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American Morning
Will There be Third Arrest in Duke Rape Investigation?; President Bush Signals More Staff Changes Ahead
Aired April 19, 2006 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Alina Cho in Durham, North Carolina. Will there be a third arrest in the Duke rape investigation? I'll have that story coming up.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I'm Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, where Donald Rumsfeld says he has a hunch about why people don't like him.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Elaine Quijano, live at the White House, where President Bush has signaled more staff changes ahead. I'll have that story coming up.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And a shared birthday. Some kids whose parents don't see eye to eye, though. We're cruising towards a strange coincidence, ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Let's get right to it. From dangling tram to terra firma. Dozens of terrified commuters in New York City have a wild story to tell this morning. It was to be a four-minute ride high over New York's East River. However, they found themselves stuck for many, many hours overnight while you were sleeping when the power failed on the tram. They're all back on the ground now. The last pulled to safety just about two hours ago.
Live now to Christopher King in Manhattan, and he has the story of lots of happy people probably kissing the ground when they got to it -- Christopher.
CHRISTOPHER KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lots of happy people, indeed, Miles. In fact, we are have here in Roosevelt.
I want to give you some perspective here. Now that tram headed back to Roosevelt Island, is back at the station now.
But take a look here. Let's pan down if we can, down to the river. That's the East River over there, separating Manhattan and Roosevelt. Now you can just push the camera up a little bit. You see the lines where the tram would normally be traveling on.
Now that's a couple of hundred feet above the water. Now, this was where the tram was. It began moving about an hour ago. Passengers were onboard -- 68 passengers were onboard. Rescue teams got all of them on board. Twelve children on board. There were two infants in all, about a year old. Rescue teams had to attach a rescue basket to the line. They made five trips to get the people to the Roosevelt Island side. They used a large crane, a large industrial crane to get the Manhattan-bound passengers down. Now they were stuck on there for almost 12 hours overnight. That tram came to a halt when the power failed on the system. Engineers could not get that system restarted overnight. Of course that was restarted about an hour ago. Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the problem was mechanical in nature -- Miles, Betty.
O'BRIEN: All right, Christopher King there on Roosevelt Island, thank you very much.
Later this hour, we'll talk with a 12-year-old Dax Maier, one of the rescued people, his babysitter and his mom and dad who waited out the ordeal on the ground -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Another arrest possible in the Duke rape investigation. The Durham district attorney says he is still looking for a third suspect in the case. AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho is live in Durham, North Carolina. She's been following this every step of the way.
Good morning, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, good morning to you.
The D.A. would not say whether a third arrest is imminent, only that he is working to identify a third suspect. Defense attorneys are working very hard on their case. And friends and neighbors of the two suspects already charged say there is no way they committed this crime.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): Far away from the Duke campus, those who know the two lacrosse players are coming out to support them. Nineteen- year-old Collin Finnerty is from Garden City, New York.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a good kid. He's absolutely -- I mean, any family would love to have a kid like him.
CHO: Finnerty was a two-year Letterman at Shamanad (ph) High School. Jack Moran was his lacrosse coach.
JACK MORAN, FINNERTY'S HIGH SCHOOL COACH: He always met my expectations, and I never had a problem with him as a player or a student.
CHO: Back when Finnerty was a student there, he was number 7. At Duke, the sophomore had family ties. His brother is a senior there. Classmates say he and teammate Reade Seligmann would never commit rape.
AAINA AGARWAL, FRIEND OF ARRESTED PLAYER: I just know these boys to be kind and amazing people who wouldn't be capable of thinking of something like this, let alone participating in it.
CHO: But this is not the first time Finnerty has been in trouble. In November, he and two friends were arrested in Washington D.C., charged with assaulting a man outside of a Georgetown hotel.
Twenty-year-old Reade Seligmann has no prior criminal record. He's a sophomore from Essex Fells, New Jersey. In high school, he was number 4, known as a go-to guy who came through in the clutch. When it came time for to decide where to go to college, a friend said Seligmann chose Duke over Harvard and Princeton. The headmaster of his high school said, quote, "I believe him innocent of the charges."
