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CNN Live Sunday
Miners Trapped in Mexico; Dubai-Based Company to Manage Six U.S. Ports; Thousands Without Power During Deep Freeze; New Orleans Welcomes Mardi Gras Revelers
Aired February 19, 2006 - 18:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is dangerous and treacherous and I feel so sorry for so many people that, you know, possibly don't even have a place like this to go to.
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CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Thousands are without power and heat in the Northeast as a deep freeze takes hold from California to Maine.
And what do you think about an Arab-based company taking over control of six U.S. ports? Now some on Capitol Hill are calling for an investigation.
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jonathan Freed in Lincoln, Nebraska, at a convenience store where the $365 million Powerball ticket was sold.
LIN: It's February 19th. You're watching CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Carol Lin. Here are the stories making news right now.
Ten dead. The U.S. military confirms eight Marines and two Air Force personnel died in helicopter crashes off the coast of Djibouti. The two choppers went down during a training mission Friday. Two other crew members were rescued.
Fading hopes. The search turns grim in the Phillippines where more than 900 people remain missing from a massive landslide. Ahead, an aid worker on the ground is going to give us an assessment for what happens next.
And trapped underground, rescue crews in Northern Mexico are desperately trying to free 66 coal miners trapped after an explosion. The miners have a limited supply of oxygen and are said to be in extreme danger.
A winter mix leaves many people in the cold. Power is out in parts of the northeast. And in the Midwest and South, ice wreaks havoc on the roads. The forecast is coming up.
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SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER, (D-NY): Why would we give a company and a government that has had a great deal of involvement with terrorism, control of our ports?
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LIN: Well, that's a question lawmakers from both parties are asking, right now. Several are blasting a deal that will have an Arab firm managing major U.S. ports.
But the Bush administration says it is perfectly safe.
CNN White House correspondent Elaine Quijano reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff is defending the Bush Administration's decision to approve a deal allowing a state-owned Dubai company, Dubai Ports World, to take over operations at six major American ports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, SECRETARY, HOMELAND SECURITY: The general process that has to work before this occurs requires a very thorough review and, where appropriate, necessary conditions or safeguards have to be put into place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: The ports affected include ports in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami and New Orleans.
But both Democratic and Republican lawmakers say that can make Americans less safe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. VITO FOSSELLA, (R-NY): Imagine if today there was an official announcement that Dubai was to take over security at our airports. Would not the American people question why and be, somewhat, outraged that we would delegate authority and security of our airports to a foreign nation?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: New York Senator Chuck Schumer is calling on President Bush to personally intervene to block the contract.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHUMER: Outsourcing the operations of our largest ports to a country with long involvement with terrorism is a Homeland Security accident waiting to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: According to our 9/11 Commission Report, at least one hijacker drew money from bank accounts based in the UAE to help fund operations. And the commission noted, one of the hijackers, Marwan al-Shehhi, was from the UAE.
But the Bush administration calls the United Arab Emirates a leading partner in the fight against terrorism.
Chertoff says there are other factors to consider.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHERTOFF: Certainly Congress is welcome to look at this and can get classified briefings. You know, we have to balance the paramount urgency of security against the fact that we still want to have a robust global trading system.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: But some who lost loved ones on 9/11, like Peter Gadiel, who held a news conference Sunday, say the administration's move doesn't make sense to them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GADIEL, 9/11 FAMILIES FOR A SECURE AMERICA: I'd like to see them perhaps outsource to Dubai. Would the president feel comfortable if that happened?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO (on camera): The company, DP World, could not be reached for comment.
Meantime, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham is calling the Bush administration's decision, quote, "unbelievably tone-death politically".
Last week, Democratic Senators Hillary Clinton and Robert Menendez said they were working on legislation to ban foreign state- owned companies from controlling operations at U.S. ports.
Elaine Quijano, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Now, tonight in our 10 o'clock eastern show, you're going to get a chance to weigh in on this issue. Do you think this company can be trusted? We'll give you the phone number at 10 o'clock eastern tonight on "CNN SUNDAY NIGHT."
In the meantime, stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news that affects your security.
Americans are deep in the grip of harsh winter chill. Strong winds and ice have knocked out power to tens of thousands of people in several states. There have been hundreds of accidents on slippery roads in Texas alone. And the weekend freeze extends from coast to coast
From Duluth, Minnesota to Dallas Texas, from Windham, New Hampshire to Mount Laguna, California, a lot of cold weather this weekend.
