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CNN Saturday Morning News
Libby's Lawyer Hints At A Defense; AWOL Cops In New Orleans Lose Their Jobs; Indian Train Derails; Sheryl Swoopes Admits She Is Gay; Rove Escapes Charges But Investigation Continues; Homeless Pets Foundation Helping Animals Affected By Katrina; Parts Of Florida Still Without Power After Hurricane Wilma; After Harriet Miers' Resignation, A New Pick Soon
Aired October 29, 2005 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now in the news, at least 54 people are dead from a passenger train derailment in India earlier today. Railway officials say the train jumped the tracks while crossing a bridge that had been damaged earlier from flooding. Seven to 15 coaches remain in the water. Local police fear the death toll could rise.
Hurricane Beta is threatening the Nicaragua coast this morning. The 23rd named storm of the year became a -- the 23rd of the year -- became a...
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let that sit for a minute, 23rd.
HARRIS: Wow!
It became a hurricane overnight. It is a Category 1 storm that could become a Category 2 before its expected landfall tomorrow. Hurricane watches and warnings span from Honduras down to Costa Rica.
Don't forget to set your set your clocks back an hour later this evening. Most of the United States resumes Standard Time at 1:59:59 a.m. Sunday. For most of you, that means an extra hour of sleep.
NGUYEN: I can't wait.
HARRIS: Yikes! Daylight savings time will resume on the first Sunday in April of next year.
What's the most popular story on cnn.com this morning? Bone fragments discovered more than four years after the 9/11 attacks are found on a nearby skyscraper from where the World Trade Center once stood. Friday, officials confirmed the bone fragments are human. For more on that story, log on to cnn.com.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
NGUYEN: Somebody's awake.
HARRIS: It is October 29th. And good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen. We want to thank you for being with us today. We do have a lot of ground to cover this hour.
Just ahead, what is next for the Bush White House? One senior official is already out of a job and in deep legal trouble, and the CIA leak probe is not yet over.
Also later, in "Beyond The Game," what happens when a hot sports commodity comes out of the closet? CNN sports business analyst Rick Horrow talks about the risk of losing lucrative endorsements.
And people aren't the only ones left homeless after this year's devastating hurricanes. Oh, poor little puppy. We'll tell you what's being done to help out rescued pets in Paws Cause.
HARRIS: Lewis Scooter Libby is on the outside now. He is no longer in the White House inner circle after being indicted on federal charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in the CIA leak probe.
If convicted, Libby could face up to 30 years in jail. Libby's lawyer is now hinting of a possible defense -- I can't recall, a time honored tradition in Washington scandals.
Libby resigned as Vice President Cheney's chief of staff moments after Friday's indictment.
The White House exhaled after Libby's indictment, relieved that President Bush's trusted political adviser, Karl Rove, wasn't indicted. But it's not over yet.
Live now to our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux -- and, Suzanne, good morning to you.
What a day yesterday was.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.
Absolutely. And, of course, the political stakes extremely high for this White House. We're told President Bush was paying very close attention, watched the first 20 minutes of the special prosecutor's press conference.
And there were two very important things that happened here at the White House, two memos that went out to staff. One of them from the chief of staff saying -- reminding them what their jobs are, to do their jobs for the American people. The second from the White House counsel, telling them to stay away from Scooter Libby, not to talk about any aspect of the investigation because, they say, this is a case that is still ongoing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): The cloud that has been hanging over the Bush administration for nearly two years from the CIA leak investigation finally broke. Scooter Libby was a trusted member of Mr. Bush's most inner circle, but the five count indictment of Vice President Cheney's chief of staff is not the end of the probe. KARL ROVE, SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BUSH: I'm going to have a great Friday and a fantastic weekend. I hope you do, too.
MALVEAUX: Karl Rove, the president's top political adviser, escaped indictment today. But his lawyer says he remains under investigation.
PATRICK FITZGERALD, SPECIAL COUNSEL: I will not end the investigation until I can look anyone in the eye and tell them that we have carried out our responsibility sufficiently.
MALVEAUX: A beleaguered Mr. Bush, departing for his Camp David retreat, tried to soften the blow.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: While we're all saddened by today's news, we remain wholly focused on the many issues and opportunities facing this country. I've got a job to do and so do the people that work in the White House.
MALVEAUX: White House insiders say they are saddened by Libby's departure, but are relieved that Rove seemed to have been spared.
Cheney, who stuck to his schedule of fundraising and rallying Georgia troops, said in a written statement he accepted his top lieutenant's resignation will deep regret: "Scooter Libby is one of the most capable and talented individuals I have ever known. He has given many years of his life to public service and has served our nation tirelessly and with great distinction."
In a statement of his own, Libby said, "I am confident that at the end of this process, I will be completely and totally exonerated."
BUSH: I look forward to working with Congress on policies to keep this economy moving.
MALVEAUX: For President Bush, the strategy is to pivot towards his political agenda.
AMY WALTER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: The question now is can this White House get that famous first term focus back? That is the real challenge.
KEN DUBERSTEIN, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Certainly, he needs some fresh blood. He needs to focus on big, bold things.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: One of those big bold things that, of course, the president is talking about is that is that he's going to be picking his Supreme Court nominee. We are told that that announcement should come within days -- Tony.
HARRIS: Suzanne, you watched this whole thing unfold yesterday. You've been watching this thing for months, a couple of years now.
MALVEAUX: Years.
HARRIS: Yes, yes, a couple of years.
MALVEAUX: Years.
HARRIS: Hey, now that the indictment is out there, what question do you still have and who do you want to ask it of?
MALVEAUX: That's a tough question. I think the real question is, is this all over? And we really still don't know the answer to that because, as mentioned, Karl Rove, he escaped indictment. It is not over, this investigation. There still may be charges that come up. So we don't know what the fate of Karl Rove is.
We do know that his circle of friends and his legal team, as well, are somewhat confident that after two years if there are not charges they believe he's in the clear.
But this is an open investigation, so it's not yet buttoned up.
HARRIS: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us.
Suzanne, thank you.
And this woman, Valerie Plame, is the outed CIA agent. Her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, tells CBS' "60 Minutes" there have been threats against his wife in the wake of this whole ordeal.
NGUYEN: And this all brings us to our E-Mail Question this morning.
Is Lewis Scooter Libby being made the fall guy in the CIA leak investigation? E-mail us your thoughts at weekends@cnn.com. We'll be reading those responses throughout the program.
And cnn.com has launched a special report detailing the CIA leak investigation. For a time line of the investigation, a look at the key players, a profile of Scooter Libby and the full text of the indictment, all you have to do is log on to cnn.com/cialeak.
HARRIS: Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks is making history again. On Sunday, her remains will lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda, making her the first woman ever allowed to do so. She will lie in honor for public viewing tomorrow from 6:00 p.m. Eastern until midnight, and on Monday from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m.
Parks died Monday in Detroit at age 92. She pioneered the civil rights movement back in 1955, December of that year, when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama.
NGUYEN: Turning now to the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Forty-five New Orleans police officers accused of being AWOL during the crisis have lost their jobs. Six civilian employees of the department were also fired.