Neighbors of Collin Finnerty say they stand behind him 100 percent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The truth will come out, and I will bet my life on it. He's innocent. He is definitely innocent.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Closer to campus, Duke University has released a statement saying that the suspects, in part, are innocent until proven guilty, and that everyone has been through a lot of pain and suffering.
Having said that, it is standard procedure to suspend students involved in this type of situation. And, Betty, that is case with these two students, pending the outcome of the case.
NGUYEN: Alina, I also understand police were back on the Duke campus Tuesday. What were they doing there?
CHO: That's according to the university. Durham police searched the dorm where the two suspects live, but we have no information, Betty, about exactly what they found, and no other details an about this search.
NGUYEN: All right, we'll wait to hear, Alina Cho in Durham, North Carolina. Thank you, Alina.
And coming up next hour, we'll learn more about the suspected players from a fellow student, a resident of their dorm -- Miles.
The Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld hanging tough saying those decisions he made him the target of criticism. He is staying on message, saying he is not leaving the Pentagon, live now to the Pentagon and Barbara Starr. It was a remarkable day yesterday, Barbara, wasn't it?
STARR: Absolutely, Miles. Another day of the Don Rumsfeld P.R. campaign, another very strong endorsement from President Bush in that Rose Garden statement, and another press conference with secretary Rumsfeld here in the Pentagon.
And when he was asked about all of this, what he did is he took about seven to 10 minutes during that press conference basically to list his accomplishments while he has served as secretary of defense for the last five years or so.
What the secretary said is he has had to make a lot of tough decisions, and he says he knows that can be hard for some people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECY. OF DEFENSE: I think it's important that we recognize that there's a lot of change going on, it's challenging for people, it is difficult for people, and we have to, I think, be reasonably tolerant with respect to things that get said.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: So a little touch of humility, if you will, by the secretary, but clearly, Miles, what he and the Bush administration all know is there are a number of issues in Iraq that are really very troublesome to them, things that they really want to focus on.
Let's consider a couple of points here. First of all, the five- month decline in U.S. deaths in Iraq is now over. So far, this month in April, 50 troops died in Iraq. That's compared to 31 last month in March. There have been delays in parliamentary meetings. No new national unity government has been formed, and no new prime minister selected, and it is now more than a month since those elections.
Secretary Rumsfeld has now said both publicly and privately, getting a national unity government is really the top priority -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thank you very much. Retired Major General Tom Wilkerson attended that Pentagon meeting. We'll hear from him in our next hour -- Betty.
NGUYEN: More changes could be ahead at the White House. President Bush seemed to leave the door open to when he announced his new budget director.
Elaine Quijano is live at the White House.
Elaine, what's the president saying about further shake-ups in this administration?
QUIJANO: Good morning to you, Betty.
Well, President Bush certainly has signaled that with his new Chief of Staff Josh Bolten in place, that more changes are expected.
Now President Bush did not offer any hints as to what specific areas they might be focusing in on, but at that Rose Garden appearance yesterday, the president made clear this is a time of transition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: With a new man will come some changes, and Josh has got all the rights to make those recommendations to me. And, of course, I listen to, you know, advice as to my cabinet, as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: And the president also offered another vigorous defense of Donald Rumsfeld, saying that his defense secretary was doing a fine job. And when pressed about criticism of Rumsfeld by some retired generals, Mr. Bush said that he listens to all voices, but that ultimately he makes the final decision -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Like he said, he is the decider, right?
Elaine, a historic meeting taking place tomorrow between Bush and the president of China, lots on the agenda. Tell us about that.
QUIJANO: Well, that's right, this is president Hu Jintao's first visit to the White House since he became China's leader in 2003. A delicate relationship to manage between these two countries, China and the United States.
On the agenda, of course, a number of items, and they include trade relations, human rights, Iran's nuclear ambitions and Taiwan. Also, interesting to note, Betty, the atmospheric, the Bush administration not calling this an official state visit, but there will be a formal welcoming ceremony for president Hu Jintao, just another sign of how complex this relationship is -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Indeed. Elaine Quijano at the White House for us this morning. Thank you, Elaine.
