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CNN Live At Daybreak
Twenty Days to Go to Iraq's Elections; Storm Strain; Ayad Allawi News Conference
Aired January 10, 2005 - 06:28 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to the last half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Kelly Wallace in for Carol Costello.
"Now in the News."
The Palestinians are going to have a new leader. In about a half-hour, officials are expected to declare Mahmoud Abbas the winner of yesterday's presidential election. We will talk to a top Palestinian lawmaker in just a few minutes.
We are learning more this morning about alleged waste and mismanagement in a major U.N. program. Newly-revealed U.N. audits into the oil-for-food program for Iraq show a string of overpayments to contractors. The program ran for seven years.
A U.S. nuclear sub is docked at a naval base in Guam this morning two days after a deadly accident. The sub hit the ocean floor in the Western Pacific. One sailor died. More than 20 others are hurt.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WALLACE: Turning now to Iraq. The national election is now just 20 short days away. And as that day, January 30, draws near, insurgents appear to be working overtime. This morning, Baghdad's deputy police chief and his son were gunned down as they left home. And that's not all.
To Baghdad now and CNN's Chris Lawrence.
And, Chris, we understand that the Iraq prime minister, Ayad Allawi, has scheduled a news conference for moments from now. What are we expecting from that news conference?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we expect to hear a lot of information about security and the election. Those are sure to be the two topics that everyone is most concerned about, especially after the targeted violence that we have seen over the weekend leading right up until the last few hours.
Just this morning, explosives were detonated at a girls' high school here in Baghdad. And in that same neighborhood, an insurgent was killed -- excuse me -- an insurgent was killed while he was trying to blow up a boys' middle school.
Now, no children were hurt, but both of those schools were being prepped to be used as voting centers in the election.
And some of the targets that have been targeted have been even more specific. Also earlier this morning, the deputy police chief of the Baghdad police was going to work with his son, who is also a member of the force. From what the police tell us, two cars pulled up parallel to theirs and opened fire with machine guns and killed them both.
As all of this was happening, a suicide bomber drove his car right into the main gate of another police station. That explosion killed seven Iraqis, some of them policemen, some of them possibly civilians.
In all of this violence that's coming after a weekend where four other high-ranking Iraqi police officers or officials were assassinated, and many of the soldiers on the ground say they see a definite pattern of violence designed to keep people away from the polls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PFC. JONATHAN LUCAS, U.S. ARMY: Lately we've been seeing a lot more of "the mujahideen lives" on walls. We've been seeing it at other places around where we operate. So, it's starting to pick up probably. I don't know. We're sort of worrying about those elections coming up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: (AUDIO GAP) here in Narafta (ph). You can take a look now at a live picture of the room where President Ayad Allawi is scheduled to speak any moment now. This news conference was postponed from yesterday.
The election is expected to be a big topic there, because you need two things to have a successful election here: (1), people have to feel safe enough to walk into the polling station without fear of being killed, you need local police officers to provide that security. These attacks over the last few days have been designed to undercut both of those -- Kelly.
WALLACE: All right, Chris, thanks so much.
And we want to let our viewers know that we plan to take here on DAYBREAK live coverage of the news conference by Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. As soon as that gets under way, we'll bring that to you.
Back here in this country, the best we can say is that this Los Angeles-area man is still alive. But as you can see, he went through hell to get there. Firefighters rescued three children from atop their car, but the man and his car was swept two miles downstream. They finally got him, but only after the raging water tore away his pants. At least eight deaths are blamed on this relentless storm.
Well, the torrential rain in Los Angeles turned into heavy wet snow in the mountains. Up to 19 feet of snow, if you can believe it, in the Sierras over the weekend.
CNN's Jason Bellini, you can say, is up to his whatever in it in South Lake, Tahoe.
Jason, what is it looking like out there on this Monday morning?
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kelly, the snow has finally let up just a little bit. No one is expecting this to last very long. This town has been just pummeled over the weekend. Locals I've talked to described this as an epic snowstorm. And this is an area that, of course, is very used to snow. They depend on it for their livelihood, which are the ski resorts in this area.
Now, I want to show you some pictures that we shot over the weekend. I went out with some California Transit Authority people, where they were setting off some controlled blasts to set of avalanches near the road. They had to shut off all of the roads leading up to some of these ski resorts due to avalanche danger.