Chief Warren Riley, the acting police superintendent, explained why the pink slips were handed out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF WARREN RILEY, NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPARTMENT: It was obvious that during the crisis, during the time when we needed police officers the most, when our citizens counted on us and when we counted on our fellow officers to be there, during the most challenging time in the history of New Orleans, in modern times, anyway, those officers were not there.
And not only were they not there, they have not returned since that time.
So it would be very difficult for them to function in our current operation. We needed to be able to count on them and they weren't there, so they were terminated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Now, many police officers were simply unable to report for duty after Katrina. Two hundred twenty-eight of them remain under investigation, with hearings set to begin November 8th. Fifteen police officers accused of abandoning their posts have already resigned and 45 others have left the force for personal reasons.
In other headlines "Across America" this morning, the mother of teenage murder suspect Scott Dyleski has been released from jail in Contra Costa County, California. She had been charged as an accessory to murder in the death of Pamela Vitale, the wife of defense attorney Daniel Horowitz. The charge was dropped when Esther Fielding agreed to testify truthfully at her son's trial.
In Houston now, federal authorities announced the arrest of a health care provider for allegedly providing bogus flu shots. Take a listen to this. Officials say preliminary tests show the syringes contained purified water, not flu vaccine. About 1,000 employees at Exxon Mobil may have received the phony shots. Now, no illnesses have been reported as a result.
And in Connecticut, state officials have a lump of coal this holiday for an imported beer.
HARRIS: What?
NGUYEN: That's right. Oh goodness, look at that. Images that might appeal to children, especially pictures of Santa Claus, are strictly forbidden on alcoholic products. But the importer says Connecticut is just being a Grinch. The company notes that the holiday themed beer has been sold in 30 states for several years without any complaints.
But why do we need to see the back side of Santa like that? What was that all about?
HARRIS: That's wrong. Betty, it's just wrong.
NGUYEN: What does that have to do with beer, anyways?
HARRIS: It's some kind of violation of something, OK? Good taste, maybe.
NGUYEN: Right.
HARRIS: An MVP basketball player made history this -- did you hear this story? So what happens to Sheryl Swoopes' endorsements after her public coming out? CNN sports analyst Rick Horrow has the answer.
NGUYEN: And they call it an underground railroad, giving thousands of homeless pets a second chance in life. Find out how to get aboard. That's ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
BRAD HUFFINES, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And Beta continues to spin in the Caribbean Sea. But is Gamma a possibility? We'll talk about that in a couple of minutes.
But first, good morning, Daytona Beach. A gorgeous day today as far as temperatures go, but watch out for the breezy north winds.
A look at your nation's weather, a look at Beta and your fairway forecast all in just about five minutes, as CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Harriet Miers is out as a nominee for Supreme Court justice. So what does the president need to do to prevent another misstep in the selection process? Some answers from a constitutional law expert. That is live next hour on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NINA ZAGAT: According to our guide of America's top restaurants, the top restaurants in Denver are Mizuna, Highland's Garden Cafe and Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House.
Our surveyors have rated Mizuna number one for food in Colorado and have called its New American cuisine best in breed, class and show.
Highland's Garden Cafe chef/owner Patricia Perry offers a huge New American menu of creative, challenging, flavor combinations. Not to be missed is a meal on the patio, where you can enjoy the charming courtyard gardens.
People consider Del Frisco's well worth the coronary risk to chow down on the succulent slabs of steer. It's all about the beef.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And checking your top stories, just in case your joining us. At this hour, a passenger train derailed in southern India this morning, killing more than 50 people. The death toll is expected to rise further. The train derailed while trying to cross tracks washed away by a flood. Rescuers still haven't reached many passengers trapped in submerged coaches.
Restoring power in Florida. Four days after hurricane Wilma hit, utility officials say about 43 percent of customers who lost power have it back.
In Washington, the fate of Karl Rove. President Bush's top political strategist has not been indicted, but he remains under investigation by the grand jury looking into the leak of a CIA operative's identity.
And don't forget our E-Mail Question this morning. Is Lewis Scooter Libby being made the fall guy in the CIA leak investigation? Send us your thoughts at weekends@cnn.com and we'll be reading your responses throughout the morning program.
NGUYEN: All right, so we're going to talk a little bit about whether now, what, hurricane season -- Brad Huffines joins us -- isn't over until November 30th?
HARRIS: Yes, November, well...
HUFFINES: Right.
HARRIS: But what does that really mean?
NGUYEN: Well, are you -- Beta?
HUFFINES: Well, I mean we've had hurricanes, or at least tropical systems, into December, as well.
NGUYEN: Oh, OK. No, no, no, no, no. Let's not even mention that.
HUFFINES: But this has been an amazing hurricane season so far.
NGUYEN: Yes, to say the least.
HUFFINES: And, yes, Beta now, Beta is not going to affect the United States, but, of course, it's going to have some heavy affects on third world countries ...
HARRIS: That's right.
NGUYEN: Right.
HUFFINES: ... and third world citizens. Look at where the storm is right now, just offshore from Nicaragua. This storm continues to move to the west very slowly. It's just creeping toward the west right now. And as the storm continues to move west, we are still seeing wind gusts now up to 80 miles an hour now. And hurricane Beta is continuing to be a record breaking 23rd, as we mentioned, named storm this year. Look at the center of Beta presently. No real eye of this storm yet, but the storm continues to move toward the west, right toward the coastline of Nicaragua. And it should make landfall, according to the latest National Hurricane Center forecast, some time early, early tomorrow morning.
Then the storm continues to move on into portions of northern Nicaragua, into southern Honduras. Remember hurricane Mitch in Honduras several years ago? Well, this is another one that's going to cause a lot of heavy rains in a lot of the mountains of Central America, and that usually causes lots of flooding and mud slide problems.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Sheryl Swoopes turned heads this week with a very personal announcement. We'll tell you what she said and how it could affect her future on and off the basketball court.
NGUYEN: We'll also ask someone with some inside knowledge. There he is. What does it say? "Help! No Electricity." Oh, that's right, poor Rick is dealing with Wilma and the aftermath.
OK, Rick, but you know what? we'll talk about that a little bit later. We need you to take us "Beyond The Game."
HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes.
NGUYEN: That's next, right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHERYL SWOOPES, HOUSTON COMETS FORWARD: I just feel like I've been living a lie for those -- for at least seven years and have not been able to be who I am.
NGUYEN (voice-over): WNBA league MVP Sheryl Swoopes becomes the first superstar professional athlete to publicly admit she's gay, while still playing.
What happens now to her endorsements? What happens if stars in football, baseball and men's basketball did the same? Intriguing questions this morning, as we take you "Beyond The Game."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right, so here we go. Swoopes was the first WNBA player to get her own Nike shoe. She's also a three time Olympic gold medal winner and a WNBA three time most valuable player.
But will any of that make a difference with the fans now that she's come out of the closet?
So, let's bring in CNN sports business analyst Rick Horrow, from West Palm Beach, Florida, who is out of electricity as we speak, at his home.
We'll talk about that a little bit later.