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NGUYEN: We've got some Hollywood baby news for you. I know that you've been waiting, counting the days for this.
O'BRIEN: Oh, I have.
NGUYEN: I know. Baby cruise, though, finally here. Katie Holmes gave birth to the couple's first child, a little girl named "Suri." The origins of the name mean princess or little rose. No one is revealing, though, where the baby was born, or if it was really one of those silent births, called for in Cruise's Scientology phase.
O'BRIEN: Do you believe in the silent birth? I don't know.
NGUYEN: I don't know. I mean, that's got difficult, right? I mean, come on, giving birth is not an easy thing.
All right, here's an ironic twist. Brooke Shields also gave birth on Monday. It is her second, and the baby girl is named "Greer." That's an interesting name, too. You'll remember that Shields and Tom Cruise had a well-publicized quarrel over those anti- depressants. I don't know if they'll be sending each other flowers.
O'BRIEN: No. I think the stars were alignment, or not in alignment on that one. I'm not sure which, depending on which way you look at. NGUYEN: It's an interesting twist, no doubt.
O'BRIEN: You know that oil prices are sky high. We've been telling you about that. And you know the leading indicator is what you pay at the pump for a gallon of gas, but there are so many other things that are affected by the price of oil. Andy Serwer will tell you where you're going to pay on this expensive summer.
NGUYEN: Also, ever wish you could just zap away red lights on the drive to work? I know I do. One guy, he did just that. But you know what, it got him in trouble with police. We'll tell you about it.
O'BRIEN: And more on that tram trouble there in New York City. Lots of folks stalled there all night long 300 feet above the East River. We'll talk to a boy and his babysitter who wanted to get to a tennis lesson. Instead, have a whale of a story to tell this morning.
Stay with us.
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NGUYEN: Well, you sick of getting nothing but red lights on your drive to work? Coming up, a guy who changed red to green with a flick of a switch. And it got him into a little trouble with the law.
Plus, more on those stalled New York City tram cars. We'll meet a 12-year-old boy who was trapped on one with his babysitter. We'll ask him whether things ever got hairy up there.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: In Washington, the capital police shedding light on that confrontation between Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and an officer. The report saying she hit the officer with her fist in the chest. We've been hearing that she hit him with a cell phone or possibly slapped him. She never was clear on it. Today's "Atlanta- Journal Constitution" got a hold of that report. A grand jury is considering charges against her. We'll keep you posted -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Listen to this, a Colorado man tired of seeing red takes traffic matters into his own hands. Carol Costello now live in the newsroom with this story. It's very interesting, but not really legal.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: No. No, it is not legal. You know, but who hasn't been there? You're running late and you wish you had some sort magic wand to turn every single traffic light green. Well, it turns out there is such a device. And guess what? You can buy it online. A guy in Colorado did just that. And it was life in the fastlane, until the cops caught him red handed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): It happened at about the same time each morning at one of the busiest intersections in Longmont, Colorado. Cars would speed along in one direction, where in the other, drivers waited and waited and waited for their red light to turn green.
JOE OLSON, LONGMONT TRAFFIC ENGINEER: Our department director noticed it one day, and so when called me, I looked at our logs, and I said, oh, we had an emergency vehicle go through.
COSTELLO: But when traffic officials took a closer look, they noticed something different, a pattern.
OLSON: There was a white Ford Ranger going through every day at the times the intersection was preempted.
COSTELLO: Turns out the driver out that white pickup, 31-year- old Jason Nickum, was using an electronic device to trip the traffic lights in his favor.
OLSON: This is kind of where you can see it stuck to the windshield there.
COSTELLO: Last month, Nickum was pulled over after being videotaped going through the intersection. He told police he bought the device, a mobile infrared transmitter, on eBay for $100 because he was always running late. Fire trucks and ambulances use a similar device to change lights as they respond to emergencies. Police confiscated the gadget, and fined Nickum $50. Residents are siding with the man, not the driver. The city's cost for a computer upgrade to prevent drivers from taking traffic into their own hands? Seventy- five thousand dollars.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a lot of money to be spending to change things.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it should be a little bit stronger of a penalty for the man. I think it's wrong. I mean, I'm sorry that it takes longer to get to work, but he should get up earlier.