The northeast suffered the most disruption. Around Saratoga Springs, New York, fierce winds brought down trees and cut power leaving residents, like 81-year-old Deese Lambert (ph), in the dark and the cold.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEESE LAMBERT (ph), WEATHER VICTIM: I went to bed with every piece of clothing and article that I could think of, and every blanket in the house. And I just lay there all night and it wasn't a good night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Deese and hundreds more taking refuge in shelters. Power out for thousands in New Hampshire as well after gales brought down trees in the aptly named town of Windham.
In the Midwest, it's a case of exposing as little flesh as possible to the elements. In Indianapolis, the ticker tells the story, residents bundling up against a wind chill that made it feel much lower than 17.
Chicagoans are used to frigid temperatures, of course, but they're looking forward to a balmy 20 degrees Monday.
The cold snap has made driving especially hazardous in areas that don't often see winter's icy fingers stretch into late February. Plenty of wrecks around Nashville Saturday. And in Dallas, caution is the order of the day as salt trucks take to the icy roads.
And in the hills around Los Angeles, freezing rain and hail made for miserable driving conditions on Saturday. A prettier picture at higher elevations in Southern California. On Mount Laguna, a time for snowball fights and sledding, or just taking in the frosted scenery.
Though few got as much exercise as a man called Doug Happy. A wind chill of 40 below in Duluth, Minnesota did not deter Doug from his five-mile morning run.
DOUG HAPPY: Well, the last I seen, the temperature said it was 17 below, but actually it doesn't really feel that bad.
LIN: I guess you just have to get used to it.
I don't think any of us are going to get used to 17 below, Monica.
MONICA MCNEAL, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No, I don't think so either. What is Doug thinking?
LIN: He's running, bundled up.
MCNEAL: I know it. And it's even colder.
LIN: He's crazy.
MCNEAL: I can't believe it.
LIN: OK, when's it going to get warmer?
MCNEAL: Yes, it's eventually going to get warmer, Carol, later in the week, not right away, certainly not tonight.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LIN: Thanks, Monica.
Well, now, to the Philippines, 72 people are confirmed dead in the landslide that wiped out an entire village. Hundreds are still missing. They are the focus of a desperate rescue mission upon the acres of rubble and boulders and mud.
CNN's Hugh Riminton is on the island of Leyte.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUGH RIMINTON, CNN FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT: This gives you some idea of the size of the task that is facing the rescuers. We are standing of the tongue, if you like, of this massive landslide.
It started at Mount Canabank (ph), 2,000 feet and more high, 730 meters above the river plain. And the landslide, this avalanche of mud and rock and debris began right from the top, from the ridge line, developing such force and speed that it has pushed this mud and muck out about a kilometer, 1,000 yards or so out onto the river flat.
Under foot, it is treacherous in the extreme. It is quick sand- like in many places. You sink suddenly up to your waist in mud. These are the conditions in which the searchers are having to try to work.
(voice-over): A U.S. Marine's assessment team has come here to have a look. Their initial assessment is that it is extremely tough, but it is not impossible, that there might still be people here alive in this morass.
What they say, though, is that heavy earth moving equipment, which is usually so vital in these sorts of things, will be of no value at all. It simply sinks. All the big graters, all the big earthmovers simply disappear into the mud themselves.
So this is going to be a task for men and, in some cases, for women. We've see women out here as part of the rescue teams digging with shovels, trying to find people, trying to find them alive, but for the most part, recovering bodies. An enormous task, but the officials still say no impossible that someone is still alive somewhere under this and can be rescued.
In Southern Leyte, Hugh Riminton, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Somewhere in Nebraska, somebody is keeping a close eye on one tiny slip of paper. He or she is holding the sole winning ticket for last night's record $365 million Powerball jackpot.
Jonathan Freed joins us from Lincoln, Nebraska, where the ticket was purchased.
Jonathan, we're waiting to hear who it is.
FREED: Hi, Carol. We are absolutely waiting. And in lieu of the actual winner, I would like to introduce you now, only as a national network can, to the actual lotto machine that issued that winning ticket, $365 million, at 3:09 p.m. last Friday afternoon.
Now the store and the Nebraska Lottery, Carol, has nailed this down to about four people that they think that one of them being the likely winner, three men and one woman. They know this because of their surveillance camera system that they have here at the store.
