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American Morning

Iraq Violence; Levee Rebuilding In New Orleans; Satellite Radio Companies Compete

Aired December 16, 2005 - 07:30   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: You're watching AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome, everybody.

Weather is one of our top stories today because it's messy here. And if it's bad here, it's really bad north and south of us.

Welcome.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome. Good morning.

We also have some breaking news coming out of Baghdad. Let's go to Carol with that.

Good morning, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We do. Thank you, Miles.

This just in to CNN. There is word of some explosions around Central Baghdad. Police say a series of loud blasts were heard near the heavily fortified green zone. It's not clear if anyone is hurt or exactly what caused those explosions. The blasts come one day after Iraqis voted in largely peaceful elections.

Well, you just heard it live here on CNN just minutes ago. The latest on stalled negotiations for transit workers in New York. The union's top officials says the union has not accepted the latest proposal from the transit authority.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We still do. However, the MTA's insistence on a contract that would leave the next generation of transit workers behind, way behind. A contract that would put a lock on key on every transit worker's access to the middle class.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: They're having difficulties coming to any sorts of conclusions over pay and pensions and health benefits. The union will now conduct a series of transit strikes starting with private bus lines outside of the city. So a partial strike is in order. And that union worker says the union is still willing to negotiate. We'll keep you posted. Pipeline explosion in Texas. We showed you these pictures a bit earlier. The blast -- actually, these are live pictures we have for you now. As you can see, it is burning. This is a blast that happened west of Ft. Worth. The sound from the explosion shook residents for miles around that area. There are reports at least one worker at a nearby drilling rig was slightly injured. No word on what caused the explosion.

Forget a winter wonderland, it's a nightmare in some parts of the country. Snow and ice causing headaches across much of the northeast this morning. This FedEx truck overturned in the Washington, D.C. area. Freezing rain and sleet making the roadways very difficult for your drive into work this morning. In the southeast, a blast of freezing rain, snow and sleet from Virginia to Georgia. Schools are closed. Power knocked out for more than 450,000 customers. And at least one death is being blamed on the storm.

So when's it going to end, Jacqui Jeras?

(WEATHER REPORT)

MILES O'BRIEN: Back to that developing story now that we've been telling you about. Blasts heard in Iraq just moments ago near the interior ministry. One of the stories we're following out of Baghdad this morning. Aneesh Raman is there.

Aneesh, what can you tell us?

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Miles, we heard a series of blasts here where we are in the capital. It sounded like a series of mortar attacks. We don't know anything more than that at the moment.

But yesterday, during election day, we do know that the green zone, the highly fortified area that houses the U.S. military, did come under rocket attack. Three injuries from that incident. But again, just moments ago, a series of blasts heard in the capital. We're trying to get more information on where this took place and any casualties that might have resulted from it.

Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: Aneesh, those reports about Abu Musab al-Zarqawi mistakenly being released from custody. How could it have happen? What do we know about the circumstances of that release?

RAMAN: We know very little. According to Iraq's deputy minister of interior, he confirmed to CNN yesterday that at some point last year Iraqi security forces had Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in custody and then released him because they didn't know his identity at the time. Now he's not giving us specifics as to when this happened, how this happened. A U.S. official we contacted, though, couldn't confirm the report but did say it was "possible." So we're trying to get more information on that, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right. Finally, it's the day after those elections. A large turnout. A large turnout amongst Sunnis. Any sense right now of where this will -- what this will lead to as far as the prime minister of Iraq?

RAMAN: Well, two names that are being talked about the most. First is, of course, Ayad Allawi, the country's interim prime minister, a friend of the U.S., a secular politician. For him to be prime minister, he'd need to get the Kurdish block on board. And also, the strong Sunni turnout helped him because they're more likely to align with the secular Shiite.

Now the other person being mentioned is a man named Adel Abdul Mehdi. He's a leader within the governing Shia alliance that is currently in control. They're set to get the lion's share of seats. So if they can form a coalition, he is likely to become the prime minister. He is much more theocratic. More aligned with the religious parts of Iraq. So Iraq's set to go on two perhaps diverging directions depending on who gets that top spot, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: It will be interesting to see if they learn the art of compromise.

Aneesh Raman in Baghdad, thank you very much.

CNN has special coverage of this turning point in Iraq. "Anderson Cooper 360" live from Iraq, 10:00 p.m. Eastern once again tonight. We hope you'll join Anderson then.

Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: President Bush says he wants the OK for another $1.5 billion to build stronger levees in New Orleans. That's twice the amount of money being put into repairs and rebuilding. But is just over $3 billion enough to fix such a big and crucial system? Dr. Ivor Van Heerden is just back from the Netherlands where he's been studying one of the most sophisticated levee systems in the world. He's in New Orleans this morning.