COSTELLO: That's a lot of money, and then only a $50 fine, that's relatively cheap. I'm not sure that that's a real deterrent.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: He pays a $50 fine and taxpayers, you know, foot the $75,000 bill to change the traffic configuration so he can't use that device anymore. And by the way, Longmont, Colorado wasn't the only place Jason Nickum used the device. Nickum told police he played red light-green light everywhere.
NGUYEN: Oh, I bet he did. And the thing about this is you can get this on the Internet, right?
COSTELLO: EBay, he bought it on eBay.
NGUYEN: As simple as that. Until you get caught, of course.
OK, Carol, thank you.
O'BRIEN: President Bush offering some cover for his defense secretary as he deals with a lot of incoming. But will it be enough to stop the barrage? We'll check in on that story.
Plus, a brutal beating in a casino parking garage caught on tape. Ouch. The hunt for the suspects ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome. I'm Miles O'Brien.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen in for Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is vowing not to resign. He says the half dozen retired generals speaking out against him, asking him to step down resentment of the changes to the military, and the president is standing by his man.
AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken is our man in Washington.
Good morning, Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Well, in these days of modern warfare, the administration, Miles, is relying on an old-fashioned maneuver, called circling the wagons.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN (voice-over): The president would love to move on. But even when he appeared to announce a change in the administration, he was peppered with questions about the one position that apparently he isn't changing.
BUSH: I'm the decider, and I decide what is best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the secretary of defense.
FRANKEN: Last week's controversy is this week's stale news, but not this time. Rumsfeld has been a lightning rod in this administration. Criticized repeatedly for ignoring his military commanders and for being arrogant and autocratic.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Rumsfeld has been a lightning rod in this administration. Criticized repeatedly for ignoring his military commanders and for being arrogant and autocratic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you arrogant and autocratic?
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: You know me.
FRANKEN: He's always been known to be hard charging, but now the defense secretary is playing defense. Many of the town's political experts believe the best strategy is to wait the controversy out and hope, like an old soldier, it fades away.
THOMAS MANN, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: If no other generals come forward and no other Republicans in Congress come forward calling for his resignation, then they will succeed at least in the short term.
FRANKEN: Which seems to be exactly what Rumsfeld has in mind.
RUMSFELD: Well, you know, I've been hearing about all of this and I kind of would prefer to let a little time walk over it.
FRANKEN: But the Democrats have other ideas.
SEN. RICHARD DURBIN, (D) ILLINOIS: I think we need to have a vote of confidence on Secretary Rumsfeld. Let the Senate go on record.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: Well, apparently Rumsfeld is going to ride this out. There's a widespread belief that if he didn't it would be an admission that Iraq was a mistake. And let us not forget that Don Rumsfeld's war is George W. Bush's war.
Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, that's a key point here.
Bob, some of his critics, some of Rumsfeld's critics, would suggest it's a bad idea for him to resign, even though they're critical of him. Explain the logic there.
FRANKEN: Well the logic is, from those I've talked to, that if he goes now, it would really be too late to do anything before the conclusion of this administration and that it might be more valuable to have him in place so he, as well as the war, can be an issue in the next presidential election.
MILES O'BRIEN: A little bit of politics there. Imagine that. Bob Franken, thank you very much.
Betty.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: In one of the most dangerous areas of Iraq, U.S. Marines and Iraqi soldiers are launching an ambitious campaign as the try to clear the area of insurgents. They're also trying to win the hearts and minds of the people. CNN's Arwa Damon has been accompanying the patrol. It's a story you'll only see on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): It's hard to imagine that people still live here among the devastated buildings in the heart of Ramadi. Each building bears the scars of the daily pitched battles. Like the one we experienced earlier this week between Marines guarding the governor's compound and insurgents.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're bugging out.
DAMON: But on a joint Iraqi/American military operation, we met some of the families who have no choice but to stick it out right near the compound.
Akmed (ph), who was also a soldier under Saddam, tries to tell Joaheda (ph) that they won't leave until there is stability. Her son, Mohamed (ph), shows the bullet holes that scar their walls.
