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CNN Live Today

Vote On Alito; Domestic Spying; Maryland Daycare Shooting; BlackBerry Jam?

Aired January 24, 2006 - 10:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: My goodness, it's 10:00.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Time to go.

M. O'BRIEN: Four hours went like that.

S. O'BRIEN: Yet again.

M. O'BRIEN: Daryn Kagan, take it away.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Time flies when you guys are having a great time. Hopefully that continues there in New York City. You guys have a great day.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, you too.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks. You too, Daryn.

KAGAN: And we have a busy couple of hours ahead. Let's get started with a look at what's happening right "Now in the News."

To Germantown, Maryland. Police are describing a shooting incident at a daycare center as a bad accident. A seven-year-old girl was sent to the hospital today after a bullet struck her in the arm. Police say she is going to be fine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICER NANCY NICKERSON, MONTGOMERY CO., MD. POLICE: At this point, our investigation has revealed that an eight-year-old boy brought a gun to his daycare in a backpack. We're not sure at this point where he retrieved the gun. Came to the daycare this morning. There was a seven-year-old girl who was accidentally shot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: And we'll have a live update on the girl's condition in just a few minutes.

Also in the news today, another twist in the bizarre trial of Saddam Hussein. Four hours after court was due to resume today, reporters were told there would be a delay until Sunday. They court says some witnesses couldn't appear because they were out of the country. The Associated Press reports on another issue that may stall the case as well. Members of the tribunal were arguing over the appointment of the new chief judge. Also in Iraq, it is 17 days since American journalist Jill Carroll was kidnaped there and one week since her abductors threatened to kill her. There's no word yet on her fate. U.S. and Iraqi forces have searched for her. Muslim leaders have called for her release.

And it's a day after the announcement of massive layoffs at Ford. Now comes word of cuts at DaimlerChrysler. But unlike Ford, this move won't affect assembly line workers. DaimlerChrysler plans to eliminate 6,000 white collar jobs over the next three years. The automaker hopes to save $1.2 billion a year.

And Canadian voters have elected a new prime minister. Stephen Harper is the first conservative party leader to hold that post since 1993. But the conservatives failed to win a major in the house of commons. That means Harper will have to look for opposition support in getting his bills passed.

And good morning to you. I'm Daryn Kagan at CNN Center in Atlanta.

Some time within the next two hours, Samuel Alito is likely to take one step closer to the Supreme Court. The Senate Judiciary Committee, as we look at live pictures there on your screen, expected to give its approval to the nominee and then push him ever closer to Senate confirmation. But today's vote will not be without some partisan debate. Here to set the stage, our Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who we hope to get in focus there in New York, and our Congressional Correspondent Ed Henry on Capitol Hill.

Ed, why don't we start with you on what we expect out of the committee today.

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Well, Chairman Arlen Specter kicked it off by saying there's really no suspense, so senators should keep their speeches short. But as we all know, this is the Senate, after all, the greatest deliberative body in the world and sometime the speeches go on for a little while. So we'll have to stay tuned to see how that goes.

But clearly there is no suspension. We all know that this is likely to be a party line vote. The Republicans have the majority in the Judiciary Committee. It's very likely to be 10 to eight in favor of Alito.

He would then move on to the Senate floor tomorrow where there will be a debate throughout the end of the week. There could be a vote as early as the end of this week or early next week. But again, we're expecting a party line vote pretty much there as well. And it's clear the Republicans have a majority of at least 51 votes to get Alito confirmed.

They may fall short of the 60 votes need to break off a filibuster. But I can tell you, senior Democrats are privately admitting the obvious at this point. They really don't think they can launch and sustain a filibuster. When you look at the latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup Poll, it's clear that the majority of Americans think he should be confirmed and Democrats acknowledge privately they really haven't been able to muster much of an effort to stop him, so they're not going to filibuster.

What all Democrats really hope to do at this point is to try to keep the final vote total for Judge Alito as low as possible. You'll remember that last year Chief Justice John Roberts got 78 votes. That was a sign and viewed across the political spectrum that he had wide bipartisan support. He got 22 Senate Democrats to vote for him on the floor. Right now there's only one Democrat, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, who has publicly said he will vote for Alito.

Democrats want to keep the total down as low as possible for two reasons. One, they want to basically suggest that this was a polarizing nomination and also make this kind of a tainted victory for the White House. But Republicans are saying, look, a victory is a victory. Alito is going to be confirmed in the next few days. And if they feel that there's any polarization, it's because of the Democratic effort which has now failed to stop him.

Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, Jeff, let's bring you in to look forward. What effect Alito's contribution might have on the Supreme Court, keeping in mind that we really never know how a Supreme Court justice will turn out until they actually start to doing the job.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, you know, Sandra Day O'Connor, she's going out with the same hard work that characterized her 26 years on the court. She decided she was part of the majority in a five to four decision yesterday about state's rights, holding that the federal government trumps states rights in one narrow area of the law. Those are the kind of issues where Judge Alito, soon to be Justice Alito, could have a big impact. Affirmative action. Abortion, which was so much the focus of questioning during his confirmation hearings. Executive power. Because Judge Alito didn't answer many questions directly about how he will vote, we don't know exactly what impact he'll have on the court. But certainly he'll be a conservative. How conservative he'll be, that's the question we're all going to want to know the answer to when he takes office probably in about a week.

KAGAN: All right. I want to keep you two fellows around to look at our other story that's up there today, and that is the White House making the big push this week in defending the NSA's domestic eavesdropping and wiretapping program. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez was on AMERICAN MORNING today talking about that Congress had been briefed on this program and that he does indeed believe it is legal. Let's listen to that sound bite.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I've sat in on some of these briefings. I'm aware of what's been told in some of these briefings. I know that there were ample opportunities for people to ask questions, to raise concerns. And as far as I'm concerned, we have briefed the Congress. They're aware of the scope of the activities. And we continue to do what we can to assure Congress about what we're doing under these authorities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: That kind of answer not good enough for some on Capitol Hill. Ed, I know there are hearings coming up. Tell us about those.

HENRY: Well, yes. In fact, a few moments ago, Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on Judiciary, who will be helping to lead those hearings on February 6th when they kick off with Alberto Gonzales, the attorney general, as the first witness. Leahy was saying in the context of the Alito nomination, he was concerned that Judge Alito did not answer enough, in Leahy's estimation, questions about executive power and they feel that these briefings of Congress that the attorney general was referring to were really so limited, just a handful of people, and that they weren't given enough details that really Congress has not been given the full scope.

But I can tell you, politically, the ground has been shifting up here just a little bit. This started out mostly being about civil liberties. But I think, in addition to the White House push back, we're seeing Republican senators as well pushing back hard on the idea that they need this program to fight terrorism and that they're trying to strike a balance between civil liberties and fighting terrorism.

And it's not just the White House now. We're hearing a very strong push back from Republican senators up here as well. And some of the national polls have suggested that some -- maybe a brief limited majority of the public for now, at least, sides on the idea that we have to go after terrorists and that maybe they're willing to give up some civil liberties which is what the White House is arguing.

Daryn.

KAGAN: And, Jeff, help us understand the legality of this. Who or what body will ultimately decide if this program is legal?

TOOBIN: Well, I think that's very much an open question, Daryn, because it is very unlikely that this program will have a clean test in any federal court, much less the Supreme Court. Because the way the law works is, an individual has to have what's called standing. You have to have the legal right to bring a case. No one knows and no one is likely to know who was actually tapped in the course of this program, so it's unlikely a case could be brought by an individual who says this illegal act was done to me.

So think this debate is very much more likely to stay in the political arena. Democrats largely saying and some Republicans like Arlen Specter and John McCain saying, we believe this is unlawful and the president should either stop it or get the authorization from Congress. And Republicans saying, this is a necessary program to protect Americans and should be continued as is. It's really much more of a political debate, I think, than a legal debate because it's not likely to wind up before the courts.

KAGAN: Jeffrey Toobin. Ed Henry. Gentlemen, thank you for your help this morning. Appreciate it.

Now we move on to another issue that has stoked international anger against the U.S. The CIA's alleged operation of secret prisons to question terror suspects. A Swiss lawmaker investigating the charges say there is evidence that the U.S. outsourced the torture of suspects. Swiss Senator Dick Marty also say a number of European governments likely knew about that program. He concedes there's no irrefutable proof that the CIA operated detention centers in Poland, Romania or any other country. But he says there's plenty of evidence to suggest a system of relocation and torture.

Ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY, we'll get more information on the shooting this morning at that daycare center in Maryland. A live report just ahead.

Also, a CNN exclusive. When police were dying in car crash fires, Ford made a simple fix. But why hasn't Ford recommended the same change for other cars with a similar design?

And legal wranglings could shut down your BlackBerry or crack berry for you addicts out there. What are the options for those of us who cannot live without the BlackBerry?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's get to this breaking news story out of Maryland.

Gunfire inside of a daycare center wounded a seven-year-old girl earlier this morning. Police say an eight-year-old boy had a gun in his backpack when the firearm accidentally went off. Jan Fox is with our affiliate WUSA and she is live on the scene with more.

Jan, can you tell us what happened?

JAN FOX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, just when you think you've seen absolutely everything on this job, something even more bizarre happens. Police got the call for this one just before 7:00 this morning. They say six children were inside the For Kids We Care day center, which is on private property on Gray Eagle Court just off of Great Seneca Highway (ph) in Germantown, Maryland.