But before we get started, let's hear what Swoopes told CNN's Kyra Phillips about why she didn't come out earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SWOOPES: Obviously, I think that's a huge concern for a lot of people who are in my shoes and who are battling with whether they want to do it or not. And that was in the back of my mind. You know, if I would have wanted to do this four or five years ago, I probably wouldn't have, for the simple fact of, you know, I don't know if I'd lose my endorsement deal with Nike. What is the WNBA going to think? What are they going to day?
And, you know, even more than that, you know, what are the fans going to say? And those were huge concerns of mine.
But I have to say after doing this yesterday and, you know, all the media yesterday and today and speaking with my sponsors, everybody has been very supportive. And it's just made it a lot easier for me and it just makes me that much happier that I decided to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: All right, Rick, but the questions are still out there. How does this affect the marketing of the WNBA and women's sports in general?
RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: Well, good morning.
And, you know, Sheryl Swoopes is either captive or pleased by the Martina Navratilova effect. They both have legend endorsement deals by the gay-oriented Olivia Cruise Lines, another Martina said it lost millions of dollars in endorsements for her, which was an issue.
But the gay and lesbian community, by the way, according to Scarborough Research, has $450 billion of buying power and 27 percent of those households make over $100,000. That's fertile itself.
But the mainstream endorsements are the key -- LPGA, WTA, women's sports in general.
By the way, Sheryl Swoopes was the poster child for the WNBA when she started in 1997. It might be an interesting question, because she was pregnant and married at the time. What would have happened if she had come out then? That's interesting speculation.
NGUYEN: Yes, very interesting.
OK, well, let's shift a little bit.
What if someone like a Brett Favre, Michael Jordan, Barry Bonds, had made such an announcement? HORROW: Well, the stakes are a lot higher -- $7 billion of endorsement business in sports sponsorships, and a lot of that, obviously, is male. And David Stern, the NBA commissioner, said it only depends on how you perform on the court. Others are not so sure.
There's a Web site called Outsports.com which chronicles the athletes that have come out. And, frankly, there's only a couple who have, even after their careers -- Dave Kopay in the NFL, for example -- its umpires, administrators and others on that site, but no active for sport player.
Consider Randall Gay, a wide -- a lineman for the New England Patriots, on the Super Bowl championship team last year. His college professor wanted a jersey from the NFL shop that had "gay" on it. And you know what? The 1,100 dirty words that NFL shop couldn't print? They couldn't print that jersey because "gay" is on it.
It's a very interesting issue today.
NGUYEN: Yes, it is.
HORROW: And no one really was talking about it, obviously, before Sheryl Swoopes.
NGUYEN: Well, let's talk about another effect that could happen through all of this.
What about the player/coach relationship in pro sports? Is this going to have any kind of effect on that?
HORROW: Well, of course, spotlight on Sheryl because the relationship was with an assistant coach. And there are unions that govern issues such as discrimination. So if there was an act taken to penalize a player or a coach because of a relationship and her performance was otherwise not affected, the unions would protect.
High school, college sports, not so sure. That's the difference.
NGUYEN: Hey, you feeling all right this morning? I hear you clearing your throat quite a bit of there. Are you OK? Did you survive Wilma all right?
HORROW: What is this, a medical report?
HARRIS: No...
NGUYEN: I'm...
HORROW: No, I don't feel real good.
NGUYEN: I just care about you.
HORROW: I feel terrible -- hey...
NGUYEN: That's all.
HORROW: Yes, you -- no, you care about me...
NGUYEN: Unlike Tony.
HORROW: Tony doesn't care about me.
NGUYEN: Oh, I know.
HORROW: The bottom line is ask Tony to send me a couple of candles, OK, for the bet that he had on the golf game before?
NGUYEN: OK. We're going to take up a collection and get you a generator. How about that? That might help out a little bit. Is that all right?
HORROW: I've got a generator, but we didn't hook the TVs up to it, so I can't watch any of the games tonight. But that's OK.
NGUYEN: Oh. You need to work on that.
All right, we'll talk soon, Rick.
HORROW: OK.
NGUYEN: Take care -- Tony.
HARRIS: Thank you.
All right, from NBA to baseball, legendary baseball manager Bobby Cox is starting a new cause, a Paws Cause, to be exact. Find out how he's giving some four legged friends a new home.
And up next, more on the CIA leak investigation. Is Karl Rove off the hook or are his troubles only beginning? Find out what the insiders have to say.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: With Scooter Libby's indictment, is the worst now over for Karl Rove or is this just the beginning of his problems?
I don't think we can answer that yet.
NGUYEN: Not just yet, we can't.
HARRIS: It's a good question. Welcome back, everyone.
NGUYEN: Among many.
HARRIS: Yes, yes -- to the CNN Center in Atlanta. Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen. We'll have that story in just a minute. But first, here's a look at the headlines today. The bodies of more than 50 people have been recovered following a train derailment in southern India. That train jumped the tracks while crossing a bridge that had been damaged by floodwaters. The area was hit by a slow moving tropical depression on Friday.
Back here in the U.S. Rosa Parks will lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda Sunday and Monday, the first woman to do so. The civil rights pioneer died last Monday at the age of 92. She'll lie in honor from 6:00 p.m. Eastern until midnight Sunday, and from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. Monday.
Want to check out the world's largest passenger jet prototype to make a test landing? Look at that thing. It's huge.
HARRIS: It really is.
NGUYEN: With the simulated weight of a full passenger load, the Airbus A380 landed roughly four hours ago in Frankfurt, Germany, where plenty of people came to see the massive -- and we mean massive -- plane. Airbus hopes to have the super jumbo jet in commercial operation by late 2006.
HARRIS: Former White House insider Lewis Scooter Libby wakes up this morning as an indicted man in the CIA leak investigation. Our cameras caught him as he arrived home last night in McLean, Virginia, just outside of Washington.
Meanwhile, another target of the probe, Karl Rove, escaped charges. But the song is not over yet.
More from our chief national correspondent, John King
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The day's first clue came in Karl Rove's driveway.
KARL ROVE, SENIOR BUSH ADVISER: I'm going to have a great Friday and a fantastic weekend. I hope you do, too.
KING: The Bush White House is in turmoil, but the president's right-hand man is still on the job, though not out of legal jeopardy.
FITZGERALD: We either charge someone or we don't talk about them.
KING: The prosecutor won't name names, but Rove remains under investigation. His attorney voicing confidence when the special counsel finishes his work, he will conclude that Mr. Rove has done nothing wrong.
At issue is Rove's initial failure to disclose to leak investigators a conversation with reporter Matthew Cooper about CIA operative Valerie Plame. Rove contends it was an inadvertent oversight and that he brought it to the prosecutor's attention as soon as he found an e-mail reminding him. Rove friend and former top White House aide Nick Calio says those who don't accept Rove's explanation don't understand the pressure of 18-hour-a-day White House jobs.
NICHOLAS CALIO, FORMER BUSH LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS DIRECTOR: There are a lot of things that I don't remember. I go through notes sometimes now and say I don't even remember being in the meeting, let alone, you know, having said what I said.
KING: Rove has, from the beginning, insisted he broke no laws.
ROVE: I didn't know her name and didn't leak her name.
