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American Morning
Holiday Travel; Intelligence Reform; Fighting Back
Aired November 24, 2004 - 8:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It is that time. The holiday travel crush on. What's in store for airline travelers today? A look at flight delays already reported today.
The defense secretary publicly siding with the president on intel reform. Is something else, though, happening behind the scenes? We'll look at that this hour.
And protecting his family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT O'NEAL, ATTACKED MUGGERS: ... tried to rape my kids. I'm not having it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: We will meet the man who faced down and chased down a group of muggers, four of them. His story this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome, everybody.
If you're going somewhere for Thanksgiving, or if you know somebody who is -- that's pretty much all of us -- it looks like it could be a very rough travel day. Rain's coming down, snow coming down, everything you need for airlines. Delays and traffic jams as well. We've got travel updates from across the country just ahead this morning.
HEMMER: Also this Thanksgiving time, Soledad's table is a little larger this year.
O'BRIEN: That's right.
HEMMER: A few more added to the nest.
O'BRIEN: Soledad's a little larger.
(LAUGHTER)
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: We'll all be a little larger by about 8:00 tomorrow night.
O'BRIEN: Yes, and I'm cooking this year.
HEMMER: You're cooking, right?
CAFFERTY: Fifteen people she's having for dinner. I'm impressed.
You're going to do this in the morning.
O'BRIEN: And then my mother comes over.
CAFFERTY: So that's like two turkeys in one day. That's pretty good.
(LAUGHTER)
HEMMER: Some families, you know, no matter how big the table can be, it's not big enough. We'll talk today about holiday confrontations, how you can diffuse sometimes a tense situation. Kind of serious, but kind of a lot of fun, too. So that's coming up in a few minutes.
O'BRIEN: Jack, how are you?
CAFFERTY: I'm good.
CBS without Dan Rather. Twenty-four years in the anchor chair, he announced yesterday he's stepping down. He's going to stay with the company, do investigative reporting. He'll be on "60 Minutes," do some other things.
But is that nightly newscast that he's been a part of so long, are they going to be better off with him or without him? Some controversy surrounding Dan over the Bush story and the late days of his career.
AM@CNN.com. And we will read some of your e-mails a little bit later.
HEMMER: Also, don't forget, later this hour, the things Jack says. Jackisms we call them.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
CAFFERTY: I can't believe you did that.
HEMMER: We got the list together.
O'BRIEN: I just can't believe -- I think that's so exciting. It's going to be fun. I was going to say, don't you think it's weird they haven't named a replacement for Rather?
CAFFERTY: Once again, the corporate PR guys have kind of, I think, made a little misstep. Because if you want this to seem like an orderly transition that had been planned all along, then you sort of come along like you did with Brokaw and say, "Not only is Tom leaving, but Brian Williams is going to replace him. Not only is Jay leaving, but Conan O'Brien is going to replace him."
Not only is Dan Rather leaving, we don't know what's going to happen next. I mean...
O'BRIEN: I've been faxing my resume all morning. No one's called me back.
CAFFERTY: Somebody said maybe they should put a woman on the show. And, you know, the only people that anchored those shows are white males, except for when...
HEMMER: Connie Chung.
CAFFERTY: ... Barbara Walters came with Harry Reasoner for about an hour and a half on CBS. They almost killed each other. And then Connie Chung for a minute with Dan Rather.
Those two pairings didn't work. But they say, hey, time for a woman minority. Let's broaden the horizons a little bit.
You can't leave. Who's going to take care of us?
O'BRIEN: I'm joking you. Oh, yes. Oh, right, yes. Huh?
Hi, Heidi. Good morning.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi. Hey, by the way, you know they call that in your hand there, Jack, an anchor pen, speaking of anchors. And that would be mine.
O'BRIEN: Ooh.
CAFFERTY: Then why did you leave it over here?
O'BRIEN: Give it back.
COLLINS: I see what you're doing.
CAFFERTY: That's a very nice pen. It's got this -- how come I don't get one of these? It's got the CNN logo on. It look like they may have spent $8 or $10 on it.
COLLINS: I want it.
HEMMER: Actually, we have a quote later this hour which will explain why Jack doesn't have one of these.
CAFFERTY: Oh.
COLLINS: See? You asked for it, Cafferty.
CAFFERTY: OK.
COLLINS: All right.
HEMMER: Good morning. COLLINS: "Now in the News" this morning, guys, a big cleanup effort under way in parts of Louisiana and Texas after some violent storms there. Authorities in Louisiana say at least one woman was killed by a tornado. The twister touching down last night, destroying homes and knock down power lines.
And heavy rains scattered tornadoes in the state of Texas. The bad weather there being blamed for at least two deaths.
We are awaiting word this hour who won the disputed presidential election in the Ukraine. Tens of thousands of people have been flooding the streets in Kiev. They're siding with opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko, who claims the election was marred by fraud. We'll have much more on this developing story throughout the hour.
To California now. The Scott Peterson case may be heading to the state Supreme Court. A California appeals court yesterday rejected a bid from defense attorney Mark Geragos to seat a new jury outside of Redwood City. He's expected to appeal that decision this week. Arguments on the penalty phase of the double-murder trial are set to begin on Tuesday.