Now, the store owner's, the lottery cooperation, as well as some of the clerks have taken a look at that tape. And some of the clerks recognized at least one or two of the people in the shot. Nobody really regular enough customers that they pointed and said, "Oh, my Gosh, it's--" But they think they've seen the person before and they're wondering if they're going to see them again any time soon. Carol --
LIN: Yes, because they'd probably buy the U-Stop store at that point. How much money are talking about that the winner's going to get?
FREED: $365 million is the total price. If they take it in cash, Carol, it's about $177 million. And when taxes are factored in, it comes out to about, oh, just a mere $124 million. I could probably learn to, I don't know, live on that.
LIN: Sure. Sure.
FREED: That's just me. That's just me.
LIN: Yes, I think it'll get you just fine.
Jonathan, OK. Well, as soon as you hear if anybody walks in -- take a look at that surveillance tape. Maybe it's somebody we know too. And check in with us later.
FREED: OK. We'll keep an eye on it. LIN: Thanks, Jonathan.
FREED: Thanks.
LIN: All right. In other news across America, McDonalds getting heat for its French fry recipe. The fast-food chain has been slapped with at least three lawsuits after revealing its fries contained wheat and dairy products. They can cause medical reactions in some people.
And researchers say people with autism are more intelligent than previously believed. They cite the new testing methods that show that even autistics who don't speak can have above average intelligence. Also, they say several new studies indicate there is no link between autism and childhood vaccines.
And the search Whippet goes on. The dog named, Vivi, was on her way home from the Westminster Dog Show in New York when she escaped at JFK Airport Wednesday. Officials have called off their search, but volunteers are still scouring the area. And Vivi's owners are still offering an unspecified reward.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP GENE TAYLOR, (D-MS): There ought to be a national registry of child molesters and insurance company executives, because I hold them in the same very low esteem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: What would cause a Congressman to say such harsh words? Find out what's been happening to some Katrina victims waiting for their insurance payments. That story next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: We have been showing you some remarkable pictures out of the Leyte village in the Philippines of just the recovery work that's going on to try to find the remains or even if anybody is still alive. Nine hundred people are still missing under a mountain of mud.
Now, there are aid workers on the ground. They are converging in that disaster area. Maude Froberg is with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. She joins me on the telephone from Southern Leyte.
(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)
LIN: Maude, the situation on the ground, is there any hope, any hope at all, that there might still be people alive?
MAUDE FROBERG, AID WORKER, INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS, RED CRESCENT: We have made the report that this is a rescue operation against all odds. And if you make the comparison, for example, arriving into quake-stricken areas, even the flattened houses are signs of human life. But here, you have no such signs. But hope is still there and the rescue operation is continuing. And now, this is day four. But still, more manpower is being brought in, more hands to dig and more shovels to dig with.
LIN: Maude, so what is your mission, you personal mission right now?
FROBERG: I mean, it's very also to be around people, and as the Red Cross says, we are assisting the survivors and everything. And to provide hope in a very difficult situation like this is so important.
LIN: So you're providing housing, food?
FROBERG: No, I mean, the Ridge One Evacuation Center (ph) is where many survivors are staying right now. And they are, of course, very worried. And they would like to know the fate of their loved ones. Identification is taking place of the dead. And so there are difficult moments ahead for them and psychological support is needed for them.
LIN: Maude, I don't know how you go into a tent and face these people who may have lost everyone in their family. What can you say to them?
FROBERG: The most important is just to be there and reach out to them, not to talk to much, not to ask too many questions, to be the forum and to listen. That's what I do as a Red Cross worker.
LIN: Maude Froberg, that is life's work for you, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Good luck out there. We're following the story closely.
(END AUDIO FEED)
LIN: Hurricane Katrina hit close to home for CNN correspondent Kathleen Koch. Now, you might remember, Kathleen took us on a tour of her home of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Six months later, she returned to find family still waiting for trailers, others denied insurance claims.
Kathleen is joining us to talk about her journey home.
Kathleen, just amazing stories that you brought back and the pictures that we see, and you hugging. Who were those people?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Those were some of my friends from high school, Betty Edwards and her sister. They had lost their homes. But that was the story of virtually everyone that I met there that day right after the storm.
And as you go back today, there is no failure of human engineering in my town, no levies broke. It was 125 mile-per-hour winds, a 34-foot storm surge that put 95 percent of the town underwater. So never everyone lost everything.