KING: What is no longer in dispute, though, is that Rove took part in a hardball White House political campaign to discredit Plame's husband, Ambassador Joe Wilson, when Wilson accused the White House of hyping the case for war in Iraq.
CALIO: I think, you know, hardball comes with politics. But hardball doesn't mean being not fair and it doesn't mean doing anything illegal.
KING: Some Democrats are more than skeptical and note the investigation isn't over.
REP. TIM RYAN (D), OHIO: It's going to be interesting, over the course of the next few weeks and the next few months, to find out exactly what Karl Rove did know.
KING: But for now Rove is on the job, and deeply involved in everything, including the urgent new search for a Supreme Court nominee.
HELGI WALKER, FORMER ASSOCIATE WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: Well, Karl, as everybody knows, is an excellent adviser to the president, and has interests in a docket that is extremely broad.
KING: That portfolio, in the past few weeks, has included managing his own campaign to avoid indictment and quietly orchestrating a strategy to get his version of events out of the grand jury room and into the public domain.
(on camera): Associates describe Friday as just another normal day for Rove -- meetings on that Supreme Court vacancy and spending cuts, among other things. But while one close source said things are "looking good for Rove," another good friend and adviser says he has urged Rove to be extremely cautious, noting that until the prosecutor says "case closed," the man the president calls the architect will be under an unpredictable cloud.
John King, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: So now the big question is what is next in the CIA leak investigation? We want to go straight to Washington.
Jennifer Palmieri was deputy press secretary in the Clinton White House and John Feehery served as press secretary for now speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert.
We want to thank you both for being here today.
Jennifer, let me start with you.
You served in the Clinton administration during the impeachment trial...
JENNIFER PALMIERI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: Yes.
NGUYEN: A time of great turmoil. What does Libby's indictment and resignation mean for this White House?
PALMIERI: Well, I think, first of all, it means that there's a lot of lying that the White House has to answer for. The, you know, for two years, the White House press secretary has said that no one in the White House had any involvement in the leak. Particularly, he named Karl Rove and Scooter Libby as people who were not involved. And regardless of what Mr. Fitzgerald finds, we know that that's not true. We know that they were both involved in this.
And even if Karl can't remember that, if he leaked the CIA agent's name, doesn't make it OK. And I think that -- so Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, is going to have a pretty rough time on Monday, because he's going to have to answer for those lies. And then it's going to turn to, I think it's going to turn to from whether or not these two lied to why did they do it? Why were -- what are they trying to cover-up?
NGUYEN: John, there are a lot of questions, as we all know. For the Bush administration, this has got to be a difficult challenge.
JOHN FEEHERY, FORMER HASTERT PRESS SECRETARY: Well, it's been a difficult week for the Bush administration. You know, as a former press secretary, I can say that this is a cautionary tale for all policy people who like to talk to the press. This is, it's really an unfortunate circumstance. I think anyone who knows Scooter Libby knows that he's a first class individual. And this really is a political scandal as opposed to a personal scandal.
I mean Scooter Libby is a wonderful human being...
NGUYEN: So is he a scapegoat? Is that what you're leading to?
FEEHERY: No, I don't think he's a scapegoat. I think he made some mistakes. But, you know, I don't know all the details of this case. But all I know is from everyone who knows Scooter Libby, they know that he's just a top notch individual.
This is a -- it's a tragedy, really, and it kind of goes to the whole point of when you talk to the press, you need to be very careful about what you say. And you need to, when you're talking to a grand jury, you also need to be very careful about what you say. It seems that this is -- it's important to get this resolved, because the Bush White House needs to move on. They need to get back on an agenda that people care about back outside the beltway.
NGUYEN: But before the White House moves on, Jennifer, there are some questions, though, about whether Libby should have resigned or should he have been fired instead?
PALMIERI: Well, I think that if he hadn't resigned, he should have been fired and I'm sure that that would have, I think that that -- I'm sure that that would have happened.
I do find it surprising that, you know, say what you will about the Clinton White House, I think that by the time we got to the second term, we were pretty good about handling investigations, and if there was a problem, addressing it in a more forthright way. And I think that if -- I'm surprised that Karl Rove is still at the White House. I mean it's clear that he lied to the president, he lied to the White House press secretary, he lied to the American people and we don't need a prosecutor to tell us that.
So I think that Bush would need to make significant staffing changes in order to restore his credibility. I mean John is right. He needs to take -- the White House needs to take some sort of action to own up to the fact that -- to say, yes, this person lied. It was a mistake. And get new people, new people in there, fresh blood, as even, you know, Republicans are saying to do. And ultimately I think the president himself is going to have to answer for what happened at the White House. And it's not going to go away until they do that.
The press is, you know, the press -- nobody likes being lied to and particularly the White House press corps. And they're not going to let these guys off the hook until they own up to those lies.
NGUYEN: All right, John, I'm going to let you have the last word here. And I want you to tackle some of the things that Jennifer said, one, about Karl Rove.
Is he in the clear? Should he be in the clear? And should President Bush clean house after all of this?
FEEHERY: Well, you know, I think what the president needs to do is he needs to get on an agenda that people in America care about -- getting at the gas prices, talking about the economy, talking about, you know, how we're going to win this war in Iraq and get out of Iraq with a stable government in Iraq.
As far as whether Karl Rove lied or not, I don't -- you know, I don't know the answer to that question. And I don't think anyone really knows, unless they're involved in that grand jury. He says he didn't. I believe him. I think the fact of the matter is that the American people care about their own lunch bucket issues and they want to get on to that.
This is an inside Washington parlor game and we need to get on to the bigger issues that impact Americans every day.
And, once again, this is a cautionary tale about talking to the press. And when you're in a grand jury, you need to make sure you have all your facts straight before you talk to a grand jury.
NGUYEN: Yes, I think the bottom line, too, though, the American public does not like to be lied to, if, indeed, that is what happened.
Both of you, Jennifer Palmieri and John Feehery, we appreciate your insight this morning.
Thank you.
PALMIERI: Thank you.
NGUYEN: Tony.
HARRIS: We want to show you some live pictures in just a moment here from WSVN, our affiliate station in Miami. Now, were these trucks lining up for fuel or are they just lining up for -- yes, they're lining up for fuel. These are power trucks, Betty, from...
NGUYEN: Really?
HARRIS: ... lining up to get ready to do the difficult work, time consuming work of restoring power throughout South Florida.
This is in south Miami-Dade County, Florida.
Now, you'll recall that at the -- in the early days right after Wilma moved through South Florida, Florida Power & Light said as many as 3.5 million -- I'm sorry, six million residents...
NGUYEN: My.
HARRIS: Six million people without power across South Florida. Right now that's down to 3.5 million still without power. And Florida FPL says that full power may not be restored to everyone until Thanksgiving week, so.
NGUYEN: Oh my goodness.
Well, you can tell by the lines. I mean the trucks can't even get out to start repairing some of the damage out there ...
HARRIS: Yes. So a lot of work still ahead.
Before we move on, we want to know what you think about the CIA leak indictment. Our E-Mail Question this morning, is Lewis Scooter Libby being made the fall guy in this investigation? We're at weekends@cnn.com. And we'll be reading your e-mails a little later.