And two fans suing three Indiana basketball stars over last Friday's game brawl. The fans say they were injured. One of the fans is claiming players Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson assaulted him. The other says he was hit by Jermaine O'Neal and then knocked unconscious by a thrown chair.
Meantime, the NBA Players Union is appealing the suspension of the three players. And where does it go from here?
HEMMER: Pacers-Pistons, Christmas Day, must-see TV.
COLLINS: I don't know.
O'BRIEN: I'm going to watch that.
COLLINS: I'm going to miss that.
O'BRIEN: All right. Heidi, thanks.
More than 37 million Americans are expected to be traveling this holiday weekend. Here are some pictures from a little bit earlier this morning showing travelers at Chicago's O'Hare Airport getting ready for their flights. And so far, so good this morning at New York's LaGuardia Airport.
Things, though, will no doubt get busier as the day goes on. Chad Myers is tracking some of the nasty weather that's out there for us this morning.
Hi, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.
(WEATHER REPORT) HEMMER: All right, Chad. Thanks.
If you're going by car over the holiday weekend, as Chad mentions now, more than 80 percent of us go that route. What about gas prices? Chris Lawrence live in suburban Chicago with more on all of this, what's happening there in the state of Illinois.
Chris, good morning.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, more than 30 million people will be driving to their destinations over the next week. That's the highest number of people we've seen on the road since September 11. And right now it's ironically because we're seeing also some of the highest gas prices for a Thanksgiving that we've ever seen.
Our gas prices here in Chicago, $2.03 for regular. A little bit higher than nationally.
Nationally, on average, will be paying about $1.97 a gallon. That is down about six cents over the last two weeks, but it's 47 cents higher than what we were paying that the time last year.
Now, we are also live right outside O'Hare Airport, alongside one of the busiest stretches of highway on the country. Here in the toll way, they're phasing in a new concept. Because, as you know, especially on holiday travel, one of the things that backs up travel the most, traffic's moving, you're going along, you hit a toll booth, everything stops.
Illinois is experimenting with a new system and is actually phasing it in that would entirely get rid of all the tollbooths and barricades for anyone using the electronic I-PASS system. What that will do is, many other regions have already started to come here to Illinois to study it. So in years to come, maybe on days like this with a high volume of traffic, it may cut down on the time it takes us to get to where we need to go.
Now, for right now...
HEMMER: Trying to hang in there with Chris a second there. The satellite locked up just for a second. If we've lost him we'll move. But if not, maybe we'll go back to Chris and his report.
OK, our regrets there. Chris Lawrence there outside of Chicago this morning. Busy day for him, too -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: No question. Let's pick it up, in fact, with Justin McNaull. He is a AAA spokesperson joining us this morning.
Nice to see you, Justin. Thanks for your time. We heard not only from Chris' report but also Chad Myers, our weather man, has been telling us all morning the rain, the snow. Is all this boding very poorly for what lies ahead?
JUSTIN MCNAULL, AAA SPOKESMAN: The rain certainly does get us off to a bad start. Here in Reagan National Airport we already have about a half a dozen delays for departures and a half a dozen delays for arrivals. And the reality of a busy travel day like today is those delays are just going to magnify as the day builds across.
O'BRIEN: Does it surprise you that your organization is predicting that many more people will be taking to the roads in spite of the higher gasoline prices?
MCNAULL: Well, the reality of it is, for the typical trip, most of us take 200, 300 miles one way. You end up spending an extra $8, $10, maybe $12 in gasoline. And that's not enough to get you off the hook for having to drive to the in-laws this holiday.
O'BRIEN: Get you off the hook, huh. Wonder if your wife's listening to this.
MCNAULL: Not a problem.
O'BRIEN: Everybody says leaving earlier is great advice. Moments ago, Chad said, "Leave now, go now." But if you can't do it, if you can't leave any earlier than your plan, what other tips do you have for folks to try to avoid the crunch? Or is it just sit through it and be patient?
MCNAULL: Consider leaving a little later. If you don't have to get out of town this afternoon or this evening, if you can get up tomorrow morning, that's what the AAA guys do. And we have an alarm set for 6:00 a.m. So we'll be on the road until 7:00 tomorrow morning.
Certainly look at the same thing on your return trip on Sunday. If you can come back on Saturday, or if you can hold off a day and come back on Monday, you'll find it easier.
Beyond that, just be patient and build in plenty of time. If it's normally a two-hour drive on the Thanksgiving holiday, it could take you three hours. If you're looking at the rain and the snow, plan on it taking four. If you get there a little early, great.
O'BRIEN: Now that E-ZPasses seem to work between states, do you think that's going to make a difference on how fast this moves, or do you think that will be irrelevant?
MCNAULL: It certainly can. Like your fellow in Illinois was saying, they've added in a little bit there to help smooth things through. You look at -- the good news on the East Coast is Virginia finally has gotten its electronic toll system in step with Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, some of the other states. So there are thousands of more people that will be able to breeze right through without having to stop throw quarters in the machine.