When I was out there, we saw an avalanche that had gone down onto the road, put eight feet of snow on the road. So very happy they were able to set that avalanche off before there were motorists on the road.
And also yesterday I managed to get up onto the slopes and to see what skiers were doing. It's very thick, heavy snow on the mountain. I went to Heavenly Resort and saw skiers out in the powder. Heavenly is boasting of eight feet of fresh powder from this storm.
Another resort, Kirkwood (ph), says they got 30 inches of powder, fresh powder right now for their skiers. Kirkwood (ph) was one of those resorts that was closed the entire weekend. Heavenly, part of the mountain was shut down because of the high winds and, of course, the avalanche danger.
And you may also be seeing a picture of where I was skiing with the camera. And I took a little bit of a spill there, and my bosses will be happy to know that the camera is just fine -- Kelly.
WALLACE: If they're watching you, Jason, you have some great moves there on the slopes. A question for you, though. Is it sort of too much of a good thing? Because, as you said, the slopes had to be closed down. I would imagine it must be very difficult for anyone who wants to ski to get to the slopes.
BELLINI: That's certainly the case here at the hotel where I'm staying. I've talked to some people who were very unhappy that their vacation was hurt by the heavy snow. They weren't able to go to the mountains over the weekend. They were inside by the fireplace drinking hot chocolate all weekend.
And then finally, yesterday, they were able to go up the mountains, but it's very difficult skiing conditions for people, because the snow is so thick, so deep. It's not packed down yet, and the snow just keeps on coming. And this town is now bracing itself for several more feet of snow that they're expecting to come. This town is under a winter storm warning until 4:00 on Tuesday -- Kelly.
WALLACE: All right, Jason, we'll be watching. Thanks so much. Jason Bellini reporting from South Lake Tahoe in California.
Well, one of our top stories this morning is the Palestinian election, and "AMERICAN MORNING" is continuing our coverage at the top of the hour. Bill Hemmer now joins us with a look ahead.
Good to see you -- Bill. What's on tap this morning?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Kelly, good morning to you as well. Much more on what's happening in the Middle East on this Palestinian election. Is Mahmoud Abbas the man to get the peace process restarted and back on track? You ask a different expert, Kelly, you'll get a different answer. They say peace, though, will not be Abbas' first priority. If that is the case, what is the first priority? An Israeli journalist and a Palestinian commentator join us with their thoughts, top of the hour here on a Monday edition of "AMERICAN MORNING." A very busy morning, too.
We'll take you out to California, Kelly, too, and talk about that snow and also an amazing rescue that you've been talking about for the past hour and a half, too. So, we will see you at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time -- Kelly.
WALLACE: All right, a busy news morning.
HEMMER: Yes.
WALLACE: And really fascinating what is going on in the Middle East right now, Bill.
HEMMER: That's so true, yes.
WALLACE: OK. Thanks so much.
The tsunami in Southeast Asia is now devastating the natural habitats of several different species. How long will the recovery take? Jack Hanna of the Columbus Zoo joins us next here on DAYBREAK.
Plus, paying a college tuition or two is no easy task as most of you know. We will give you some tips on how to get the most financial aid possible.
But first, here is a look at what else is making news this Monday morning, January 10.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: We want to take you now to Baghdad, Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi with a news conference. Let's listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS) AYAD ALLAWI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): ... to talk with you about a very important subject concerning the continuous efforts in arresting and detaining terrorists.
Today, I would like to talk to you about another group arrested here in Iraq, which is the leadership of what is called the Mohammed Army. We had previous talks with the subjects. The Mohammed Army is a terrorist group responsible for killing many Iraqis and non-Iraqis and many beheading crimes. And many of them worked for the previous regime, for the Baathist regime.
During November, last November, we announced the arrest of Moyaid Ahmed Yassein (ph), whose picture is shown on the screen. He was the leader of the Mohammed (ph) Army, and he is still confessing and admitting his crimes. And he will stand trial soon.
Since that date, this terrorist group has assigned a new leader called Arat Aduri (ph), whose photo is shown on the screen. He is now in our custody, and he is providing us with very important information.
We have also arrested a person called Mohammed Aduri (ph) shown here.