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

DR IVOR VAN HEERDEN, HEAD OF LEVEE INVESTIGATION: Thank you.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Let's take a look at the breakdown, if we can. Phase one, they're talking about the $1.6 billion, breaks down like this. It would cover repair of the breaches, correct the design flaws and construction flaws too and also extend the height of the levees. Then there's phase two, which would be another $1.5 billion and that would armor the levee system with concrete and stone. You do the math on all that, it comes out to $3.1 billion. Is that enough money?

VAN HEERDEN: No, I'm afraid that isn't. Mr. Powell mentioned that we would have the best levee system in the world. And to do that, we're going to need, you know, $20 billion. What's being proposed is very heartening but it's not going to give us the level of protection that we really need.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: What's not possible to do with that amount of money? I mean, what are we missing out on?

VAN HEERDEN: Well, the main problem is that the surge can still get into the city, it can still overtop the levees. Even if the levees are armored and these flood gates and pump stations put down at the mouths of the canal on Lake Pontchartrain, we will still see very significant overtopping of levee systems. And if we had a storm like Katrina that actually went west of the city, we would still fill the bowl. So we're still a long ways away from having the protection we really need.

The mayor, Mayor Ray Nagin, made an announcement where he was, frankly, thrilled and re-invited people back into the city. Let's first listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: And then the goes on act, the Gulf Opportunity Act, passed the House last week while we were here it looks as though it will have an opportunity to pass the Senate. So we will have the whole trinity of recovery, levees, housing, and incentives, and I thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Do you feel less comfortable as he sounds with a holy trinity? Do you think the levees actually get to the point where it's a good time to invite people to come to move back in?

VAN HEERDEN: Well, what they're guaranteeing is the same protection as we had last year before hurricane season. We saw what Katrina did. There's no guarantee we will not get another Katrina. So as a disaster sign specialist, I have to urge caution. You know, the levee systems are not up to the protection we need in New Orleans and in other parts of southeast Louisiana.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: You've just come back from touring the Dutch system. What do they have that we don't have that we could apply here in this country? And how much is it going to cost?

VAN HEERDEN: Well, I think the number one thing is, is that they stopped the water from coming into areas through, in some cases, flood gates across canals. In others, major structures across air streams (ph). And those are some of the features we need. On the reigilies (ph), on Lake Pontchartrain, we have an ideal location to build such gated structures and locks.

The other would be where the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway comes into the -- into the Industrial Canal. The area called the funnel, the area that caused a lot of the flooding in the lower ninth ward. We really need a substantial gate there that would allow shipping to continue, but also reduce the surge. And then, lastly, we saw that they really armor their levee systems, they protect them from wave action, as well as what would happen if they got overtopped.

So we've got a long way to go. We are, obviously, heartened by the fact that Mr. Powell said we will have the best levee systems in the world. We are going to need at least $20 billion to get there.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: That's a pretty big price tag. We'll see if the money's there. Dr. Ivor Van Heerden, thank you for talking with us this morning. We're going to have much more on the new levee plan throughout the program just ahead.

MILES O'BRIEN: Andy "Minding Your Business."

Hello.

ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, what happens when one of the most powerful storms in history runs into one of the most powerful men in the country? We'll tell you about that coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Benny Anderson, Benny Bratt, all having birthdays today and then Steven Bochco.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, what an era that was, you know?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, yes it was, ABBA.

MILES O'BRIEN: You know it just hasn't been the same since ABBA stopped.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Yes..

SERWER: Thank goodness.

MILES O'BRIEN: Set you up, you knock 'em out.

SERWER: Yes. All right.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right. We've talked a lot about insurance problems in the wake of Katrina. This one, a little more celebrating?

SERWER: It's interesting. And, you know, obviously, Hurricane Katrina spared no one, poor or rich. And it seems that all sorts of people are having trouble with their insurance companies. Obviously we've talked a lot about low income people. But how about people at the very highest level of income?

We're talking about Mississippi Senator Trent Lott here whose Pascagoula beach front property was leveled, and I mean leveled, by Hurricane Katrina. Now it turns out that Senator Lott is going to be suing his insurance company. Just like everyone else, he's having a difficult time collecting.

And guess who he's using as his attorney? His brother-in-law, high profile plaintiffs lawyer Dickey Scrubs (ph), who's house was also destroyed by the storm and has also filed lawsuits against the insurance company. At issue here is the same old stuff we've been talking to you about. The insurance companies won't cover flood damage. And the senator is saying a wind-driven storm surge, wind-driven storm surge, is what wrecked his house. He is saying here, I like this quote, "there is no credible argument that there was no wind damage to my home in Pascagoula." In other words, he's saying the wind did it, not the water, and therefore I should be covered by my insurance.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: It's going to be interesting to see how a high profile senator getting into the debate is going to change this debate. Because, boy, is he going to put a spotlight on -- I mean, I -- he has the same argument that so many people, not only in Mississippi, but also Louisiana has too, which is, how do you distinguish between flood damage and wind damage.

