Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

A Series Of Explosions Rock New Delhi; White House Still Vulnerable After Libby Indictment; Floridians Seek Aid

Aired October 29, 2005 - 09:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news out of India this hour. Look at these pictures. Huge explosions rocked the capital city where it is 7:00 p.m. We have a live update that is straight ahead.
Good morning from the CNN Center in Atlanta. I'm Betty Nguyen. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Thank you for starting your day with us.

NGUYEN: We do want to get straight to that breaking news out of New Delhi, India. CNN's Ram Ramgopal joins us live with the latest on the explosions in the city. Ram walk us through these explosions. We understand there were at least two.

RAM RAMGOPAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is right Betty. It is unclear as to what caused these explosions, but we can confirm that two separate explosions occurred just about 25 minutes ago in the central part of New Delhi in two different locations, one in the area called Paharganj which is very close to the New Delhi railway station, and another very close to where we are located, another in a crowded marketplace.

The significance of this is it happened just about at sunset as a number of people who were basically shopping for the festival season which is coming up in a couple of days, it was very crowded even in the normal course of events, both these markets are extremely crowded and being the holiday season, even more so and I can confirm to you right now.

Actually Betty, I'm just getting this piece of information that the chief minister of Delhi which is the state where New Delhi is now confirms that there have been four separate explosions in the capital of New Delhi in the last one hour or so. Betty.

NGUYEN: Four separate explosions comes just a few days before Diwali, which is India's biggest festival. Any indication as to who may be behind this?

RAMGOPAL: At this point there's been no word -- there have been warnings in the past few days of some targets, which are according to the police that need to be on extra watch out. They had put out a warning three weeks ago even to the American Embassy saying that there are certainly American interests need to be extra cautious.

But these four explosions that we are hearing about today would be in crowded markets where the average Indian would go shopping. In fact one area, which is close to the railway station, also has many budget hotels. It's an area that is sometimes packed with a lot of backpacking tourist. So many people have talked about it a couple of weeks ago.

We do know that the Delhi bomb disposals have been dispatched to a couple of these places. Still too early to tell as to what caused the explosions and one of the things, which is interesting, obviously Betty is that the festival of lights in that Diwali also sees a number of firecrackers being used on a routine basis. So the sound of explosions is not uncommon at this time of year, but this obviously is a massive explosion. City officials are saying from the central Delhi. A massive explosion, which has basically leveled a number of structures.

NGUYEN: Ram, we are looking at some of the damage right now in these pictures that we're putting on the air. Let me ask you about that. How is extensive is the damage and how many people were killed or injured in this so far?

RAMGOPAL: Again Betty we have been trying to work the phones, trying call a number of people there's very little information coming in specifics as far as the numbers of killed or injured. I can tell you certainly the local television channels are reporting deaths. They're saying at least ten according to a couple of different news outlets, but again, we have not been able to get confirmation of that. It's obvious that there has been a number of casualties.

We're seeing ambulances at the scene. There have been a number of fire engines, which is, have been dispatched. Delhi is a very large city. So if these four explosions that we are hearing about are in different corners of the city, one would imagine that the fire department, city police and perhaps other groups that could respond to this have been dispatch individual different areas.

One of the reasons why we're having a problem trying to track down some of the specifics in terms of casualties, but I can confirm for you certainly that have their have been four separate explosions and certainly in crowded markets according to the information we're getting right now.

NGUYEN: Four separate explosions and as you mentioned a number of casualties at this point. You've only heard about ten. But we of course do want to give you some time to work the phones and work the sources and get this information, as it's breaking now that there have been four explosions in New Delhi, just a few days before Diwali which is one of India's biggest festivals. Ram Ramgopal on the phone with us. Thank you we'll be checking in with you throughout the morning.

HARRIS: In other news now despite the indictment of Vice President's Cheney chief of staff and the CIA leak investigation, the Bush White House still vulnerable. The special prosecutor say the investigation is not over yet. Karl Rove, president Bush's trusted political strategist is still under the microscope even though Lewis Scooter Libby has been indicted he won't be arrested and he is likely to make his first court appearance in a matter of days. Libby was indicted yesterday on five counts, involving obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements.