Mohamed's house is right in the crossfire. He and his family are caught between the Marines at the government center and the insurgent who are trying to fire at them.
This operation is to look for weapons caches used by insurgents who frequently launch their attacks from this area. The actual searches are carried out by Iraqis and a small number of American advisers. U.S. Marines set up a protective parameter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it's also important at my level because we're training Jundi (ph) to do this, the Iraqi army, and we train with them and they see how we do it and they do it like we do it in the future.
DAMON: For the Iraqi army here, it's more like learning on the job. Of course there's no confusing these troops with Americans. Some things remain ala Iraqi. Taking a break to buy candy after searching this store. They are a light hearted bunch, as Sied (ph) puts it.
"Despite everything that we go through," he says, "we like to joke and laugh."
But this group takes its job seriously. They're operating in one of the most dangerous areas in Iraq. Dangerous that are very real to 12-year-old Haned (ph) who says that she is scared all the time, a sentiment echoed by her younger sister. Their mother, Helud (ph), says that she is helpless to protect her children. It's these men's jobs to convince the people of Ramadi that they can keep them safe and to be able to keep that promise. The process of training the Iraqi army moves forward, one small step at a time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an operation that's driven by intelligence. The Iraqi army goes through that process with their staff and they plan this thing. And when we go back today, we'll sit down and we'll say, how did the planning go? And we'll say, how did the execution go? And we'll say, what can we do better, you know, next time?
DAMON: The weapons they are looking for today are still out there, but at least they all made it back alive. Slightly better prepared to deal with the next time.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Ramadi, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well in other news, a short ride turns into a long ordeal for dozens of people on a couple of New York tram cars. The last of 69 passengers were rescued about two and a half hours ago. The trams, which travel between Roosevelt Island and Midtown Manhattan, quit running after a power failure last night. An industrial crane was used to bring some passengers back to the ground. Now in about 13 minutes we'll talk with two of those rescued, 12-year- old Dax Maier and his babysitter, plus Dax's parents who watched their son's rescue.
MILES O'BRIEN: At the Zacarias Moussaoui trial, defense attorneys are hammering away at the credibility of a key witness who just happens to be their client. The convicted al Qaeda operatives who claims he was part of the 9/11 plot says he is convinced President Bush will spring him from jail. Is he crazy or simply a misguided zealot? CNN's Kelli Arena with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Crazy or not crazy, that is the question. Those are the words of a teasing Zacarias Moussaoui as he left the courtroom for a break yesterday. Much of the day was spent discussing Moussaoui's mental health. We expect to hear more of that today. We also expect to hear some testimony from relatives of 9/11 victim who do not believe that Moussaoui should be put to death.
The main witness yesterday, Xavier Amador. He's a clinical psychologist for the defense who believes that Moussaoui is a paranoid schizophrenic who suffers from delusions. One of those delusions is that President George Bush will release him from prison before he leaves office.
Now Amador spent about an hour interviewing Moussaoui. He says he's gone over his writings and he's watched him in court. He's also interviewed other people who have observed him. The defense, of course, believes that Moussaoui's mental health should be a major factor in the decision that the jury makes and, obviously, they're trying to decide whether to execute him or to have him spend the rest of his life in prison.
In cross examination, prosecutors pointed out that much of Moussaoui's behavior mirrors that of other al Qaeda terrorists. They also say that he's been very rational and organized in court. There are some government experts who have deemed Moussaoui mentally competent. We expect to hear from those witnesses possibly later on this week in rebuttal.
Kelli Arena, CNN, Alexandria, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN: Happening in America right now, a manhunt under way in Kentucky. Police there are looking for two men, Anthony Wayne Sherill and Joseph McCauley, seen there. They walked away from a jail near Louisville Monday night. They apparently used a food tray to chip away mortar beneath the cell window and then they scampered. Both were serving time for felony theft and are considered dangerous.
Check out this tape. An out of control 18-wheeler dump truck crashing into a row of cars in Tampa. Then it smashed into a store wall. No one killed. Three people have minor injuries, however. No word on what caused the truck to swerve. Amazing people walked away from that one.
