

On to other stories now, in South Florida today, if your car is a little dirtier than usual, you might just chalk it up to dust, dust traveling all the way from the Sahara in Africa. Forecasters say a massive dust cloud could settle over southern Florida. And it's not expected to pose any serious health risks, but residents can expect some spectacular colors at sunrise and sunset. My next guest says dusts is everywhere. We know that, and it doesn't have to travel all the way from Africa to reach you.

Hannah Holmes is author of "The Secret Life of Dust." She joins me live on the phone from Portland, Maine. I guess my first question to you is, how in the world does this dust make it all the way from the Sahara Desert to Florida?

HANNAH HOLMES, "SECRET LIFE OF DUST": It's really tiny stuff, and the way it gets up in the air is you have these huge, violent storms in the desert, and they kick the dust up off the desert floor, and then they lift it up into the atmosphere, where the winds are very fast. So this dust can whip across the ocean in less than a week.

NGUYEN: Really? That fast?

HOLMES: Yes.

NGUYEN: We're looking at the satellite images. This thing is huge. How big is it?

HOLMES They can be colossal. It depends on how big the storm is and what kind of dust it kicks up. But they can be as big as Texas or bigger. Sometimes they're shaped like rivers, and you can really see them quite clearly crossing the ocean just like a river would, but they're sort of yellow.

NGUYEN: Should Floridians be walking around with masks on? Or is this going to be a problem? HOLMES: Fortunately, we live in a dusty world, and our bodies are up to the task of getting rid of it. We breathe in more than billion pieces of dust every day as a matter of routine, and so our bodies are really fine with getting rid of dust, unless we've got some a disease that has already compromised the lungs.

So this is just a small addition of some fairly innocuous rock dust, as opposed to the stuff that we make which can cause more...

NGUYEN: Hannah, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we are out of time. We thank you for your insight today on all dust, on all of this about dust. Thanks so much.

I'm Betty Nguyen. International news is up next. Stay tuned for "YOUR WORLD TODAY.

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