Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Plane Crash Survivor Speaks; A Response From Robertson; Hydrogen Fuel;

Aired August 24, 2005 - 10:30   ET

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

KAGAN: Welcome back to our second half-hour of CNN LIVE TODAY. I'm Daryn Kagan. Here's a look now at what's happening "Now in the News."
Much of Florida's east coast is bracing for the arrival of the 11th named storm of this Atlantic hurricane season. The normal pace for this time of year would be just two or three storms. Tropical Storm Katrina was formally named just about two hours ago and is on track to make landfall early Friday morning.

Baghdad hospitals are dealing with casualties from this morning's street battles in the capital. Police say insurgents attacked checkpoints in a sophisticated and well-coordinated strike. The militants reportedly used grenade launchers, automatic weapons and at least one car bomb. Police tell CNN that five people are confirmed dead, 31 wounded

Just a few hours from now, Presdient Bush will deliver his second speech this week defending the war in Iraq. He'll address military personnel near Boise, Idaho and CNN will carry it live. His speech on the War on Terror begins at 1:15 Eastern, 10:15 Pacific.

Meanwhile, the mother of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq will resume her peace protest outside the president's ranch in Texas. Cindy Sheehan returns to Crawford today to repeat her calls for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. President Bush says a pullout would quote, "weaken the U.S."

There is more today on Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson's apparent call for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Robertson made the remarks on his "700 Club" program on Monday, accusing Chavez of making Venezuela a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism. He returned to the issue on the today's show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAT ROBERTSON, HOST, "700 CLUB": August is a slow news day, but it seems like the whole world is talking about my comments about Venezuelan Dictator Hugo Chavez.

That reaction followed a "CBN News" investigation into the potential danger from the South American dictator. I said our special forces should quote, "take him out." And "take him out" can be a number of thing,s including kidnapping. There are a number of ways to take out a dictator from power besides killing him. Now, I was misinterpreted by the A.P., but that happens all the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: And reaction now from President Chavez. At the time of Robertson's initial remarks, Mr. Chavez was in Cuba. So was CNN's Havana bureau chief, Lucia Newman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF: Saying good-bye at Havana's airport to his close friend and mentor Fidel Castro, Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, didn't want to talk about the Pat Robertson controversy.

HUGO CHAVEZ, PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA (translator): I don't know who he is and I couldn't care less.

NEWMAN: What he couldn't stop talking about while in Cuba, was his obsession with saving the world from U.S. president, George Bush and so-called U.S. imperialism.

"They are the destabilizers," he said, "the ones represented by Mr. Warlord. They're threatening the world with their invasions and military interventions all over the world."

It's not just political, it's personal. Hugo Chavez convinced, despite us denials, that the White Houses was actively behind a foiled military coo against him back in 2002.

Since then, Chavez has become an unconditional ally of the hemisphere's only communist leader and the closer Hugo Chavez gets to Fidel Castro, the further he gets from the White House, which sees him as a threat to democracy and U.S. interests in the region.

Talking and even dressing like Fidel Castro, Chavez this weekend again called for Latin-American cooperation to free underdeveloped countries from U.S. influence and capitalism, which he claims exploits the poor.

Chavez saying Latin-American countries should ban together and trade together without the U.S. setting terms that favor American interests.

"It's important for our countries that have been so beaten up by capitalism and by the neo-liberalism promoted by the United States," said Chavez.

(on camera): Chavez did have a conciliatory message for the American people: To offer to sell cut-rate Venezuelan gasoline not only to Caribbean nations, but also to underprivileged Americans.

(voice-over): No word whether he would sell through Venezuela's state-owned gas station chain, Citgo, but Chavez clearly willing to use his country's vast oil wealth to make friends and influence people, especially at the expense of the Bush administration.

Lucia Newman, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Back here in the U.S., the Senate Judiciary Committee begins confirmation hearings fro Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. His nomination will begin that process in two weeks, but the panel's chairman is already indicating what one line of questioning might be.

Senator Arlen Specter says he will ask Roberts about two high court cases concerning the Americans With Disability Act. Specter criticized what he calls the court's judicial activism in functioning as a super legislature.

Groups supporting and opposing the nomination are working harder to get their messages out. This hour, the People for the American Way is holding a rally against Roberts, while a Women for Roberts group also is demonstrating at the same time.

Here is what's on the docket today in our look at legal briefs: An Idaho prosecutor will seek the death penalty for the suspect in the Groene kidnappings and killings. Joseph Duncan is accused of three brutal murders and abducting two children for sex. The girl, Shasta, was found alive. Her brother Dylan was killed.

The mother of Michael Jackson's teen-aged accuser faces five felony counts of welfare fraud. Court papers allege she fraudulently obtained more than $18,000 in welfare payments. The accuser's mother was a key prosecution witness, taking the stand for parts of five days. But many of Jackson's jurors did not believe her testimony.

And prosecutors describe a former suburban Chicago school superintendent as a reverse Robin Hood. Thomas Ryan is charged with stealing more than $100, 000 from the school system, including milk money and library fees. He allegedly spent some of the money on his three daughter's college tuition and on fancy dinners.