And we're been going back and tracking its progress. And while there has been some, much of the news is not very good.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH (voice-over): It's been nearly six months since the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. And not a single destroyed home, not a single grocery store, not a single business on Beach Boulevard has been rebuilt in Bay St. Louis. In some places, it's has if time stood still.
And there is a growing sense of betrayal here in Bay St. Louis among residents who have been paying for home insurance for years. Now, many of these insurance companies are refusing to pay.
TOMMY KIDD, RESIDENT, BAY ST. LOUIS: I've talked to people who have not even seen an adjuster yet. And they're not asking for what's not theirs. All they want is to be put back whole, be paid the insurance that's due them.
KOCH: Even Bay St. Louis' Congressmen, like so many here, who lost everything, is fighting his insurance company.
REP. TAYLOR: I had a tin roof on my house. There are pieces of my tin roof 20 to 30 feet up in trees behind where my house used to be, kind of wrapped around as though like a taco shell.
When they came back with my claim and said there was no wind damage to my house, I pointed to the tin and they just kind of shrugged.
KOCH: So he's suing.
REP. TAYLOR: There ought to be national registry of child molesters and insurance company executives because I hold them in the same very low esteem.
KOCH: He's not alone. In fact, the state of Mississippi is suing the insurance companies on behalf of all its residents.
No insurance company we contacted would talk to us on camera. So I went to see a spokesperson for the industry.
(on camera): It sounds like many insurance companies are trying to say, "This is the first hurricane in history that came with no wind, that sustained 125-mile-an-hour winds can do no damage."
I've stood in 70=mile-an-hour winds in a hurricane and watched a roof blow off a hotel. How can they say 125-mile-per-hour winds can do no damage?
CAROLYN GORMAN, SPOKESPERSON, INSURANCE INFORMATION INSTITUTE: I think that they do know that there was 28-foot storm surge that came through also. There were many houses...
KOCH: Six hours after the 125-mile-an-hour sustained winds.
GORMAN: Well, I -- it's a difficult situation. KOCH: Of course, insurance isn't the only problem. Small business loans are being granted at a snail's pace.
And, after all this time, there are still residents waiting for FEMA trailers. Almost everyone here is waiting for something to make their lives whole again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH: I'll be heading south later on this week to cover Mardi Gras celebrations on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. They're very different from the New Orleans celebrations, really family events. And they're going ahead and celebrating.
And I think, what's really important to point out is, that people can come down to find a place to stay to celebrate Mardi Gras, then they ought to stay and help gut some houses, hang some drywall, clear some of the debris, and help put things back together again. Carol --
LIN: Carol, you were really giving it to that insurance lobbyist. I mean, you know, you're sitting there -- did you feel like you were being an advocate for your hometown there?
KOCH: Well, I think people throughout the region need an advocate. And I have to point out that exchange came at the end of a very long and frustrating interview. And I didn't realize how much that frustration showed on my face.
But people are simply not being paid what they should be for the coverage that they paid for their entire lives. And so it is so excruciating when you hear the same story over and over and over again from everyone, from the people you grew up with to their parents, their aunts and uncles, to a congressman.
LIN: Crazy. Crazy. What was, for you, the biggest surprise going home?
KOCH: At which point, the first week or after six months?
LIN: Yes, just -- I'm just wondering, you know, in the road in -- I mean, when I go out on a story I kind of anticipate, I kind of have a theater of the mind. And here you were going back to your hometown knowing that this story was going to be so much a part of your makeup.
KOCH: I guess the biggest surprise then was just how much of it was gone. I kept hoping that more of the town would have survived. But, again, not only, you know, was my home destroyed, but in every direction, north and south on the beach, and the whole downtown area, the old historic downtown just gone.
And then, when you went on around north of there, to an area called Cedar Pointe, which has water coming, you know, it's surrounded by water on two sides, every home gone, and just the vastness of it all. I knew that the beach area would be heavily damaged. But for the water to have roared inland seven miles over the I10 Interstate, was just astonishing.
LIN: You really appreciate the power of Mother Nature then.
Thanks, Kathleen.
KOCH: You bet.
LIN: Please join Kathleen for an emotional journey home when "CNN PRESENTS: Saving My Town," the fight for Bay St. Louis. It runs today on 8 eastern, right here on CNN.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Chris Lawrence live in the French Quarter where Mardi Gras parades are bringing an incredible energy back to New Orleans. We'll take you up close, coming up.
