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CNN Live Today

Day Three Of New York Transit Strike; Temporary Extension Of The Patriot Act; New Airport Screening In Place; Florida Inmate Escapes; Alternative Heat Sources Tips

Aired December 22, 2005 - 10:00   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Great day in New York City.
We have breaking news to deal with here.

And this is very sad news from the NFL. Word that the son, the 18-year-old son of Indianapolis Coach Tony Dungy has been found dead. James Dungy, 19-years-old, found dead in his apartment in Lutz, Florida, near Tampa. No word on the cause and no details being released at this time. The family has been notified.

Tony Dungy has been in the news for very happy reasons lately. His Indianapolis Colts have the best record in the NFL. And up until last week, were working toward a perfect record in this season when they lost to the San Diego Chargers. Tony Dungy, the team says, has left the team to be with his family upon this news that his 18-year- old son has been found dead in his apartment near Tampa, Florida. The Colts are set to play the Seahawks on Christmas Eve. We will get more information on that very sad story from the Dungy and Colts family just ahead.

Right now, let's take a look at what else is happening "Now in the News."

A hearing is scheduled one hour from now in the New York transit strike. A state judge has threatened to put union leaders in jail. Both sides met separately with a mediator overnight as millions of New Yorkers scrambled for alternative ways to get around for a third day.

Saddam Hussein had another outburst in court today. He accused of U.S. of lying when the administration said Iraq had chemical weapons. He also said U.S. officials lied when they denied he was beaten in custody. A judge says there is no evidence of those charges.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is in Baghdad. The visit had not been announced. He comes straight from a visit to Afghanistan where he met with President Hamid Karzai. Rumsfeld says it would be desirable to form a new Iraqi government quickly. It's more important that it's put together well.

The voice recorder from that seaplane that crashed off of Miami Beach Monday won't be any help to investigators. But they expect to find clues from other pieces of the plane, including the wing that broke off. The NTSB wants to know why no one apparently noticed cracks in the main support beam. Good morning. I'm Daryn Kagan at CNN Center in Atlanta.

We're going to start this hour with the latest on the strike that has shut down the nation's biggest transit system. A mediator met separately this morning with both sides in the New York transit strike. And the head of the union has been summoned to court next hour where he could be sentenced to jail. Our Allan Chernoff joins us live from the Brooklyn Bridge with more on the strike.

Allan, good morning.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn.

Need a lift to Manhattan? Lots of these people would love to give one to you. This has been a line all morning long, these cars trying to get passengers. They need four passengers in order to go over the Brooklyn Bridge, which is two blocks away from us. So this is pretty much become a major carpooling point and lots of people getting those rides, getting into Manhattan, but it is quite slow- going.

In terms of the negotiations, well as you said, a mediator overnight did meet with both sides separately, the whole idea is that hopefully that mediator can bring the sides back together so they can get back to negotiating a contract and put an end to this strike. But the big drama within the next hour should come in that building right over there. That is New York State Supreme Court. And at 11:00 Eastern Time Roger Toussaint and other two-other leaders of the Transport Workers Union are scheduled to appear before a state judge who has said he may hold them in contempt of court and may actually throw them into jail. Keep in mind, this strike here in New York is illegal according to a state law which forbids public employees from going on strike.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Allan, what about the mood? Day one people were like, hey we're New Yorkers, we can get through anything. Day two, maybe not so much. How would you classify today?

CHERNOFF: And day three, people getting even more sour. And a very good example of that, you can see over here, there is a construction site just beyond and we've got union workers putting up a new hotel here in Brooklyn. We've been hearing repeatedly from all of these union members that they're very upset about this strike. They want those transport workers to get back to work. Some of these guys complaining to us that it took them three hours to get to their job site today. Not very happy about that.

So this is a strike that is impacting almost everybody in town. And there are for sure plenty of people still supporting the workers, but people certainly getting tired of this strike.

KAGAN: Allan Chernoff live in New York City, thank you. And a reminder, that court hearing for the union leaders begins at the top of the hour. We will bring you portions of that hearing live right here on CNN.

