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American Morning

Explosions, Fire at Detroit Chemical Plant; Pentagon Confirms Iraq Has Weapons from Iran

Aired August 10, 2005 - 08:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A huge fire at a chemical plant near Detroit burned all night, still going. Hundreds of residents evacuated after fumes and smoke force them from their homes.
More violence in Iraq and news of a cache of bombs from Iran confiscated in Iraq. Do they belong to the insurgency? Harsh words from the U.S. and denials from Tehran.

And a bold and deadly courthouse escape in Tennessee. Police are now searching for a husband and wife on the run on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.

O'BRIEN: Good morning.

Welcome, everybody.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Carol Costello sitting in for Miles this morning.

O'BRIEN: Very nice to have you.

COSTELLO: Thanks.

O'BRIEN: It's kind of being the girl show this morning.

This morning we're talking about the price of gas. It's not at an all time high. It looks like it's going to keep climbing. We've got some folks from AAA who will fill us in on that this morning.

First, though, a check of the headlines with Fredricka.

She's over at the CNN Center -- hey, Fred, good morning.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to both of you.

Now in the news, insurgents in Iraq are once again targeting security forces. A suicide car bombing in northwestern Baghdad has killed at least three Iraqi police officers and further north, near Beji, four U.S. soldiers have been killed and six are wounded after an overnight attack. These are new pictures just in to CNN. The soldiers were apparently investigating a rocket propelled grenade incident when they came under fire. The search is on in Tennessee for an escaped prison inmate and his wife. George Hyatte was being escorted from a Tennessee courthouse when witnesses say his wife drove up and opened fire. One of the prison guards died in the shooting. Anyone with information is being asked to call 1-800-TBI-FIND. That's 1-800-824-3463.

An Alabama teen could face the death penalty for killing three police officers. His lawyers claimed a video game made him do it. Twenty-year-old Devin Moore has been convicted of capital murder. Sentencing is set to begin later today. The victim's families have also filed a civil suit against the manufacturer of Grand Theft Auto. Players of the video game shoot police officers and steal cars.

And the crew of the space shuttle Discovery getting set for another mission -- seeing their families. The shuttle made a picture perfect landing in California Tuesday. Families had been awaiting the landing in Florida, but that was canceled because of bad weather. The reunion is set to take place just hours from now in Houston. NASA says it will be several more days before the space shuttle is flown back to the Kennedy Space Center -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: I bet they're looking forward to that.

Thanks, Fred.

Well, hundreds of residents near a chemical fire in suburban Detroit will have to wait until at least this afternoon before they're able to return home. A huge fire at a hazardous waste plant in the town of Romulus triggered the evacuation late last night. It started with a series of explosions around 9:00 p.m. and then flames -- look at that there -- just engulfed the plant well into the night.

Charles Kirby is the public safety director in Romulus.

It's nice to see you, sir.

Thank you for talking with us.

What's the status of the fire right now?

CHARLES KIRBY, ROMULUS PUBLIC SAFETY DIRECTOR: The status of the fire, the fire is still burning. There are approximately eight tanks that are on fire. I just left the command post and the fire chiefs there feel that the appropriate action to take at this time is to let it burn. From what they're telling me, the language that they've used is that it was a clean burn right now and they'd like to let it burn to let it burn itself out.

There was some talk from the EPA that's present on the scene to possibly try to lob some foam on one of the tanks. The negative issue with that is they're concerned about cooling the tank and changing the structure of the chemical that's there and possibly producing a HAZMAT where we don't have a HAZMAT right now because it's a clean burn.

O'BRIEN: What about injuries? Have you had any injuries at the scene, either from the firefighters who are there or people working in the area?

KIRBY: We have not had injuries per se. Some of the workers that were in the plant when it happened, they were lucky to evacuate quickly. And I believe a couple of them may have gone to the hospital for smoke inhalation. But they were not transported by ambulance. If they went, they were taken -- they either took themselves or they were taken by coworkers.

O'BRIEN: Well, I guess that's some good news there.

What do you know about how this fire started?

KIRBY: Well, it's some type of combustion with the chemicals that are located there. We're not going to really know the cause and origin of the fire until the fire is out. That's when the fire marshal and the EPA people will go on site to do their investigation, to find out exactly what caused the fire.

O'BRIEN: I know you said the idea now is to let it burn and that they've said it's a clean burn. But when we look at these pictures, I've got to imagine people in the community have to be very concerned about what they're breathing in right now with these massive flames and tons of smoke and chemicals, frankly, being spewed -- whoa -- being spewed into the air.

KIRBY: That's correct. The material there is solvents used for cleaning. There is some airborne issues. We've evacuated within the safe distance that's required by the HAZMAT placards for the type of chemicals that are on site.

