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CNN Live Today
'CBS Evening News'; Fargo Flooding; Big Announcement From Apple Computers
Aired April 05, 2006 - 11:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Just four minutes past -- just four minutes past the top of the hour.
President Bush is in Connecticut today. He is in Bridgeport. He is talking health savings accounts. The critics say that that will not help many of the uninsured in the U.S. We'll hear what President Bush has to say in a little bit.
We're also watching a situation in Washington, D.C. A school shooting just outside of D.C.'s Roosevelt High School. D.C. police saying it happened around 9:15 a.m. in a parking lot in front of the school on Iowa Avenue, and the victim, a male juvenile. So one person injured in a school shooting in Washington, D.C.
On to television. And we can all quit wondering and speculating. Katie Couric has announced her plans, and she's moving on to CBS. She is the permanent replacement for Dan Rather, and she is making history, too.
Couric becomes the first solo female anchor of a network evening newscast, and she's being named managing editor of the program. She says she is ready for the challenge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATIE COURIC, "THE TODAY SHOW": Sometimes I think change is a good thing. Although it may be terrifying to get out of your comfort zone, it's also very exciting to start a new chapter in your life. So, for now, it's not good-bye, at last not yet, but a heartfelt thank you for 15 great years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: So that's now earlier this morning. What about back in the day? Do you know that Katie Couric used to work here at CNN when she was just breaking into the business?
We have done some investigation, and we have found a photo of what she looked like then. Well, not that different. Dressing a little bit better, but not that different.
Back in the day when Katie was at CNN, which, by the way, when she first went on the air here, legend says executives wanted to pull her off because she just didn't, you know, have that special TV thing. Well, now she's on the way to the "Evening News" anchor chair, considered the place to be. Part of the challenge is telling the stories of our changing times.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is "The CBS Evening News."
KAGAN (voice over): "The CBS Evening News," for more than a half a century the crown jewel of the Tiffany Network.
EDWARD R. MURROW, "CBS EVENING NEWS": Hello, America.
KAGAN: It was mined from the fields of news legends like Edward R. Murrow. The first "CBS Evening News" broadcast hit the air in 1948. Then it was called "The CBS TV News." It was a 15-minute newscast anchored by Douglas Edwards.
DOUGLAS EDWARDS, "CBS TV NEWS": Coast to coast, Douglas Edwards reporting.
KAGAN: Through the waning days of Truman into the Eisenhower years, Edwards covered political conventions, the discovery of a polio vaccine, and the sinking of a luxury liner, Andrea Doria.
EDWARDS: And down goes the Andrea Doria. The time, 10:09 Eastern Daylight Time.
KAGAN: In 1962, former war correspondent Walter Cronkite took over the anchor chair. Through tragedy and triumph, millions turned to the man known as "Uncle Walter" and his calm but authoritative style.
WALTER CRONKITE, CBS NEWS: President Kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. Central Standard Time.
KAGAN: From the Kennedy assassination to the civil rights movement, to the space race, and landing a man on the moon...
CRONKITE: Man on the moon. Oh, boy!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. You're looking good here.
CRONKITE: Boy.
KAGAN: ... Cronkite was known as the most trusted man in America. And it was Cronkite's words after returning from Vietnam which helped change the course of U.S. politics and perhaps the course of history. He predicted it would not be won but end in a stalemate.
President Lyndon Johnson told a White House aide, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost middle America." Johnson decided not to seek re- election, and Richard Nixon won the White House.
CRONKITE: And that's the way it is.
KAGAN: In 1981, Cronkite stepped aside.
CRONKITE: I'll be away on assignment and Dan Rather will be sitting in here for the next few years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is "The CBS Evening News."
KAGAN: Dan Rather ascended to the main anchor chair. A long- time report who earned his stripes covering strife and storms, for a short while he had company with Connie Chung as co-anchor. Last year, after a storm of controversy surrounding Rather's report for "60 Minutes" about President George W. Bush's days in the National Guard, he stepped aside.
BOB SCHIEFFER, "CBS EVENING NEWS": Good evening. I'm Bob Schieffer.
KAGAN: Long-time reporter and "Face the Nation" moderator Bob Schieffer stepped in as interim anchor.
Now it seems it's time for another to follow in the footsteps of Edwards, Cronkite and Rather, and take his or her place in what's seen as many as the high throne of broadcast journalism.
CRONKITE: And that's the way it is.
SCHIEFFER: Thanks for joining us. Good night.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Katie Couric is supposed to make the switch some time in June.