Fantastic fire, look at this, in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. A smoke plume from this tanker truck visible all throughout the city. Took about 100 firefighter several hours to get it under control.
It's a disturbing attack on the strip in Las Vegas to tell you about. Graphic pictures. Entire beating on Saturday night caught on surveillance cameras at the MGM Grand Casino. Now one person under arrest. CNN's Ted Rowlands with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Las Vegas police say 18-year-old Daryle Williams was part of this group of teenagers caught on surveillance video in a parking garage near the back of the MGM Grand Hotel. After the group walks past a private security guard and a golf cart, someone takes the guard's radio. Watch as the guard, now out of the cart, starts to make a phone call. The attack starts with the young man in the baseball cap sneaking around the front of the cart. Within seconds, the guard is getting punched and kicked by the group. He tries to run but they chase him down and keep hitting him. This person actually starts whipping him with a chain or a belt.
CAPT. DAVE O'LEARY, LAS VEGAS POLICE: This is truly egregious. This is something that, again, as a community, none of us should tolerate.
ROWLANDS: Las Vegas police are asking for help identifying the suspects. They believe the group had just left a nearby movie theater and the thought is that they are teenagers or young adults. The video is obviously disturbing and police say they want those involved identified.
O'LEARY: Those folks deserve to be identified. Those folks deserve to be brought to justice.
ROWLANDS: Near the end of the attack, one of the suspect, the one in the dark jacket, reaches down and steals the guard's cell phone and then, after one last kick, the group leaves the guard laying in the street. O'LEARY: I think the videotape speaks for itself. I don't think anybody in this community would tolerate that type of behavior anywhere.
ROWLANDS: In the end, the security guard was able to get up and walk away. Police say, besides numerous bruises, he suffered a broken jaw and collarbone.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Las Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN: Wow.
NGUYEN: That is just so disturbing.
MILES O'BRIEN: Very disturbing.
NGUYEN: Oh, I'm surprised he doesn't have even more injuries (INAUDIBLE) from that.
MILES O'BRIEN: Yes.
NGUYEN: Oh, goodness.
All right. Well, let's check with the weather now and see how that's shaping up outside.
Chad Myers, you've got something to tell us about the severe weather outside.
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NGUYEN: Well, Andy is "Minding Your "Business just ahead.
What's coming up?
ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, are auto workers in the U.S. getting elective surgeries to beat a benefits cut deadline?
Plus, how to solve a scandal in Korea? Well, get out your wallet. Stay tuned for that coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
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NGUYEN: A very revealing hour with Jane Fonda on "Larry King" last night. She talking frankly about her life and the influence that have driven her to be who she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANE FONDA, "MY LIFE SO FAR": I grew up feeling that if I wasn't perfect that I wouldn't be loved. And -- which is not good because nobody's perfect. You know, God is perfect. We're meant to strive for completion, not perfection. But I always felt I wasn't good enough. And then my father made me feel that I was fat. And with women, often times the not being good enough attaches itself to our bodies and we begin to hate our bodies and all that. And so what is objectively true isn't as important as what we feel subjectively about ourself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: "Larry King Live" is on every night at 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific.
Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, Betty.
A lot of UAW workers might have been listening to that a little bit. I didn't realize -- you don't think about unionized auto workers getting tummy tucks.
SERWER: Well, yes.
MILES O'BRIEN: It's not exactly that, though, is it, that we're talking about?
SERWER: It's hip replacements and things like that.
MILES O'BRIEN: Right. Yes.
SERWER: Interesting story in "The New York Times" this morning, Miles, we're talking about. This is the law of unintended consequences which seems to be in full effect in the state of Michigan. Why? Because this story in "The Times" is saying that hospitals, doctors and insurance companies are seeing a surge in demand for elective surgeries by auto makers. This because GM and other companies there are suggesting they're going to be cutting back on health care benefits in the near term future.
Listen to this. "The Times" saying at one center here, one hospital, hip, knee and shoulder replacements up 20 percent in the second half of last year and remains strong. Another one saying several hundred more surgical operations of all types since January 1st compared to the same period in 2005. So this is obviously costing the auto companies a lot of money. You didn't want to necessarily do that.