O'BRIEN: For those of us in the Northeast Corridor, many folks take Amtrak. Do you think that's going to move along smoothly, especially when you consider security concerns that could slow things down? MCNAULL: It really should. Amtrak tends to do a lot better than the cars and the air tends to do when it comes to the volume of rain that we're looking at for travelers. Security is going to perhaps slow things down a little bit, but if you got your ticket in advance and you're doing everything you're supposed to, everything Amtrak asked you to, it should move pretty well.
O'BRIEN: You've got some tips for safe driving, and I'm just going to throw them out there, because I think they're a little bit self-evident. Take breaks every one to two hours, share the driving, drive the speed limit, and also take extra time. Will there be more police officers out there to pull people over who are -- who are either driving drunk on their way back from the holiday celebrations or not following the speed limits this weekend?
MCNAULL: You're going to see a lot of state troopers out there writing tickets to keep people driving the speed limit. Unfortunately, they're going to have to work a lot of crashes as well, because we'll probably on this holiday end up with hundreds of people dying in car crashes.
But at the same point, they're also out there just in case there is anything unusual, if there is anything suspicious. So if something seems a little -- if something would seem amiss to you when you're at home, some guy pulled over on the side of a road near a tunnel, go ahead and call police. Just because it seems strange and you're on vacation doesn't mean it's not worth calling 911 and letting them know about it.
O'BRIEN: Justin McNaull from AAA. Nice to see you. Happy holidays. Thanks for coming to talk to us and giving us those tips. Thanks.
MCNAULL: You, too. Have fun with all the turkey.
O'BRIEN: Well, thanks. I'll try -- Bill.
HEMMER: Eleven minutes past the hour now. This battle between Capitol Hill, the Pentagon and the White House on how the multibillion-dollar intelligence community should be overhauled continues in Washington. Could the defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, now break that stalemate?
To the Pentagon and Barbara Starr on this.
Barbara, good morning.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill. Well, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says he did not try to sink intelligence reform legislation on Capitol Hill, but things indeed are getting more complicated.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): Intelligence reform was a proposal to move military satellite and communications programs out of the Pentagon to a new national intelligence director. The Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee says it might keep troops on the front line from getting crucial information.
REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R-CA), ARMED SERVICES CHAIRMAN: What the Senate sent over was this -- was this plan that would cut that lifeline between our satellites that are giving intelligence all the time to our troops, telling them where the bad guys are, what the targeting should be.
STARR: The entire Joint Chiefs now endorsing the House view that the Pentagon should run those battlefield intelligence programs. Chiefs Chairman General Richard Myers emphasizing in a letter last month, "... the House bill maintains this vital flow through the secretary of defense." "It is my recommendation," he said, "that this critical provision be preserved." But now, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld denying any suggestion he secretly lobbied to scuttle the bill, sidestepping the chief's concerns about the troops.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I am supporting the president's position. I am a part of his administration.
STARR: Congressional skeptics saying there is no risk to the troops.
SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R-KS), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: There isn't anybody in the Congress that I know of that wants to do anything that would harm that actionable intelligence to the war fighter, especially during this difficult insurgency that we're fighting in Iraq.
STARR: The latest compromise, a national intelligence director would not technically control military programs but would control billions in spending. Many in Congress believe that is essential to keeping the Pentagon in line.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: And when Congress returns to Washington next month, so will this power struggle, and the question of whether lawmakers and the White House will listen to the Joint Chiefs -- Bill.
HEMMER: Barbara, thanks for that. Barbara Starr at thee Pentagon -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, a man who feared for his life and that of his daughters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'NEAL: I wanted to get my property back. They knew where I lived. I was afraid they were going to come back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Now he fears he might be charged. A look at that's ahead. HEMMER: Also, gearing up for the big travel day today. Don't go too far. We have the latest travel tips and also that weather that continues to change in the middle part of the country, too.
O'BRIEN: And a new drug to treat MS gets a green light. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is back with details on that.
Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: A New Jersey man was robbed by four men Sunday night as he and his two teenaged daughters were coming home from the movies. The man, however, Robert O'Neal, did not take it lying down. I talked with Mr. O'Neal and his two daughters earlier today on AMERICAN MORNING about the chain of events in New Jersey on Sunday night.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'NEAL: I saw a vehicle slow down and follow my car. As my daughters exited the car, I noticed they did a slow drive-by and stopped two or three doors down.
My girls got out of the car and were entering the house, and the suspects got out of their -- had gotten out of their vehicle and were coming around the corner, talking loudly. I thought they were kids from the neighborhood.
I went back to retrieve my wallet. One of them attempted to go up the porch. I said something to him, another one distracted me, and the next thing I knew, I had a gun in my face and threatened to kill me and hurt my girls.
HEMMER: How did he threaten to hurt your daughters?
O'NEAL: They said they would do bad thing, "We'll rape your daughters -- we'll rape your girls."
HEMMER: And where were you at that point, Ashley?
ASHLEY O'NEAL, 17 YEARS OLD: At this point, I was in my room. Her and I had heard somebody screaming and yelling, and we -- we looked at each other and we ran downstairs to see what was going on.
And when we got to the door, we heard our dad say, "Go in the house. Lock the doors. Lock the doors."
