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American Morning
Hamas Taking Control; Torino 2006
Aired February 20, 2006 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Security in question. The White House faces harsh criticism over a deal giving control of several major ports to the Middle East. We're going to update that story for you this morning.
Also, Bode Miller back on the mountain. Is he going to be able to forget his past mistakes, finally grab a gold medal? We'll take you live to Torino this morning.
And laissez les bon temps rouler. Do you know what that means in French?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: Stop showing off, Soledad. Tell me what it means.
O'BRIEN: Let the good times roll.
MARCIANO: All right.
O'BRIEN: Mardi Gras gets under way in New Orleans. We're covering that story for you as well this morning.
MARCIANO: If you don't know what that means, you'll know it over the next couple of weeks. We'll be repeating that.
O'BRIEN: Exactly. Exactly.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.
O'BRIEN: A beautiful shot there of New York.
Good morning. Welcome become, everybody.
Miles is off, but Rob is helping us out.
We appreciate that very much.
MARCIANO: You're welcome. Nice to be here.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
Right to a CNN "Security Watch" this morning.
Capitol Hill lawmakers are questioning a deal that puts six American ports under the management of a company that is based in the United Arab Emirates. Port operations affected by the deal are New York and Newark and -- in New Jersey, obviously -- Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami and New Orleans. The Bush administration says the small Arab nation is a key ally in the war on terror. Some lawmakers charge, though, that the UAE is not free of terrorists ties.
Appearing on CNN's "LATE EDITION," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the sale was reviewed by several government departments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We examine the transaction, we look at what the nature of the threat is. If necessary, we build in conditions or requirements that -- for extra security that have to be met in order to make sure that there isn't a compromise to national security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Management was turned over to the company in the UAE when it acquired a London-based firm earlier this month.
A reminder. You can catch "LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER." That's on Sunday mornings, 11:00 a.m. Eastern. Also, stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Rob.
MARCIANO: In the Middle East, the Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas is in talks to form a coalition government for the Palestinians. It comes as several nations balk at providing funding for the new government.
CNN's John Vause is live in Jerusalem.
John, break it down for us. What does it mean?
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rob, the impact of this is being played out right now. The exiled leader of Hamas in Tehran, asking the Iranian government for financial help. And the concern among Israeli and U.S. officials is that this potentially opens the door for Iran, one of the founding members of the axis of evil, to increase its influence within the Palestinian territories, the West Bank and Gaza.
And for Israel, there is a concern that Hamas may be getting a lot more than just financial help. It could come back with military expertise, advice on how to build bigger and better bombs, a bigger and better Kasam rocket which could then be used to attack the Israelis.
A couple of things to point out, though. There is an Islamic split here.
Hamas is Sunni; Iran is Shiite. So there's not a natural alliance. And in the past, Iran has been notoriously tight-fisted when it comes to giving out money -- Rob. MARCIANO: It sounds like partisan politics over there, as well, John. What happens if Hamas doesn't get the money it needs to run the government?
VAUSE: Well, among Palestinians there's a genuine concern that there will be a breakdown in society, a breakdown in law and order. The president of the Palestinian Authority has already said that a real crisis is already developing and that tax money which Israel voted yesterday to withhold from the Palestinian Authority would be used to pay most of the wages for school teachers, for doctors, nurses, for bureaucrats. That money is not -- is not going to the Palestinian Authority now.
So life is already pretty hard in the West Bank and Gaza. There are fears that it's about to get a whole lot harder with these countries withdrawing their aid. And the concern and the thinking is that this could have a blow-back effect on both Israel and the United States because Palestinians will not be blaming Hamas for their hardships, but they will be blaming Israel and the Americans -- Rob.
MARCIANO: A complicated subject. Thanks for your insight, John.
John Vause live for us in Jerusalem
O'BRIEN: Lots of other stories to get to this morning. Let's get right to Carol. She's in the newsroom for us with an update.
Hey, Carol. Good morning again.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad.
Good morning to all of you.
Search and recovery efforts in the Philippines in full force today after a devastating landslide. The mud is as deep as 100 feet in some areas. And there are reports that rescue teams have heard sounds coming from a site where a school was buried. There could have been more than 250 people inside the school.
We'll keep following developments in the story and bring you more details in the next hour.
It is bitter cold across most of the United States today. It is, of course, winter, but along with freezing temperatures some heavy winds and storms caused major problems over the weekend. Crews are now working to restore power to thousands of customers along the East Coast. At least five deaths are being blamed on the storms and the frigid temperatures.