Well, you might not notice at the pump, but gas prices did fall overnight. AAA says prices declined a fraction of a penny for the second day in a row.

The relatively high gas costs have experts scrambling for new types of fuels. CNN's Sumi Das joins us live now. She is at a unique filling station in the nation's capitol. Sumi, good morning.

SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn. Unique indeed. Well, some hydrogen cars have made it out of the labs and on to the road and at this Shell station, they sell both hydrogen and conventional gas; that's what makes it unique.

It's all part of company's efforts to continue research and development of hydrogen technology and introduce that technology to the public.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAS (voice-over): Through rain, sleet and snow, Steven Yates (ph) delivers the mail, but instead of a mail truck, Yates drives a hydrogen fuel cell minivan.

STEVEN YATES (ph), MAILMAN: It's just as powerful as combustion engine.

DAS: At Fort Belvoir, Virginia, a hydrogen-powered truck helps Sergeant Antonio De La Fuente complete army missions.

SGT. ANTONIO DE LA FUENTE, TRUCK MAINTENANCE: If I was looking for the gear shifter -- well on this one, it doesn't have one. It has a push- button.

DAS: Both vehicles come from the General Motors test fleet. The car maker is one of many companies developing hydrogen technology as possible alternative to gasoline-powered vehicles.

PATRICK SERFASS, NATIONAL HYDROGEN ASSN.: The three main reason that we're developing hydrogen are to reduce our dependence on imported fuels, to improve the environment and to drive economic rifts.

DAS: Officials at Shell Hydrogen say 50 million tons of hydrogen are produced globally every year. This hydrogen pump at a publicly accessible Shell station, the country's first, shows how stations can be upgraded.

Opponents of the technology say that pressurizing hydrogen for transport and extracting it require more energy than the hydrogen produces.

SERFASS: The process by which you use the hydrogen is normally much more efficient than the combustion process with fossil fuels. With hydrogen, that process can be two to three times more efficient. Hydrogen is a long-term proposition. It's a marathon, not a sprint, but already industry is well beyond the starting line.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DAS: Officials at Shell Hydrogen say they expect the cost of hydrogen to be on par with the cost of gasoline per mile. Now that may sound discouraging, but if hydrogen becomes more widespread, as use of it becomes more widespread, the economies of scale could come into play, distribution could improve and those prices come down.

Live in Washington, I'm Sumi Das -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Sumi, thank for you that. Want to go to breaking news. And this concerns the commission that's looking at possible military base closings. One of those military bases on the list have gotten a reprieve. The submarine base in New London, Connecticut has now been taken off the list.

Our David Ensor is covering the hearings and brings us more -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, it was interesting how decisive the vote was. Seven members of the commission voted against the Pentagon's recommendation to close this submarine base. The head of the commission, Anthony Principi, the chairman, said it would be a tragic mistake to close it. This is one of the largest and most famous submarine bases in the United States. But the one member of the commission who voted in favor of closing it said, "We don't have enough submarine bases for all the piers we've got, and it would be tremendous savings if we closed it."

Still, this the first sign that the Pentagon's plan to realign and cut back bases quite dramatically over the coming years is not going to go through this commission exactly as planned. Now in the past, there have been up to 15 percent changes. There could be more this time if things go the way they seem to be this morning -- Daryn.

KAGAN: This the first one so far that this commission has taken off this list?

ENSOR: There have been other minor changes, some minor changes on bases, but yes, this is the first really big decision in which they're countering what the Pentagon proposes.

KAGAN: David Ensor at the Pentagon, thank you.

Once again, great news in Connecticut. The submarine base in New London has been taken off the list, recommended for closure. Now, we want to go ahead and talk with a man who is thanking his lucky stars, a survivor of that plane crash in Peru yesterday.

Jose Vivas is from New York City. He was on the Boeing plane, the Boeing 737 that crashed from -- that was going from Lima to the Amazon Rain Forest and he and his family were on board that plane. They all survived. We have to tell you that at least 37 people may have died in that crash.

Jose Vivas is with me on the phone right now.

Sir, it is definitely a good morning for you.

JOSE VIVAS, SURVIVED PLAN CRASH: I can't say it's a good morning. I've got my kids with me. My brother's fine. My sister is fine. I'm getting support of my friends, my family, and I'm happy.

KAGAN: Tell me what happened. Tell me what happened on board this plane yesterday afternoon. What was the first time something was going wrong?

VIVAS: The flight only was 55 minutes. It was not a long flight. So about 45 minutes in the plane, the pilot announced to us that the plane is going to land. So everybody have -- you know, a landing position. So in that 10 minutes, we have like a strong wind moved the plane. We would think it was a normal turbulence, but it was not. So we -- the plane crash, something like in a lake or something. We only had only was one hit to land, and one of the members of the (INAUDIBLE) opened the back door quickly and the plane was on fire, the front, the middle part, I really don't know what part, and in the back part we was OK. There was no fire, so everybody had conscious was in the backside, run out to the door. It was already open for the -- one member of the (INAUDIBLE).

KAGAN: And how was it getting your entire family out?