Let's turn to news now about your security. The Senate has passed a short-term extension of key parts of The Patriot Act. Now the House must still give its approval to keep the provisions alive. The late night Senate vote marked a turnaround for Republican leaders. CNN's Andrea Koppel is following this story for us from Capitol Hill. Elaine Quijano has reaction from the White House.

Andrea, we'll start with you.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, after days of a high stakes game of chicken with Senate Republican leaders and the White House refusing up until the last minute to sign off on even a short term extension of The Patriot Act, which is set to expire on December 31st. The made an about face late last night and agreed to a six- month extension. Now this is something that really was blocked not just by Democrats, but by at least eight Republicans who crossed over and said that they weren't going to sign off on The Patriot Act without revisions to further protect civil liberties.

Now it was a really busy day up here on The Hill, in a related note, another nail-biter concern, the $453 billion defense spending bill. This is money for funding the wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq, among other things. But really Senator Ted Stevens, a Republican of Alaska, threw a curve ball to the Senate earlier in the week when we attached a bill to include opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. He really held his ground, but finally yesterday Senate Republican leadership decided they had to remove it from the bill. Needless to say, Senator Stevens was extremely disappointed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED STEVENS, (R) ALASKA: This has been the saddest day of my life. It's a day I don't want to remember and I'm sorry to see is come to an end, because I am drawing the line out with a lot of people I've worked with before. I really am. I really am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Senator Stevens, who's 82 years old, Daryn, had threatened to keep the Senate in session through the holidays. He said he didn't care but in the end he relented. He had been trying for 25 years to open up the Arctic to oil drilling.

And as you mentioned, the House has yet to sign off on this. This is really a pro forma gathering today. It's informal and they're widely expected not just to sign off on the defense spending bill, but also to sign off on the extension on The Patriot Act.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Andrea, I thought the House members had gone home?

KOPPEL: Well, most of them have. But they've kept the leadership in town and what they'll do is they'll probably come back into session late this afternoon and really only need a couple people there to sign off on it.

KAGAN: Andrea Koppel, live on Capitol Hill, thank you.

KOPPEL: Sure.

KAGAN: Let's go ahead and check in with Elaine Quijano at the White House with reaction to today's news.

Elaine, good morning.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn.

Well, on The Patriot Act, even though it is not what the White House originally wanted, an extension. Nevertheless the official position here today is that they are pleased that the Patriot Act remains in place. That, though, coming one day after President Bush unsuccessfully appealed to senators to fully re-authorize the measure, calling it a vital tool in the war on terrorism.

Now the White House had made clear repeatedly that it did not want a temporary extension, accusing Democrats of trying to score political points. At the same time, though, making no mention of the handful of Republicans who had also expressed concerns about civil liberties protections under The Patriot Act.

Now despite this not being what the White House wanted, the administration embracing it. Now clearly trying to claim victory on the issue. At the same time, though, the White House looking ahead as well in a statement from the president last night. He said "the work of Congress on The Patriot Act is not finished. The act will expire next summer, but the terrorist threat to America will not expire on that schedule. I look forward to continuing to work with Congress to re-authorize The Patriot Act."

So, Daryn, the debate certainly to continue.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Elaine Quijano, live at the White House, thank you.

This is a very busy travel day before Christmas. Airline passengers are going to find new screening procedures in place. CNN's Kathleen Koch joins us from Washington's Reagan National Airport with that story.

Kathleen, good morning to you.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

And this is a major change for passengers used to that very tight post 9/11 security. Now they'll be allowed to bring on board in their carry on luggage items like this, scissors, small screwdrivers, pliers, things like that. Now the Transportation Security Administration explains that what this will do is give the screeners more time to look for explosives. The TSA says that bombs, bomb-making components have just become more sophisticated in recent years, the detonators, items like that harder to detect. And the TSA says that it believes rather than confiscating scissors, cuticle scissors, things like that, that really it is these bombs and explosives that present the greatest threat to aviation safety. But passengers we talked to here at the airport this morning had mixed feelings about all that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm comfortable with it. I don't think it's going to make any difference. I share my husband's opinion and I've had two cuticle snippers confiscated. So I'm kind of glad I can carry that stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In some ways, for those of us on the plane, it feels like those feel like weapons to us, to me, and it makes me a little bit nervous. And so we're going to keep on flying, and I still feel like everybody will do a good job. But I would have been perfectly happy if they'd kept it just the way it was.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is all about priorities, I guess, when it comes to this sort of thing. So I think it's probably better that they're more concentration on such -- like explosives or whatever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: And besides stepping up explosives detection, there will also be more random searches, random screenings and they will include a new pat-down procedure. Instead of just patting down the torso, the upper arms and upper legs will be patted down. Also when it comes to screening, shoes won't be simply put through the x-ray machines, they will be, in some cases, again randomly, they will be swabbed for minor traces of explosives.

