Bush's State of the Union Defends Old Policies, Offers Small Proposals; New Orleans Residents Disappointed with Short Shrift in Speech
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Good morning. I'm Soledad O'Brien in Washington, D.C., this morning. The president begins the sixth year of his presidency with an upbeat message to the nation.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Tonight the state of our union is strong, and together we will make it stronger.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Does it really set the tone for what comes next? What is the state of the union in states hit by Hurricane Katrina? The president's message to hurricane victims perhaps too little, too late.</s>MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Good morning, I'm Miles O'Brien in New York. Stunning pictures out of the West Bank this morning. Israelis battling Israelis over an illegal settlement. And an Iraq war vet shot by police in California. He's unarmed, too. It's all caught on camera. We'll take a closer look ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING. And welcome to a split edition of AMERICAN MORNING. Good to have you with us -- Soledad.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Good morning, everybody. I'm reporting this morning from Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. Obviously, you can see it right behind me. Shaping up to be a beautiful day here in Washington, D.C. President Bush is going to leave for Tennessee in just about two hours. He's out trying to build support for his State of the Union message. It's a message that was pretty long on defense of old positions, a little bit short, some people say, on the kind of major new proposals that he's made in the past. Let's get right to Suzanne Malveaux, live for us at the White House. Hey, Suzanne, good morning.</s>SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. You're absolutely right, there were no major proposals, perhaps some small modest ones. And the president's message was really quite clear. He's trying to convince American people that the U.S. has to stay engaged, whether or not it's on the economy or the global war on terror. The big question, of course, Soledad, is whether or not the American people are going to buy it.</s>MALVEAUX (voice-over): This year President Bush struck a noticeably conciliatory tone, beginning with the recognition of the passing of a civil rights icon.</s>BUSH: We are grateful for the good life of Coretta Scott King.</s>MALVEAUX: Then offering an olive branch to the Democrats.</s>BUSH: We must act in a spirit of good will and respect for one another, and I will do my part. Tonight the state of our union is strong, and together we will make it stronger.</s>MALVEAUX: But the gloves quickly came off, the president playing to what polls consistently show is his greatest strength, national security. Mr. Bush aggressively defended his administration's Iraq policy, refusing to bring U.S. troops home prematurely. And he slammed his critics for not having an alternative.</s>BUSH: Hindsight alone is not wisdom. And second-guessing not a strategy.</s>MALVEAUX: He defended his controversial domestic spying program as essential to protecting the country.</s>BUSH: If there are people inside our country who are talking with al Qaeda, we want to know about it.</s>MALVEAUX: For those who thought the commander in chief was just a little bit defensive...</s>BUSH: We remain on the offensive against terror networks. On the offense in Afghanistan. On the offensive in Iraq.</s>MALVEAUX: ... to prove the point, the president issued stern warnings to terrorists in dangerous regimes overseas.</s>BUSH: And the nations of the world must not permit the Iranian regime to gain nuclear weapons.</s>MALVEAUX: On the domestic front the president vowed to make Americans more competitive by offering initiatives to train teachers, ease health care costs and support research for technology. And in an ironic twist, the former Texas oil man introduced his plan to support alternative sources of energy this way.</s>BUSH: America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world. The best way to break this addiction is through technology.</s>MALVEAUX: And despite the president's message...</s>BUSH: A hopeful society. A hopeful society. A hopeful society.</s>MALVEAUX: ... Congress was clearly divided.</s>BUSH: Congress did not act last year on my proposal to save Social Security.</s>MALVEAUX: When Mr. Bush acknowledged the centerpiece of his agenda last year, reforming Social Security, had failed, he was interrupted with wild applause from the Democrats. But Republicans took to their feet when he expressed resolve.</s>BUSH: Yet the rising costs of entitlements is not -- is a problem that is not going away.</s>MALVEAUX: And of course, President Bush is taking his show on the road today. His first stop is going to be Nashville, Tennessee. Why Nashville, Tennessee, we keep asking? The Grand Ole Opry, isn't that bad? (ph) But also somewhat of a nod, as well, to the leadership of the Republican Party and others who have been involved in some of those initiatives the president highlighted last night -- Soledad.</s>S. O'BRIEN: For all the talk about bipartisanship, to see that exchange between those Democrats standing up and cheering, and then, of course, Republicans standing up in response a few moments later, you know, you've got to wonder if they're going to get there.</s>MALVEAUX: It was a moment perhaps the president calling for unity. But shortly afterwards it was really quite obvious that these are parties that are very much divided.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes. Yes. All right, Suzanne. Thanks.</s>MALVEAUX: Sure.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about New Orleans now. A lot of people in New Orleans today are wondering what happened. They listened to President Bush, 47 minutes, before they heard just a brief mention of their city.</s>BUSH: ... in New Orleans and in other places many of our fellow citizens have felt excluded from the promise of our country. The answer is not only temporary relief but schools that teach every child and job skills that bring upward mobility and more opportunities to own a home and start a business.</s>S. O'BRIEN: The president spoke for less than a minute about New Orleans. Didn't offer any new money or any new aid. AMERICAN MORNING'S Dan Lothian is live for us this morning in Jackson Square in the French Quarter. Hey, Dan, good morning to you. What's the reaction in New Orleans after this speech?</s>DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Soledad. In one word, disappointment. People feel that they were simply a footnote in that speech, that it was essentially a slap in the face, especially because the president came here shortly after the storm to Jackson Square in September, and he told the folks that he would do whatever it took to get this city back on its feet. The newspaper this morning pointing out, I guess, the feelings of those here, "No new promises for New Orleans from Bush." And it goes on to talk about how he only had about seven sentences towards the end of his speech focusing on this region. What's interested -- interesting is that there's also a lot of disappointment from lawmakers from this state, both Republicans and Democrats, who felt that, given the scope of this devastation, that the president would have spent -- and should have spent a lot more time talking about it during his speech. Even Ray Nagin, Mayor Ray Nagin, who himself has been criticized for his actions, talked about that on "ANDERSON COOPER 360."