This indicates the growing capabilities of our forces in foiling such attempts and in dealing with such terrorist groups. And I would like to tell you that each time they assign a new leader for these terrorist groups they will be detained. They will be captured. And they will face trials.
Right now, they are giving information and testimonies about the crimes they committed. And also they give us information about some of their intended crimes (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
I'm sure you have noticed an escalation of violence in Iraq, but we would like to show that we are committed to facing these difficulties with cooperation with the multinational forces where we are determined to take out such groups and to capture and detain their leadership and present them for trial.
We have announced previously the arrest of Izideen al-Majid (ph), who accompanied the son-in-law of Saddam Hussein when he fled to Jordan in the '90s. And he has given us information about bank accounts. All of these bank accounts were stolen funds from the Iraqis, from Iraqi sources in order to finance their criminal activities here in Iraq.
A few days ago, we arrested someone called Hassan Sakalawi (ph), who is one of the leaders of the Saddam Fedayeen. This group and this person have very strong connections with forces and the sources abroad. He's in our custody right now and is confessing and providing us with very important information. And this group has its operations originating from outside of Iraq.
Recently, we have conducted many arrest operations. I will give you some names. Monsur Hali Brahim (ph) was arrested on December 5 and has given evidence and names of other terrorist members.
Also, Hassan Brahim Azadi (ph). He is a Zarqawi follower. He was killed in confrontation during the arrest attempt. He was killed by the Iraqi Security Forces.
Also Fatham Ahmed Sagine (ph), who was a liaison member between the Iraqi terrorist groups and other groups in Iran. He is also under our custody and is giving us information.
Saman Abdul Shir (ph), who was a liaison person with other terrorist groups in Iran and between Iran and Iraq.
We also arrested Aliseyen al-Fajahi (ph), who is responsible for many terrorist cells here in Iraq. And also Abdul Aziz Maji Hamadi (ph).
All of these members are arrested and are under our custody and are confessing to their crimes.
The last two members we mention, Jahal Afaj (ph) and Asydoon (ph), were arrested in Mosul. And we also arrested another group in Mosul, including three out of four executive leaderships in Mosul.
I have spoken previously about these arrests, and thanks and acknowledgments are due to the Iraqi police and the Iraqi army for (UNINTELLIGIBLE) these arrest rates.
In addition to these operations, we have confiscated a large amount of weapons in Mosul. These are shown on the screen. I will not specify the exact location in Mosul where these weapon caches were found. But they were found in Mosul, and they are shown right now. And the terrorists were trying to inflict harm on the Iraqi population using these weapons, and they were trying to halt the progressive process here in Iraq.
Our people are facing many enemies who are trying to prevent them from carrying out their dreams and achieving their dreams and also achieving a peaceful society. The defeat of these criminals will take time. But we have a strong commitment, and the abilities of the Iraq Security Forces are increasing.
And there will be no safe haven for these terrorists in Iraq in spite of their increasing efforts lately. But we will carry out our mission in achieving peace here in Iraq. And this will be through our police forces, armed forces and intelligence, and all of these forces have accomplished their many achievements. And the police and armed forces deserve our praise, and we are ongoing on our route to achieve victory for our people and to establish a peaceful society here in Iraq.
This is what I wanted to tell you today. This is a very important step in the activities of our security forces and the Iraq armed forces. And in the coming days and weeks, we will achieve more victories, and there will be more information to provide you with. And they will have no safe haven in Iraq.
I am ready to take your questions. Thank you.
QUESTION (through translator): Abasol Radio Sower (ph). After this information you have provided us with, have you informed the neighboring countries about these operations that are originating from their countries? And is the government prepared to stand against all challenges that are trying to postpone the elections or derail the elections?
ALLAWI (through translator): As for the second part of your question, the government is escalating its operations in carrying arrest rates, and we are committed to this cause until we achieve peace in Iraq. And we will prevent them from derailing the progressive and the political process in Iraq. And these criminals will face their just fates.
As for the first part of your question, I have sent many messages through the diplomatic channels to the neighboring countries and other countries. And we have informed them that we posses such information. And all of those that were shown on the screen are right now giving their testimonies and giving their information about their connections outside of Iraq regarding finance matters and other subjects.