SERWER: But what you're saying is, he's the U.S. senator.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Uh-huh. Oh, yes.

SERWER: That makes it a little bit different.

MILES O'BRIEN: Well, and no one would wish him misfortune, but I bet a lot of people are thinking, this is good that he's in the same boat with us right now.

SERWER: And it's interesting that Republican Governor Haley Barbour is suggesting that suing these companies is not a good idea because he doesn't want to drive businesses out of the state. So he and Trent Lott are not seeing eye-to-eye on that one.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: And I think it's fair argument that they could go bankrupt if they have to pay for all that wind damage.

SERWER: Yes. There has to be a settlement somehow.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: That basically is flood damage.

SERWER: That's right. I mean because, you're right, they just can't pay everything out like that.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Yes, we'll see. To be continued, as they say.

JibJab Brothers. We love the JibJab Brothers and we like to show what they're working on.

MILES O'BRIEN: (INAUDIBLE).

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: This time we are -- it's like Christmas, the JibJab Brothers. I hear the year-end review for the president. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Well, Kim Jong is throwin' fits, and the shuttle's on the fritz, there's an intifada brewin' in the Gaza Strip. Oh, the deficit's a risin', half a' Europe hates my guts, and industrial America is goin' bankrupt! There is a great sense of urgency! We've got to squash the insurgency! My approval rating's in a dive! I hope it's not another year like 2-0-5. Oh, a leak investigation's got my White House in a snarl. There's a special prosecutor after my friend Karl. And our energy dependency has put me in a bind. Ah, don't worry 'bout Alaska, it'll be just fine! My appointee was a big flop. The housing market is 'bout to pop! With record profits at the pump, I drive an SUV and take it in the rump! All of our jobs, gone overseas! Each week I make one dollar seventy-three! From Katrina, FEMA, GITMO too, the last thing I need now is the Avian Flu!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MILES O'BRIEN: Can we say that on morning TV?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: No. Moving on. Anyway. As you can tell, it was set to "Turkey in the Straw" and it debuted on Thursday. And you can watch it at jibjab.com. Pretty funny. I mean the writing of that is so . . .

SERWER: Very clever, right?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Right. It's very, very clever. Yes.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, it is.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Sorry.

SERWER: And potentially bipartisan, right? I mean they go after Democrats too.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, absolutely.

MILES O'BRIEN: Oh, yes, yes. You remember the election. They went after everybody.

SERWER: Yes.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, yes, everybody's a target for JibJab, I think it's fair to say.

MILES O'BRIEN: Everybody, yes.

Earlier we told you about Howard Stern's move to Sirius Satellite Radio. Do you think he'll still be funny on Sirius?

SERWER: Funnier.

MILES O'BRIEN: Funnier. Funnier.

SERWER: Racier. Raunchier, as you can imagine.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: A lot of people are banking on that, yes.

MILES O'BRIEN: There's nobody there policing him.

SERWER: No. MILES O'BRIEN: Is it the same? Anyway, there's also XM out there, too, and there's a battle on XM, it's Opie and Anthony, you know, and they've been on there for a year. That's raunchy, too.

SERWER: It is.

MILES O'BRIEN: So the question is, you want to dive in? Are you interested in XM Radio. It is the holiday season and all. If you want to follow Howard Stern, what should you do? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MILES O'BRIEN: Howard Stern is headed to satellite radio. Sirius Radio, specifically. It's the latest in the tip for tat, the battle between XM and Sirius. XM a little bigger than Sirius right now. But with Howard Stern at Sirius, that company hoping to make a big play. Of course on XM, Opie and Anthony. They've been on there for about a year. The question for you as a consumer is, do you want to dive into satellite radio? What is satellite radio? A lot of people may not know. Paul Reynolds is the electronics editor for "Consumer Reports" magazine. And that's a good job, by the way.

Paul, good to have you with us.

First of all, let's, you know, let's assume there's some people out there who have heard about satellite radio but don't quite get it. What are we talking about here?

PAUL REYNOLDS, "CONSUMER REPORTS": We're talking about an alternative radio service that beams radio channels to a radio that you have from a satellite. It's national service, for the most part, unlike the local service that's beamed to you locally. You need special equipment to do it. And the big thing is, you have to pay for it. It's pay radio.

MILES O'BRIEN: Right. And I think -- I have XM. I want to say it's on the order of $8 or $9 a month. Is that about right what they are now?

REYNOLDS: $12.95 a month for both services.