MILES O'BRIEN: It's a short term cost with a long term cut in mind, I guess, but - - and I was being facetious. Obviously they're not getting plastic surgery.
SERWER: Right. That's right.
MILES O'BRIEN: (INAUDIBLE).
SERWER: Now I want to switch over. Another auto story. This time in Korea having to do with the chairman of Hyundai. He is in a world of trouble over there. Chung Mong-Koo being investigated over a slush fund to maybe bribe officials in that nation. So to mitigate the affects of this investigation, he has decided to contribute 1 trillion wan to society. Giving 1 trillion wan to charity. How much is 1 trillion wan, you want to ask.
MILES O'BRIEN: $5.95 (ph).
SERWER: $1.1 billion. So it's . . .
MILES O'BRIEN: That's some real money.
SERWER: So it's real money.
And then in a related story in Korea, listen to this. A Dallas investment fund called Lone Star, also in trouble there, being investigated for tax irregularities and currency irregularities. They too are making a donation to society. This to the tune of $106 million. So maybe that's how things work over there, huh?
MILES O'BRIEN: If they're feel guilty and they want to send me some wan, I'll take it.
SERWER: Yes. It will make them feel good and it will make you feel good.
MILES O'BRIEN: You know, it's a win-win.
SERWER: It sure is.
MILES O'BRIEN: All right, thank you, Andy Serwer.
SERWER: You're welcome.
MILES O'BRIEN: And that was an upbeat thing.
SERWER: You're right. I found that for us.
MILES O'BRIEN: I appreciate that. Thank you for tempering all that oil news for us.
Coming up on the program, the question is, how long should you wait between having children? Now you've heard of Irish twins, right? That's two born within one calendar year, right? And my theory was always five years is a good interval because that means only one college tuition at a time.
SERWER: Gotcha.
MILES O'BRIEN: We're going to give you some advice on how to plan your family.
And what was it like aboard that tram? Dangling 300 feet above the East River.
SERWER: That's crazy. Twelve hours?
MILES O'BRIEN: Twelve hours and there's all kinds of question that come to mind. Who best to ask, a 12-year-old who was aboard who will give us the real story of what it was like. Stay with us.
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MILES O'BRIEN: Well, when Dax Maier gets back to school after his spring break, he's going to have an excellent story on what I did on my vacation. Quite a tale. Dangling over the East River some 300 feet above. The Roosevelt Island tram had a little power failure and he was among dozens of passengers who just sat there and sat there and waited for a daring rescue. Joining me now is some of the group here. Dax Maier, his babysitter, Naida Mattis, and Dax's parents, Robin and Brian Maier who were on the ground, I'm sure, worried sick the whole time.
Good to have you all here.
All right, Dax, take us from the beginning. When did you realize you were kind of in trouble up there?
DAX MAIER, RESCUED FROM TRAM: Well, I was kind of in trouble when, uh, when the tram -- when I was going to tennis the tram like stopped and I was wondering -- this usually doesn't happen.
MILES O'BRIEN: Yes.
DAX MAIER: I'm probably going to be really late for tennis. Maybe it'll take just like a few minutes. But then it took a really long time. And it was like, well, like it was like five minutes and then it went to 20 minutes. And then next thing you know it's 30 minutes. And then it keeps on winding down. The next thing you know, I missed my tennis lesson and it's 6:30 already.
MILES O'BRIEN: So at first you thought, well, the worst thing that's going to happen is I'm going to miss my tennis lesson. But then, as time goes on, you must have gotten a little more worried. And were people in the car getting more worried?
DAX MAIER: Well, my -- I thought that my mom -- my mom sounded really worried. I was kind of scared for her because . . .
MILES O'BRIEN: Scared for your mom?
DAX MAIER: Yes.
MILES O'BRIEN: Well she's on the ground though.
DAX MAIER: No, I'm just really sad that she's upset.
MILES O'BRIEN: Yes.
DAX MAIER: Yes.
MILES O'BRIEN: So what were you saying on the phone, mom? You were talking on the cell phone then back and forth.
ROBIN MAIER, SON RESCUED FROM TRAM: Right.