O'BRIEN: How many people have you had to evacuate?

KIRBY: The actual count of people that were evacuated is not really known at this time. We pretty much went down the street and announced for people to evacuate. Two of the schools have been set up for sites for people that have cause to leave their homes to stay at. We had quite a few people at the Romulus High School. But what's happening is as time goes on, I believe they're leaving and going to either friends or relatives.

O'BRIEN: How much of an area did you have to evacuate? When you see those fireballs, frankly, overnight, you know, exploding, it's pretty dramatic and it seems like it must be a pretty sizeable area you've had to clear people out of.

KIRBY: Right. This area that the fire is actually burning in is commercial, light industrial and sporadic residential. But when we moved into the evacuation area, we got into more densely populated residential areas.

O'BRIEN: All right, well, Charles Kirby, the Romulus public safety director.

Good luck to you.

I know you've got a busy day ahead of you and I'm sure lots of people there who have got lots of questions for you when you're able to put this fire out.

Thanks for talking with us.

KIRBY: You're welcome.

Thank you.

COSTELLO: Returning now to the discovery of a truckload of sophisticated explosives in Iraq, allegedly smuggled in from Iran. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is criticizing the government in Tehran for allowing those bombs to cross the border. Iranian officials, though, deny any involvement.

Barbara Starr live at the Pentagon -- Barbara, what's the Pentagon's reaction to this?

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, U.S. military intelligence is still trying to figure out what Iran may be up to. The reaction here? Not very happy.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

STARR (voice-over): In the latest worry about the Iraq insurgency, the Pentagon has confirmed Iran is now smuggling weapons into Iraq.

DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: It is true that weapons, clearly, unambiguously from Iran have been found in Iraq.

STARR: Military officials tell CNN Defense Secretary Rumsfeld is talking about a truckload of explosives seized recently at a border checkpoint -- explosive devices more sophisticated than the improvised explosive devices, IEDs, so many have come to fear on the streets of Iraq. U.S. intelligence officials believe the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, but not the central government in Tehran, may be behind it.

Either way, Rumsfeld is furious.

RUMSFELD: If one sees it there on the ground, you identify it, it's from Iran. And you don't know who brought it in or who tolerated it being brought in and who facilitated it to be brought in, who sold it to someone to take in -- to bring in. What you do know, of certain knowledge is the Iranians did not stop it from coming in.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

STARR: So, Carol, the question now really is what does this all mean? Is it just one stray shipment that the U.S. confiscated or do the Iranians have some type of smuggling rat line set up going into Iraq and what may they be trying to do? Are they trying to just foment more violence inside Iraq with the insurgency -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, something else that Donald Rumsfeld said, Barbara. He says ultimately this is a problem for Iran.

But what action do you take when we think Iran is busy developing a nuclear weapon?

STARR: You know, that's very interesting. At yesterday's press conference he did say that exactly, of course, a problem for Iran.

He was asked, "Mr. Secretary, is that a threat?"

He answered, "I don't imply threats."

So right now no threat per se, but a lot of public pressure, a lot of public statements. Clearly, the Pentagon and the military wanted us to know about this story, wanted us to put it out there, wanted to raise the public pressure against Iran -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Interesting.

Barbara Starr live at the Pentagon this morning.

O'BRIEN: It's time for another look at the weather this morning with Chad Myers, who's at the CNN Center -- hey, Chad, good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, you already know gas prices have soared to an all time high. Need we tell you that? But, will we get a break by summer's end? You know, when summer vacation ends and we don't drive so much?

O'BRIEN: When the prices go down.

COSTELLO: Yes.

O'BRIEN: It makes sense to me.

Here is a question for you, a little quiz.

What do you think, Carol, was the average price of a gallon of gas back in August of 1980? Was it A, $0.79 a gallon; was it B, $1.27 a gallon; or was it C, $1.56 per gallon?

COSTELLO: That's a trick question. That's a trick question.

O'BRIEN: I think I know. I'll tell you after the break.

COSTELLO: You know the answer.

O'BRIEN: No, I don't have the answer. I think I know, though.

We'll see when we come back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Before the break, we asked you this -- what was the average price of a gallon of gas back in August of 1980? The answer is B, $1.27. All right, I was wrong. I guessed the higher one.

That brings us, though, right to the pain at the pump during this summer travel season. New numbers from AAA show regular gasoline is going for $1 per gallon more, or close to $2.38 a gallon. And that is a record. And we've said that before.

Mantill Williams is national public affairs director for AAA and he joins us from a gas station in Bethesda, Maryland.

Nice to see you again, Mantill.

Thank you for being with us.