WALLACE: And you have been listening to Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a new conference today. He's saying that the Iraqi government is escalating its operations when it comes to dealing with and fighting against terror groups trying to derail the scheduled January 30 election.
He says -- quote -- "There will be no safe haven for these terrorists in Iraq."
The headline, though, announcing that members of a terror group were arrested.
Let's go to Chris Lawrence, who is now with us in Baghdad.
Chris, how significant is this announcement from the prime minister about members of this terror group that have been arrested?
LAWRENCE: Well, I think we'll have to wait in the next few days, weeks and possibly even months to see how it plays out on the street and whether some of these terror groups are controlled from the top or have many independent cells that really don't need to be coordinated among each other to see if it actually impacts the level of violence here in Iraq.
But I thought it was important that he did say that they have captured many elements of Saddam Hussein's former regime, including some of his Fedayeen. And those men had contacts with people outside the country.
There has been a lot of talk here in Iraq that the insurgency has been fueled by fighters coming in from outside the country. And although he did not get very specific at all, he did say they now have this information from these men, and they have at least sent information back to these countries through diplomatic channels to try to stop the flow of insurgents into Iraq.
WALLACE: And, Chris, how much of this is part of the public relations message here, trying to get the message out to the Iraqi people that the government is taking steps to try to control security before the January 30 elections?
LAWRENCE: Well, just like in the United States, when it comes down to an election year everything can be political. A lot of the high-ranking members of the interim government are also in coalitions running for office in a few weeks. So, any kind of announcement now could be seen as sort of pumping up your own abilities to the Iraqi people ahead of that vote coming up in just a few weeks.
WALLACE: Chris, thanks so much. Chris Lawrence watching it all for us from Baghdad.
Much more ahead in the final minutes of DAYBREAK. We'll take a break. We'll be right back after that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: And welcome back.
We have a reminder of just how horrible those tsunamis were two weeks ago. This video was released Sunday. It is a river of debris flowing fast and furious along a street in Banda Aceh. Wooden planks, cars, mattresses, appliances, uprooted trees, unbelievable video. A city torn apart by the water. The video was shot apparently from a rooftop by a wedding photographer. Of the 140,000 known deaths, 95,000 of those are recorded in Indonesia.
The destruction in Southern Asia has not only left more than a million people homeless, but animals are struggling to survive as well. Last week, we showed you pictures of dogs and cats scrounging through the rubble. And now, the future for some more exotic animals may be dimming.
For that, we are joined by noted TV personality and animal conservationist, Jack Hanna.
Jack Hanna, great to have you here.
JACK HANNA, COLUMBUS ZOO: Well, it's good to be here.
WALLACE: First, let me ask you, how did animal instincts play a role in protecting some of these animals, encouraging them to evacuate and protect them from the tsunami?
HANNA: Well, it played a major role. You know, we, as human beings, hundreds and thousands of years ago had the same instincts and we listened a lot. And animals have to -- especially wild animals have to do that to survive.
Now, those domestic animals you talked about -- dogs, cats, pigs and cows -- are domesticated. So, they have lost a lot of their senses. But animals feel through their feet. Their smell is beyond comprehension. You saw where the elephants last week took off with riders on their backs 20 or 30 minutes before the tsunami even hit. And that warns other animals.
And, of course, the area you are talking about, for example, the Sumatran rhino. I think you have a picture of those, the Sumatran rhino. The Sumatran tiger. These animals are very, very rare. You talk about the Sumatran rhino. There are only about 300 left in the world. Can you imagine that? Three hundred.
The Sumatran tiger, only 400 to 500. Right there, the Sumatran tiger is one of the most magnificent creatures in the world. We breed a few of these in zoological parks, the American Zoo Association (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We hope to keep them alive for future generations.
The Sumatran rhino, the Cincinnati Zoo and the Los Angeles Zoo, along with a couple of others, are the only ones in the country that even breed these animals, they're so rare.
Now, these animals, remember, are dependent on fresh water. So, they're found more inland away from the oceans. They're not around heavily-populated areas like the coastlines and that type of thing.
But what worries me is the fact that, as you saw from your video, what happens with all of those trees, all of those houses. What do you do to replace that? You have to find wood. Where does that wood come from? It comes the forests and the rainforests that are in these areas. And that, to me, would be a major concern.