MILES O'BRIEN: And what was that conversation like? ROBIN MAIER: Well, at first we just thought it was just going to be a delay. And then as time went on and realized that they were stuck and I was worried about our babysitter doesn't like heights. And -- but she had Dax with her and Daxy (ph) just kept calming her down and he's just a great person who knows how to keep people calm in this situation.
MILES O'BRIEN: Naida, you don't like heights?
NAIDA MATTIS, DAX'S BABYSITTER: No.
MILES O'BRIEN: So, first of all, you could have taken the subway and avoided this whole mess entirely. Why did you take the . . .
MATTIS: Brian is the one that convinced me.
BRIAN MAIER, SON RESCUED FROM TRAM: It's my fault.
MATTIS: To get on the tram.
DAX MAIER: We didn't really . . .
MILES O'BRIEN: Huh oh. So you -- Brian. What happened? How did you decide that was a great idea?
BRIAN MAIER: He started tennis this year at Roosevelt Island and everyone takes the tram and that's the quickest, easiest way and I said, come on . . .
MILES O'BRIEN: Most days.
BRIAN MAIER: Most days. And Naida just said I don't like heights and finally Dax convinced her to not be scared and go on the tram and they've been going since September.
MILES O'BRIEN: All right. So when things were getting a little dicey up there, Dax, what did you say to make her feel better?
DAX MAIER: I said, don't worry, Naida. Don't freak out. We're going to get down safe and we're going to get home. No matter how long it takes.
MILES O'BRIEN: Wow. Are you proud -- you've got to be a little proud, mom and dad, here. That's nice to have you reassure. You were never scared.
DAX MAIER: I was a little. When I was climbing out the window.
MILES O'BRIEN: I bet. Now, yes, explain that because the rescue tram came up and there was a little gap there and then all this below you, of course, is the East River. And did you look down?
DAX MAIER: No. But I was just a little scared because, one, what if I miss it, two, what if I slip and I might fall into the river. And so I just kept on looking up and got directions and then next thing you know it I was on the gondola and they brought us down. MILES O'BRIEN: So and then it was OK. This is about 12:30 in the wee hours of the morning. What was it like for you crawling out of the tram onto the rescue tram afraid of heights.
MATTIS: When I heard they were bringing a basket, I said, no, I'm not going.
MILES O'BRIEN: I'm just going to stay here.
MATTIS: I'm not going. And these two ladies said, it's OK. We're here. I hold your hand. And it was scary because I slipped a little. I said, oh my God. But the guys, they were great. They held on to me.
MILES O'BRIEN: You're talking about the rescue people?
MATTIS: Yes.
MILES O'BRIEN: What did they say to you?
MATTIS: Everything's going to be all right. You're going to be safe. Don't worry.
MILES O'BRIEN: And you're in this open air just kind of open steel basket making your way down.
MATTIS: Yes, I know. I was very cold. Freezing.
MILES O'BRIEN: Yes.
MATTIS: So I was like trembling and Dax took a blanket and threw it over and said Naida you're going to be OK.
MILES O'BRIEN: All right. We taking the tram ever again?
MATTIS: Never.
DAX MAIER: Never.
MATTIS: Never.
MILES O'BRIEN: All right, guys, it's quite a story. Congratulations, Dax. Glad you're all safe and sound. Good job, young man. Very good work. Good to meet you all.
ROBIN MAIER: Thanks.
MILES O'BRIEN: What a tale to tell.
Betty.
NGUYEN: Oh my, how cute is Dax and strong little man.
MILES O'BRIEN: Isn't he -- yes, he's a stud. Good job.
NGUYEN: Oh, look at him. Yes, he is. MILES O'BRIEN: And humble too.
NGUYEN: He's going to have lots of calls. Lots of girls watching you now, Dax.
All right, in a moment, top stories, including the sky high gas prices. Is it gouging? We'll talk about that.
Hear what a dorm mate also of two Duke lacrosse players has to say about their arrests.
And then Donald Rumsfeld fires back for -- at those calls for his resignation.
Plus, a new study suggests how far apart women should space their pregnancies.
And more on that scary tram jam over New York's East River. We're live on the ground with a look at what went wrong. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
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