An eight-year-old boy brought a handgun to the center. It was inside his book bag. Police say he was handling it, playing with it or somehow trying to take it out when the gun accidentally discharged. A bullet struck a seven-year-old girl in the upper body. She was helicoptered out to children's hospital. Her injuries are not life threatening.

And this may sound just a little strange, but police do have that little boy in what they call custody. They are investigating where he may have gotten that gun. They are working with the state's attorney on this case. So far, no word on any charges.

But, Daryn, this is the first time we've seen something like this happen around here. This is a very quiet neighborhood. Obviously neighbors are stunned. Parents came to pick up their children. Didn't know what happened and couldn't understand what happened. So police are still trying to sort it all out.

Back to you, Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, you know, when this story first started breaking, I think some of the first questions some of us had is, what are seven and eight-year-olds doing at daycare at 7:00 in the morning?

FOX: In this area, it's quite a distance from Washington, D.C., but it's still considered a bedroom community. So to get to work by 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning to beat the traffic, you have to leave by 6:00, 6:30. So that's quite common in this area.

KAGAN: Got it. A lot of questions, especially for the parents involved here. How that eight-year-old got that gun in the first place.

FOX: You got that.

KAGAN: Jan, thank you. Jan Fox with our affiliate WUSA.

This just in on the West Coast. Carlsbad California, the Palomar Airport, we're getting word that a small plane has crashed at the west end of the runway at the Palomar Airport. Those of you familiar with the north county -- the north county of San Diego County. The airport is three miles south of Carlsbad. No word on possible injuries. And there are some pictures that are showing smoke and fire. So we will check on that. That tends to be a private airport where small planes fly in and out of just north of San Diego.

Well, on to businesses news now.

Yesterday a Supreme Court decision not to hear a patent infringement case might create kind of a sort of high-tech BlackBerry jam. A possible injunction looming against BlackBerry's Canadian manufacturer Research in Motion and that could put a big squeeze on the millions who use our beloved BlackBerry. And we do love the BlackBerry.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Nice. Pretty.

KAGAN: Our nice little BlackBerry. Our Technology Correspondent Daniel Sieberg here to calm some nerves perhaps because . . .

SIEBERG: What would a technology correspondent be without a BlackBerry. Let's be honest.

KAGAN: Useless.

SIEBERG: Totally.

KAGAN: Yes.

OK, are these just going to shut down -- are we going to wake up in the morning and they're not going to work? Our thumbs will have nowhere to go? SIEBERG: Tomorrow you'll wake up and they'll still be working. OK. Short answer, but there is a lot of debate behind the scenes on what could happen in the next week or two. Off the top, though, let's do a quick demonstration, if you want, Daryn.

KAGAN: Let's do this.

SIEBERG: Because so many people out there might be wondering, what's the big deal with BlackBerry's? Well, I have one of the newer BlackBerry's here.

KAGAN: Of course you do.

SIEBERG: The 8700c. I'm going to send this e-mail to you.

KAGAN: OK.

SIEBERG: OK. And we're going to see just about how long it takes to get to your BlackBerry. Now the trick with all of this is, the key basically for why people loves BlackBerry's so much is they're fairly quick, they're easy to use

KAGAN: Here it comes.

SIEBERG: A lot of this happens behind the scenes. I see the arrows moving on Daryn's BlackBerry there. If you scroll up.

KAGAN: There you are.

SIEBERG: There it is.

KAGAN: You said you sent me a special message?

SIEBERG: Well, maybe you want to look at it later.

KAGAN: What is that sound they always make?

SIEBERG: That is a little bit of interference that's happening with the audio.

KAGAN: OK. I always hear that. Oh, it says -- this is my e- mail from Daniel Sieberg. It says, these things can be addictive. Yes.

SIEBERG: It's true.

KAGAN: This just in to CNN.

SIEBERG: I admit it. It's true.

KAGAN: But that took, what, two second for it to go?

SIEBERG: Two or three seconds, right. And granted we're sitting next to each other, but that e-mail goes off to a sever and elsewhere and comes back.

KAGAN: Right.

SIEBERG: And so, you know, it does take quite a while.

The debate here is between Research in Motion, a Canadian company which makes the BlackBerry technology and has for quite a number of years, and NTP, which is a small holdings company in Virginia. They're battling it out over the patent rights as to how these devices work. It's really the core to all of these, how wireless e-mail gets sent out.

KAGAN: This patent goes back to the '80s.

SIEBERG: It does. It goes back quite a ways. And these companies have been battling for a number of years. It's gone to the Supreme Court. Now we've heard they're not going to hear this case.

