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Reaction to Harriet Miers Being Named as Person Who Will Take Over From Justice Sandra Day O'Connor; Disaster in Lake George, New York

Aired October 03, 2005 - 08:30   ET

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

ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: Not a lot of residents back here, but plenty of work crews trying to put this town back together. And now as the sun comes up, the streets are becoming active with those work crews. Utility workers trying to get here.
And you know, it seems like this an 18-wheeler filled with, what? Telephone poles. These are just 35, and these are coming out of South Carolina, 44,000 pounds right here of telephone poles.

As you can imagine, hundreds, probably thousands of these needed for Southeast Texas alone to try to get the power up and running here.

Speaking about power, how about powering your gas-powered the car? Oil refineries, it's a hot spot here in Southeast Texas. We're going to talk with a V.P. of Valero and see when they're going to get their oil refinery back up and running. That's the latest out of Texas.

Soledad, we'll chat with you in a few minutes.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, they get lot to do there, and just getting that electricity running is just really the beginning.

Rob, thanks a lot. We'll check in with you again.

Let's get to Joe Johns this morning. He's outside the U.S. Supreme Court. Joe also, though, covers Capitol Hill.

Let's talk about the senators reaction to Harriet Miers being named as the person who will really take over from Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Good morning to you, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

A lot of talk this morning among Democrats, though it is still early, about Harriet Miers being a blank slate. For example, just a little while ago, I got a brief statement from Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, who's on the Judiciary Committee, and that statement says, in part, "We know even less than Harriet Miers than we did about John Roberts, and because this is the critical swing seat on the court, Americans will need to know a lot more about Miers judicial philosophy and legal background before any vote for confirmation." We're also being told behind the scenes that Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader, was among the people who at least raised the name of Harriet Miers to the White House. We're told it was not a recommendation, rather it was simply throwing the idea out there, floating it, and suggesting the White House follow up on it.

Some other Democrats, it's not clear at all where they stand. It's still early.

But behind the scenes, a few staff I've been able to talk to have also been raising the question of whether Harriet Miers was sort of the keeper of the palace secrets for President Bush and George W. bush before he became president. The question of whether her job over the years has essentially been to protect and defend George W. Bush, and that, of course, raises the question whether there could be very interesting confirmation hearings when we get to them -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Yes, no question about. Joe Johns, outside the U.S. Supreme Court this morning.

Joe, thanks.

For other stories making news, let's get right to the other headlines with Carol Costello.

Good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad. Good morning to all of you.

Now in the news, we begin in the Middle East. Palestinian policemen staged a protest at a government building in Gaza. These are pictures we just got in this morning. About 20 police officers fired into the air. No reports of any injuries. They were apparently demanding help are reigning in Hamas militants. The Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas was not in the building at the time.

Federal investigators again trying to determine what caused a tour boat accident. The boat was carrying dozens of senior citizens. The accident killed at least 20 people and wounded dozens of others. One officials says it does not appear any of the passengers were wearing life jackets. We'll get a witness account just ahead.

A significant milestone in New Orleans: For the first time since Hurricane Katrina struck, the city celebrated mass at the historic St. Louis cathedral in the French Quarter. Hundreds of people packed the church. Those who attended were each blessed personally by the archbishop after mass.

And former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is saying maybe to the White House. Giuliani says he will consider next year whether to run for president in 2008. Giuliani added that just because he's toying with the idea of running, does not mean he will actually go ahead with it. He's just floating it right now.

O'BRIEN: Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Sure. COSTELLO: Uh-huh, yes.

O'BRIEN: Yes, that will happen.

All right, Carol, thanks.

Officials in Lake George, New York right now are trying to get an accurate count of just how many people were on board that boat, the Ethan Allen, when it capsized on Sunday. The tour boat turned over in just about 30 seconds, people say, throwing either 48 or 49 people, most of them senior citizens, right into Lake George. Lake George is about 50 miles north of Albany. At least 20 passengers did not make it out alive.

Mounir, Joanne and Alexandra Rahal were in their own boat nearby and rushed in to help, and they're in Lake George this morning.

It's nice to see you. Thanks for talking with us.

Mounir, why don't we start with you. You're in your boat. You've got your five kids with you on the boat. What did you see, and what did you do?

MOUNIR RAHAL, HELPED VICTIMS: Basically, we were coming home middle afternoon, like around 2:30, and that's when we saw immediately the smoke into the water, and so we thought -- I'm sorry?

O'BRIEN: I don't know. Someone else must be talking to you.

Continue your story. You see smoke? Where was the smoke from? Was there some kind of fire onboard?

