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American Morning

National Security; Hurricane Wilma's Aftermath; 'Minding Your Business'; Blown Cover's Cost

Aired October 27, 2005 - 07:30   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: When are the locus coming?

COSTELLO: You know for some when are the locus coming? That's terrible. For some reason, I woke up in the middle of the night in time to see the ninth inning. And it was really exciting. Two fantastic catches to end the game and, of course, Jermaine Dye hitting . . .

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: The RBI.

COSTELLO: The RBI. He it an RBI and that won the game for the White Sox.

MILES O'BRIEN: And then back to sleep.

COSTELLO: And then back to sleep. I was happy then.

MILES O'BRIEN: That's perfect. That's the perfect way to watch a ball game.

COSTELLO: Because, you know, I had that $100 bet with my husband and I won.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, but you said that wasn't really a bet.

COSTELLO: I know because it comes out of the same pie.

VERJEE: Ask for diamonds (ph).

MILES O'BRIEN: Peter to pay Paul.

COSTELLO: Yes, what was I thinking.

VERJEE: Carol.

COSTELLO: I have other news this morning. Shall we get right to it?

MILES O'BRIEN: Please share it with us.

VERJEE: Yes.

COSTELLO: Good morning, everyone. Police are checking to see if any detainees escaped in a massive fire near Amsterdam's airport. The fire broke out earlier today at a building used to hold illegal immigrants and drug smugglers. Pictures from the scene show flames of the windows, you saw them there, with thick black smoke billowing from the building. The fire raged for three hours, killing at least 10 people and injuring 15 others. No word on how this fire started.

Israel is launching a new offensive against Islamic jihad, a Palestinian militant group. The air strike comes one day after a suicide bombing in Hadera killed five Israelis and wounded 28 others. Israeli officials say they'll continue the campaign as long as necessary.

President Bush heads to Florida amid growing frustrations about the response to Hurricane Wilma. He'll get a firsthand look at the devastation and make a stop at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. His brother, the governor, Jeb Bush, says to blame him and not FEMA for delays in distributing relief supplies. But he adds that people had plenty of warning and should have stocked up on food and water.

And Air Force Coach Fisher DeBerry now apologizing for comments he made about black athletes and recruiting. We brought you the story on Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER DEBERRY, AIR FORCE FOOTBALL COACH: I regret these statements and I sincerely hope they will not reflect negligently toward the Academy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, hey, I'm sorry, he says. The Academy's superintendent reprimanded DeBerry on Wednesday. No details but the coach is still on the payroll. DeBerry's players and his assistant coach stand by him saying they know the coach did not mean any harm. So it seems like his job is safe.

MILES O'BRIEN: For now anyhow.

VERJEE: All right. Good for him.

MILES O'BRIEN: Good, he got right out in front of that story. That's important.

COSTELLO: I think he had to.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, I think so.

VERJEE: A lot of people e-mailed and said that was really a non- issue.

COSTELLO: Well, it was an issue for a lot of other people, though.

MILES O'BRIEN: There were a lot of other people that felt otherwise.

All right. Let's talk about the global war on terror. The global war on terror for the president of the United States is an area politically that works very well for the White House. Americans when polled repeatedly believe that Republicans in general are better than Democrats in handling the global war on terror. Democrats, though, are out with an opposition strategy, if you will, which suggests that the Republican strategy is bankrupt essentially and that there are better ways to go after terror. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is one of the foreign policy experts behind the report. She joins us from our Washington bureau.

Madame Secretary, good to have you with us.

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Good morning, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: Let's listen to the president yesterday, I believe it was, or day before yesterday, as he was talking about the global war on terror and specifically the issue of how Iraq plays into it. And he was picking up on the point of whether the U.S. should pull out of Iraq. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some say perhaps we ought to just pull out of Iraq. That is a foolhardy policy. It's a policy that would invite disaster not only for the Iraqis but for the American citizens. We will not allow Iraq to become a safe haven for the terrorists. We will promote democracy in Iraq. And we will lay the foundation of peace for generations to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MILES O'BRIEN: Let's start with that point, pulling out of Iraq. And implicit in that statement is that by being in Iraq we're safer.

ALBRIGHT: Well, I think that what's happened, if you look at Iraq, is more terrorists have been created than were there in the first place. Most of us did not believe that there was a connection between Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. The president kept saying that we would deal with the terrorists there.