If convicted on all counts he could be sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in prison. It has been a tough week for President Bush. First there was the withdrawal of the Supreme Court nominee, Harriet Miers and then the American death toll in Iraq topped the 2000 mark and now Scooter Libby's indictment. The president is mulling over all of this at his retreat in Camp David. Let's go live now to the White House and correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux where the questions continue to mount in this investigation. Suzanne, good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Tony. Of course, the focus of the White House is all about turning the corner here, trying to make at least not focus on some of the problems here, but focus on the future. One of the things that the administration is going to do, we saw pictures of the president leaving with Harriet Miers.

That, of course, the nominee of the Supreme Court who withdrew just several days ago, also his White House counsel there, they're putting their heads together this weekend we are told so the president could announce his new Supreme Court nominee. We expect that to happen to unfold in the next 24 to 48 hours. So, that of course, the first focus and that is part of trying to get back the conservative base they were lost over the Harriet Miers nomination.

Secondly, he is going to be putting forward emphasizing a political agenda to try to reunite the party when it comes to immigration and tax code reform and then look to the president again talking about Iraq in the days and weeks to come, looking at the December election, pushing forward for that political process to work, key to the U.S. exit strategy and then of course, there's the issue of gas prices as it gets colder. They're hoping and keeping their fingers crossed that really it's not going to get any worse. Those gas prices aren't going to get any higher, creating a pinch for middle class Americans.

And then finally a look to the president to address hurricane recovery to go back time and time again to those devastated regions to emphasize to the American people that yes, there are lessons learned there after Katrina that we are moving forward and we're prepared for emergency situations including one which could possibly be very dangerous which is the bird flu. Tony.

HARRIS: And Suzanne that all works if there isn't another shoe to drop in this investigation, but, you know, there is still this sense that there still could be something more out there. The investigation hasn't been closed.

MALVEAUX: No, it hasn't been closed. It's very interesting here and there are two schools of thought. As you know, Karl Rove was not indicted but he was mentioned in the indictment yesterday, not by name, but as simply official A.

Somebody who actually tipped of Scooter Libby, if you will, and told him that Robert Novak is going to come out with this article about CIA operative Valerie Plame. What the prosecutor makes of this we still really don't know. It does mean, however, that it could still be illegal jeopardy we'll have to see how it plays out in the days and weeks to come.

HARRIS: White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, Suzanne thank you.

And we want to hear your thoughts on the CIA leak probe and Lewis Scooter Libby. Our e-mail question this morning "Is Libby being made the scapegoat, the fall guy in this investigation?" Send us your thoughts to WEEKENDS@CNN.com and we'll be reading your replies all morning long.

NGUYEN: Despite a week of warnings, people in south Florida didn't stock up water and gas so now, four days after Hurricane Wilma hit the lines are long. And the tempers are very short. CNN's J.J. Ramberg is live in Miami with our morning update. We saw the lines earlier. Are they getting longer by the minute?

J.J. RAMBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, the line here is moving pretty quickly. It's kind of funny just as I was waiting for you to come to me I spoke to one woman. She was screaming and talking on the phone really excited. She said that a colleague of hers had called her and said quickly come to this gas station they've got gas so she came here.

She ran into her colleague, and they were laughing and then she was on the phone calling her other colleagues, to say quick, you got to get over to this gas station there's gas and the lines are moving pretty well. The lines are organized here; I haven't seen that many high tempers and that have been because it's been relatively organized. The manager has been letting people in two at a time and also there are more gas stations coming on line now.

As of yesterday about a third of the gas stations were working here in south Florida and a lot of gas stations are getting generators. I spoke to one official from Chevron just the other day who said that they were bringing in generators from Texas and from Louisiana which they had used after the hurricanes there and so as more gas station comes online or get power and are able to pump the gas, the lines obviously in other places get shorter because supply becomes less of a problem.

We've been talking to a lot of people who have been coming to this gas station and what they've been saying is they've had to organize their lives around having no gas. They are obviously very gas dependent in a city where you have to drive to get places. We spoke to one woman earlier today who works at a hospital and said that that's pretty much all she's using gas to go to.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been trying to just use my car for, you know, just to go to work and that's it. Saving the gas as much as I can.