VIVAS: OK, I got support of my brother, and between me, and my brother and my sister, we pushed the girls out quickly out the doors, and we get to the safe side. Only my brother have time maybe to go back and get help a little kid. But me and my girls, we went to a safe place, but it was raining, and the condition of -- was a lot of water all around. And you know, we were desperate, and we tried to do our best, and we made it, thank God.

KAGAN: Indeed. Did you realize at the time when this was happening just how serious this crash was?

VIVAS: Say again.

KAGAN: While it was happening, did you realize how serious it was, that others were losing their lives?

VIVAS: Like I say, you know, I just want to ran out far away from the plane with my girls. I've got three girls, 10, 12 and 15, and I didn't have really time to look back.

KAGAN: Well this is a special day for you and your family. And as we said, your the Vivas family from New York. We wish you, and a mean this sincerely, safe travels in getting back here to the States.

Thank you for sharing your tale with us. Jose Vivas, a survivor of yesterday's plane crash in Peru.

Appropriately, we're going to talk about religion and spirituality. A question for you, are you a religious or spiritual person, or is there a difference? We're going to clarify the fine line of the faithful, with "Newsweek" magazine, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: And now our, "Your Spirit Segment." It has been 80 years since the Scopes monkey trial showcased the debate over the seriousness of evolution and its place in the classroom.

Today, that battle rages on and even President Bush has commented on evolution versus creationism or as it's called today, intelligent design. Her now, part of that argument from last night's "LARRY KING LIVE."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MACARTHUR, AUTHOR, PASTOR: Intelligent design is the only rational way to view the universe. Somebody intelligent made it. Religion and who that intelligence is --

LARRY KING, HOST: Does it ponder who made the intelligence; procreated the creator?

MACARTHUR: I accept the Bible as the source -- the authoritative source that tells me it was God and something or someone has to be eternal and the Bible says it is God who is the eternal one.

DEEPAK CHOPRA, AUTHOR: You see, when he says that, he is denying all of biology, all of anthropology, all of geology, all of astronomy, all of cosmology, all of evolution. It's -- all of physics, all of chemistry and everything that we know -- that we have learned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: The debate further energizes issues of faith and the larger focus of spirituality in America. It turns out that's the topic and cover story of "Newsweek" magazine as it looks at faith and values among today's Americans. Lisa Miller is "Newsweek's" society editor spear-heading the coverage and she joins me now from New York City. Lisa, good morning

LISA MILLER, "NEWSWEEK" MAGAZINE: Good morning.

KAGAN: I thought it was interesting the cover story called "Spirituality in America," not religion in America.

MILLER: Right. We were talking about people who want to be connected or feel connected with God or the divine, whether that's inside a church or institutional religious environment or outside. And so, we wanted to get our arms around as big a group as possible.

KAGAN: And you did that with a number of poll questions. Let's look at some of those results in this week's magazine. Number one question: Which best describes you? Spiritual but not religious: 24 percent, religious and spiritual: 55 percent.

And the numbers of not being interested in religion or spirituality, pretty small.

MILLER: Right. I mean, it's amazing, the number of people who go to church has remained about stable over the last 50 years: 46 percent or so, but a huge number of people call themselves spiritual; whether it's spiritual and religious or just spiritual.

KAGAN: And so, you ask people, "How important is spirituality in your daily life?" Fifty-seven percent said it is very important.

KAGAN: Yes. And an even a larger number of people said that they prayed every day. Sixty-four percent of Americans say they pray everyday to God. So, that's an enormous number of people who are trying to connect with the divine on a daily basis.

KAGAN: I also thought it was interesting: There's a story emerging here about young people being religious, because there's a question that was targeted to how important is spirituality in your daily life and you're asking -- you're breaking down into ages here.

MILLER: Yes. We have a couple of great stories in the package. One is about a Catholic college in Ohio, where there are young Catholics who reinventing and resuscitating old Catholic -- traditional Catholic meditation practices, mystical practices in order to help them feel more connected to God.

So, that's one group of quite conservative people. Then there's a group of Muslims on the West Coast who are second-generation Muslims and they are worshipping together: black Muslims, white Muslims, Southeast Asian Muslims all worshipping together in the same mosque and finding common threads in the Quran itself.

KAGAN: A question inside -- behind the doors of "Newsweek" there: Do your editors look at these results and go, "We might be missing something here," because most of the secular media -- and I would include CNN in this -- does not reflect what these poll numbers reflect; that people are incorporating this into their daily lives?

MILLER: Right, well we very purposely wanted to transcend the political questions. Our thesis was that, you know, politics makes religion seem very black-and-white or red-and-blue. In fact, on a personal level, everybody has very powerful, but very nuanced relationships to God and the Spirit and we wanted to get at what that was.

KAGAN: And you do. Very interesting reading. Lisa Miller from "Newsweek" magazine, thank you.

Well, most everyone agrees that early detection is the best way to survive lung cancer. So, why are doctors disagreeing about the best way to diagnosis it. We'll tell you what you need to know in today's "Daily Dose."

Plus, the government pledges No Child Left Behind, but as another school year kicks off, is the program working? Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is my guest when the second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com