LIN: But is the revelry too much, too soon, for the cash- strapped city? I'm going to talk with the president of the New Orleans city counsel, next.
You're watching CNN LIVE SUNDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Here's what's happening right now in the news. Several U.S. lawmakers are questioning a deal giving management to six major U.S. ports to a company based in the United Arab Emirates. Some lawmakers fear the small Gulf nation isn't free of terrorist ties.
Officials on the Philippine island of Leyte are asking for prayers. Rescue crews comb through the wreckage of Friday's mudslide. So far, 72 bodies have been found. At least, well, more than 900 people are still missing.
And a winter chill is gripping the country from coast to coast. Tens of thousands of people in several states are without power. Officials in some areas say it could be Wednesday before everybody is back online.
New research suggests humans could be at risk of being overrun by diseases from the animal kingdom. Experts say in the past 25 years, 38 illnesses have made the jump from animals to humans.
Now someone in Nebraska holds a $365 million lottery ticket. The one and only winning ticket from last night's record jackpot was sold at a U-stop convenience store in Lincoln, Nebraska. Now after taxes, the cash payout would actually be $124 million.
Well, let's take look at the pictures there. The crowds are small, but the celebrations are larger than life at this year's Mardi Gras. The carnival season is in full swing in the big easy and CNN's Chris Lawrence is right in the middle of it. Chris, what's going on?
LAWRENCE: Carol, it's a little bit quieter now, but things definitely just so much energy down here in the French quarter today. Tons of dogs, like my little friend Chicka (ph) here and got the beads and like that and believe it or not, this little decoration is pretty tame compared to what we saw. Take a look. It was the Bark-Us parade, and if any parade ever lived up to its name, well, it was this one. In its 14th year, every breed of dog you could think of parading through the French quarter and the streets of New Orleans today, hundreds and maybe even thousands of families sitting outside cheering, getting beads, t-shirts, just an incredible amount of energy back in the city today.
A lot of people told us that a lot of these dogs had to survive hurricane Katrina and they've been through a lot as well and a lot of the money that the parade raised will go to animal welfare groups. Across town slightly different look in St. Bernard Parish, that area hit so hard. A lot of the massive property damage, a lot of the families who live there had to be relocated. They still can't live there.
And the goal of that parade, the only one of its kind in St. Bernard Parish during this year's Mardi Gras was really to get some of those folks back, even if only for a day, to come back to St. Bernard Parish and have a little bit of taste of home. The crew that put that together, the nights of nemesis, they originally planned that parade before hurricane Katrina and said they would not let the storm stop their plans. From everybody we talked to today, that seems to be the theme, that even though Katrina happened, everyone is aware of what they call the "Katrina funk" of looking back and always keeping on eye on what's happened and they feel like this Mardi Gras might be their chance to finally start looking ahead and maybe start really planning for the future. Carol.
LIN: And making new friends. It looks like Chicka's really taken to you Chris. Did you...
LAWRENCE: Yeah, yeah, she was abandoned, right, is that right? Yeah, she was rescued, like so many dogs here that we saw today. A lot of them were in pretty dire straits. So now she's got her beads on and she's ready to party.
LIN: What a little sweetie. Did you ask her how she got her beads?
LAWRENCE: Yeah.
LIN: Good friends all through town I'm sure. All right, thanks very much, Chris Lawrence.
All right. So for more than five months now after hurricane Katrina hit the city, Mardi Gras does roll on. So how do this year's celebrations differ from those in the past? Here's a look at the facts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LIN (voice-over): It's the 150th anniversary of Mardi Gras, but this year's party will be more of a toned-down affair, only eight days of parades instead of 16 and the parade routes have been modified. This year is the first time the city is seeking corporate sponsors to help pay for security and clean up. Trash bag maker Glad was the first sponsor to sign on. The company will donate 100,000 trash bags and coordinate volunteers for clean up, as well as donate an unspecified six figure sum to the city.