So, Daryn, some changes but the TSA says it doesn't think that these changes will increase the waits in the security lines.

KAGAN: Which is the bottom line for most people.

KOCH: Quite so.

KAGAN: I mean, absolutely. Kathleen, thank you.

Be sure to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

We move on to Florida now where police are scouring airports, rail stations and ports for a suspected serial rapist. They say Reynaldo Rapalo broke out of jail on Tuesday night. He's accused of terrorizing a Miami neighborhood a couple of years ago. CNN's Chris King is live with an update.

Chris, hello.

CHRIS KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. A massive manhunt is under way for this man, Reynaldo Rapalo. He's an accused rape suspect. Police say he raped seven victims. He was awaiting his trial when he broke out. Police believe that Rapalo crawled through an air duct in his cell at a facility just outside Miami. They say he scaled down a wall using bed sheets tied together. Now the big question that people who live down here in Miami and police want to know is, just how did he get out. We spoke with Police Chief John Timoney on AMERICAN MORNING not too long ago. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF JOHN TIMONEY, MIAMI, FLORIDA POLICE: Separate investigations. One, obviously, to get this guy off the street. And then the second one is, how did this escape take place, who was involved, how the facility is constructed, how was he able to get -- we know he had certain tools that assisted him in the escape. How did he get them?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now police are combing the streets for Rapalo. They're keeping an eye on airports and bus terminals. Now Chief Timoney says he believes that Rapalo is currently being helped on the outside. And he says he has a hunch that Rapalo is still here in Miami. Police believe Rapalo is armed and dangerous. He stands about 5'4" and weighs 140 pounds.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Chris King, in Miami, thank you.

Fireplaces, space heaters and kerosene, they may lower your heating bills, but they come with a price. Gerri Willis has tips on how to keep your house and your family safe.

Also, the family of a soldier serving in Iraq gets a home for the holidays.

And later on, the unbelievable story of a surgery that took nerves from a mother's foot and placed them in her son's paralyzed arm. We will talk with him and his doctor and find out how he's doing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, hello and good morning, Portland, Oregon. Looks kind of crystal clear there but there is some high wind gusts and high wind advisories along the south Oregon coast. But it looks crystal clear and pretty beautiful there in Portland.

Chad Myers is here to talk weather clear across the country.

Chad, good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT) KAGAN: Now to Britain. The Purloined penguin tugs at heart strings around the world. Toga is one of the penguins at the zoo on the Isle of Wight. It was stolen last Saturday. An anonymous call that Toga had been dumped into the sea proved false. The penguin is to young to eat on its own and zookeepers say it will die without its mother. Sad story about the penguin.

Just ahead, saving money on your heating bill can be dangerous. Gerri Willis has some warnings and some tips.

Hi, Ger.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Daryn.

Space heaters, they can keep you cozy, but they can also be dangerous. "Five Tips" is next telling you how to keep safe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's check the markets. They've been open about 52 minutes. Not a lot of movement compared to what we've seen at this time the last couple of days. The Dow is up 3. The Nasdaq showing a little bit of movement as well. The Nasdaq is up about 1.5 points.

Well, it certainly is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas and winter. Today is the first full day of winter. And before spring comes around, you're going to shell out much more than normal on that heating bill. If you're looking for other ways to heat your home, you have to think safety first. Our Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis is here with today's "Top Five Tips." This from the woman who says love is -- how do you say love, with a regulated thermostat or something like that?

WILLIS: Well, I think it's a really good gift, Daryn. That's what I got you. I hope you like it.