The White House is now trying to move on after Vice President Dick Cheney's shooting accident, but will Americans let the story die? There was much ado about the incident, especially the fact that the White House chose to keep it quiet when it first happened. Actually, Dick Cheney did.
That leads us to a new "TIME" magazine poll. In it, 58 percent of Americans say, yes, Cheney is too secretive, 33 percent say he is not, and 9 percent say they do not have an opinion. But we'll just see if the jokes keep on coming on the late-night talk shows. I think they will.
And in New Orleans, they're taking part in a much more low-key Mardi Gras. The city is still trying to fight its way back after Katrina. The parades will go on until the end of this month, culminating, what, on February 28?
It looks like they're having fun, though.
MARCIANO: Good times down there in New Orleans. So far, so good. And it looks a little chilly, as well.
COSTELLO: It didn't matter.
MARCIANO: And it doesn't -- it never does. Thanks, Carol.
Chilly just about everywhere.
O'BRIEN: It really is, no question about that.
Let's go right to Bonnie. She's got a look for us across the nation.
Hey, Bonnie. Good morning.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Bonnie. Appreciate it.
MARCIANO: Thanks, Bonnie.
O'BRIEN: Let me know, honestly. You're a guest.
MARCIANO: No, I'm OK. I'm OK.
O'BRIEN: You're a guest. And your happiness is all that matters. Your happiness is all that matters to us, Rob.
MARCIANO: Now I feel better. Thank you.
O'BRIEN: All right. Whining, whining, whining already. We're only 37 minutes into the show.
Anyway, coming up this morning, some Olympic athletes just stunned by an overnight police raid on their rooms. We've got a live report for you from Torino this morning.
MARCIANO: And a little bit of zing over there, a little controversy.
Also, a big victory for the makers of Vioxx. How will it affect thousands of other lawsuits against that company? O'BRIEN: And then later, a rare and disturbing look at the inner workings of the Ku Klux Klan. We're going to take a look at how the hate group is using some new methods to grow stronger.
That's coming up ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
We're back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: At the Olympics over the weekend, ooh, it was a sloppy, sloppy weekend. Take a look at some of these still pictures.
This is Lithuania's ice dancing team.
MARCIANO: Ouch.
O'BRIEN: Yes, the routine's not supposed to go like that. Not supposed to be knees down on the ice. That was kind of a mess there.
Next one we got for you, I think the Canadian team. Ooh.
MARCIANO: That's going to hurt.
O'BRIEN: This is right before she landed. Ow! Right smack on the ice.
Then you have the Italian team. Yes, there she is right there, right on the ground. And he's coming up behind her. They were so furious after their drastic fall.
MARCIANO: It's a dangerous sport.
O'BRIEN: Another Italian team as well did very badly. But look at this.
This, I believe, is the American team. That's Ben Agosto and -- and who's his partner again? Tanith Belbin.
They had a beautiful routine. In fact, they did so well that they actually took second place. It's qualified them to compete for the gold today. And of course that's something that American ice dancers haven't done in 30 years, taking home a gold medal.
So they -- actually, they were replaying them this morning and they looked beautiful. But everybody else kind of landed on their butts in the middle of...
MARCIANO: Those still shots just don't do them justice. And they are kind of put in weird positions at times.
O'BRIEN: Yes. It looks like it really, really hurts.
Bode Miller, we're talking about him this morning, too. Back on the slopes this morning. Had a tough time with his first three medal attempts: one disqualification, one fifth place finish, and then a race where he didn't even finish the race.
CNN's Larry Smith live in Torino this morning.
Hey, Larry. Good morning to you.
Tell us about Bode. What are his prospects for today?
LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, his prospects right now, he is standing 12th after the first run of the men's giant slalom. Now, the good news is, if you will, that of the 82 competitors in this, 35 did not finish the first run. That includes Ted Ligety and Darren Rolsen (ph) of the U.S.
So, you look at the numbers, maybe you get another 30 out of the way, Bode stays on his feet and does well, maybe he can get a medal in this. It's been a rough going for him.
Speaking of sloppy play, it's been a sloppy Olympics so far for Bode Miller. And not doing so well right now in the giant slalom, though he did finish. And again, he's in a 12th run, second run going off here in about an hour up in the Alps.
O'BRIEN: Yes, here's a guy who went in as a medal contender, and absolutely everything he wasn't entered in. So that's kind of a surprise there.