In normal years, Mardi Gras draws thousands of visitors to New Orleans, pumping an estimated $1 billion into the local economy. The city says it expects to have 25,000 hotel rooms ready. There were about 35,000 available rooms before Katrina hit. From the history books, did you know Mardi Gras is French for "fat Tuesday"? It's the Tuesday before ash Wednesday which is the start of the Christian season of Lent. The celebration usually starts two months before fat Tuesday. Mardi Gras has only been canceled a few times, mostly because of war. The crew (INAUDIBLE) adopted the traditional colors of purple, gold and green in 1872. The colors stand for justice, power and faith.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: So New Orleans could easily have canceled Mardi Gras this year. I mean everyone would have understood, but the folks who put it on, looked at it as an opportunity, hopes of boosting spirits and bringing in some cold hard cash to the city. Oliver Thomas, the president of the New Orleans city council is glad to see the tradition living on. Councilman, good to have you.
OLIVER THOMAS, NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL PRES: Carol, good to have you.
LIN: Are you enjoying the festivities?
THOMAS: Absolutely. I was just talking to (INAUDIBLE) my daughter Lea Thomas, we've been enjoying the parades, a lot of people are so upbeat. Chris was right when he talked about the atmosphere. Not as many people, but the spirit of the revelers, the energy is just as high as any other year.
LIN: It looks like everybody is having a great time.
THOMAS: We may be able to call this Katrina therapy.
LIN: That would be interesting, indeed. Councilman, how much did this cost the city to put Mardi Gras on?
THOMAS: Well, it didn't cost as much as it usually would, but, you know, our policemen are not working overtime. They're working shift work so that we can get the coverage during the shifts that they're on, but it's expensive but we're still going to generate several hundred million of revenue, very badly, much-needed money for the city coffers. This Mardi Gras is really probably not as much about the festivities as it is about trying to get our economy back, put people to work and use this atmosphere to tell the world that New Orleans is back open for business. That's real important right now.
LIN: And definitely we're trying to get that message across and the idea the council had of getting sponsors to sponsor Mardi Gras, but you only had one sponsor step up, Glad. Why don't you think more sponsors stepped forward? THOMAS: I think probably the timing. Hopefully some people will still step in and maybe kind of adopt the city.
LIN: Were you disappointed though?
THOMAS: Absolutely. I thought that given New Orleans' position in the world, the amount of corporate execs that have used us for their conventions and to bring their people in and we've shown them a good time, and all the worldwide exposure, I would have thought some of the billionaires and trillionaires around the world, some in corporations, would have stepped up to help us, but maybe that's just a sign of the times.
LIN: Well, do you think it's also a sign of the controversy surrounding how the government handled its response to hurricane Katrina? Maybe corporate America doesn't want to buy into that.
THOMAS: Well, if corporate America is going to punish the people here because of what a few officials do, whether it's the president, the governor or the mayor, then that's really unfortunate. I would hope that corporate America isn't that cold-blooded. It seems to me that the world is getting a little colder anyway, but not just because of the temperature, but because of the way people are treating each other. So if that's the way corporate executives around the world think, then they probably wouldn't have helped us anyway.
LIN: Councilman, political ambitions at stake here. Are you planning on running for mayor?
THOMAS: Well, right now I'm running for reelection as the council president at large. I think we know we need strong leaders at every position and it seems like everybody in the city is running for mayor already, anyway. So I don't want to be the 101st candidate.
LIN: How would you rate the current mayor, Ray Nagin, the job that he's doing?
THOMAS: Well, it's just not really up to me. It's up to -- he's going to find out how he's rated on April 22nd. So I'm going to find out how I'm rated on April 22nd. You know what I tell people, Carol? I said, look, if I'm not elected and New Orleans is a better city, I think my family wins. I think I win. I think people are putting too much importance into the kingships and queenships than to how everyday people contribute and hopefully, that'll change post-Katrina because it's people that matter, not elected officials.
LIN: Right. But Katrina has also brought forward the question of leadership. So a fair question indeed, but I'm going to have to leave it there, councilman, thank you so much.
THOMAS: Thank you Carol. Thank the guys very much. Happy Mardi Gras.
LIN: Happy Mardi Gras.
Now, in case you missed it, here are the highlights also from the Sunday morning talk shows. On CNN's "Late Edition," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said FEMA is now more capable, a more capable organization than it was before hurricane Katrina.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I'm not excusing the fact that planning and preparedness was not where it should be. We've known for 20 years about this hurricane, the possibility of this kind of hurricane. So all during the '90s and for the first half of this decade, we've had opportunities to get evacuation plans in place, better communications in place, but rather than look backward, my obligation now is to make sure we do a lot of the work we need to do between now and June 1st.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: On ABC's "This Week," Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman, the ranking minority member of the homeland security and government affairs committee blasted Chertoff as having failed during Katrina, and he went a step further.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN (D) CONNECTICUT: FEMA has become to too many people in America and particularly in the Gulf coast, a joke, a four- letter word. It's time for FEMA to go and build something better, stronger within DHS.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: On Fox news Sunday, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana agreed on the need for increased oversight of the NSA's wiretap program.