An online sex sting. Florida police file charges that ripple all the way to Washington.
Details ahead on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: He sang about going home in 1952. Now Louisiana music legend Fats Domino has done just that. The singer returned to his flood and hurricane-battered home in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. That's where Fats Domino rode out Katrina. He said the storm may have cut a destructive path through his home, but it could not destroy his faith, his love of music, and the love for his fans.
Chad Myers is looking -- let's see, oh, you're looking at my soggy home state of California, aren't you?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm afraid.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: Chad, thank you.
MYERS: You're welcome.
KAGAN: It is also too close for comfort in North Dakota. There, the Red River is near record levels in Fargo less than a decade after the city's flood of the century.
Here's reporter Tom Halden with our affiliate KMSP.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM HALDEN, REPORTER, KMSP: The best news would have been for folks to wake up and the water was gone, and the second best news is that the floodwaters seemed to have stopped. The Army Corps of Engineers saying the waters have not risen up to the forecasted flood of 37.5 feet. They're sitting right around 37.1 feet, and they have not -- they have not risen, rather, since last night at 7:00, making people feel a little bit better.
People have not slept in this neighborhood -- we're just north of downtown Fargo. Folks have been out this morning checking their sandbags, making sure the water isn't getting through. The man right here in this house was just out a little while shoveling it out.
People at this school right across the street, well, this flood wall was built just after the '97 floods that devastated this area. That seems to be holding. They're being very vigilant here.
And over the last couple of days an earthen dike was also built. That is holding as well.
Emergency managers hoping for the best. They're not saying there are any major problems at this point. There are helicopters from the Minnesota National Guard and the Coast Guard that are on standby to do any rescues, but they're not worried about that at this point, because the floodwaters that are out and about, trucks can drive through those.
So, it seems to be that the best case scenario shaping up at this point; however, no is going to say that until the waters start to recede.
In Fargo, North Dakota, Tom Halden from KMSP TV.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: We have business news just ahead. Apple Computers, people who have them love them, swear by them, but there's one thing they haven't been able to do. They're fixing that. We'll tell you the new thing that Apple is offering just ahead with Susan Lisovicz.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Keeping you safe, that's the mission at Homeland Security. Now one of its most high-profile officials is charged with preying on a young girl on the Internet.
Police say Brian Doyle was trading graphic sex talk with an undercover detective who was posing as a 14-year-old girl. In fact, they say Doyle was in the middle of an online conversation when officers arrived at his door to arrest him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF GRADY JUDD, POLK COUNTY, FLORIDA: At the end of the day, we ended up with 23 felony charges. That's after he sent 16 pornographic video clips to this undercover detective who he thought was a 14-year-old female. He would send the clip and then discuss what he wanted her to do with him on or what he wanted to do with her.
This guy is a criminal. We hope to see him in the Florida state prison system for a very long time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Doyle is the fourth-ranking official in the department's Public Affairs Office and will be placed on administrative leave. He's expected to appear in court this afternoon. So far, Doyle has said nothing publicly.
A big announcement from Apple Computers. Susan Lisovicz joins us from the New York Stock Exchange to tell us why loyal PC users might be reconsidering making the switch to Macintosh.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: It's huge news coming out of your home state, Cupertino, California, Daryn. It's a new software available immediately from Apple called "Boot Camp," which will allow Intel-based Macs to run Microsoft's dominant Windows XP operating system.
This is all part of an evolution, Daryn, that began just about a year ago when Apple announced that it would shift from IBM chips -- in other words, the brains, the chips, the brains of the machine -- to Intel chips in Macs. The first Intel-based notebooks just came out two months ago, but within two years we're going -- within about a year or so, you're going to have the entire Mac lineup with Intel chips. This is big news, and investors have been responding -- Daryn.
KAGAN: So does -- does that mean when you get a Macintosh you're going to have to choose, do you want it to run Windows or the Macintosh program?
LISOVICZ: No.
KAGAN: You don't have to choose.
LISOVICZ: No. And that's when you can have your cake and eat it, too.
KAGAN: Your Apple and eat it, too.
LISOVICZ: That's right. You can have your Apple, and you can have your Windows.
And, you know, one of the reasons that Macs haven't done that well is because a lot of folks are used to using the Windows operating system, especially in the office. And so it's held them back, even though Macs have long gotten raves for being very stylish and easy to use. And now you can -- if you -- again, if you have the Intel-based Macs that just came out, you can get this patch, you can download it immediately. But within a year or so, with the notebooks that will be coming out, it will be a feature, and you will be able to use both of them. So...