Let's talk about this raid. The cops raided the Austrian skiers? Is that -- is that right? What did they find? Did they find anything?
SMITH: Yes. Well, it was -- yes, I'm not sure what they found because we've got conflicting reports on that from here in Torino, but I can tell you that that -- the coach in question, Walter Mayer -- this is a wild story -- he actually was accused of doping at the Salt Lake City games in 2002 and was told not to coach this team anymore, the ski team and the cross-country team.
Well, he was here on a -- in a private capacity but was at one of the events on Saturday. Officials spotted him. Hence, the raid that night.
Now, he left Torino and drove about 250 miles outside of town, stopped to take a nap last night. When police approached his car to wake him up, he sped off, reportedly slightly injuring one of the officers.
Kind of a wild car chase you might see out of a Hollywood movie or something. Gets into Austria. Slams into a roadblock there where he was taken into custody. He's been charged with civil disorder and released.
Now, police wanted to administer a blood alcohol test. They suspected him of being -- of drinking. He refused that.
The Austrian team right now in this mess, they are severing all ties with Mayer. In fact, the Austrian chancellor said, "I find it infuriating that he would show up here" with the athletes trying to do as well as they can.
The Austrian ski team the next day finished last in their event on Sunday and they blamed the raid on this. So, as we have been talking the past couple days about this, Soledad, so many people are saying, well, why would they do this raid? Well, certainly they felt they had just cause to do so.
Let's go back to you.
O'BRIEN: Wow. What a bizarre story.
All right. Larry Smith for us this morning. A little look at the Olympics and Torino.
Thank you, Larry -- Rob.
MARCIANO: Soledad, now to a sport that's a little louder and a lot faster. NASCAR racing, they got her done down in Daytona this weekend.
Jimmie Johnson took the lead with 14 laps to go Sunday and held on to win his first Daytona 500 trophy. What's even more impressive is he did it without his crew chief. That's because Chad Knaus was sent home earlier in the week after NASCAR found he had been cheating during qualification.
And coming up, the makers of Vioxx win a big-time court battle. How will that affect thousands of other lawsuits they have faced? We're "Minding Your Business."
O'BRIEN: Yes, it will be interesting to keep track of the number. They've won some, they've lost some. It's been a draw on some levels. It will be interesting to see what that means with other court cases.
Also, we know now where that winning Powerball ticket was sold, $365 million -- $365 million.
MARCIANO: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Still don't know, though, who bought the ticket. We're going to check in this morning with the owner of the store that old it to see if he has any ideas.
That story's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
We're back in a moment
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): Tired of the same old boring workout on the treadmill? Well, now you can spice it up just by stepping it up. Sprinting up hills, walking or running on flat roads, tread ride is an aerobic class on treadmills. JENNIFER RENFROE, CRUNCH FITNESS: It's all set to music. So we runs hills and flat roads and change the incline and change the pace. And it's a great cardiovascular workout in about 45 minutes.
COSTELLO: She says people who workout regularly on the treadmill may not be working out at the intensity they need to burn the most calories during their workout. This class is designed to amp up the intensity level.
LYDIA O'BERRY: You know, how your clothes fit better. You feel better about yourself. You can go home and eat a Snickers bar.
MARGO GREGORY: I thought it was awesome. It was my first time taking the class. And I thought it was an awesome workout. I'm actually a runner, so this would be a great cross training tool for me.
COSTELLO: Jennifer says you could make the class tougher by adding a 4 to 16 pound weighted vest, but that's optional. The best part is you will burn anywhere from 400 to 700 calories per hour.
Carol Costello, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. Gerri's in for Andy. She's "Minding Your Business" in just a moment.
First, though, a check of the headlines. Carol's got that from the newsroom.
Hello again.
COSTELLO: Hello.
Good morning to all of you.
A suicide bombing on a minibus in Baghdad. Emergency police say at least 10 people were killed. The attack comes hours after a bomb detonated near a group of Baghdad workers, wounding at least 20 people.
Time is running out for a group of miners near the Texas border. An explosion at a Mexican coal mine has trapped 65 people underground. Rescue officials say toxic gases are slowing them down.
Now, they have yet to contact the miners. They're holding out hope of finding someone alive, but the workers' six-hour oxygen tanks are likely wiped out.