And I've never seen my father go into a panic like that. So immediately we did that.
HEMMER: And Levita (ph), a lot of you -- what happened outside you guys did not see, based on my understanding. Is that right? OK.
Now, you're back outside. You make a decision to go after these four suspects. You hop into your car, you go down the road, shots are fired. What happened after that? R. O'NEAL: It was all a blur. I was just simply attempting to get a license tag number so the police could bring the suspects to justice.
I had no idea that it would unfold the way it did. I mean, shots were -- they shot at my vehicle. I ducked under the dashboard and struck -- and struck their vehicle.
They kept moving. I kept moving. The car kept -- the cars kept moving and everything just happened in a blur.
HEMMER: So things are unfolding very quickly.
R. O'NEAL: Very quickly.
HEMMER: And one of the suspects ends up underneath your car, dead. How did that happen?
R. O'NEAL: Yes. In my estimation, he exited the vehicle as I was trying to gain control of my car.
I looked up, I saw the suspect. I saw a silver-plated gun. I ducked under my dashboard again, and when my vehicle came to a halt on the other side of the highway, I looked around, I didn't see anybody. I thought they had all escaped.
HEMMER: Why did you make the decision to go after them? They had your wallet, but in your wallet was, what, credit cards?
R. O'NEAL: Yes.
HEMMER: Driver's license.
R. O'NEAL: Driver's license.
HEMMER: No cash.
R. O'NEAL: No.
HEMMER: That's a heck of a decision you made. Why did do you it?
R. O'NEAL: Well, you know, this happens all the time and nobody does -- the police need the information in order to bring these criminals to justice. All I was attempting to do was get a license tag number and call from the cell phone so the police could arrest these guys. I had no idea it was going to unfold the way it did.
HEMMER: You have not been charged?
R. O'NEAL: No.
HEMMER: Do you think you will?
R. O'NEAL: I don't know yet. I'm apprehensive about it.
HEMMER: There is still one suspect on the run. Have police told you about his whereabouts or if they're close to arresting him?
R. O'NEAL: They're attempting to, of course, to find. And the Trenton police did a good job.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Robert O'Neal and a story he has to tell with his two daughters -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, are holidays at your house more confrontation than celebration? We've got tips for dealing with unruly relatives just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Thanksgiving is also known as Turkey Day for a good reason. According to a Gallup poll, 49 percent turkey is overwhelmingly the favorite food for Thanksgiving. Fourteen percent voted for stuffing. I was part of that 14 percent.
Five percent each for ham, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. The least favorite food, cranberries, coming in at 21 percent, followed by veggies and sweet potatoes.
And finally, what's the most popular day in the holiday season? Sixty-three percent said Christmas is the favorite. Twenty-seven percent voted for Thanksgiving, and New Year's just nine percent.
HEMMER: I love cranberries.
O'BRIEN: With the holidays -- I actually -- I do, too.
HEMMER: Berry cranberries. Make them up. It takes like 3.5 minutes.
O'BRIEN: I don't like turkey at all.
HEMMER: No?
HEMMER: Once we had ham. And we were like, "Ham? Who makes ham for Thanksgiving?"
CAFFERTY: I like ham.
O'BRIEN: For Thanksgiving?
CAFFERTY: Well, maybe not. Yes. I mean, why not?
O'BRIEN: It's Turkey Day. That's why not. Anyway, what you got?
CAFFERTY: This is going nowhere.
(LAUGHTER)
Dan Rather's resignation over there at CBS, help or hurt the network?
"Wrong question, Jack," Sheila writes in Boone, North Carolina. "I don't care how Rather's retirement affects CBS. It will hurt the American public. There are too few left in the fourth branch of government who are courageous enough to investigate and question the executive branch of government."
Kobe, in Elmwood, Georgia, "I'm wondering if CBS is going to hold fast like the other two big networks and keep the broadcasting chair exclusively for white males. I believe Heidi, Fredricka, Soledad or Paula could do a much better job than the males. Women are known to be more objective than males, especially white males."
O'BRIEN: Thank you. I love you, Kobe.
CAFFERTY: Here's an unsigned thing from somebody anonymous. "Has the Cafferty file degraded into an e-mail version of '90-Second Pop?"
That might be the nastiest thing anybody has ever said about my segments on this program. "I would rather see questions about issues, not one centered around the survival of a network."
And finally, Carol in Santa Ana, Texas, "It will help CBS. A new outlook helps even in political office sometimes. Look how many times Cafferty is out and someone covers for him. Makes us appreciate him more when he returns."
HEMMER: Oh, ain't that special?
CAFFERTY: I like Carol in Santa Ana, Texas. She's my friend.
HEMMER: Listen, I need to get a hold of Toure and B.J. and Andy and Sarah and let them know how...
CAFFERTY: Version of "90-Second Pop." I mean, there are ways to insult me, but my word!
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, the Wednesday edition, in fact, of "90-Second Pop."
CAFFERTY: Well, of course.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Still recovering from last year's Super Bowl halftime show? This time don't expect a racy performance like Janet Jackson's. Plus, the Fab Four of that show about nothing are back together. At least for an hour tomorrow night.