RAHAL: That's what we thought. We thought, you know, like a boat catch on fire. We thought it was like a kind of collision. We hear small accident, boat hit rocks, boat hit boats, but we thought, you know, just this boat on fire from the white smoke. So we immediately, my wife pointed out to me as well, and we immediately went to the scene. Within that scene, no people in the beginning, because the boat was already almost three-quarters of the way in the water. And -- but we heard a lot of screaming and yelling. We turn to the other side of the boat. That's where we saw most of these folks holding on the side of the boat with their hand and just screaming and yelling for help.

O'BRIEN: You were able to bring -- Joanne, let me turn to your wife now, if I may. Joanne, you were able to bring a number of those people on board. What kind of shape were they in? And how did you get them onto your own boat?

JOANNE RAHAL, HELPED VICTIMS: Well, it was just God helping us to get them on the boat. They were very, very shaken up, and you know, they were soaking wet, and we just wanted to get them on our boat, sit them down, get a dry towel around them, and just keep 'em calm because, you know, they had people that they couldn't see, and they were caught under the boat and it was just a terrible, terrible tragedy. O'BRIEN: It sounds utterly horrific. I want to ask Alexandra a question. Alexandra, you're 13 years old, and I know that you tried to save people by performing CPR on at least one of the people who had gotten onto your boat. Do you know what happened to that person?

ALEXANDRA RAHAL, HELPED VICTIMS: Well, I don't really know what happened, but I tried to do my best to try and help him get back, or to start breathing, but I don't know if it worked.

O'BRIEN: You look behind you, you have Lake George. It's so calm. Isn't Lake George, Mounir, like that all the time? I mean, it's so surprising that a boat would capsize.

M. RAHAL: You know, it's one of those things. Lake George is a very beautiful lake, and it's a very deceiving lake at the same time.

O'BRIEN: What do you mean?

M. RAHAL: Lately, we've been having -- I mean, for people who don't know the lake, sometimes you got white caps, you got like a little bit more wind. You just have to be careful with it, because some kind of deep, large lake.

But, yes, for anybody, I think, you know, who knows boating, they pay attention on the lake, because it's not a small lake you can play with, one.

And, two, I mean, lately we've been having beautiful weather up, just like yesterday, I can picture it started just like this morning. Nice beautiful sunshine. It was great. And the water was calm just like a sheet of ice.

O'BRIEN: Perfect day.

RAHAL: There was a lot of -- I'm sorry?

O'BRIEN: A perfect day all the reports said, a perfect beautiful boating day and such a horrible tragedy to have to tell people about.

Mounir, and, Joanne, and, Alexandra Rahal, thank you all for talking with us. And that was really quite amazing what you attempted to do, and certainly for the folks you saved. Really good work. Thanks.

M. RAHAL: Well, the way we feel, I don't think we did enough good job for them. I hope -- I wish God gave us more strength to save more people.

O'BRIEN: Well, I can understand certainly that. Thank you for talking with us.

Officials tightening security across Southeast Asia after Saturday night's suicide bombings on the Indonesian resort island Bali. Meanwhile, we're learning a little bit more about the attacks and the people behind them. Investigators say that three bombers targeted two cafes near Jimbaran beach and a restaurant in Kuta, killing 19 people, as well as themselves.Stan Grant live for us on Bali this morning.

Stan, good morning.

And what more information are you learning about these bombers?

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, the police have been shifting through the debris at the various bomb sites, trying to piece together exactly what happened. Now what they believe is that three suicide bombers walked into the restaurant on Saturday night.

Now a video is being released showing a man wearing a backpack. Police believe he is one of the suspected bombers. He walks through the crowded restaurant. Moments later, detonating explosives. Of course all havoc them breaks loose.

The police pointing the finger at Jemaah Islamiya. This is a very shadowy group from Southeast Asia with ties to Al Qaeda, linked to the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings which killed 200 people. Also subsequent bombings in Jakarta.

Now of course many Australians were killed in the 2002 bombings. Australians among the dead and wounded here again. Many have now left Bali, headed back. The Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer warning that people travel to Bali at their own risk.

Many Americans also among the wounded; at least six people so far they have counted among the wounded. Many others, though, saying they will not be intimidated. They are here for a holiday in Bali. They come here for the sun and the surf. They come here because the people are so friendly, and they are not going to run away -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Stan Grant with our report this morning. Stan, thank you.

Still to come this morning, an important sign that life is slowly returning to normal in Katrina's aftermath. We'll take you live to one of the communities that is trying to recover. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: More signs of recovery to tell you about in Louisiana. Schools in St. Tammany and Jefferson Parishes are reopening today for the first time since Hurricane Katrina struck five weeks ago.

Dan Lothian is at West Jefferson High School in Gretna, Louisiana, which is just outside of New Orleans. Dan, good morning to you.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. Well, one school administrator said that this shows that this parish is well on its way toward recovery. Classes here began about half a hour ago. Behind me, a few students still showing up here. Classes originally -- the school year, the 2005 school year, began about a week before Katrina hit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four, second and six. Ball at the 30 yard line.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): For the first time since Hurricane Katrina sacked New Orleans...