But Secretary Rumsfeld himself is asking, are we creating more terrorists than we are dealing with? And if you look at the record, I think that Iraq is not working in terms of making it a safer place or making us safer for that matter and that's why I think we began to look at the whole strategy on terrorism.

You know there's a lot of discussion these days in Washington about indictments and they're very serious. But the greater indictment is that this administration has failed us in terms of a national security strategy on how to deal with terrorism. It's a lot of rhetoric and a lot of symbolisms, but there are more terrorists than there were before. MILES O'BRIEN: The president's point would be this, though, if he were here talking to us, first of all, on 9/11 we didn't have troops in Iraq, we got attacked. Since troops have been in Iraq, we have not had a major attack on U.S. soil, although globally terror is on the rise. I believe he'd also point out this little fact, that Russia opted out of the coalition which invaded Iraq initially, and in the interim, has had the Beslan terror attacks. So you could make a case that it ain't broke, why start trying to fix it?

ALBRIGHT: Well, I think there are many, many problems. You have discussed also we now have 2,000 American dead. There are serious problems in Iraq in terms of how the Sunnis, Shias and Kurds are getting along. The constitution has been passed, which I think is a step forward. And it's obviously good that we haven't had an attack.

But what is lacking in the president's policy is a comprehensive, integrated approach to dealing with terrorism. And, Miles, what is supposed to happen is the administration is supposed to issue a national security strategy every year on how to deal with terrorism. They haven't done that in three years. And what we're offering is a comprehensive, integrated plan that deals with terrorism on a tactical level, on a strategic level and with homeland security and to be institutionalized and not just a bunch of ad hoc slogans.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right. But in that same speech, he did outline a five-point strategy. Let's go over it very quickly here. He says first the U.S. is determined to prevent attacks by terrorist networks before they occur. Second, the U.S. will work to deny weapons of mass destruction to countries the U.S. considers hostile. Third, the U.S. determined to deny radical groups support and sanctuary. Fourth, the U.S. determined to deny the militants control of any nation for a home base. And finally, the U.S. will work to deny militants' future recruits by replacing hatred and resentment with democracy and hope all across the Middle East.

That's his strategy. You may quibble with whether the strategy is working, but that is his stated strategy.

ALBRIGHT: Those are just lines. What we need to know is what sustains that. And our point and our strategy is to explain that, in fact, one does have to root out the terrorist cells. We have to adjust our military to do that, our special forces. We have to look specifically at how to do it, how to separate out the various cells.

We also have to approach the countries that are offering sanctions to terrorists in a different way. Try to figure out how to change the mix in the Muslim world. Not to lump everybody together. To not have a monolithic view of Islam and terrorism. And also how to institutionalize this.

What the president's been in office now for a long time and he has not directed his administration to make this sustainable, nor has he really internationalized this in terms of having much more intelligence sharing, working with other countries in alliance structures. He has slogans. He has ad hoc policy. But his five points have not been elaborated on in a way that makes it a comprehensive, integrated policy.

MILES O'BRIEN: There is, though, this factor on the Democratic side. John Kerry yesterday at Georgetown. Let's listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY, (D) MASSACHUSETTS: The goal should be to withdraw the bulk of American combat forces by the end of next year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MILES O'BRIEN: Note to terrorists, combat forces out by the end of next year. It's not a very good message to send, is it?

ALBRIGHT: Well, I think that what has to be shown here, I have said about the war that it was a war of choice, not of necessity, but getting it right is a necessity and not a choice. And the question that Senator Kerry posed, and we are all posing, is whether American forces are the problem or the solution. And what has to happen is that the Iraqis themselves have to be trained up better if order to deal with this.

And we the elections in December will be very important. And I think that what Senator Kerry did was propose a phased approach. I think what has to happen is there has to be some strategic redeployment of our forces and a better assessment of the measure of what we're doing and providing security and how many more terrorists are being created.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right. Madame Secretary, we've got to leave you with this one. We saw you in a somewhat different setting recently, our sister network, the WB and the "Gilmore Girls." One of my favorite programs.

ALBRIGHT: Glad to hear it.

MILES O'BRIEN: Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP):

ALBRIGHT: Happy birthday, little girl.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey.

ALBRIGHT: I can't believe how fast you're growing up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really? It feels slow.

ALBRIGHT: Trust me, it's fast. So what do you think of your life so far?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's pretty good.

ALBRIGHT: Any complaints?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'd like that whole humidity thing to go away.

ALBRIGHT: We'll work on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MILES O'BRIEN: Oh, my goodness. All right, well you got the gist. That's Madeline Albright in a dream with Rory Gilmore. When you saw that script, did you think, this is a little wacky?