RAMBERG: We've had all kinds of stories like that, but hopefully things will get better -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Hopefully so and hopefully they'll get the power back on to many who are still without it. J.J. Ramberg in Miami, thank you.

Are today's women tough enough to make it in the rough-and-tumble world of business? That is what one man is asking.

HARRIS: Yes. He wants to smash the notion of a glass ceiling, but he's getting shredded for it. That's coming up.

But first, meteorologist Brad Huffines has your forecast and a live peeky peek at Daytona Beach. Brad good morning.

BRAD HUFFINES, CNN METEOROLOGIST: There is a lot going on. First some snow and rain across the Boston metro area. While that is going on we're seeing a record-breaking hurricane approaching Nicaragua and a live picture in Daytona Beach shows a pretty gusty, northerly wind today. Temperatures right now near 66 degrees in Daytona. The rest of us we look to some nice weather nationwide. We'll talk about your nation's forecast.

Let's go on the cruise ship Tony and let's just head on out. We'll talk next as CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Welcome back to CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Betty Nguyen.

Breaking news out of India's capital. Several explosions in New Delhi have emergency workers rushing to different locations including two local markets. The blast happened at places where tourists tend to go. The explosions come just days before a large festival which is why so many people were shopping at the time.

The lawyer for Lewis Scooter Libby is hinting at a possible defense in the CIA leak indictment and it's the time honored tradition of I can't recall. Libby was indicted yesterday on five counts including obstruction of justice and perjury.

Pulling out of Iraq. The Associated Press reports a powerful Shiite cleric may demand a timetable for American troops to withdraw. According to the AP, aides say grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani is thinking about making the request after a democratic elected government takes office next year.

And we want you to take a look at this. I will put it up on the air for you. They are paintings of fallen American troops from the war in Iraq. The portraits were done by volunteer artists who want to give something back to the loved ones of the slain. It's called Project Compassion and the work is done free of charge. You'll meet one of the artists, that's tomorrow in a very special soldier's story, live 9:00 a.m. Eastern on "CNN Sunday Morning."

HARRIS: Many women executives say they can't break through the glass ceiling. One British worker says he knows why and his explanation is part of CNN.com's most popularity hits this morning. Veronica De La Cruz. OK is this guy in trouble?

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. What this man is saying I simply do not buy. I do not buy it. Yes. Not at all. We'll get to that in a second.

HARRIS: I saw this coming a mile away.

DE LA CRUZ: First, let's tell you about these most popular stories, you can log on to CNN.com. Look for the green watch box and click on browse and search then select the tab that says most popular.

All right Tony; let's tell you what's going on, on the web. People want to know more about America by the numbers. This very interesting story uncovers very disturbing fact, Tony. Let me just share a couple of these statistics here, 37 million people in America live in poverty. One in five children in America are poor and 50 percent of black and Hispanic teens will never graduate high school.

Now another piece of video receiving a lot of play, an advertising guru in Britain is under fire after saying women are not good enough to receive top jobs. Apparently he said, quote, "Women would rather wimp out and go and suckle something."

HARRIS: What?

DE LA CRUZ: Yes. Go and suckle something. The story looks at why women don't get top jobs. Pregnancy is one of the reasons they suffer on career paths. But that's not the issue here because that is not what he said. He didn't say anything about pregnancy. He said that the women are simply not good enough. So this man has another thing coming, seriously.

NGUYEN: Not good enough and pregnancy is our problem, right?

DE LA CRUZ: He didn't even say that. He just said we're not good enough. But little does he know that someday Betty and I are going rule the world.

NGUYEN: That's right. And you know what? And when he comes up, we're going fire him.

DE LA CRUZ: Exactly.

HARRIS: I'm trying to stay on the good side of both of you here so that I can continue to work and feed my family. Thank you.

NGUYEN: Speaking of bad news. We've got to go back to New Delhi and give you an update. There have been four blasts there and we don't know the number of people who have been killed in this as of just yet, but look at the damage right now. Massive, you can see that it has hit some of the marketplaces there and we are going give you that coming up right on the other side of this break so stay with us.