And up next, batter up for a good cause. Find out how a baseball legend and a local veterinarian are saving thousands of homeless animals.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: After hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, it was not just people who needed help. Hundreds of pets were abandoned or stranded in the flooded city. Luckily, the tragic scenario was avoided when Wilma hit Florida. Those evacuating to shelters were allowed to take their pets with them.
Some of the rescued Katrina animals still need new homes. One place helping is the Homeless Pets Foundation here in Atlanta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. MICHAEL GOOD, HOMELESS PETS FOUNDATION: Here. These are the last of the Katrina dogs.
HARRIS (voice-over): Hansel and Gretel were rescued from flooded New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina. They were brought here, to the Town & Country Veterinary Clinic in Atlanta, along with 30 other abandoned pets. All of them had now found new homes, all except these two pit bulls.
But they probably have a good chance of being adopted here, as the clinic is the base for the Homeless Pets Foundation that Dr. Michael Good started seven years ago to help rescue stray animals from shelters.
GOOD: This is Kane (ph). He needs a home. Something was wrong with him. He just slung this puppy against the wall and broke his leg. And we just took the pin out. He's a great dog.
HARRIS: Three to four million pets are put to sleep in U.S. shelters every year. Many of them have simply wondered too far from home.
GOOD: I would go to a shelter and volunteer my time and what I found I was doing, for the most part, is playing god. I would have to walk by cage by cage by cage and say you live, you die; you live, you die. And that's a very hard thing to do.
HARRIS: One way to ensure a lost pet is returned to the owner is through the nationwide I.D. tags program, started by Dr. Good. Now, there are close to a quarter million tags like these across the country. They come with a free tracking service that matches the owner's contact information with a number on the pet's tag.
GOOD: There's a unique I.D. number on the back. Fill this out, mail that into the foundation and if anybody finds your dog if it's lost, they'll call you on your emergency numbers. It's like a microchip on the outside.
HARRIS: To raise awareness and funds, Homeless Pets Foundation teamed up with the Atlanta Braves and their star manager, Bobby Cox. The new nationwide program, Bobby Cox Paws Cause, will work with major league baseball encouraging people to adopt pets from animal shelters and create what they call an underground railroad to provide spayed and neutered homeless pets from the southeast to shelters with waiting lists for people trying to adopt.
BLAINE BOYER, ATLANTA BRAVES: Come on, Herb. Good dog.
HARRIS: For now, the Braves and other volunteers come to the clinic to donate their time preparing animals for their new homes.
BOYER: Anything I can do to help out, it's just no trouble at all. Just by looking at these guys, you know, you feel like you're making a difference.
DOUG PERIN, VOLUNTEER: It's great fun just taking them and watching them get excited and jump in your car. You know, it's like the greatest day of their life going out and going on a walk.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: To find out how to adopt a pet or make a donation, go online to homelesspets.com.
And tune in to CNN SATURDAY MORNING at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, when Dr. Michael Good and the Atlanta Braves manager, Bobby Cox, join us live to talk about the program. That's today, this morning, 10:00 a.m. Eastern.
NGUYEN: I'm looking forward to that.
Well, if you are just tuning in, here are the top stories this morning.
Two sources close to the CIA leak probe tell CNN that the anonymous "Official A" mentioned in yesterday's indictment against Lewis Libby is senior Bush adviser Karl Rove. Rove has not been indicted in the case.
In the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, 51 employees with the New Orleans Police Department have been given their pink slips. Among them are 45 officers. They are accused of failing to report for duty during the crisis.
And in the Caribbean, the radar tells a story. Just look at it. The season's 23rd named storm is still hovering off of Central America and growing stronger. Beta is its name. It became a Category 1 hurricane overnight and is expected to be a Category 2 when it makes landfall, probably tomorrow.
Plus, who let this dog out? It is no surprise that this pooch has made it into the "Guinness Book of Records."
We'll have more on our "Wows of the Week."
That's a little bit later this hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NGUYEN: So, weeks after hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the area, the City of New Orleans is faced with a daunting task of rebuilding.
And cnn.com is asking you how would you proceed if you were to take part in the decision-making process?
Veronica De La Cruz joins us now with some of those responses -- I imagine you have heard it all.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. It is a touchy subject, I'll have that much to say. And we have been asking a question every week. And here's the question that we asked you this week. Development and storms have eroded much of the coastal wetlands that provide speed bumps for approaching storms. So with that in mind, should steps be taken to build them back?
And here are a few of those responses.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DE LA CRUZ: Sarah Acosta from Louisiana says that: "The U.S. ignored our coastal problems for years. The salt water intrusion is destroying plant life and erosion is eating away the land."
Mark in New York thanks: "Restoration should be up to the people who live close to the wetlands and who are truly affected by their destruction."
And Barrie from St. Augustine, Florida says: "Stop developing in wetland areas and let Mother Nature repair herself."
Next, we'd like to know, as New Orleans works to rebuild the city, what lessons should other hurricane prone areas take from disasters like Katrina, Rita and Wilma?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DE LA CRUZ: And, again, if you'd like to participate, that question is what lessons should other hurricane prone areas take from Katrina, Rita and Wilma?
And, of course, you can send us your thoughts at cnn.com/katrina.
And like you were saying, just a myriad of different responses.
NGUYEN: I imagine it's going to keep you busy for quite some time.
All right, well, keep those responses coming in.
HARRIS: We will.
NGUYEN: Thank you, Veronica.
HARRIS: More than 2,000 Americans have been killed in the war in Iraq. Many of their faces we'll never see. However, Project Compassion is working to make sure the images of those killed are never forgotten.
Take a look at this. Paintings of the fallen soldiers are donated to their families, portraits done by volunteer artists who want to give something back.
You'll meet one of the Project Compassion artists tomorrow on a very special soldier's story, live, 9:00 a.m. Eastern on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
NGUYEN: Those are great paintings. I was just looking at those.
And up next, we are reading your e-mails this morning. A lot of interesting responses coming in so far.
Here is the question one more time. Is Lewis Scooter Libby being made the fall guy in the CIA leak investigation?
E-mail us your thoughts, weekends@cnn.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Get ready for a great big "Wow of the Week."
Look at this! Oooh! This is not just any Great Dane. He is the greatest. His name? Gibson.
NGUYEN: Oh my goodness.
HARRIS: Standing over seven feet tall. Look at that.
NGUYEN: I'm scared of that dog. That dog is way too big.
HARRIS: Man.
Well, you know, Gibson could be ready for the NBA, the truth of the matter.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HARRIS: He made the "Guinness Book of Records" a few years ago, so record keepers came back to recheck the big pup.
NGUYEN: Yes, that dog had better get out of the way. Watch out.
HARRIS: Yes, really. Gibson keeps his title. The accolades haven't gone to his head. Everything else has. He's keeping his day job as a therapy dog at hospitals and nursing homes in northern California. Gibson.
NGUYEN: He's about as big as a Shetland pony, that dog.
HARRIS: Yes.
NGUYEN: Even bigger. Some seven feet. HARRIS: Seven feet, yes.
NGUYEN: When he's up on two legs.