Obviously, we have to take care of people first. But I'm hoping that they'll bring in the wood and other materials -- sand, dirt -- from other areas. If they don't, then you can imagine what will happen to those species I just talked about.
Animals like the aboil (ph) species, like the Gibbons (ph), the Simang (ph), the orangutans, these are all tree-dwelling animals, and these are also animals that don't live around heavily-populated areas. But the Sumatran, the orangutan, these animals are also very rare and endangered.
The Gibbon (ph), the Simangs (ph) are animals that -- the Simangs (ph) you can see here, we have these at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio. They're an animal that lives in the trees. They warn each other by a lot of the sounds they make.
Now, these were the animals that, I'm sure, would be up there in the trees, and they saw these elephants coming and birds coming. They have an incredible sound that they go through the forests. It's whoop, whoop, whoop. That's not too good this early in the morning, but I could do a lot louder. They warn everyone.
So, you can see what I'm talking about, the effect of these animals. The beautiful orangutan there. He's call the old man of the rainforest, because he kind of looks that way when he's first born.
But these are animals that I have a great concern about, as well. Obviously, they have to go in the rainforest and disturbing the populations of wood. We don't know really what the long-term effect is going to be on a lot of these animals to answer your question, because it's going to be out there. You know, what affects the ocean eventually affects those that are inland.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Jack Chad Myers here in Atlanta. I have a question about all of the dogs and cats we're seeing in the cities around that are now homeless, family-less (ph). Do they become a danger to the people that are there at some point, they get hungrier every day?
HANNA: Well, you're talking about a dog, you know. As we've seen what's happening to this country, you take a dog that gets hungrier and hungrier it's going to start causing some problems. But we'll have to deal with that. Something will have to be done. The dogs are scavengers. The Komodo Dragon, for example, in that part of the world does live on the beaches. The Komodo Dragon is an animal that exhibits cannibalism at times. But they do run from humans. I would not say they would attack humans. But a lot of those young animals live in the trees.
WALLACE: All right, Jack Hanna, I have to jump in there. We are out of time here on DAYBREAK. Thank you so much for joining us with important information.
From the Time Warner center in New York, I am Kelly Wallace, along with Chad Myers. It's good to be with you. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.
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Aired January 10, 2005 - 06:28 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to the last half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Kelly Wallace in for Carol Costello.
"Now in the News."
The Palestinians are going to have a new leader. In about a half-hour, officials are expected to declare Mahmoud Abbas the winner of yesterday's presidential election. We will talk to a top Palestinian lawmaker in just a few minutes.
We are learning more this morning about alleged waste and mismanagement in a major U.N. program. Newly-revealed U.N. audits into the oil-for-food program for Iraq show a string of overpayments to contractors. The program ran for seven years.
A U.S. nuclear sub is docked at a naval base in Guam this morning two days after a deadly accident. The sub hit the ocean floor in the Western Pacific. One sailor died. More than 20 others are hurt.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WALLACE: Turning now to Iraq. The national election is now just 20 short days away. And as that day, January 30, draws near, insurgents appear to be working overtime. This morning, Baghdad's deputy police chief and his son were gunned down as they left home. And that's not all.
To Baghdad now and CNN's Chris Lawrence.
And, Chris, we understand that the Iraq prime minister, Ayad Allawi, has scheduled a news conference for moments from now. What are we expecting from that news conference?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we expect to hear a lot of information about security and the election. Those are sure to be the two topics that everyone is most concerned about, especially after the targeted violence that we have seen over the weekend leading right up until the last few hours.
Just this morning, explosives were detonated at a girls' high school here in Baghdad. And in that same neighborhood, an insurgent was killed -- excuse me -- an insurgent was killed while he was trying to blow up a boys' middle school.
Now, no children were hurt, but both of those schools were being prepped to be used as voting centers in the election.
And some of the targets that have been targeted have been even more specific. Also earlier this morning, the deputy police chief of the Baghdad police was going to work with his son, who is also a member of the force. From what the police tell us, two cars pulled up parallel to theirs and opened fire with machine guns and killed them both.
As all of this was happening, a suicide bomber drove his car right into the main gate of another police station. That explosion killed seven Iraqis, some of them policemen, some of them possibly civilians.