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired November 24, 2004 - 8:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It is that time. The holiday travel crush on. What's in store for airline travelers today? A look at flight delays already reported today.
The defense secretary publicly siding with the president on intel reform. Is something else, though, happening behind the scenes? We'll look at that this hour.
And protecting his family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT O'NEAL, ATTACKED MUGGERS: ... tried to rape my kids. I'm not having it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: We will meet the man who faced down and chased down a group of muggers, four of them. His story this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome, everybody.
If you're going somewhere for Thanksgiving, or if you know somebody who is -- that's pretty much all of us -- it looks like it could be a very rough travel day. Rain's coming down, snow coming down, everything you need for airlines. Delays and traffic jams as well. We've got travel updates from across the country just ahead this morning.
HEMMER: Also this Thanksgiving time, Soledad's table is a little larger this year.
O'BRIEN: That's right.
HEMMER: A few more added to the nest.
O'BRIEN: Soledad's a little larger.
(LAUGHTER)
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: We'll all be a little larger by about 8:00 tomorrow night.
O'BRIEN: Yes, and I'm cooking this year.
HEMMER: You're cooking, right?
CAFFERTY: Fifteen people she's having for dinner. I'm impressed.
You're going to do this in the morning.
O'BRIEN: And then my mother comes over.
CAFFERTY: So that's like two turkeys in one day. That's pretty good.
(LAUGHTER)
HEMMER: Some families, you know, no matter how big the table can be, it's not big enough. We'll talk today about holiday confrontations, how you can diffuse sometimes a tense situation. Kind of serious, but kind of a lot of fun, too. So that's coming up in a few minutes.
O'BRIEN: Jack, how are you?
CAFFERTY: I'm good.
CBS without Dan Rather. Twenty-four years in the anchor chair, he announced yesterday he's stepping down. He's going to stay with the company, do investigative reporting. He'll be on "60 Minutes," do some other things.
But is that nightly newscast that he's been a part of so long, are they going to be better off with him or without him? Some controversy surrounding Dan over the Bush story and the late days of his career.
AM@CNN.com. And we will read some of your e-mails a little bit later.
HEMMER: Also, don't forget, later this hour, the things Jack says. Jackisms we call them.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
CAFFERTY: I can't believe you did that.
HEMMER: We got the list together.
O'BRIEN: I just can't believe -- I think that's so exciting. It's going to be fun. I was going to say, don't you think it's weird they haven't named a replacement for Rather?
CAFFERTY: Once again, the corporate PR guys have kind of, I think, made a little misstep. Because if you want this to seem like an orderly transition that had been planned all along, then you sort of come along like you did with Brokaw and say, "Not only is Tom leaving, but Brian Williams is going to replace him. Not only is Jay leaving, but Conan O'Brien is going to replace him."
Not only is Dan Rather leaving, we don't know what's going to happen next. I mean...
O'BRIEN: I've been faxing my resume all morning. No one's called me back.
CAFFERTY: Somebody said maybe they should put a woman on the show. And, you know, the only people that anchored those shows are white males, except for when...
HEMMER: Connie Chung.
CAFFERTY: ... Barbara Walters came with Harry Reasoner for about an hour and a half on CBS. They almost killed each other. And then Connie Chung for a minute with Dan Rather.
Those two pairings didn't work. But they say, hey, time for a woman minority. Let's broaden the horizons a little bit.
You can't leave. Who's going to take care of us?
O'BRIEN: I'm joking you. Oh, yes. Oh, right, yes. Huh?
Hi, Heidi. Good morning.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi. Hey, by the way, you know they call that in your hand there, Jack, an anchor pen, speaking of anchors. And that would be mine.
O'BRIEN: Ooh.
CAFFERTY: Then why did you leave it over here?
O'BRIEN: Give it back.
COLLINS: I see what you're doing.
CAFFERTY: That's a very nice pen. It's got this -- how come I don't get one of these? It's got the CNN logo on. It look like they may have spent $8 or $10 on it.
COLLINS: I want it.
HEMMER: Actually, we have a quote later this hour which will explain why Jack doesn't have one of these.
CAFFERTY: Oh.
COLLINS: See? You asked for it, Cafferty.
CAFFERTY: OK.
COLLINS: All right.
HEMMER: Good morning. COLLINS: "Now in the News" this morning, guys, a big cleanup effort under way in parts of Louisiana and Texas after some violent storms there. Authorities in Louisiana say at least one woman was killed by a tornado. The twister touching down last night, destroying homes and knock down power lines.
And heavy rains scattered tornadoes in the state of Texas. The bad weather there being blamed for at least two deaths.
We are awaiting word this hour who won the disputed presidential election in the Ukraine. Tens of thousands of people have been flooding the streets in Kiev. They're siding with opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko, who claims the election was marred by fraud. We'll have much more on this developing story throughout the hour.
To California now. The Scott Peterson case may be heading to the state Supreme Court. A California appeals court yesterday rejected a bid from defense attorney Mark Geragos to seat a new jury outside of Redwood City. He's expected to appeal that decision this week. Arguments on the penalty phase of the double-murder trial are set to begin on Tuesday.