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SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: I do believe we can provide oversight in a meaningful way without compromising the program, and I am adamant that the courts have some role when it comes to warrants. If you're going to follow an American citizen around for an extended period of time, believing they're collaborating with the enemy, at some point in time you need to get some judicial review because mistakes can be made.
SEN. EVAN BAYH (D) INDIANA: It is in the administration's best interest to ensure that there is some neutral party overseeing matter overseeing this to make sure that it's done right. Otherwise you're going to have a number of Americans out there who incorrectly think that J. Edgar Hoover has been brought back to life and that there could be abuses taking place.
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LIN: And over at NBC's "Meet the Press," the subject was Vice President Dick Cheney's accidental shooting of hunting companion Harry Whittington. "New York Times" columnist Maureen Dowd saw it very differently than Cheney advisor Mary Matalin.
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MAUREEN DOWD, NEW YORK TIMES COLUMNIST: It covered all the problems of the Bush/Cheney administration - secrecy and stonewalling, then blowing off the rules that are at the heart of our democracy, then using a filter to try and put the truth out in a way that would most suit their political needs and then bad political judgment in bungling a crisis.
MARY MATALIN, CHENEY ADVISER: not undermining the hallmarks of the democratic institution of freedom of the press, but it's much ado about nothing, or in the words of Harry Whittington, what's all the hoopla about?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Remember, every Sunday at 7:00 Eastern, CNN's going to bring you the best headlines from the Sunday talk show circuit.
Now, when voters hear their favorite politicians say something less than factual, what happens to their support?
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the remarkable thing was that the brain found a way to deny the contradiction.
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LIN: We're going to tell you about a fascinating new study, which suggests truth doesn't really matter to diehard political party supporters.
And as Hamas takes control, Israel ups the ante. Coming up, I'll tell you how tough Israel has decided to play it.
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LIN: Israel digs in its heels a day after the new Palestinian parliament is sworn in. Shanon Cook has that story and other international headlines. Shanon.
SHANON COOK, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Carol, thanks very much. Today, some pretty tough talking from Israel. It said it simply will not deal with the new Hamas-led Palestinian government. And it's immediately halting tax revenue payments to the Palestinian authority. Acting Prime Minister (INAUDIBLE) said the Palestinian Authority is becoming a terrorist authority, now that Hamas is in charge. But the Israeli government's sanctions weren't perhaps as tough as they could have been. They won't for instance, seal off the Gaza strip or cut funds to humanitarian organizations.
Now there were more angry protests over cartoons of the prophet Mohammed today. Thousands demonstrated in Turkey, calling for a boycott of products from Denmark where the cartoons were first published.
And in Pakistan, police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd of protesters there. They also arrested hundreds of Islamic hardliners, this after authorities had ordered a ban on protests.
All right, turning our attention to Italy now, where Austrian athletes competing in the Olympics were the target of a rigorous drug raid. Authorities barged into the living quarters of the Austrian biathlon and cross country teams late last night. Materials were seized and 10 athletes were whisked off for drug tests, just hours before some of them had to compete. The raid was ordered by the international Olympics Committee after it learned that a coach who was banned from the games over a 2002 doping scandal, visited the Austrian team.
All right. Moving over to London now, where movie stars walked the red carpet to see who'd win at the BAFTA awards. The BAFTA's Britain's equivalent to the Oscars and of whom "Brokeback Mountain" stole the spotlight. It scooped four awards, including best film and best director, and actor Jake Gyllenhaal won best supporting actor. Carol, the BAFTA's are sometimes viewed as a barometer for who might win at the Academy Awards, so you could say it's looking pretty good for "Brokeback Mountain."
LIN: Hey, what about George Clooney? How did he do?
COOK: Well, he was nominated for four awards, but he went home empty-handed, probably a bit of a disappointment for him. He was nominated for best supporting actor for "Syriana" as well as best actor, sorry, best director for "Good Night and Good Luck," but no dice. I have a feeling at the Academy Awards here in the U.S. he'll pick up one.