In all of this violence that's coming after a weekend where four other high-ranking Iraqi police officers or officials were assassinated, and many of the soldiers on the ground say they see a definite pattern of violence designed to keep people away from the polls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PFC. JONATHAN LUCAS, U.S. ARMY: Lately we've been seeing a lot more of "the mujahideen lives" on walls. We've been seeing it at other places around where we operate. So, it's starting to pick up probably. I don't know. We're sort of worrying about those elections coming up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: (AUDIO GAP) here in Narafta (ph). You can take a look now at a live picture of the room where President Ayad Allawi is scheduled to speak any moment now. This news conference was postponed from yesterday.
The election is expected to be a big topic there, because you need two things to have a successful election here: (1), people have to feel safe enough to walk into the polling station without fear of being killed, you need local police officers to provide that security. These attacks over the last few days have been designed to undercut both of those -- Kelly.
WALLACE: All right, Chris, thanks so much.
And we want to let our viewers know that we plan to take here on DAYBREAK live coverage of the news conference by Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. As soon as that gets under way, we'll bring that to you.
Back here in this country, the best we can say is that this Los Angeles-area man is still alive. But as you can see, he went through hell to get there. Firefighters rescued three children from atop their car, but the man and his car was swept two miles downstream. They finally got him, but only after the raging water tore away his pants. At least eight deaths are blamed on this relentless storm.
Well, the torrential rain in Los Angeles turned into heavy wet snow in the mountains. Up to 19 feet of snow, if you can believe it, in the Sierras over the weekend.
CNN's Jason Bellini, you can say, is up to his whatever in it in South Lake, Tahoe.
Jason, what is it looking like out there on this Monday morning?
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kelly, the snow has finally let up just a little bit. No one is expecting this to last very long. This town has been just pummeled over the weekend. Locals I've talked to described this as an epic snowstorm. And this is an area that, of course, is very used to snow. They depend on it for their livelihood, which are the ski resorts in this area.
Now, I want to show you some pictures that we shot over the weekend. I went out with some California Transit Authority people, where they were setting off some controlled blasts to set of avalanches near the road. They had to shut off all of the roads leading up to some of these ski resorts due to avalanche danger.
When I was out there, we saw an avalanche that had gone down onto the road, put eight feet of snow on the road. So very happy they were able to set that avalanche off before there were motorists on the road.
And also yesterday I managed to get up onto the slopes and to see what skiers were doing. It's very thick, heavy snow on the mountain. I went to Heavenly Resort and saw skiers out in the powder. Heavenly is boasting of eight feet of fresh powder from this storm.
Another resort, Kirkwood (ph), says they got 30 inches of powder, fresh powder right now for their skiers. Kirkwood (ph) was one of those resorts that was closed the entire weekend. Heavenly, part of the mountain was shut down because of the high winds and, of course, the avalanche danger.
And you may also be seeing a picture of where I was skiing with the camera. And I took a little bit of a spill there, and my bosses will be happy to know that the camera is just fine -- Kelly.
WALLACE: If they're watching you, Jason, you have some great moves there on the slopes. A question for you, though. Is it sort of too much of a good thing? Because, as you said, the slopes had to be closed down. I would imagine it must be very difficult for anyone who wants to ski to get to the slopes.
BELLINI: That's certainly the case here at the hotel where I'm staying. I've talked to some people who were very unhappy that their vacation was hurt by the heavy snow. They weren't able to go to the mountains over the weekend. They were inside by the fireplace drinking hot chocolate all weekend.
And then finally, yesterday, they were able to go up the mountains, but it's very difficult skiing conditions for people, because the snow is so thick, so deep. It's not packed down yet, and the snow just keeps on coming. And this town is now bracing itself for several more feet of snow that they're expecting to come. This town is under a winter storm warning until 4:00 on Tuesday -- Kelly.
WALLACE: All right, Jason, we'll be watching. Thanks so much. Jason Bellini reporting from South Lake Tahoe in California.
Well, one of our top stories this morning is the Palestinian election, and "AMERICAN MORNING" is continuing our coverage at the top of the hour. Bill Hemmer now joins us with a look ahead.