And two fans suing three Indiana basketball stars over last Friday's game brawl. The fans say they were injured. One of the fans is claiming players Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson assaulted him. The other says he was hit by Jermaine O'Neal and then knocked unconscious by a thrown chair.
Meantime, the NBA Players Union is appealing the suspension of the three players. And where does it go from here?
HEMMER: Pacers-Pistons, Christmas Day, must-see TV.
COLLINS: I don't know.
O'BRIEN: I'm going to watch that.
COLLINS: I'm going to miss that.
O'BRIEN: All right. Heidi, thanks.
More than 37 million Americans are expected to be traveling this holiday weekend. Here are some pictures from a little bit earlier this morning showing travelers at Chicago's O'Hare Airport getting ready for their flights. And so far, so good this morning at New York's LaGuardia Airport.
Things, though, will no doubt get busier as the day goes on. Chad Myers is tracking some of the nasty weather that's out there for us this morning.
Hi, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.
(WEATHER REPORT) HEMMER: All right, Chad. Thanks.
If you're going by car over the holiday weekend, as Chad mentions now, more than 80 percent of us go that route. What about gas prices? Chris Lawrence live in suburban Chicago with more on all of this, what's happening there in the state of Illinois.
Chris, good morning.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, more than 30 million people will be driving to their destinations over the next week. That's the highest number of people we've seen on the road since September 11. And right now it's ironically because we're seeing also some of the highest gas prices for a Thanksgiving that we've ever seen.
Our gas prices here in Chicago, $2.03 for regular. A little bit higher than nationally.
Nationally, on average, will be paying about $1.97 a gallon. That is down about six cents over the last two weeks, but it's 47 cents higher than what we were paying that the time last year.
Now, we are also live right outside O'Hare Airport, alongside one of the busiest stretches of highway on the country. Here in the toll way, they're phasing in a new concept. Because, as you know, especially on holiday travel, one of the things that backs up travel the most, traffic's moving, you're going along, you hit a toll booth, everything stops.
Illinois is experimenting with a new system and is actually phasing it in that would entirely get rid of all the tollbooths and barricades for anyone using the electronic I-PASS system. What that will do is, many other regions have already started to come here to Illinois to study it. So in years to come, maybe on days like this with a high volume of traffic, it may cut down on the time it takes us to get to where we need to go.
Now, for right now...
HEMMER: Trying to hang in there with Chris a second there. The satellite locked up just for a second. If we've lost him we'll move. But if not, maybe we'll go back to Chris and his report.
OK, our regrets there. Chris Lawrence there outside of Chicago this morning. Busy day for him, too -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: No question. Let's pick it up, in fact, with Justin McNaull. He is a AAA spokesperson joining us this morning.
Nice to see you, Justin. Thanks for your time. We heard not only from Chris' report but also Chad Myers, our weather man, has been telling us all morning the rain, the snow. Is all this boding very poorly for what lies ahead?
JUSTIN MCNAULL, AAA SPOKESMAN: The rain certainly does get us off to a bad start. Here in Reagan National Airport we already have about a half a dozen delays for departures and a half a dozen delays for arrivals. And the reality of a busy travel day like today is those delays are just going to magnify as the day builds across.
O'BRIEN: Does it surprise you that your organization is predicting that many more people will be taking to the roads in spite of the higher gasoline prices?
MCNAULL: Well, the reality of it is, for the typical trip, most of us take 200, 300 miles one way. You end up spending an extra $8, $10, maybe $12 in gasoline. And that's not enough to get you off the hook for having to drive to the in-laws this holiday.
O'BRIEN: Get you off the hook, huh. Wonder if your wife's listening to this.
MCNAULL: Not a problem.
O'BRIEN: Everybody says leaving earlier is great advice. Moments ago, Chad said, "Leave now, go now." But if you can't do it, if you can't leave any earlier than your plan, what other tips do you have for folks to try to avoid the crunch? Or is it just sit through it and be patient?
MCNAULL: Consider leaving a little later. If you don't have to get out of town this afternoon or this evening, if you can get up tomorrow morning, that's what the AAA guys do. And we have an alarm set for 6:00 a.m. So we'll be on the road until 7:00 tomorrow morning.
Certainly look at the same thing on your return trip on Sunday. If you can come back on Saturday, or if you can hold off a day and come back on Monday, you'll find it easier.
Beyond that, just be patient and build in plenty of time. If it's normally a two-hour drive on the Thanksgiving holiday, it could take you three hours. If you're looking at the rain and the snow, plan on it taking four. If you get there a little early, great.
O'BRIEN: Now that E-ZPasses seem to work between states, do you think that's going to make a difference on how fast this moves, or do you think that will be irrelevant?
MCNAULL: It certainly can. Like your fellow in Illinois was saying, they've added in a little bit there to help smooth things through. You look at -- the good news on the East Coast is Virginia finally has gotten its electronic toll system in step with Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, some of the other states. So there are thousands of more people that will be able to breeze right through without having to stop throw quarters in the machine.