What is behind this consistent rise in gas prices?

MANTILL WILLIAMS, AAA: Well, Soledad, it's a number of reasons, but probably the main three reasons have to do with the high price of crude oil. Crude oil has traded around $64 a barrel. And we have this crude oil trading at this high price mainly because we've had a number of -- we have the world oil market kind of reacting negatively to the fact that Iran is -- this decision to continue to develop their nuclear weapons. And, also, we've had a number of refinery problems throughout the United States. So -- and, of course, demand is still strong.

So we've had this almost perfect storm to create these record high gas prices that we have.

O'BRIEN: You know, I guess when you figure in, though, the profits that the companies are making, I think Exxon Mobil made $7.6 billion, billion, with a B, in the last quarter alone. It seems incredibly unfair to consumers.

WILLIAMS: Yes, it really does. When you look at the fact that we're paying almost $0.50 higher than last year, the price higher than last year, and gas prices are actually up $0.07 over a week ago. So, yes, unfortunately everyone pays the same amount on the world market and it is a supply and demand type of situation. We know that demand is up. We need to travel, we need to get to work, so the motorists kind of feel that, you know, they're kind of stuck. There's not much they can do about it.

O'BRIEN: Crude oil prices, as you just pointed out a moment ago, also at this record high.

How long before the price of crude oil is reflected in what you're paying at the pump?

WILLIAMS: Usually it's a series of like three to four weeks. So we're still -- what we're dealing with right now is basically the crude oil prices that were trading at close to $60 a barrel. So if crude oil prices are trading about $64 a barrel right now, then we know that as we get toward Labor Day, that these gas prices are probably going to be up there around the level that we are now, if not going up a little bit more.

So, gas prices probably won't be coming down any time soon.

O'BRIEN: When do you think they come down? Is it going to be at the end of the summer, where there's less demand? You pointed out the three factors.

WILLIAMS: Yes, that's a very good point, Soledad.

Historically what we've found is after Labor Day we see demand decrease. And it's also right before we get into the wintertime, when we've got to transfer from the summer grade to the winter grade. So usually we have a little bit of dip in demand and a little bit of dip in price right before we head into the winter.

So hopefully we might get a little bit of a break after Labor Day.

O'BRIEN: What's the magic number, where a driver says, you know what, forget it, I'm going to not drive, I'm going to commute to work a different way? I mean, is it $5 a gallon? Is it $3 a gallon? What is it?

WILLIAMS: Well, Soledad, the prevailing wisdom in the United States was that one gas prices reached over $2 a gallon, then people would somehow change their habits, and we know that hasn't happened.

O'BRIEN: Not.

WILLIAMS: So it's kind of hard to say, because -- you're right. Exactly.

So it's kind of hard to say, because we know in other countries where they're paying that kind of price per gallon, people are still traveling. So we think it has to be coupled with some type of shortage or some type of dip in the economy. But we've found that historically high gas prices alone usually don't deter people from traveling. You have to plan for it, you have to budget for it, but it won't deter someone from traveling.

O'BRIEN: People love their cars and love to drive.

Mantill Williams is the national director of public affairs for AAA.

Nice to see you, as always.

Thanks.

WILLIAMS: All right.

Thank you, Soledad.

COSTELLO: It's the American way.

O'BRIEN: It really is. COSTELLO: You can't imagine anyone giving up their car, no matter what.

Two jurors who voted to acquit Michael Jackson of child molestation now say they regret their decision.

Last night on CNN's "ANDERSON COOPER 360," Jackson attorney Thomas Mesereau said he questions the jurors' integrity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "ANDERSON COOPER 360")

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you put any stock in these allegations?

THOMAS MESEREAU, MICHAEL JACKSON'S ATTORNEY: I put none in them. I think they're ridiculous. I think they're an embarrassment to the system.

COOPER: Why do you think they're making them?

MESEREAU: I have -- I can only guess. I think while they were on the jury and while they were subject to court orders, they conducted themselves in a responsible and honorable fashion. I think they deliberated as they were told to do and I think they were fair, conscientious jurors.

Now, two months have gone by since they were released from their obligations as jurors. They've been free to talk to other people, read whatever they want, watch whatever TV show they want and they've decided to write books and try and apparently, from what I've heard, approach movie producers.

So I have grave questions about what they're saying now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: As for what the jurors say, in a broadcast interview, one of the jurors said she doesn't care that the other jurors are angry with her, saying: "They ought to be ashamed. They're the ones that let a pedophile go."

What about her?

O'BRIEN: She was on the jury, too.

COSTELLO: I know.

O'BRIEN: What's she talking about?

COSTELLO: Ah, they'll make a lot of money and go away.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes. You know what? Yes, that is very true.