LIN: OK, We'll find out. Thanks Shanon.
COOK: Thank you.
LIN: When it comes to politics, do people think with their heads or their hearts? Now there is scientific evidence of how some world- changing decisions are made. And you might be really surprised. Up next, political brains under the microscope.
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LIN: Tomorrow is Presidents' Day. Historians at the University of Louisville say it's important to remember our leaders sometimes make mistakes, whoppers in fact. They say the worst presidential blunder was James Buchanan's failure to prevent the civil war. Andrew Johnson's policy after the civil war was number two. After that, Lyndon Johnson for Vietnam. Woodrow Wilson for the treaty of Versailles, and Richard Nixon for Watergate, James Madison for the war of 1812 and Thomas Jefferson for the Embargo Act of 1807, John F. Kennedy for the Bay of Pigs and Ronald Reagan for Iran/contra. Now historians say Bill Clinton earned the number 10 spot due to the Monica Lewinsky scandal. No doubt, their supporters all forgave them, rationalizing away all those mistakes. Research shows that exactly -- that's exactly what partisans do, when faced with their candidates' flaws, but there's more science behind that now. CNN's Daniel Sieberg reports.
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DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What's happening in the heads of these political devotes. No doubt emotions are running high and the pleasure centers of the brain are firing. Now research shows these sorts of feelings continue in committed partisans even when the party's over and they're making hard decisions about politicians.
Emory University researchers conducted brain scans on 15 diehard Democrats and 15 deep-rooted republicans during the 2004 presidential campaign, pitting President Bush against John Kerry. Lead researcher Drew Weston says the study found emotions ruled over facts, when the partisans were faced with contradictory statements made by their candidates.
PROF. DREW WESTEN, EMORY UNIVERSITY: The remarkable thing was that the brain found a way to deny the contradiction.
SIEBERG: To see how the research was conducted, I agreed to have my head examined just like the other study participants. Inside an MRI machine, I was shown statements attributed to Bush and Kerry. After each statement, another slide showed how the candidate later contradicted himself, suggesting he was less than honest. Then a slide asked participants to push buttons to register how contradictory the statements were. The findings - well, Kerry supporters had no trouble recognizing the Bush contradictions and vice versa, but when partisans were confronted with inconsistent statements from their own candidates, brain circuits involving distress, emotional conflict and memory retrieval fired out.
WESTEN: It looked like this part of the brain, these emotion centers, are recruiting memories and essentially twirling the cognitive kaleidoscope until the brain could find a solution to the problem that would be non-threatening.
SIEBERG: The researchers also found that after the participants rationalized away the contradiction, the brain's pleasure circuits lit up, a sort of political high, but through all of this, circuits governing logic and reason never fired. Westen says these findings are good news for the Republican Party.
WESTEN: I don't mean to say this as a partisan, I'm actually not partisan to the Republicans, but they are much more sophisticated in their understanding of how an emotion-driven mind works. Republicans understand that if you want to win, you win in the marketplace of the emotions. And the Democrats keep trying to appeal to the facts and the evidence. And it doesn't win them votes.
SIEBERG: But political analysts caution that it takes more than emotion to win votes. AMY WALTER, COOK POLITICAL REPORT: There's absolutely no doubt that emotion plays a role in voting behavior. It's not a purely logical behavior, but at the same time I think there are a multitude of factors that go into the way that people make their decisions about how to vote. Cultural, ideological, geographic ethnic, considerations I think are also very important.
SIEBERG: So if you want to make sure you're basing your political decisions on facts and not emotion, Westen has a suggestion for activating the reasoning centers of the brain. He says you should imagine if you were from the other party, what arguments would you make then? In other words, put your thinking cap on. Daniel Sieberg, CNN, Atlanta.
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LIN: Now, coming up, an emotional reporter from CNN correspondent Kathleen Koch. She takes a journey to her hometown to find out how her community is dealing with the devastation of hurricane Katrina. You might be shocked to see what she found. That's coming up next on "CNN PRESENTS."
Then at 9:00 Eastern, they helped bring down a presidency. Find out what Woodward and Bernstein think about Dick Cheney's latest media maelstrom on "Larry King Live" tonight. And I'll be back as 10:00 Eastern with the woman who claims her family is the inspiration for the hit TV series "The Sopranos." Find out what it's like to be a real life mafia wife. The hour's headlines when I come back and then "CNN PRESENTS."
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