O'BRIEN: For those of us in the Northeast Corridor, many folks take Amtrak. Do you think that's going to move along smoothly, especially when you consider security concerns that could slow things down? MCNAULL: It really should. Amtrak tends to do a lot better than the cars and the air tends to do when it comes to the volume of rain that we're looking at for travelers. Security is going to perhaps slow things down a little bit, but if you got your ticket in advance and you're doing everything you're supposed to, everything Amtrak asked you to, it should move pretty well.
O'BRIEN: You've got some tips for safe driving, and I'm just going to throw them out there, because I think they're a little bit self-evident. Take breaks every one to two hours, share the driving, drive the speed limit, and also take extra time. Will there be more police officers out there to pull people over who are -- who are either driving drunk on their way back from the holiday celebrations or not following the speed limits this weekend?
MCNAULL: You're going to see a lot of state troopers out there writing tickets to keep people driving the speed limit. Unfortunately, they're going to have to work a lot of crashes as well, because we'll probably on this holiday end up with hundreds of people dying in car crashes.
But at the same point, they're also out there just in case there is anything unusual, if there is anything suspicious. So if something seems a little -- if something would seem amiss to you when you're at home, some guy pulled over on the side of a road near a tunnel, go ahead and call police. Just because it seems strange and you're on vacation doesn't mean it's not worth calling 911 and letting them know about it.
O'BRIEN: Justin McNaull from AAA. Nice to see you. Happy holidays. Thanks for coming to talk to us and giving us those tips. Thanks.
MCNAULL: You, too. Have fun with all the turkey.
O'BRIEN: Well, thanks. I'll try -- Bill.
HEMMER: Eleven minutes past the hour now. This battle between Capitol Hill, the Pentagon and the White House on how the multibillion-dollar intelligence community should be overhauled continues in Washington. Could the defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, now break that stalemate?
To the Pentagon and Barbara Starr on this.
Barbara, good morning.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill. Well, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says he did not try to sink intelligence reform legislation on Capitol Hill, but things indeed are getting more complicated.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): Intelligence reform was a proposal to move military satellite and communications programs out of the Pentagon to a new national intelligence director. The Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee says it might keep troops on the front line from getting crucial information.
REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R-CA), ARMED SERVICES CHAIRMAN: What the Senate sent over was this -- was this plan that would cut that lifeline between our satellites that are giving intelligence all the time to our troops, telling them where the bad guys are, what the targeting should be.
STARR: The entire Joint Chiefs now endorsing the House view that the Pentagon should run those battlefield intelligence programs. Chiefs Chairman General Richard Myers emphasizing in a letter last month, "... the House bill maintains this vital flow through the secretary of defense." "It is my recommendation," he said, "that this critical provision be preserved." But now, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld denying any suggestion he secretly lobbied to scuttle the bill, sidestepping the chief's concerns about the troops.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I am supporting the president's position. I am a part of his administration.
STARR: Congressional skeptics saying there is no risk to the troops.
SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R-KS), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: There isn't anybody in the Congress that I know of that wants to do anything that would harm that actionable intelligence to the war fighter, especially during this difficult insurgency that we're fighting in Iraq.
STARR: The latest compromise, a national intelligence director would not technically control military programs but would control billions in spending. Many in Congress believe that is essential to keeping the Pentagon in line.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: And when Congress returns to Washington next month, so will this power struggle, and the question of whether lawmakers and the White House will listen to the Joint Chiefs -- Bill.
HEMMER: Barbara, thanks for that. Barbara Starr at thee Pentagon -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, a man who feared for his life and that of his daughters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'NEAL: I wanted to get my property back. They knew where I lived. I was afraid they were going to come back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Now he fears he might be charged. A look at that's ahead. HEMMER: Also, gearing up for the big travel day today. Don't go too far. We have the latest travel tips and also that weather that continues to change in the middle part of the country, too.
O'BRIEN: And a new drug to treat MS gets a green light. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is back with details on that.
Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: A New Jersey man was robbed by four men Sunday night as he and his two teenaged daughters were coming home from the movies. The man, however, Robert O'Neal, did not take it lying down. I talked with Mr. O'Neal and his two daughters earlier today on AMERICAN MORNING about the chain of events in New Jersey on Sunday night.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'NEAL: I saw a vehicle slow down and follow my car. As my daughters exited the car, I noticed they did a slow drive-by and stopped two or three doors down.
My girls got out of the car and were entering the house, and the suspects got out of their -- had gotten out of their vehicle and were coming around the corner, talking loudly. I thought they were kids from the neighborhood.
I went back to retrieve my wallet. One of them attempted to go up the porch. I said something to him, another one distracted me, and the next thing I knew, I had a gun in my face and threatened to kill me and hurt my girls.
HEMMER: How did he threaten to hurt your daughters?
O'NEAL: They said they would do bad thing, "We'll rape your daughters -- we'll rape your girls."
HEMMER: And where were you at that point, Ashley?
ASHLEY O'NEAL, 17 YEARS OLD: At this point, I was in my room. Her and I had heard somebody screaming and yelling, and we -- we looked at each other and we ran downstairs to see what was going on.
And when we got to the door, we heard our dad say, "Go in the house. Lock the doors. Lock the doors."