Good to see you -- Bill. What's on tap this morning?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Kelly, good morning to you as well. Much more on what's happening in the Middle East on this Palestinian election. Is Mahmoud Abbas the man to get the peace process restarted and back on track? You ask a different expert, Kelly, you'll get a different answer. They say peace, though, will not be Abbas' first priority. If that is the case, what is the first priority? An Israeli journalist and a Palestinian commentator join us with their thoughts, top of the hour here on a Monday edition of "AMERICAN MORNING." A very busy morning, too.
We'll take you out to California, Kelly, too, and talk about that snow and also an amazing rescue that you've been talking about for the past hour and a half, too. So, we will see you at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time -- Kelly.
WALLACE: All right, a busy news morning.
HEMMER: Yes.
WALLACE: And really fascinating what is going on in the Middle East right now, Bill.
HEMMER: That's so true, yes.
WALLACE: OK. Thanks so much.
The tsunami in Southeast Asia is now devastating the natural habitats of several different species. How long will the recovery take? Jack Hanna of the Columbus Zoo joins us next here on DAYBREAK.
Plus, paying a college tuition or two is no easy task as most of you know. We will give you some tips on how to get the most financial aid possible.
But first, here is a look at what else is making news this Monday morning, January 10.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: We want to take you now to Baghdad, Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi with a news conference. Let's listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS) AYAD ALLAWI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): ... to talk with you about a very important subject concerning the continuous efforts in arresting and detaining terrorists.
Today, I would like to talk to you about another group arrested here in Iraq, which is the leadership of what is called the Mohammed Army. We had previous talks with the subjects. The Mohammed Army is a terrorist group responsible for killing many Iraqis and non-Iraqis and many beheading crimes. And many of them worked for the previous regime, for the Baathist regime.
During November, last November, we announced the arrest of Moyaid Ahmed Yassein (ph), whose picture is shown on the screen. He was the leader of the Mohammed (ph) Army, and he is still confessing and admitting his crimes. And he will stand trial soon.
Since that date, this terrorist group has assigned a new leader called Arat Aduri (ph), whose photo is shown on the screen. He is now in our custody, and he is providing us with very important information.
We have also arrested a person called Mohammed Aduri (ph) shown here.
This indicates the growing capabilities of our forces in foiling such attempts and in dealing with such terrorist groups. And I would like to tell you that each time they assign a new leader for these terrorist groups they will be detained. They will be captured. And they will face trials.
Right now, they are giving information and testimonies about the crimes they committed. And also they give us information about some of their intended crimes (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
I'm sure you have noticed an escalation of violence in Iraq, but we would like to show that we are committed to facing these difficulties with cooperation with the multinational forces where we are determined to take out such groups and to capture and detain their leadership and present them for trial.
We have announced previously the arrest of Izideen al-Majid (ph), who accompanied the son-in-law of Saddam Hussein when he fled to Jordan in the '90s. And he has given us information about bank accounts. All of these bank accounts were stolen funds from the Iraqis, from Iraqi sources in order to finance their criminal activities here in Iraq.
A few days ago, we arrested someone called Hassan Sakalawi (ph), who is one of the leaders of the Saddam Fedayeen. This group and this person have very strong connections with forces and the sources abroad. He's in our custody right now and is confessing and providing us with very important information. And this group has its operations originating from outside of Iraq.
Recently, we have conducted many arrest operations. I will give you some names. Monsur Hali Brahim (ph) was arrested on December 5 and has given evidence and names of other terrorist members.
Also, Hassan Brahim Azadi (ph). He is a Zarqawi follower. He was killed in confrontation during the arrest attempt. He was killed by the Iraqi Security Forces.
Also Fatham Ahmed Sagine (ph), who was a liaison member between the Iraqi terrorist groups and other groups in Iran. He is also under our custody and is giving us information.
Saman Abdul Shir (ph), who was a liaison person with other terrorist groups in Iran and between Iran and Iraq.
We also arrested Aliseyen al-Fajahi (ph), who is responsible for many terrorist cells here in Iraq. And also Abdul Aziz Maji Hamadi (ph).
All of these members are arrested and are under our custody and are confessing to their crimes.
The last two members we mention, Jahal Afaj (ph) and Asydoon (ph), were arrested in Mosul. And we also arrested another group in Mosul, including three out of four executive leaderships in Mosul.