KAGAN: I am so looking forward to it.

WILLIS: Well, let's start with these electric heaters, though, today.

KAGAN: OK.

WILLIS: They have less risks than the kerosene heaters. The thing you want to look for is to make sure that you get a model that is newer. You know, some people keep these models around forever. You want one that's been made after 1991. Here's why. They have all kinds of safety features that you may not know about. Number one, they may turn off when something comes close to them. Also, they have indicator lights to tell you when they're on. These are critical because home fires are very common this time of year due specifically to the space heaters.

KAGAN: And they are called space heaters, but it's important what space you put them in. WILLIS: You betcha. You want to make sure that you don't sit them on a rug or close to the drapes because they can catch them on fire if they get really hot. Three feet away from bedding and drapes. Not on carpets or rugs, obviously.

And I want you to be sure that you pay attention to the way you turn it on. The extension cord is critical. You want to make sure it's rated 14 or 12 AWG. This is one of those details that I think most people miss, but it's critical to staying safe.

KAGAN: What about kerosene? What do you need to be careful about with that?

WILLIS: I've got to tell you, I'm not a fan of these kerosene heaters. They're dangerous. You have to make sure you've got the right fuel. K-1 fuel is the correct fuel to use. And here's something that I didn't know about. You've got to make sure you don't put kerosene in something that you carry gas in because you'll make that kerosene flammable. It's details like this that get past people. Remember, kerosene, when it burns, it creates CO2. It's dangerous. You've got to be really, really careful with these heaters.

KAGAN: Nothing more cozy than making a fire in your fireplace but you have to be careful with that too.

WILLIS: Yes, that's all about the holidays and feeling cozy and making that fire, but make sure that you don't have creosote built up in your chimney. You can get somebody to come in and take a look at it and make sure that the thing is free and clear of any obstruction so that you're safe.

KAGAN: And finally, no matter how cold it is outside or inside, there are absolute no-nos.

WILLIS: Right. You know, not many people do this, but enough do it that it creates health hazards. People die because they use the stove to heat their house. It creates a fire hazard. Propane camping stoves indoor, total no-no. Make sure you're using your usual heating sources or a space safe heater.

And, Daryn, I want to tell you, 9:30 Eastern on "Open House," we're going to be talking about saving money on energy as well as we've got some over-the-top holiday cheer. We're looking at the really wacky stuff people put in their yards, you know, to celebrate the holiday. We've seen some pretty strange stuff.

KAGAN: Really? So "Open House" is open on Christmas Eve this year?

WILLIS: That's right, 9:30 Eastern right here on CNN.

KAGAN: All right. We will look for it. Gerri, thank you.

WILLIS: Thank you.

KAGAN: In world news, just when you thought Saddam Hussein had settled down a little bit, he is lashing out again. We'll go live to Baghdad to hear what the former Iraqi leader had to say and get off his chest today.

Also ahead, what a Pittsburgh man did to make sure one U.S. soldier in Iraq had a very special homecoming.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We're coming up on the half hour. I'm Daryn Kagan. Here's a look at what's happening "Now in the News."

A judge is considering jail time for the head of New York's striking transit union. The union chief and his deputies will appear in court at the top of the hour. We will bring you live coverage of portions of that hearing. A mediator met separately this morning with both sides of the strike. Meanwhile, commuters found alternate ways to work for a third day in a row.

Congress still has work to do before wrapping up 2005. The House must vote on Senate passed legislation for hurricane aid, low income heating help and The Patriot Act extension. Senate changes to a deficit cutting bill may not get House action until the new year.

A search continues this hour for suspected serial rapist. Reynaldo Rapalo has been linked to multiple attacks on victims range from age 11 to 77. Rapalo broke out of a Miami jail on Tuesday. Police believe the 34-year-old Honduran native may have had help in his escape.

And sad news out of the NFL. The son of Indianapolis Colt's football coach, Tony Dungy, has died. Eighteen-year-old James Dungy was found dead in his bedroom at his apartment near Tampa early this morning. That word from the Hillsborough County Medical Examiners Office. No further details are being released now. Dungy has been getting a lot of media attention this year. His Colts have the best record in the NFL.

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