Duke Lacrosse Team Rape Case; A Day Without Immigrants
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And meltdown in the roof of the world. A glacier in Tibet is melting, changing the weather, offering more proof the planet is warming, on this AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.</s>SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Soledad O'Brien. We start this morning with some new developments for the Duke lacrosse team and a decision on the team's future. There will be a next season. A university committee says that while they found a pattern of misconduct, it's not enough to warrant disbanding the team. Listen.</s>PROF. JAMES E. COLEMAN JR. COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: You know, sexual assaults, we didn't find, you know, harassment. That was not the nature of the misconduct. And so in our judgment, based on the record that we reviewed, it didn't warrant suspension or termination of the program. The conduct of the lacrosse players did not differ from the misconduct of other students who drink too much and unfairly impose upon their neighbors.</s>O'BRIEN: Well, here is what the committee report did find. They found a large number of players have been socially irresponsible, that the players need strict monitoring, because of the their alcohol- related problems. They report also says, though, that the team performed well both athletically and academically. The university committee did not take into account the current rape allegations, instead focusing on the team's behavior over the past five years. The Duke report coming out the same day attorneys for one of the team members charged in connection with the rape called for the removal of the district attorney in the case, who coincidentally is seeking another term in office. AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho has our story.</s>ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Today's election is important, because if D.A. Michael Nifong loses, he could be out of office before the trial of the two Duke lacrosse players even begins. Regardless, defense attorneys want him off the case. In one of 12 motions Monday, an attorney representing one of the suspects said, in Nifong's zeal to make national headlines and win a hotly contested primary, he intentionally ignored evidence.</s>MICHAEL NIFONG, DURHAM D.A.: There are some lawyers who there way of trying a case in the media is not to call press conferences, but to simply file motions, court papers that contain outrageous or false statements, and assume that people report them as if they were facts.</s>CHO: Yet Freda Black, who wants Nifong's job, some say the D.a. is most interested in winning the election.</s>FREDA BLACK, DURHAM D.A. CANDIDATE: I've had a number of people suggest to me that because he did not have name recognition price to the lacrosse case, that he tried to use this case in order to obtain recognition, name recognition, to try to beat me.</s>CHO: The two Duke suspects, sophomores Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty await a court appearance on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual assault. A lawyer for Seligmann has just admitted what he says are time-stamped photos, showing his client was at ATM making a withdrawal at the time he says alleged rape occurred. The prosecution has not responded. Nifong is pressing ahead, and says he is looking to charge a third suspect. Alina Cho, CNN.</s>S. O'BRIEN: The New Black Panther Party and some area residents held a rally in Durham on Monday to support the accuser in the case. They weren't allowed to march across the Duke campus. Instead, they went to the house where the alleged attack took place. They're calling for the house to be turned into a rape crisis center -- Miles.</s>M. O'BRIEN: A Security Watch now. The agency created in the aftermath of 9/11 to keep us safer from terrorism may not be doing the job. The former internal watchdog for Homeland Security says the agency makes us only margin marginally safer. Clark Kent Ervin charges in a new book that the agency has not corrected security problems at airports and along the borders, as well as in mass transit systems. He accuses Tom Ridge, the first head of the agency, on being more focused on fighting critics than terrorists. Ervin's book is called "Open Target: Where America is Vulnerable to Terrorism." We will talk with him in the 8:00 Eastern hour. Be sure to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security. Protesters seeking amnesty for illegal immigrants skipped work, took to the streets all over the nation yesterday. The total head count, somewhere around a million people. Unclear if it caused more than a small ding on the U.S. economy, however. Carol Costello now live in the newsroom with more. Hello, Carol.</s>CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Miles. Good morning to all of you. It is back to business as usual today for scores of immigrants and their supporters after huge crowds packed the streets and cities from coast to coast Monday. The protests designed to show Americans just what they missed in A Day Without Immigrants.</s>MYR. ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA, LOS ANGELES: I am so proud to be an American! We are all proud to be Americans today. Fly your flag with pride!</s>COSTELLO (voice-over): Flag-waving immigrants, legal and illegal, turned out in force for two major rallies in Los Angeles. In all, some 600,000 demonstrators hit the L.A. streets Monday. The city's mayor insisting there's strength in those numbers, saying their voices must be heard.