ALBRIGHT: Well, it was fun, actually. The hard part was memorizing. That's not what I do for a living. But I must say, I enjoyed it and I think it's a cute program.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right. You're not quitting the day job, though, are you?

ALBRIGHT: Not yet.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right. Madeline Albright, former secretary of state, thanks for being with us.

ALBRIGHT: Thank you, Miles.

Zain.

VERJEE: Miles, to Florida now where frustration after Hurricane Wilma's rising. Relief supplies are in short supply. Drivers are waiting hours for gas and for some it may be weeks before the power is restored. Kristin Jacobs is the mayor of Broward County. She joins us now.

Thank you so much, Madame Mayor, for joining our program.

MAYOR KRISTIN JACOBS, BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA: Good morning.

VERJEE: Good morning.

Yesterday you said 95 percent of Broward County, that's something like 850,000 people, are without power. Is the situation any better today?

JACOBS: Well, this morning, we are pretty much in the same situation that we were yesterday. We are still about 95 percent of the county without power. We're 1.7 million residents, so that has created quite some problems with traffic intersections and houses and those people seeking fuel.

We have had some wonderful supplies of ice and water and meals ready to eat delivered overnight and we are going to be opening our stations, our distribution sites, this morning at 9:00. So I think we're going to be OK as far as distributions of ice, water and meals. Fuel is going to continue to be an issue because the stations are not powered up yet. So while we have fuel available, the individual gas stations are not able to power up and deliver that to the residents.

VERJEE: And the residents are frustrated. Many of them are saying, look, we're standing for long hours in distribution lines for gas, water, ice, food. With the gas stations also they're saying that they're waiting in such long lines that they're nearly empty. And you mentioned the traffic jams. And people are so aggravated saying shouldn't this have been foreseen, shouldn't there have been better planning?

JACOBS: Well, I would say that we did know that a hurricane was coming. Most of South Florida residents knew it for at least a week that it was coming and certainly the hurricane did help us in some regard in that it took its time getting here, which allowed residents even more time to prepare.

The real issue is that 95 percent of this county is without power. And until the gas stations get their generators in place, which the oil companies have promised they will be doing in short order, we will be able to get the fuel to more stations that will be able to power up. The issue right now is you have very few gas stations open throughout Broward County, so you're going to have long lines. Again, there is 1.7 million people in this county and only a few gas stations. So the situation itself is going to create lines.

The other issue with water. We believe all the boil water orders should be lifted today throughout the county, so that will mean that residents can just use the water that's out of their tap and that should eliminate a lot of the problems with lines.

As far as ice and that type of distribution, there is a lot of ice being pulled into the area, as well as the local grocery store chains have been their power has been powered back up at their plants and so they're able to generate ice for sale. And almost all 55 of the Winn-Dixie chain stores, as well as all the different public chains throughout Broward County are up and running. So there is product available for sale. There is product out there for free that is being handed out and additionally residents can use the water from their own tap. So we are just barely two you know, two and a half days into this situation. It's improving by the hour. And I have every confidence we're going to make it through this, the aftermath of this storm.

VERJEE: And the residents, many of them, as I say, pretty angry, certainly hopes so too. Mayor Kristin Jacobs in Broward County, Florida. Thank you so much for joining us.

JACOBS: You're welcome.

VERJEE: Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: New developments in that case of suspected euthanasia after Hurricane Katrina. This is a story CNN's Drew Griffin broke last night. The Louisiana attorney general issued 73 subpoenas. He says employees of Memorial Medical Center haven't been very helpful. Dozen of hospital patients were found dead after the storm. The attorney general is investigating charges doctors and nurses openly discussed euthanizing patients during the crisis.

Shifting gears here. Let's check the nation's weather. Jacqui Jeras at the CNN Center.

Jacqui, where is Beta, by the way?

(WEATHER REPORT)

MILES O'BRIEN: Ahead on the program, more rumors of bankruptcy at a major automaker. Andy is "Minding Your Business."

VERJEE: Plus, a closer look at the most famous spy in America and the possible damage to national security by revealing her identity. More AMERICAN MORNING straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: The SEC is taking aim at General Motors. For that story, as well as a market preview, Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business."

Darling, we must stop meeting like this.

ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I don't see why. I'm enjoying meeting like this.