KAGAN: There you go.
LISOVICZ: Yes.
KAGAN: For people who have them, it's like a religion.
LISOVICZ: Exactly.
KAGAN: They love and swear by it. How's Apple doing on the market today? And how's the rest of the market doing?
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
LISOVICZ: CNN's LIVE TODAY will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: And now an update. A Georgia woman's claim of free speech really will be free after all. You might remember this story.
Suburban Atlanta police ticketed this woman for a four-letter word on an anti-Bush bumper sticker. The officer said it was obscene, the woman said it was censorship. Well, a judge dismissed the case and the $100 ticket. The law against lewd decals was ruled unconstitutional years ago.
"You're not going to believe this." Those were words from a 911 call in Arkansas after a six-foot-long piece of an engine fell from a FedEx plane. It landed in a farmer's field barely a few yards from a major road. The plane had just taken off from Memphis, but it did safely return.
About a week ago, another FedEx jet dropped engine parts in New Jersey neighborhoods. No one was hurt in either case.
Let's talk Katie Couric. If you've heard, she made her announcement today. She's going to make the move after 15 years on "The Today Show." She is moving over to CBS, where she will do "The Evening News" and "60 Minutes."
A.J. Hammer joins us from New York. He's watching the big move and also a little snow, apparently, as well.
A.J. HAMMER, HOST "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": I mean, this is the real story, Daryn. The snow is falling hard from the sky, and I'm outside of the CBS Broadcast Center. This is going to be the new home for Katie Couric, of course, in September.
She is going to be joining up as the fist-ever female anchor going solo on an evening newscast in network news history. And she'll also be a contributor to "60 Minutes," as well as the managing editor of "The Evening News" program, a title that Dan Rather held as well when he was here.
KAGAN: So it's not only raining snow, it's raining big bucks for Katie Couric. But apparently, A.J., not as big of bucks as if she had stayed at NBC is the word.
HAMMER: No, it's true. Her deal over the last four years was $15 million a year, reportedly. So it was a $60 million deal. If she had stayed, they were reportedly offering her $20 million to hang out.
Now, reports are saying that her gig here at CBS will be worth $13 million a year. So it's a little bit of a pay cut. And while everybody is saying maybe it was for an improvement in lifestyle, yes, she's not going to have to be waking up so early in those predawn hours like she has for "The Today Show" over the last 15 years, the fact is she's still going to be working very hard as both the anchor and managing editor of the "CBS Evening News With Katie Couric," as it's being called.
KAGAN: Absolutely, not to mention having to figure out how she's going to get by on that pay cut. You know, very sad.
HAMMER: Yes. I don't know how.
KAGAN: Hey, over back -- over at NBC, at "The Today Show," what's the word on who's going to get that job?
HAMMER: No official announcements on that yet. Somebody is going to obviously have to take over that very prestigious job and sit next to Matt Lauer and hopefully continue in the success that has been "The Today Show" for the last 10 years as the ratings leader.
Of course, the leading name that everybody has been tossing around for months now, Meredith Vieira, who we know as one of the hosts from "The View." She has a hard news history as well, and she also hosts the show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," which is in syndication.
If she doesn't take the job -- and some people are saying she might not take it because she does not want that early-morning lifestyle, she has a family and she likes to spend time with them -- another name being tossed around, the weekend anchor of "The Today Show," Campbell Brown. If Campbell doesn't get the gig, perhaps Natalie Morales, who "Today Show" viewers are familiar with as one of the news readers on the program.
KAGAN: All are fabulous choices. We wish them all good luck.
And I know the snow is freaking you out. Are you going to talk snow or entertainment on "SHOWBIZ" later today?
HAMMER: Tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" we'll be dealing with this as our lead story. I'm going to be sitting down with the executive producer of "The CBS Evening News" in just a moment to get their take. They're very excited about this over here. They've issued a press release, they're very happy about the fact that she's going to be a part of what is a growing newscast. It's the only network evening newscast that has been gaining in the ratings over the last year, so they're really thrilled about it here at CBS.
KAGAN: Yes. And kudos to Bob Schieffer for coming in after Dan Rather and doing what he has done. And that's been admirable as well.
You have a great day. We'll let you get out of the snow.
HAMMER: Thanks a lot, Daryn.
KAGAN: A.J. Hammer in New York City.
Thank you.
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