</s>MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: I'm not sure if it's Katrina fatigue or what. I will tell you this, that the job is not getting done quick enough. We have so many residents that are still spread out all over the country. We have so many housing needs, and the dollars and the resources are just not there to get the job done. And we need to double and triple and quadruple our efforts.</s>LOTHIAN: Some residents told me that they don't believe that they can get the full attention of Washington until all of those lawmakers come here and see the devastation first hand -- Soledad.</s>S. O'BRIEN: They certainly have been pushing for that. Residents obviously, clearly frustrated with the lack of progress. How bad is it right now, Dan?</s>LOTHIAN: Well, it is still pretty bad. In fact, many of the people simply haven't returned. There was some 465,000 people in New Orleans. And so far, only about 115,000 people have returned. There's also the issue of housing. More than 200,000 homes were destroyed. People have requested some 65,000 FEMA trailers. But fewer than 2,000 people have -- are living in those trailers. And you know, something else that we noticed, Soledad, as we were driving around yesterday is that you still find a lot of traffic lights that still aren't working at the intersections. You also will find that many of the schools and the hospitals are still closed. So while there has been a lot of progress -- we've seen a lot of trash picked up, we've seen businesses reopening -- there's still a long way to go.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Clearly. All right. Dan Lothian for us this morning. Thanks, Dan. CNN is going to have live coverage of the Senate hearing on Hurricane Katrina. That begins at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. And New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is going to testify this morning. He was on "ANDERSON COOPER," as you saw that clip a minute ago, "ANDERSON COOPER 360" last night. Of course, you can catch all the day's events this evening, starting at 10 p.m. Eastern on "ANDERSON COOPER 360" -- Miles.</s>M. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Soledad. Let's get over to Carol in the newsroom. Good morning, Carol.</s>CAROL COSTELLO, ANCHOR: Morning Miles, good morning to all of you. Israel now evicting settlers in the West Bank for the first time since the summer, and it is not going well. These are pictures from the scene there. We just got new ones in just a short time ago. You see Israeli security in riot gear. And you can see women and children being led away crying. Guy Raz says protesters threw stones and steel rods at Israeli security forces. They, in turn, used batons and water canisters to subdue the crowds. More than 160 demonstrators were taken to hospitals. Saddam Hussein is boycotting his own trial. He and his lawyers were a no-show at today's hearing. They want the new chief judge to step down, claiming he is biased. The hearing began just hours after a suicide bombing ripped through Baghdad. At least three people were killed, more than 60 others injured. The FBI now taking a very close look at a videotape that appears to show a California police officer shooting an unarmed man. Take a look at the video. It's disturbing, I want to warn you.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get up (ph).</s>COSTELLO: As you can see from these pictures, the man and the officer are talking. And then the officer shoots the man several times. It all went down after a high-speed chase. Authorities say the man in the video was a passenger in the car involved in that chase. The man, by the way, is an Air Force security officer just home from Iraq. He was shot in three different places. But he's said to be in good condition this morning. That massive fire still burning out of control here in New York City in the Bronx. We've been watching this fire since it broke out more than two hours ago. We've watched it go from a three-alarm to a four-alarm to a five-alarm. It's now burned through more than half of this six-story apartment building. Flames are shooting through the roof. It's now a six-alarm fire. And we're told a six-alarm fire is pretty darn rare. So far we're hearing that one person has been hurt, but those injuries are described as minor. And we could learn today about the funeral arrangements for Coretta Scott King. A hearse carried the coffin to a funeral home in Atlanta earlier today. Georgia's governor has offered to let her body lie in state in the capital building in Atlanta. Mrs. King was last seen in public last month, marking Martin Luther King Day celebrations. The widow of the slain civil rights leader died on Monday. She was 78 years old. The Enron trial is shaping up to be fascinating. Some reports describe the defense's opening statement as a fine example of trash talking. In fact, Ken Lay's lead attorney said whoever wrote the indictment against Lay had some kind of nervous disorder. So a fiery opening at the Enron fraud trial. Lay and Jeffrey Skilling are set to be in court today when the first witnesses take the stand, and they will listen as their former colleagues talk about what went on at the company. And you can't stop the music in New Orleans. I think that would be impossible. That fabulous jazz festival that happens every year will, indeed, take place this year, despite hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Shell Oil Company has agreed to sponsor this year's event. The lineup, the full lineup, will be announced later this month, but ain't no shame in this. New Orleans native Fats Domino will be in the lineup. After all, he is on this year's jazz fest posters, and his house was also damaged during Hurricane Katrina, so he'll be front and center, Miles.</s>M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you, Carol. But nothing on the poster referencing Katrina. It's kind of interesting. Isn't it? All right. Let's get to the forecast now, and Chad Myers has a speaking engagement, so he's moved on. He's got a better gig.</s>JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, the American Meteorological Society is holding their conference here.</s>M. O'BRIEN: That's big. That's big.</s>JERAS: Yes.</s>M. O'BRIEN: Well, there you go. So he's addressing them. And Jacqui Jeras, it's good to see you. Good morning.</s>S. O'BRIEN: It doesn't sound good. All right, Jacqui. Thanks. Ahead this morning, there were two official Democratic responses to last night's State of the Union address, one was in English, one was in Spanish. The mayor of Los Angeles gave the Spanish version. We're going to ask him what he thought was missing from the president's speech. Then later, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan is back in the news, this time for a T-shirt she wore to the State of the Union address. Got her arrested. Did she really break the law? We'll take a look at that ahead. Stay with us.