HARRIS: About 15 hands.
NGUYEN: That's bigger than you, Tony.
HARRIS: Yes, by a lot.
NGUYEN: And barely bigger than me. Hey, Brad, how's the weather outside?
HUFFINES: Well, as we say in the South, Great Dane in the morning.
HARRIS: Great day in the morning.
NGUYEN: Oh, I knew it was coming.
HUFFINES: Something like that. I had to have something.
NGUYEN: Yes.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: We want to get to your e-mail responses to our E-Mail Question this morning.
Is Lewis Scooter Libby being made the fall guy in the CIA leak investigation?
Guadalupe writes: "I don't think Mr. Libby is the fall guy in this case. He seems to have broken the law and he has to face the consequences."
NGUYEN: Burt says: "Oh, no, no, no. Of course Scooter is a fall guy. It is the physiology of scandals that the lowest hanging fruit be picked first."
HARRIS: And this from Herk-ules: "Yes, Libby is a fall guy. Why is his boss being overlooked? Libby is a payroll person that is expected to follow orders."
OK, the first three of the morning to make it to air.
Here's the question again. Do you think Lewis Scooter Libby is being made the fall guy in the CIA leak investigation?
There's our address, weekends@cnn.com. Send along those e-mails. We'll read more of them in the next hour.
NGUYEN: And speaking of that next hour, it begins right now.
HARRIS: Vice President Dick Cheney is looking for a new chief of staff after Lewis Libby resigns following an indictment in the CIA leak case.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING, October 29, 8:00 a.m. here at CNN headquarters in Atlanta, 7:00 a.m. in the Mississippi Valley.
And good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen. We want to thank you for being with us.
Now in the news, at least 54 people have been killed in a train accident in India. The passenger train went off the rails when it tried to cross tracks washed away by a flood. Seven of the 15 train cars remain in the water. And news agencies report 100 injured people have been pulled out of the wreckage.
There's been a post-Katrina shakeup at the New Orleans Police Department. Forty-five officers and six civilians have been fired for allegedly abandoning their posts in the immediate aftermath of the storm. Letters of abandonment were sent to the 51 employees. Another 15 officers who were under investigation have resigned.
The owner of a healthcare company is arrested in a fake flu shot scam. Listen to this. The man is accused of giving fake flu shots to up to 1,000 ExxonMobil workers in Baytown, Texas. An additional 14 elderly people also received the injections. Now, a nurse discovered the fake vaccines, and tests indicate the syringes were filled with purified water.
The body of civil rights icon Rosa Parks will lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda tomorrow and Monday. It is the first time the honor has been extended to a woman. President Bush is scheduled to view the body at the Capitol. Parks, as you recall, died on Monday in Detroit. She was 92.
And a new superjumbo Airbus, A-380, as it's called -- look at that massive thing -- has made its first landing at a major airport. The world's biggest passenger jet landed at Frankfurt Airport in Germany. It is part of a series of tests the airliner must undergo before it enters commercial operation. Now, listen to this, Tony. The airliner can carry from 555 to 840 passengers.
HARRIS: We begin this hour with the latest fallout from the indictment of Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Twenty-four hours ago, the top White House aide sat at one of the highest levels of power. Today he is jobless and faces the prospect of a long time in prison.
And that's not the least of it. There could be more trouble coming for the Bush administration. Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald says the investigation is not over. Another grand jury could continue to probe into who leaked a covert CIA agent's name.
Libby will not be arrested. The next step will be a court appearance before a U.S. district court judge. Fitzgerald has refused to discuss any possible plea deal. If convicted on all counts, Libby, who's been the vice president's longtime right hand, could be sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in prison. He could also be fined up to $1.25 million.
The White House, predictably, has shifted into damage control mode. The administration wants to change the subject and shift focus to its agenda.
Let's go to the White House and get the latest from Suzanne Malveaux. And Suzanne, I, we're talking a lot about Libby. What about Karl Rove?
MALVEAUX: Well, Tony, you bring up a very good question, because Karl Rove is not yet in the clear. He has not been indicted, but he is -- he was mentioned in the indictment yesterday, not by name, but only as Official A, as someone who actually gave Scooter Libby a heads-up saying that Robert Novak is in fact going to write an article about CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Now, what the prosecutor makes of this fact is still unclear. But what it does suggest is that Karl Rove may be in legal jeopardy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): The cloud that has been hanging over the Bush administration for nearly two years from the CIA leak investigation finally broke. Scooter Libby was a trusted member of Mr. Bush's most inner circle. But the five-count indictment of Vice President Cheney's chief of staff is not the end of the probe.
KARL ROVE, BUSH ADVISER: I'm going to have a great Friday and a (INAUDIBLE) fantastic weekend. Hope you do too.
MALVEAUX: Karl Rove, the president's top political adviser, escaped indictment today, but his lawyer says he remains in the investigation.
FITZGERALD: I Will not end the investigation until I can look anyone in the eye and tell them that we have carried out our responsibility sufficiently.
MALVEAUX: A beleaguered Mr. Bush, departing for his Camp David retreat, tried to soften the blow.
BUSH: While we're all saddened by today's news, we remain wholly focused on the many issues and opportunities facing this country. I got a job to do, and so do the people who work in the White House.
MALVEAUX: White House insiders say they are saddened by Libby's departure, but are relieved that Rove seemed to have been spared.
Cheney, who stuck to his schedule of fundraising and rallying Georgia troops, said in a written statement he accepted his top lieutenant's resignation with deep regret. "Scooter Libby is one of the most capable and talented individuals I have ever known. He has given many years of his life to public service and has served our nation tirelessly and with great distinction."
In a statement of his own, Libby said, "I am confident that at the end of this process, I will be completely and totally exonerated."
BUSH: I look forward to working with Congress on policies to keep this economy moving.
MALVEAUX: For President Bush, the strategy is to pivot towards his political agenda.
AMY WALTER, "COOK POLITICAL REPORT": The question now is, can this White House get that famous first-term focus back? That is the real challenge.
DUBERSTEIN: Certainly, he needs some fresh blood. He needs to focus on big, bold things.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: We're told that one of those big, bold things, of course, picking the next Supreme Court nominee. He is off to Camp David for the weekend. He'll be back tomorrow. We're told that he could make that announcement within 24 to 48 hours, Tony.
HARRIS: OK, we'll leave it there. Suzanne, thank you.
And that brings us to our e-mail question this morning. Is Lewis "Scooter" Libby being made the fall guy in the CIA leak investigation? Send us your thoughts, weekends@cnn.com, and we will discuss, read some of your responses a little later in the half hour.
NGUYEN: Well, four days after Wilma, the gas lines in Florida are easing, but tempers are still flaring in some places, and millions remain without power.
Let's get the latest now from CNN's J.J. Ramberg in Miami. When's that power going to be on, do you know?
J.J. RAMBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Betty.
Well, right now, they say they've restored power to about 50 percent of the customers. Most customers should have power by November 8, 95 percent of people should have power but not until November 15.
The problem with power, it's a ripple effect, really, and one of the effects is that it's hard to get gas in this city, not because there's not enough gas, but because a lot of gas stations don't have the power to pump that gas out. So any gas station, like this one, that does have power has got lines.
