AWOL Cops In New Orleans Lose Their Jobs
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...</s>BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let that sit for a minute, 23rd.</s>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.</s>NGUYEN: I can't wait.</s>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</s>CNN SATURDAY MORNING. NGUYEN: Somebody's awake.</s>HARRIS: It is October 29th. And good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>KARL ROVE, SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BUSH: I'm going to have a great Friday and a fantastic weekend. I hope you do, too.</s>MALVEAUX: Karl Rove, the president's top political adviser, escaped indictment today. But his lawyer says he remains under investigation.</s>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.</s>MALVEAUX: A beleaguered Mr. Bush, departing for his Camp David retreat, tried to soften the blow.</s>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.</s>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."</s>BUSH: I look forward to working with Congress on policies to keep this economy moving.</s>MALVEAUX: For President Bush, the strategy is to pivot towards his political agenda.</s>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.</s>KEN DUBERSTEIN, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Certainly, he needs some fresh blood. He needs to focus on big, bold things.</s>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.</s>HARRIS: Suzanne, you watched this whole thing unfold yesterday. You've been watching this thing for months, a couple of years now.</s>MALVEAUX: Years.</s>HARRIS: Yes, yes, a couple of years.</s>MALVEAUX: Years.</s>HARRIS: Hey, now that the indictment is out there, what question do you still have and who do you want to ask it of?</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>HARRIS: What?</s>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?</s>HARRIS: That's wrong. Betty, it's just wrong.</s>NGUYEN: What does that have to do with beer, anyways?</s>HARRIS: It's some kind of violation of something, OK? Good taste, maybe.</s>NGUYEN: Right.</s>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.</s>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</s>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.