And I've never seen my father go into a panic like that. So immediately we did that.
HEMMER: And Levita (ph), a lot of you -- what happened outside you guys did not see, based on my understanding. Is that right? OK.
Now, you're back outside. You make a decision to go after these four suspects. You hop into your car, you go down the road, shots are fired. What happened after that? R. O'NEAL: It was all a blur. I was just simply attempting to get a license tag number so the police could bring the suspects to justice.
I had no idea that it would unfold the way it did. I mean, shots were -- they shot at my vehicle. I ducked under the dashboard and struck -- and struck their vehicle.
They kept moving. I kept moving. The car kept -- the cars kept moving and everything just happened in a blur.
HEMMER: So things are unfolding very quickly.
R. O'NEAL: Very quickly.
HEMMER: And one of the suspects ends up underneath your car, dead. How did that happen?
R. O'NEAL: Yes. In my estimation, he exited the vehicle as I was trying to gain control of my car.
I looked up, I saw the suspect. I saw a silver-plated gun. I ducked under my dashboard again, and when my vehicle came to a halt on the other side of the highway, I looked around, I didn't see anybody. I thought they had all escaped.
HEMMER: Why did you make the decision to go after them? They had your wallet, but in your wallet was, what, credit cards?
R. O'NEAL: Yes.
HEMMER: Driver's license.
R. O'NEAL: Driver's license.
HEMMER: No cash.
R. O'NEAL: No.
HEMMER: That's a heck of a decision you made. Why did do you it?
R. O'NEAL: Well, you know, this happens all the time and nobody does -- the police need the information in order to bring these criminals to justice. All I was attempting to do was get a license tag number and call from the cell phone so the police could arrest these guys. I had no idea it was going to unfold the way it did.
HEMMER: You have not been charged?
R. O'NEAL: No.
HEMMER: Do you think you will?
R. O'NEAL: I don't know yet. I'm apprehensive about it.
HEMMER: There is still one suspect on the run. Have police told you about his whereabouts or if they're close to arresting him?
R. O'NEAL: They're attempting to, of course, to find. And the Trenton police did a good job.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Robert O'Neal and a story he has to tell with his two daughters -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, are holidays at your house more confrontation than celebration? We've got tips for dealing with unruly relatives just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Thanksgiving is also known as Turkey Day for a good reason. According to a Gallup poll, 49 percent turkey is overwhelmingly the favorite food for Thanksgiving. Fourteen percent voted for stuffing. I was part of that 14 percent.
Five percent each for ham, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. The least favorite food, cranberries, coming in at 21 percent, followed by veggies and sweet potatoes.
And finally, what's the most popular day in the holiday season? Sixty-three percent said Christmas is the favorite. Twenty-seven percent voted for Thanksgiving, and New Year's just nine percent.
HEMMER: I love cranberries.
O'BRIEN: With the holidays -- I actually -- I do, too.
HEMMER: Berry cranberries. Make them up. It takes like 3.5 minutes.
O'BRIEN: I don't like turkey at all.
HEMMER: No?
HEMMER: Once we had ham. And we were like, "Ham? Who makes ham for Thanksgiving?"
CAFFERTY: I like ham.
O'BRIEN: For Thanksgiving?
CAFFERTY: Well, maybe not. Yes. I mean, why not?
O'BRIEN: It's Turkey Day. That's why not. Anyway, what you got?
CAFFERTY: This is going nowhere.
(LAUGHTER)
Dan Rather's resignation over there at CBS, help or hurt the network?
"Wrong question, Jack," Sheila writes in Boone, North Carolina. "I don't care how Rather's retirement affects CBS. It will hurt the American public. There are too few left in the fourth branch of government who are courageous enough to investigate and question the executive branch of government."
Kobe, in Elmwood, Georgia, "I'm wondering if CBS is going to hold fast like the other two big networks and keep the broadcasting chair exclusively for white males. I believe Heidi, Fredricka, Soledad or Paula could do a much better job than the males. Women are known to be more objective than males, especially white males."
O'BRIEN: Thank you. I love you, Kobe.
CAFFERTY: Here's an unsigned thing from somebody anonymous. "Has the Cafferty file degraded into an e-mail version of '90-Second Pop?"
That might be the nastiest thing anybody has ever said about my segments on this program. "I would rather see questions about issues, not one centered around the survival of a network."
And finally, Carol in Santa Ana, Texas, "It will help CBS. A new outlook helps even in political office sometimes. Look how many times Cafferty is out and someone covers for him. Makes us appreciate him more when he returns."
HEMMER: Oh, ain't that special?
CAFFERTY: I like Carol in Santa Ana, Texas. She's my friend.
HEMMER: Listen, I need to get a hold of Toure and B.J. and Andy and Sarah and let them know how...
CAFFERTY: Version of "90-Second Pop." I mean, there are ways to insult me, but my word!
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, the Wednesday edition, in fact, of "90-Second Pop."
CAFFERTY: Well, of course.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Still recovering from last year's Super Bowl halftime show? This time don't expect a racy performance like Janet Jackson's. Plus, the Fab Four of that show about nothing are back together. At least for an hour tomorrow night.
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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