You can just see here beside me, this is a line for the gas station, and it's been going on since this morning, when they started giving out gas at about 6:00 this morning. It goes around. Then the manager has been standing there letting people in about two at a time.
If you come right here, people are still coming around here, because this pump is already empty. There's no regular gas in this entire station. This pump doesn't have any gas. The manager here says he expects to have about enough gas for another hour and a half, and then after that, he's just going have to wait for a supply truck to come.
And this is what we are seeing all over the city. This line, actually, is relatively short. People have come from other neighborhoods to come to this gas station. But in other places, we've heard of stories and talked to people who've stood in line anywhere from an hour to six hours, in some cases. I spoke to one person yesterday who waited in line for 12 hours.
So this is a real problem. And again, electricity has a ripple effect, and then gas has a ripple effect also, because if people don't have gas, people can't get to work, and then there are all kinds of problems there.
We were just driving around this morning trying to find a place to do this report from, and a couple of gas stations that we went to yesterday were already out of gas today. So that causes problems too, because then people are wasting gas going around looking for gas, Betty.
NGUYEN: Very true. And it's just so surprising seeing that line there, that you say, that's one of the lines that's relatively shorter than most of them.
All right, let's move on to electricity. Some lawmakers are calling for mandatory backup generators. Is that realistic?
RAMBERG: Well, according to some lawmakers, it is. They tried to push this earlier this year after the four hurricanes from last year caused gas problems. It's been an issue that's brought up again this week because of things like this. Jeb Bush vetoed it last year. He said, We're not in the position, or we shouldn't be subsidizing petroleum companies. We'll see if it gets any more traction, given what's happened this week.
NGUYEN: J.J. Ramberg in Miami, we want to thank you.
Coming hard on the heels of Wilma is Beta. I'm sure you heard of Beta. Well, the latest on what that storm is up to with meteorologist Brad Huffines. That's coming up in just a few minutes, so stick around.
HARRIS: And charges are dropped against Scott Dyleski's mother after she agreed to testify truthfully at her son's trial. Esther Fielding was arrested when investigators suspected she helped her son get rid of evidence linking him to a crime. Dyleski is charged of killing Pamela Vitale, the wife of high-profile defense attorney Daniel Horowitz.
And an Indiana town, police and child protection advocates are worried a haunted house will draw children to the home of a registered sex offender. The man's wife owns and operates the haunted house. Flyers of Web sites say parents are not allowed to drop off children, and youngsters must be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times when inside the haunted house. It may be a, well, a seriously bad marketing approach to holiday spirits, Seriously Bad Elf. It is a British imported beer with a holiday appeal. But what's got lawmakers in Connecticut and Massachusetts up in arms is the labeling, this one in particular. Can we see it close up?
It shows a grouchy-looking elf with a slingshot firing Christmas ornaments at Santa's sleigh as it flies off to deliver Christmas gifts. State liquor regulations ban alcohol advertising with images that may appeal to children. And Santa is off limits.
NGUYEN: I still don't know why we have to see the backside of Santa like that.
HARRIS: Yes, it's just wrong.
NGUYEN: (INAUDIBLE).
HARRIS: Talk about being on the clock. This clock repairman and store owner is affectionately hailed as Dr. Time. This weekend, the doctor is on call. Talk about a little cuckoo during Daylight Saving. He has to reset an insane 4,000 clocks.
NGUYEN: Oh, my goodness.
HARRIS: Watches, timepieces, everything. And don't forget to set your clocks back an hour tomorrow at 2:00 a.m., and enjoy that extra hour of sleep.
NGUYEN: Yes, I can't wait.
HARRIS: We sure will.
NGUYEN: Bring it on.
All right, there is still one vacancy left in the United States Supreme Court, and the withdrawal of nominee Harriet Miers means the Senate isn't even close to filling the spot anytime soon. A constitutional law expert looks at what's ahead.
That's live right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
HARRIS: Plus, your e-mail comments. Is Lewis "Scooter" Libby being made the fall guy, the scapegoat in the CIA leak investigation? E-mail us your thoughts at weekends@cnn.com.
HUFFINES: And as Betty said, a record-breaking Beta continues to head to the shoreline of Nicaragua. Category 2 hurricane possible. More details on that coming up in just a couple of minutes.
But first, good morning, Daytona Beach. If you head outside and walk the beach, you're going to see some pretty gusty northerly winds, not just in Daytona, but all across the Florida peninsula. And we'll talk about the nation's weather as well coming up in just a couple of minutes, as CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Here's a check of our top stories, in case you're just joining us.
Lewis "Scooter" Libby is out of the White House after being indicted on federal charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in the CIA leak probe. CNN's cameras caught him arriving home last night in a (INAUDIBLE) just outside of Washington. Libby's lawyer says his client is innocent. Libby, though, did resign as Vice President Cheney's chief of staff just moments after Friday's indictment.
Now, on Sunday and Monday, the body of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks will lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda. Lawmakers passed a resolution Friday making her the first woman ever allowed to do so. Parks died Monday in Detroit at the age of 92.
Forty-five New Orleans police officers and six civilians have been fired for allegedly abandoning their posts in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Another 15 officers who were under investigation have resigned.
HARRIS: And time now to check some of the other stories that made headlines this week.
Rosa Parks, the woman who became an icon of the civil rights movement, died this week at age 92. Parks' refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man came to symbolize resistance to segregation. Parks will lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda Sunday and Monday, the first woman to do so.
Hurricane Wilma lashed south Florida, leaving extensive damage in its wake and millions of people without power. The hurricane made landfall as a category 3 storm with winds of 120 miles an hour.
President Bush nominated a replacement for Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan this week. He is Ben Bernanke, a top White House economic adviser. Bernanke will have to be confirmed by the Senate.
And antiwar protester Cindy Sheehan was in the news again this week. She and 25 others were arrested after lying down on the sidewalk in front of the White House. They were charged with civil disobedience. Sheehan's 24-year-old son was killed in the Iraq war.
And tomorrow, we will fast-forward to the week ahead and tell you which stories will grab the spotlight.
NGUYEN: Well, and weather, I can tell you what's grabbing the spotlight. A hurricane named...
HARRIS: Gamma?
NGUYEN: Beta.
NGUYEN: Beta.
NGUYEN: Here's Brad Huffines with the latest. Hi, Brad.
HARRIS: The Greek alphabet is throwing me ...
NGUYEN: I know. We're being tested here on the Greek alphabet.
HUFFINES: This is so strange, I know. We've never talked about this before, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, next would be Delta, then what? Guess, guess, what, what?
NGUYEN: Delta?
HARRIS: Epsilon.
NGUYEN: Epsilon.
HUFFINES: Don't you know your Geek? I had to look it up too, Betty.
NGUYEN: We have a producer in our ear just going through the whole list.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Whole thing.
NGUYEN: We had no idea.
(CROSSTALK)
HUFFINES: ... I, you know, I didn't join a fraternity in college.
HARRIS: May you.