President Bush outlining plans to break what he calls the U.S. addiction to oil. The president speaking in the Midwest today. He'll make stops in Milwaukee and outside of Detroit, Michigan. He's expected to call for more investment in clean power sources, including nuclear energy. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff warning against drastic changes as this year's hurricane season approaches. Speaking with Wolf Blitzer this weekend, Chertoff says new measures to better prepare FEMA for disasters are already in place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHERTOFF: We've certainly learned a lot of lessons from Katrina, from Rita. Rita was better than Katrina. We're doing a better job planning. We're closer -- we're closely aligned with the Department of Defense.
These things would be positive things if we were to have another attack.. But we've got a lot of work to do. And one of the things I want to say, Wolf, is we're 100 days from hurricane season, and we've got to start focusing on what we're going to do to make ourselves ready for the next hurricane.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: You can catch "LATE EDITION" next weekend on Sundays at 11:00 a.m. Eastern only on CNN.
Guess what? Toga's parents have a brand new chick. The penguin pair hatched one of two eggs on Valentine's Day.
The new chick doesn't have a name yet because they don't know what sex it is. Apparently, that's difficult to determine in a baby penguin.
Older brother Toga was three months old when he disappeared, you might remember. He was mostly likely stolen as a Christmas gift.
Zoo officials have boosted security, installing closed-circuit TV cameras and motion sensors. So this little guy or gal won't be going anywhere.
Let's head to the forecast center now to check in with Bonnie Schneider.
Good morning.
SCHNEIDER: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: All right, Bonnie. Thank you very much. I'm liking those numbers there. Certainly, we'd like to see a little of that.
Let's get to business news.
Impact, really, of the verdict in the case of a controversial painkiller. We have been talking about this every time a verdict comes in, kind of weighing the balance.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. O'BRIEN: Well, how does it look?
WILLIS: Well, this is fascinating.
On Friday, a federal jury in New Orleans decided that the painkiller Vioxx was not responsible for the death of a Florida man. This is a very big deal indeed, because Vioxx, as you know, has been the controversial drug linked to increased risk of heart attack and strokes.
The company that makes it, Merck, has been saying it is not responsible for that. Still, it faces 9,000 lawsuits.
The company said in the court case that the man's death was actually due to unhealthy lifestyle and that's what clogged his arteries. There's been a split in the two cases dealing with -- in two previous cases dealing with this.
A New Jersey case ruled in favor of Merck. And in Texas, a jury awarded $250 million in the settlement of one of those cases.
So, we have two cases at the state level split. This is the first federal case going to Merck. They're seeing it as a very big win.
O'BRIEN: It will be interesting to see the fallout on all those. I mean, there are a thousand cases...
WILLIS: Nine thousand.
O'BRIEN: Right -- lined up behind sort of watching to see what happens as each of these cases goes to court.
WILLIS: And, of course, we see the company's stock price move around...
O'BRIEN: Right.
MARCIANO: Right.
WILLIS: ... in response to all of that.
One other story today from Procter & Gamble.
We have 300 layoffs at its Mason, Ohio, facility. This is a pharmaceutical research facility that P&G runs.
They actually have a line of drugs that they put out specifically for bone and muscles, some osteoporosis drugs. But guess what. They have decided -- and I think this is really interesting and ties in with the Merck case -- that they don't want to spend 15 years researching drugs. It takes too long, too long to make money. They're actually going to buy drugs from other companies that do the development.
MARCIANO: And then you risk getting sued. So the payoff, you know, may not be there.
WILLIS: Yes, exactly, Rob.
O'BRIEN: I'm not sure that would keep you clear from lawsuits, though, but it certainly will save them a lot of money. Unfortunately, the layoffs, too.
WILLIS: Exactly.
O'BRIEN: Well, thank you for helping us out this morning now that Andy's got the day off.
WILLIS: Thank you.
MARCIANO: Thanks, Gerri.
O'BRIEN: We appreciate it, Gerri.
WILLIS: You're welcome.
MARCIANO: Coming up next, the controversy over a proposed deal to outsource U.S. port management. Should security be put in the hands of a country with alleged ties to terrorism?
Plus, a spark of hope in the aftermath of that devastating mudslide in the Philippines. We'll get an update on the rescue efforts.
That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: We're getting to the start of the hour, so let's get a look at the forecast once again. Bonnie Schneider has that. She's at the CNN Center.
Hello again.
MARCIANO: Hi, Bonnie.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
Miles has a little vacation. He's off today. But Rob Marciano has been helping us out.
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