</s>VILLARAIGOSA: We say to the Congress, listen to us. We are America! We want to be a part of the dream. We love this country!</s>COSTELLO: In Las Vegas, a day and evening of demonstrations, with some 10,000 people punctuating the day's massive protest. Many of those at the evening rally worked during the day, and hit the streets after they clocked out.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are at a crossroads.</s>COSTELLO: It was billed as a national day without immigrants. And many heeded the call to flex their economic muscle by staying home from work, from school and out of stores.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's important that we do a boycott today, to show that we are important.</s>COSTELLO: A sea of protesters from sea to shining sea. In Chicago, more than 300,000 marched to a rally in Grant Park. Attendance was down as much as 33 percent at predominantly Hispanic schools. In Denver, a two-mile march to the state capital drew more than 50,000 demonstrators. In New York, protesters formed a series of human chains in the city's five burroughs, then marched to the federal courthouse in Manhattan. In South Florida, several thousand protesters gathered in Homestead, which has a large Mexican community. And in San Francisco, an estimated 55,000 people took to the streets. Many businesses in the traditionally Mexican mission district were closed.</s>LUCY HOROWITZ, PROTEST SUPPORTER: I think the people who come here illegally in order to support their families back home, in order to make a living for themselves, are very brave and noble people, and I admire them enormously.</s>O'BRIEN: But not all immigrants agree with Monday's action. One group spoke out against the mass protests and the reasons behind them.</s>COL. ALBERTO F. RODRIGUEZ, U.S. ARMY (RET.): We're all here today to tell those illegal protesters, you do not speak for me.</s>O'BRIEN: People in Mexico City also showed their support for the U.S. rallies, calling for a boycott of hundreds of U.S. businesses operating south of the border. We'll see what happens today, later today. Back to you, Soledad.</s>S. O'BRIEN: All right, Carol, thank you. A mass disruption, that's what's being predicted by Washington if bird flu pandemic actually hits the U.S. Washington D.C. coming up with a report. An early copy of the report includes quarantines and limits on travel. No mention, though, of borders being shutdown yet. The White House is expected to release full details tomorrow. Seven minutes past the hour. Time to check CNN's Gas Gauge this morning. The U.S. energy secretary says we're in an energy crisis. The White House agrees. Listen to Scott McClellan here.</s>SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY.: This is an issue that has been building for decades. This is a problem we didn't get into overnight, and we're not going to get out of overnight. We are dependent on foreign oil.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Despite concerns about gas prices, the White House press secretary says the economy is doing well. Government figures show spending increased by 2/10 of a percent in February. Checking the latest average gas price, $2.92 for unleaded regular. A month ago, that was $2.55. And one year ago it was $2.23. Schools in Rhea County in Tennessee are expected to reopen this morning after being closed on Monday and last Friday, all in an effort to save money on gas for the school busses. The school system officials estimate that two days of canceled classes will save somewhere between $4,000 and $5,000. Pretty much what they did was take over those snow days. And remember Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's plan for a one- time only $100 rebate? Well, he says he still wants to do it. He's backing off, though, from going for a tax increase on oil companies and other businesses to fund it. The rebate would cost about $10 billion. Senator Frist is going to talk to us about how he's going to fund it now. That proposal coming up in our next hour when we talk to him live -- Miles.</s>S. O'BRIEN: No break from global warming. Greenhouse gases have increased. The government reports more carbon monoxide from cars and coal-burning power plants went into the air in 2005 than in 2004. Ten states, plus New York City and Washington D.C., are suing the EPA for not doing enough to limit emission. That can lead to global warming. To China now, where that country says global warming is causing its glaciers to melt, and that could lead to drought and sandstorms. Global warming is also related to stronger hurricanes and intense heatwaves.</s>M. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, cellphone cameras, part of a cruel crime spree in Britain. Take a look at this video. They call this happy slapping. There's nothing happy about it, though. We'll explain in a moment.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Also ahead this morning, run, Rudy, run. Is the former of New York City mayor taking some small steps toward a big leap in 2008? We've got a political reality check just ahead this morning.</s>M. O'BRIEN: And David Blaine's underwater world. We'll explain this latest stunt, and we will ask the question, why? It's the only question that comes to mind really. What else is making news this Tuesday morning, you ask? We have the answer.