(LAUGHTER)
HUFFINES: Let me show what's happening outside right now in the Caribbean Sea. What we're seeing is Hurricane Beta that is a very strong storm. But watch this, this is the wave. See this tropical wave south of Dominican Republic and Haiti? That one we're watching carefully right now.
The storm will likely be absorbed into the intensifying Hurricane Beta, which has winds right now of 80 miles an hour. Beta continues to drift very slowly northwestwardly. But the forecast track still calls for Beta to increase in strength to a category 2 hurricane, then lash the shoreline, in fact, over the next 24 hours, of Nicaragua into the northern coast of Honduras as well as the many mountains in Central America from Honduras all the way through Nicaragua.
Mudslides and flash flooding are likely there, and some real difficult problems.
Let me show you the list of records for this hurricane season. Twelve hurricanes this year, 23 named storms. Five named in July alone. Goodness gracious, the weather continues to be tropical weather, at least reactive.
But the nation's weather thankfully calming down a bit.
(WEATHER FORECAST)
HUFFINES: Kind of a miserable day in the Northeast, but that's about it. The rest of the nation's weather looking to be OK.
NGUYEN: Now, that's not what people want to hear when they wake up. What a miserable day ...
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS: Flooding, rains, why not a little snow, yes?
NGUYEN: Hey, at least he's being truthful.
HUFFINES: I can't lie.
NGUYEN: True, true. All right, thank you.
Well, the labels began to stick to Harriet Miers almost from the beginning. She was called too conservative, and then not experienced enough. Now that she has dropped her Supreme Court bid, what's next?
HARRIS: Yes, that's a question we'll put to constitutional law expert David Oblon. There he is, next right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Good morning, David.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, some conservatives said Harriet Miers wasn't conservative enough, others said she didn't have enough experience to sit on the nation's highest court. And many lawmakers on both sides complained that they just didn't know enough about her to give any kind of an opinion.
In the end, it all adds up to this. Harriet Miers took herself out of the running as the president's Supreme Court nominee.
Constitutional lawyer David Oblon joins us now from Washington to sort it all out.
David, good to see you, as always.
DAVID OBLON, CONSTITUTIONAL LAWYER: Good to see you too, Tony.
HARRIS: You care about the Constitution.
OBLON: Very much.
HARRIS: You care about who sits on this court. Who do you want to see? What kind of qualities, what kinds of characteristics should the next person has who -- have who sits on this court?
OBLON: Well, this, of course, is a personal question... HARRIS: Yes.
OBLON: ... and I think that I would like to see someone who is a strict constructionist, someone who is going to interpret statutes and constitutional provisions, as it was intended by the people who wrote them at the time that they wrote them. I think that if you don't have that moral rudder, it invites the justice to decide for himself, him- or herself, what the policies should be, when you want the elected branch to decide that.
HARRIS: Precedents matter? Past rulings by this court matter to you?
OBLON: Absolutely. Precedent is critical, because we want everyone in the country to be able to predict what the Supreme Court is going to do for a particular case. We're lawyers...
HARRIS: So, David, what was the issue -- did you have a problem with Harriet Miers?
OBLON: Yes, I had a problem with Harriet Miers. My problem was, I didn't know what she believed. I didn't know who she was. And this is a very important position. The Supreme Court is a unique bird, because it has to have members who self-contain themselves, people who decide not to usurp the power of the legislature.
HARRIS: Right.
OBLON: And it's very tempting to do that, because all of us have opinions as to what the answers should be for certain questions, and to defer to the legislature when you've got the power to override the legislature is a very tempting thing.
HARRIS: Do you buy the whole argument of executive privilege, yes, I'm not going to turn over the papers (INAUDIBLE) because of that, you know, (INAUDIBLE).
OBLON: Well, that's not the reason why Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination.
HARRIS: Great. What do you think?
OBLON: No, I think that they withdrew her nomination because the conservatives were very concerned that a justice was going to be confirmed who was likely to drift to the left, and they were concerned about that.
HARRIS: Has the court, in your opinion, over the last, I don't know, 50, 60 years, sort of created law, interpreted law, for example, created privacy rights, Roe v. Wade is what we're talking about, out of thin air?
OBLON: Well, there's little question that the Supreme Court has taken a very expansive view of the Constitution various times, and for some instances it's been very good. You know, for example, when we eliminated segregation, I mean, that was judicial activism that I think almost everyone agrees was the right thing to do.
But then there are other instances where it can be a closer call, depending on your position.
But the bottom line is that it's very dangerous when we rely upon the Supreme Court to have justices go outside the Constitution to do what they believe is right, even if they are right, because that way, we usurp the power of the legislature and the power to make any changes.
HARRIS: David, a staunch conservative as the next pick?
OBLON: I -- President Bush is going to do one of two things. He's either going to do an in-your-face, staunch conservative like Sam Elito (ph) or Mike Lutig or Karen Williams, or he's going to decide to do more of a consensus candidate, and for that, it's going to be Maureen Mahoney. Maureen Mahoney is a private attorney, very much in the mold of John Roberts. She used to work for Ken Starr in the solicitor general's office. She was a clerk for Justice Rehnquist.
The conservatives aren't going to be thrilled about her, the liberals aren't going to be terrified by her. If President Bush is looking for the consensus candidates, Maureen Mahoney. But I tend to think he's going go with a more in-your-face conservative.
HARRIS: And why would he do that? Because he wants the fight, or he just wants to galvanize his base?
OBLON: It's time to galvanize the base. The -- this is the most important issue for the conservative movement. and if he doesn't recognize this, he's likely to be rudderless for the rest of his presidency.
HARRIS: Good stuff. David Oblon, good to talk to you.
OBLON: Thank you, (INAUDIBLE)...
HARRIS: You're a crazy city these days. But thanks for joining us this morning.
OBLON: You bet.
NGUYEN: All right, all of us have (INAUDIBLE) to the e-mail question today. We're going to put it up on the screen for you right there. Is Lewis "Scooter" Libby being made the fall guy in the CIA leak investigation? Talking about Washington and all the craziness going on there.
Here's what some of you have said today.
Scott Hammond in Indiana, "The administration orchestrated this whole production to further undermine the intelligence of the average American taxpayer. We are all the real losers here. This is just another example of arrogance by Karl Rove, who now says he was going to have a great weekend.
HARRIS: Wow.
This from James, "Karl Rove was smiling like a kid who just got away with stealing from the cookie jar. Rove is in this up to his neck. All this was done so George Bush could clear his father's name for not finishing the first Gulf War while he had the chance.
Thank you so much for the e-mails. We have time for the third? No. OK, we'll do that next hour.
Thanks for the e-mails this half-hour. Here's the question again. Is Lewis "Scooter" Libby being made the fall guy in the CIA leak investigation? Send along your thoughts, weekends@cnn.com.
NGUYEN: Well, last weekend we were talking about Wilma. It is gone, but certainly not forgotten this morning, especially when drivers in Florida try to buy gasoline. Going to show you a long line there.
We'll take you back live to Miami at the top of the hour. Look at those lines.
HARRIS: Man, and next, 35,000 people die in America every year from the flu. Add that to new fears of the bird flu, and you get new worries over the availability of vaccines. Some of your questions are answered next on "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
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