JANET PASKIN, WRITER MONEY: We picked Athens, Georgia, as one of the best places to retire because it is a true college town. The University of Georgia touches almost everybody in every corner of this close-knit, dense little community outside of Atlanta.

Seniors can take classes for free. There is a performing arts center. There are museums. The state botanical gardens are on the University of Georgia campus. New homes can be had for a fraction of what you would pay in a major urban area. Athens is great for folks who want to retire to a legitimate college town, complete with big football games and top flight academic offerings, but still wants that small town feeling.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's get you an update now on the of breaking news out of New Delhi, India. CNN's Ram Ramgopal joins us by phone with the very latest on the explosions in the city. And Ron what is the latest?

RAMGOPAL: Well Tony I can tell you certainly that four separate explosions that authorities here are reporting. There's a great deal of confusion as to the number of casualties and the number of people that have died in the four explosions. The biggest of the blasts took place in the middle of the city, really, a very crowded marketplace which is where a number of shoppers were gathered this evening, Saturday evening here, shopping for the festival of Diwali which comes in a couple of days.

It's also an area where a number of budget hotels commonly used by backpackers and western tourists who come to the area. It is certainly an area, which is extremely crowed. So we do know about that big explosion there. We've also heard of a separate explosion in another marketplace close to where we're located in the diplomatic district and two separate explosions.

Which we don't have details, so there is a great deal of confusion, Tony but I can confirm to you that there are certainly fatalities. One of the senior ministers of the state, which is the minister -- the interior ministry. He was on the local television here. He says that between 10 and 15 people have been killed but he himself was not clear as to the exact casualties because he says it's still too confusing. It's a confused picture, waiting to confirm the number of deaths and injuries, Tony.

HARRIS: Ram, here's the part I'm not understanding and I hear it in your reporting as well. There's some confusion on this idea. There were two other explosions but we don't know where?

RAMGOPAL: We do not know where. That is correct. The problem is that all those four explosions are going by media reports and we are seeing media reporting. The two other explosions and we do have a location for them. If that is indeed the case they're in different parts of the city. The four explosions would be distinct areas. Two of them in very crowded marketplaces and the other two, we have not gotten independent confirmation of, but if they were all in different area which is one of the reasons why there's a great deal of confusion.

This is, after all a big festival season in which many people really let their guard down. They're out late shopping and buying gifts for friends and family. So there is a little bit of confusion as to exactly where those other two explosions are. That is correct, Tony. HARRIS: And, Ram, this is a religious festival?

RAMGOPAL: That is correct. This is a festival that is perhaps one of the most important festivals in the Hindu calendar. The vast majority of Indians, Hindus, would celebrate this festival on depending on which sector of Hinduism and which group. The celebrations really start on Tuesday and go through much of next week. At the same time this festival is commonly associated with firecrackers.

So you do hear these loud blasts in Delhi and it's one of those things that many people may have dismissed initially when they heard these explosions. They may have thought it is just a series of firecrackers going up, but obviously the pictures that you're seeing show it is a massive explosion.

There are certainly a number of structures that have been destroyed. A large number of people who have obviously been injured and killed. We don't have numbers as yet and we can tell you, this is a very crowded part of the city and it could be very, very crowded at that time of the evening with people shopping for the festival.

HARRIS: CNN's Ram Ramgopal for us in New Delhi, Ron thank you.

NGUYEN: We want to take you now live to the Pentagon where Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are speaking today. They've been meeting with the Japanese foreign minister and discussing a plan that could reduce the number of marines stationed on the island of Okinawa that could possibly cut the number of marines there in half, relocating them to Guam.

Right now there are some 14,000 marines in Japan. Now this is just a plan that is being discussed. We, of course of course will learn more about this throughout the day. But you are watching now as both Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld are holding a meeting there at the Pentagon, a press conference and we will have much more on this in the next hour. But, "OPEN HOUSE" is straight ahead.

HARRIS: Then at the top of the hour it's been called an underground railroad for pets stranded by Hurricane Katrina, and the engineers steering the locomotive just may surprise you. Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox live on CNN SATURDAY MORNING at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com