MILES O'BRIEN: OK. It's gone up. I didn't even notice. You've got to watch those bills.

So basically people who have bought into this, whether it's XM or Sirius, they're liking it, aren't they?

REYNOLDS: We did a survey, a nationally representative survey, of subscribers to satellite radio and people were very happy with it. Seventy percent of them were very satisfied with the service. That ranks with among the highest rated services that we do. So people really like it. The only caveat is that bill. They don't like paying the bill. That's by far their biggest complaint that they have to pay for this service. But they do do it and most of them plan to renew.

MILES O'BRIEN: Well, do what I do, just don't pay attention to it.

REYNOLDS: That's right.

MILES O'BRIEN: And then it will be a lot less painful. And, of course, you know, a lot of people think about this being in vehicles. You can get them now in portable devices. Do they work pretty well?

REYNOLDS: They work pretty well. You can get these kind of portable, plug and play devices, which you can use in your car. You can also take them into your home and have a home docking station and listen to them at home if you want. There are also now a growing number of portable, hand-held devices that you can use just about anywhere, including walking around and use them very much like an MP-3 player.

MILES O'BRIEN: And they work pretty well?

REYNOLDS: They work pretty well. Basically people were satisfied with the service. They didn't have major problems with reception and so on.

MILES O'BRIEN: I wonder how they do in New York with all the tall buildings? I bet there's some spotty coverage there.

Let's talk about the key differences, XM versus Sirius. As far as content, for one thing, let's talk about what's on which.

REYNOLDS: Well, the music is pretty comparable. And I think just about anyone's going to find music that they'll like here. In fact, one of the things that our survey respondents liked, was they were exposed to new kinds of music. You can get just about anything on there. The differences have to do in two real areas. One, of course, is personalities and the Howard Stern and Martha Stewart coming on to Sirius, Bob Dylan coming on to XM. The other area is sports. Depending on the sport. If you're a sports fan, and a significant number of our respondents were, you'll find difference in the sports between the two, the professional sports.

MILES O'BRIEN: So baseball is XM, football is Sirius. And I'm, obviously, condensing that. But you can see the comparison there. You've got Bob Edwards on XM versus NPR. NPR is actually available on Sirius as you hear it on a local station. Opie and Anthony versus Howard Stern. Springsteen versus Bob Dylan. Lots of decisions to make. You can't get both, though, you have to make a decision on one service or another, right?

REYNOLDS: Correct. You have to buy equipment that receives one or the other. So that's the decision you need to make. And they're very comparable in many ways. There may be a few things that tip you one way or the other.

MILES O'BRIEN: Why hasn't someone made a receiver that will accept both, you can tune back and forth? If you were so inclined and wanted to pay the money, then you could put it in one box?

REYNOLDS: Maybe that will be coming, but certainly it hasn't happened yet.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes. Now the thing I've been reading about these two, is that there's ultimately -- there could be a real shake-up in this because there probably -- maybe there isn't room for two of these. Or do you think that the market is growing so fast that it will be able to sustain two viable satellite radio outfits?

REYNOLDS: I think that's still a question mark. Neither of them are profitable yet. They are trying to grow their numbers very much. And one of the things about the equipment is, they're giving it away with big rebates because they really bank on making the money on your subscription over the years.

MILES O'BRIEN: Right, market share is what it's all about. When you're paying a guy like Stern eight figure sums, it takes a while to get that money back.

Paul Reynolds with "Consumer Reports," a pleasure. Appreciate you stopping by.

REYNOLDS: A pleasure to be here. Thank you.

MILES O'BRIEN: Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Well, the government is committing $3 billion to fixing the levees. Critics say it's just not enough money. This morning we're going to talk to Donald Powell. He's the federal official in charge of rebuilding the Gulf Coast. We'll ask him what he thinks. That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, a follow-up to a terrific story that we told you about yesterday. Remember the videotape?

MILES O'BRIEN: Well, who could forget? Watch.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Here it is.

MILES O'BRIEN: That's a baby. And that's a catch.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, wow, that's a catch.

MILES O'BRIEN: Wow.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Well, we heard from the man who made that terrific catch this morning.

MILES O'BRIEN: Felix Vazquez. A great guy.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: We talked to the mom who says she will be eternally grateful to him. We've got her story and it tells exactly what happened that morning.

MILES O'BRIEN: Do you think? SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MILES O'BRIEN: Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.

A developing story that could bring New York City to a standstill. Transit strikes are underway. It's still not the full possible nightmare, though. We'll find out when those strikes could begin and what could stop them.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: I'm Soledad O'Brien.

Millions more people struggling to get where they need to go this morning because of ice and snow which is causing accidents up and down the East Coast. We've got a look at your forecast just ahead.

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