Anyway, let's talk about General Motors and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The auto giant revealing yesterday that the Security and Exchange Commission is investigating the company. Actually stepping up an investigation, Zain. There was an informal inquiry. Now subpoenas have been issued looking into, "various matters." Those matters include the handling of pensions and transactions between Delphi, which is the bankrupt auto parts company that used to belong to GM, and the troubled auto giant.

Apparently there are questions about whether it overstated profits and understated debt. And what's going on right now at the company is, they are actually fending off questions about bankruptcy. Overnight from Asia, there were reports that the company would be declaring Chapter 11. GM telling us this morning that is not in the cards. And, in fact, if you look at GM's balance sheet, they have billions and billions of dollars of cash. So I think it's too early to suggest anything like that. But this is certainly more trouble for this company.

VERJEE: How are they weighing in on the futures market?

SERWER: Well, GM, as you might expect, shares are down in futures trading this morning. And, in fact, futures are off. Yesterday the markets off as well. We told you about Amazon weighing in on the Nasdaq yesterday. That stock was down 14 percent. Boeing down as well. And we'll have more on this later in the day I'm sure.

VERJEE: Andy Serwer, thank you.

SERWER: Thank you, darling.

VERJEE: To sha (ph).

SERWER: Yes.

VERJEE: Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: Thank you, darling.

Coming up, a look at the woman at the center of the CIA leak case. How much did it hurt U.S. intel when she was outed. That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MILES O'BRIEN: It is now the 11th hour for the grand jury looking into the CIA leak case. The White House could soon learn if officials like Karl Rove or Lewis "Scooter" Libby will be indicted for leaking the name of a CIA officer. The whole thing seems like inside politics. David Ensor gives us a report that shows us what the outing of an operative really means.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Forty-two-year-old Valerie Plame Wilson, whose husband has referred to her as Jane Bond, is clearly now the most famous female spy in America. Exposing her as a CIA undercover officer did damage to U.S. intelligence, U.S. officials say. They refuse to be more specific.

MICHAEL SCHEUER, FORMER CIA ANALYST: To have someone exposed deliberately and, on top of that, for political reason, I think, yes, it probably sends a chill throughout the clandestine service.

ENSOR: What made it worse is that she was not just an undercover officer. She spent part of her 20-year career as a NOC, a spy with non official cover. That is, without the protection of diplomatic status. She was working, officials say, to recruit foreigners who knew about murky international deals involving weapons of mass destruction. But potential foreign agents, potential spies, have now seen a CIA officer apparently betrayed by officials in her own government.

JAMES MARCINKOWSKI, FORMER CIA OFFICER: The issue here is, how are you going to tell that agent that their identity is going to be protected when this government can't even protect the home team.

ENSOR: And if any other CIA officers use the same cover as Plame, their work is in jeopardy too. That cover was Brewster Jennings Associates, an energy consulting firm, a front company that apparently had no real address. NOCs are harder to train, can remain under cover longer than conventional spies, and can go places and meet people that other CIA officers cannot.

Some of them, like Plame, used loose cover. A false job. Others under deep cover use false names as well. Complete fictional identities with forged documents, even disguises. But NOCs are also much more vulnerable than regular spies. And intelligence sources developed by a CIA undercover officer are immediately in question if that officer is exposed. JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: The consequences for the U.S. government can range from embarrassment to having to pull a source out of an area because they have become jeopardized by this knowledge.

ENSOR: After her name appeared in Robert Novak's newspaper column, at least two foreign governments reportedly assigned their spy catchers to figure out whether Plame had ever worked on their soil. And if so, what she'd done there.

And that is where the most damage was likely done. Other nations, tracking down Valerie Plame Wilson's contacts and sources and shutting them down.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN: And there's a story this morning in "The Wall Street Journal" that says Wilson and Plame are at least thinking about suing the leakers. That would keep the case alive for a long time to come, of course, and mean public testimony from top officials should that happen.

In a moment, one of Hollywood's biggest stars, George Clooney. We know you like him, ladies. Well, we'll tell you about the injury that not only almost derailed his movie on mearl (ph), but very nearly left him paralyzed. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MILES O'BRIEN: In Florida, thousands still without water, gas and electricity. A lot of angry people. But is it really the government's fault this time around? We're live there. We'll tell you.

Waiting, waiting, waiting some more. With every passing day, the tension mounts in Washington. What are the new signs this morning the CIA leak investigation may be coming to a close?

South side, north side, any way you slice it, in Chicago they're celebrating the World Series White Sox this morning on AMERICAN MORNING.

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

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