Still to come this morning, Dana Reeve' cancer diagnosis came just days after Peter Jennings' death. But when a famous name is attached to a disease, can it help save lives? We'll take a look at that, up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: First it was Peter Jennings and now Dana Reeve. The wife of the late Christopher Reeve announces she, too, has lung cancer. This disease is the deadliest cancer in the United States, yet it seems there is very little public awareness about the disease compared to, say, breast or colon cancers.

Could the publicity surrounding these high profile cases help save lives?

AMERICAN MORNING'S Kelly Wallace has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the last time we saw Peter Jennings and he didn't hide a thing.

PETER JENNINGS, FORMER ABC NEWS ANCHOR: I have lung cancer. Yes, I was a smoker until about 20 years ago. And I was weak and I smoked over 9/11.

WALLACE: Peter's candor and his battle with lung cancer are already changing lives. There are hundreds of stories like this one. Heather in Florida writing on ABC News' Web site about her first day without cigarettes: "This morning, I had an nicotine attack," she wrote. But then she started thinking about Peter and how many years were robbed from him.

(on camera): We don't know how many people like Heather are out there or how long this awareness will last. What we do know, celebrities and their stories are enormously powerful.

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: Do something else so we can see.

WALLACE (voice-over): Consider Lance Armstrong. After his fight with testicular cancer, his foundation started selling those yellow bracelets to raise money for cancer research. Fifty million have been sold so far.

And then there is Katie Couric. After she lost her husband to colon cancer, she underwent a colonoscopy screening live on the "TODAY SHOW." The result? What researchers actually coined "the Katie Couric effect" -- a 20 percent increase in colonoscopy screening in the first nine months after her series.

DR. PETER CRAM, STUDIED "KATIE COURIC EFFECT": This shows that even healthy celebrities can have a powerful effect on the public's behavior when it comes to health care.

WALLACE: According to a survey of celebrity driven campaigns conducted three years ago, one in four women age 40 or older said that seeing a celebrity endorsement made them more likely to have a mammogram to detect breast cancer. But there was a down side, according to the authors of the study. They said celebrity endorsers often do not point out the risks sometimes attached to cancer screening.

Jeff Stier, associate director of a health advocacy group, says celebrity endorsements should be grounded in science.

JEFF STIER, AMERICAN COUNCIL ON SCIENCE & HEALTH: We need to make sure that celebrities, who do not have an expertise in medicine, yet have a disproportionate amount of media attention, that they are held to scientific standards and what they say is based in sound science.

WALLACE: No one disputes the science about smoking. It can kill. And one of Peter Jennings' many legacies might be saving thousands of lives.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COSTELLO: And Peter Jennings' colleagues also say they hope his death can bring attention to the dangers of smoking.

ABC's Barbara Walters told viewers: "If you have kids who are smoking, for heaven's sake, tell them that we lost Peter."

Later this hour, we are "Paging Dr. Gupta" for his special series, "The War On Cancer." Also today, he looks at how the disease not only takes a toll on patients, but on their families, as well.

And we're welcoming your questions this morning. We have Dr. Johnson here in the next hour. E-mail us at abcnews.com. Dr. Johnson will answer all of your questions -- at least some of them. What questions we can get to. He'll do that live.

Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Get the latest news every morning in your e-mail. Sign up for AMERICAN MORNING "Quick News" at cnn.com/am.

Still to come this morning, another courthouse shooting, this time in Tennessee. Can more be done to improve security? A look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Good morning.

Welcome back, everybody.

Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Miles has got the day off. COSTELLO: He does. A well-deserved day off, I should say.

I'm Carol Costello filling in.

Coming up, a statewide manhunt is now underway for a Tennessee prisoner and his wife after a dramatic courthouse shootout.

O'BRIEN: We're going to have more on that this morning, really a brazen, brazen job done by the, they believe, the prisoner's wife, who opened fire, killing a deputy. And, of course, many questions today about just how it happened and are there ways, security wise, to keep it from happening again?

COSTELLO: I know, you know, even Tennessee officials describe it as something -- like something out of Bonnie and Clyde.

O'BRIEN: Yes, really.

COSTELLO: Very brazen.

O'BRIEN: Very strange.

All right, first, though, a look at the headlines with Fredricka Whitfield.

She's at the CNN Center in Atlanta -- hey, Fred, good morning again.

WHITFIELD: Good morning again to you all.

Well, now in the news, hundreds of people near Detroit, Michigan are waiting to return to their homes. A fiery explosion at a chemical plant forced residents to evacuate last night. Officials say the fire is now under control and that they'll let it burn itself out. The Environmental Protection Agency is doing some testing on air quality as a precaution.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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