CROWD: We're number one!

LOTHIAN: High school football returned to Jefferson Parish, kicking off the second start to the school year.

LAYLE GEER, PRINCIPAL, W. JEFFERSON H.S.: This is a rebirth for our community and our kids, and it shows the resilience of these young people.

LOTHIAN: The West Jefferson Buccaneers, taking on the Salman Spartans from Slidell, a team that had to borrow uniforms and equipment from another school, because everything they had was destroyed by the hurricane.

ROBERT NAVARRE, STUDENT: Everybody said, you know, we're losing everything.

LOTHIAN: All but ten of Jefferson Parish's 85 schools will reopen today. Administrators had to work hard to make sure damaged buildings were repaired and cleaned up and to track down teachers who were scattered by the storm.

MARK MURGAN, SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER: There's been a real grassroots effort to call teachers, e-mail teachers, and get them back.

LOTHIAN: What's less certain is just how many students who were out for 23 and a half days will return to the classrooms.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have three.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three children! Yay, OK!

LOTHIAN: Jefferson Parish has held registration for students who had to be shuffled around because their schools still need major repairs, and for new students from other parishes where classrooms are still closed.

COREY THOMPSON, PARENT: This has been -- it's rough, really, on the kids because they don't have anything to do. You know? They're out of their normal routine.

LOTHIAN: After evacuating with his family to Houston, Corey Thompson is trying to get his 6-year-old daughter registered. Her school in another community was destroyed.

As the students return, administrators say the atmosphere and the lessons in the wake of so much devastation will, no doubt, be a little different.

GEER: We're going to talk to them, we're going to take the time out to share their experience with them, and, you know, have open ears for them.

LOTHIAN: But on this day, the trauma of the past month was drowned out by the cheers of the crowd and the explosion of a cannon on every touchdown. The Buccaneers trounced their opponents 34-3, but after what these children have been through, winning wasn't everything.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: In order to make up for lost time, one additional hour will be added to each school day for the next 150 days -- Soledad?

O'BRIEN: Big road ahead for them, as well. Dan Lothian. As they start to rebuild, I mean, that's a school system that already had a lot of problems, now even more. Thanks, Dan.

Let's go back out to Rob Marciano. He is in Port Arthur, Texas, this morning. Hey, Rob, good morning again.

MARCIANO: Hi, Soledad. You know, the government's warning high prices in energy may stick around a while. The energy secretary saying, you know, try to turn off your lights, maybe carpool, save a little bit on gas. Today we're standing in front of a gas station. And you know, during a hurricane, we come to these a lot. You see them a lot because they're so flimsy. I mean, you know, they're made out of aluminum.

So it really doesn't take much to trash a gas station during a hurricane. But here in Southeast Texas, it symbolizes something, you know, more significant. Southeast Texas is really the central point of Gulf of Mexico oil refinery business, so it obviously has taken a hit from this storm.

Joining me right now is Jim Gillingham with Valero Corporation. Good morning, Jim.

JIM GILLINGHAM, VALERO ENERGY: Good morning, how are you?

MARCIANO: How is your refinery holding up? I know it took some damage. Give us the latest.

GILLINGHAM: Well, we're working really hard to get it back in production. We took a little bit of damage, but it was mostly in utilities, not too much in the production side. So we're hopeful about two more weeks we should be back in production.

MARCIANO: You told me how old -- how old is it?

GILLINGHAM: Well, the refinery really dates from the spindle-top days. It was started up in 1901, so it's over a hundred years now.

MARCIANO: And had it ever stopped producing? GILLINGHAM: This is the first time. This is the first time. We've had hurricanes in the past, but we've always been able to run through them. This is the biggest one we've seen.

MARCIANO: I don't know much about oil refinery. I know that when I drive by them, they've got these big flame towers, you know, burning. It looks like it may be a dangerous business.

GILLINGHAM: We try to keep it as safe as possible. Our employees are our number one asset, and we try to keep them safe, as well as the communities around.

MARCIANO: Well, tell me what it takes to fire one of these things back up. I would imagine it's quite a process. And is it dangerous?

GILLINGHAM: It's not dangerous, if you do it right. We have in the refinery this morning almost 1,200 people are working to repair the damage and get started up. Our own employees, we have a population of about 750, but we have a lot of contract people in helping us now, as well.

MARCIANO: And that many people in one spot without water, electricity. I mean, what kind of challenge has that been?

GILLINGHAM: We have the Valero Hotel, essentially. We have housing, we have food. We've been ramping up -- a week ago, we had 30 people here. And the next day, 130, and then 200, 300. It's been a great effort to get enough housing, enough beds, enough food, to get out there and feed everybody. But you got to keep the workforce happy or they can't work.