So it goes back to a lower court that could enforce an injunction. Could be starting February 1st. Now that's when NTP is going to put their next briefing forward. The judge in this case has a lot of discretion. As I understand it, they could enforce this injunction right away. They could grant a 30 to 60-day grace period. They could also wait quite a while and they -- who knows. There are a lot of options. In fact, Daryn . . .

KAGAN: They could also settle. And I know BlackBerry has that kind of cash.

SIEBERG: They could settle.

KAGAN: They could just pay up and make us all happy.

SIEBERG: A lot of cash. We're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. Potentially a billion dollars to settle this case.

KAGAN: Let me ask you this. OK. So for people out there who have BlackBerry's, do they need to make some kind of contingency plan?

SIEBERG: Well, it depends who you talk to. I've talked to a couple of analysts yesterday, in fact, doing a lot of research on the BlackBerry. But one of the analysts said that it's a good idea right now to sort of wait and see what happens, especially if you've got a company that is reliant upon these. Maybe you're thinking of buying some and rolling them out to all of your sales force, for example. Or you might want to wait and see what happens with this case.

Other analysts are convinced that this will be settled behind the scenes or resolved in some way, whether it's legally or financially. That this will never actually come to a shutdown of the service. The February 1st date is significant because that's when we understand this briefing is going to be filed. But again, anything could happen after that point. I wrote down seven possible options the other day, Daryn, as to what could happen. And I can just cross off Supreme Court decide this case.

KAGAN: OK. SIEBERG: But there are still a number of other things that could happen. So a lot of uncertainty.

KAGAN: And you'll continue to follow it. And as anything breaks, you'll send me an e-mail.

SIEBERG: I will try, if I can.

KAGAN: Cecil (ph), for now you have nothing to worry about, my little baby.

SIEBERG: Right, for now.

KAGAN: Oh, someone else is e-mailing me.

SIEBERG: I'll put this in my pocket.

KAGAN: OK. Put it away. Concentrate on the news.

SIEBERG: Yes, right. Yes.

KAGAN: Daniel, thank you.

SIEBERG: All right.

KAGAN: OK. We're going to live to Capitol Hill. Right now, a Senate committee looking into the response to Hurricane Katrina. Sure to come up, new documents indicating the Homeland Security Department was warned of what could happen to the levee system around New Orleans a day before the storm hit.

And West Virginia's governor, he demanded wholesale safety changes for coal miners and he wanted them enacted just one day. Did he get them? We'll tell you just ahead.

And we're also watching the markets. They've been open about 50 minutes. Looking pretty strong to start the day. The Dow is up 33 appoints. The Nasdaq in positive territory. It is up about 18 points as well.

We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: To West Virginia now. It took rescue crews days to find the 14 coal miners who died in two separate accidents in West Virginia. But new safety laws spawned from both mishaps were approved unanimously and in only eight hours by state lawmakers yesterday. These new laws include wireless communication and tracking devices for miners, better underground oxygen supplies and a state-wide 24-hour hot line to report mine accidents. Today, Senators Robert Byrd and John Rockefeller of West Virginia join Governor Joe Manchin on Capitol Hill where Congress is holding hearings on mine safety.

More Katrina hearings underway right now. A live picture of Joe Lieberman there on Capitol Hill. Documents are now just being released showing that one day before Katrina hit the Gulf, Homeland Security had been warned that the approaching storm surge could breach levees and leave New Orleans flooded for weeks or months. The warning was based on a government exercise known as Hurricane Pam. The test was scheduled to begin in September of 2005. Katrina hit on August 29th.

Keeping an eye on today's weather, Jacqui Jeras. And it looks like you're kind of Midwest bound. But I know there's also news in my home state of California.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY . . .

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw flames shooting past my window. And I said, oh my God, we're on fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: When police were dying in car crash fires, Ford made a simple fix. But why hasn't Ford recommended the same change for other cars with a similar design? It's a CNN exclusive. You'll see it just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's take a look at what's happening right "Now in the News."

First, just north of San Diego, in Carlsbad, California, the Palomar Airport, a small plane apparently has crashed and burst into flames at the airport. The plane skidded off the west end of the runway at 6:39 local time this morning and there are -- well, that's the wrong picture. There we go. Back to the right picture there. The plane had crashed, appeared to be a small private plane or a business jet. More on that and pictures as they become available.

All right. Now let's get to Capitol Hill. There we go. Supreme Court Nominee Samuel Alito is facing a critical vote within the next hour or two. The Senate Judiciary Committee expected to approve his nomination largely along party lines. The full Senate could vote on Alito by the end of the week.

In world news, to Indonesia. Police are questioning a man as part of a larger investigation into last year's bombings in Bali. Twenty-two people were killed in those attacks. Indonesian authorities say the man has not been charged, may have ties to an alleged mastermind of the attacks.

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