MARCIANO: I believe you're the biggest refinery in North America, or at least Valero Corporation.

GILLINGHAM: We are the biggest refinery in the U.S.

MARCIANO: You had one down the road in New Orleans and that was damaged as well?

GILLINGHAM: Yes. During Katrina, we also had problems at St. Charles. But our damage was not nearly as great. We had some flooding. We had more damage to employees' homes, but the refinery was not as hurt.

MARCIANO: So did you learn some lessons as to how to prepare for the...

GILLINGHAM: We sure did, we sure did. We really learned a lot in Katrina. we were able to get people out of here much more easily, we were able to get people back. We knew what to do about logistics, about getting people housing, getting people food. It was a great, great learning experience for the company.

MARCIANO: Just for me and our viewers, I mean, give me the synopsis quickly -- what happens if the oil gets from the platforms to the refinery, into the gas stations? What kind of process is that?

GILLINGHAM: We have already filled the refinery tanks up with crude oil, so we're ready to run that crude oil as soon as the refinery gets operational. Once we turn the oil into gasoline and diesel, we distribute it through pipelines, so it will go out -- throughout the country, all the way to New York on the colonial pipeline system up to Chicago, up to the Eastern states. So it takes probably a week to two weeks from when a barrel comes into us, goes through our tankage, goes through the refinery, then gets distributed out.

MARCIANO: So is this a major kink in the pipeline, so to speak? Is that why you're kind of hoping to get it up and running quickly?

GILLINGHAM: The pipelines have had difficulties, not because they've been damaged, but because they don't have power. The utilities -- and we've seen the utility trucks by the hundreds around here, fixing the wires -- but the utilities have not been able to supply power to the pumps to move the product to market. So even if we have product, we have to wait for the pipelines to have power.

MARCIANO: Do people at home need to be nervous the next time a storm gets in the Gulf of Mexico, if they can fill their car up with gas?

GILLINGHAM: Well, people in the Gulf certainly need to evacuate early and be sure they have their gas tanks filled before they leave.

MARCIANO: Best of luck getting that thing fired up.

GILLINGHAM: Thank you.

MARCIANO: Sounds like you're going to do it in a safe manner.

GILLINGHAM: Thank you. We're sure trying that.

MARCIANO: Jim Gillingham, with Valero Corp., one of the many refineries here in Southeast Texas, and one of the many businesses hit hard. Shrimping business also an issue. We're going to talk with a shrimper about An hour from now, Soledad. Sun coming up. A nice day here. So we have that much good news, as they try to get things back in order -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right, Rob, thanks. Look forward to that.

Still to come this morning. The high cost of fuel might leave some passengers scrambling to find new flights at the airport. Andy will explain why as he minds your business, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Business news now. High energy prices have the federal government and the airline industry a little bit on edge. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Soledad.

10:00 a.m. Eastern this morning, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman will announce an energy-conservation program. Just recently, the secretary was saying it would take about six months, he believed, for the energy crisis, if you can call it that, to get sorted out. In terms of gasoline prices, I think that's accurate. Gas prices, Soledad, creeping up. The national average at $2.94. And, of course, as we've been telling you, the situation with heating oil and natural gas prices this winter is going to be critical. Very weather dependent, of course. But the situation is very much in flux.

You know, when they're going to do this conservation program, Dallas, they will be talking about the things we're familiar with, turning down thermostats, insulating your home, put on a sweater, put on that cardigan that Jimmy Carter wore. Interesting stuff there.

You know, in California, when they had the blackouts in '01 they were able to reduce energy use by 13 percent. Experts will tell you that getting 10 percent out of our energy use, you won't even feel it. But people are going to have to do those things, and it's probably a good idea.

O'BRIEN: Well, you know, as expensive as it's getting, maybe people will be a little more committed to doing it.

SERWER: I think that's right. There's nothing like high prices to reduce demand.

Fallouts and disruptions, though, continue to ripple through the economy, and this is a biggie. American Airlines announcing they are suspending 15 round trip flights, daily round trip flights, for the month of October, from October 5th through October 29th. These are biggies. They're from O'Hare and DFW to Atlanta, Denver, Washington, Houston. Fuel prices for the airline industry nearly doubled over the past 12 months, Soledad, and I would bet you that not all of these flights will resume at the end of month. I would bet that.

O'BRIEN: They're gone for good, you think?

SERWER: I would think so.

O'BRIEN: Yes, I think that's probably a pretty good guess.

SERWER: That's right.

O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thanks a lot.

SERWER: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, you're looking at some live pictures of the Supreme Court's chief justice, John Roberts. As the John Roberts era begins on the Supreme Court, he's got his first day of work today. We've got more on the story ahead. Stay with us. We're back in a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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