I have spoken previously about these arrests, and thanks and acknowledgments are due to the Iraqi police and the Iraqi army for (UNINTELLIGIBLE) these arrest rates.
In addition to these operations, we have confiscated a large amount of weapons in Mosul. These are shown on the screen. I will not specify the exact location in Mosul where these weapon caches were found. But they were found in Mosul, and they are shown right now. And the terrorists were trying to inflict harm on the Iraqi population using these weapons, and they were trying to halt the progressive process here in Iraq.
Our people are facing many enemies who are trying to prevent them from carrying out their dreams and achieving their dreams and also achieving a peaceful society. The defeat of these criminals will take time. But we have a strong commitment, and the abilities of the Iraq Security Forces are increasing.
And there will be no safe haven for these terrorists in Iraq in spite of their increasing efforts lately. But we will carry out our mission in achieving peace here in Iraq. And this will be through our police forces, armed forces and intelligence, and all of these forces have accomplished their many achievements. And the police and armed forces deserve our praise, and we are ongoing on our route to achieve victory for our people and to establish a peaceful society here in Iraq.
This is what I wanted to tell you today. This is a very important step in the activities of our security forces and the Iraq armed forces. And in the coming days and weeks, we will achieve more victories, and there will be more information to provide you with. And they will have no safe haven in Iraq.
I am ready to take your questions. Thank you.
QUESTION (through translator): Abasol Radio Sower (ph). After this information you have provided us with, have you informed the neighboring countries about these operations that are originating from their countries? And is the government prepared to stand against all challenges that are trying to postpone the elections or derail the elections?
ALLAWI (through translator): As for the second part of your question, the government is escalating its operations in carrying arrest rates, and we are committed to this cause until we achieve peace in Iraq. And we will prevent them from derailing the progressive and the political process in Iraq. And these criminals will face their just fates.
As for the first part of your question, I have sent many messages through the diplomatic channels to the neighboring countries and other countries. And we have informed them that we posses such information. And all of those that were shown on the screen are right now giving their testimonies and giving their information about their connections outside of Iraq regarding finance matters and other subjects.
WALLACE: And you have been listening to Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a new conference today. He's saying that the Iraqi government is escalating its operations when it comes to dealing with and fighting against terror groups trying to derail the scheduled January 30 election.
He says -- quote -- "There will be no safe haven for these terrorists in Iraq."
The headline, though, announcing that members of a terror group were arrested.
Let's go to Chris Lawrence, who is now with us in Baghdad.
Chris, how significant is this announcement from the prime minister about members of this terror group that have been arrested?
LAWRENCE: Well, I think we'll have to wait in the next few days, weeks and possibly even months to see how it plays out on the street and whether some of these terror groups are controlled from the top or have many independent cells that really don't need to be coordinated among each other to see if it actually impacts the level of violence here in Iraq.
But I thought it was important that he did say that they have captured many elements of Saddam Hussein's former regime, including some of his Fedayeen. And those men had contacts with people outside the country.
There has been a lot of talk here in Iraq that the insurgency has been fueled by fighters coming in from outside the country. And although he did not get very specific at all, he did say they now have this information from these men, and they have at least sent information back to these countries through diplomatic channels to try to stop the flow of insurgents into Iraq.
WALLACE: And, Chris, how much of this is part of the public relations message here, trying to get the message out to the Iraqi people that the government is taking steps to try to control security before the January 30 elections?
LAWRENCE: Well, just like in the United States, when it comes down to an election year everything can be political. A lot of the high-ranking members of the interim government are also in coalitions running for office in a few weeks. So, any kind of announcement now could be seen as sort of pumping up your own abilities to the Iraqi people ahead of that vote coming up in just a few weeks.
WALLACE: Chris, thanks so much. Chris Lawrence watching it all for us from Baghdad.
Much more ahead in the final minutes of DAYBREAK. We'll take a break. We'll be right back after that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: And welcome back.
We have a reminder of just how horrible those tsunamis were two weeks ago. This video was released Sunday. It is a river of debris flowing fast and furious along a street in Banda Aceh. Wooden planks, cars, mattresses, appliances, uprooted trees, unbelievable video. A city torn apart by the water. The video was shot apparently from a rooftop by a wedding photographer. Of the 140,000 known deaths, 95,000 of those are recorded in Indonesia.
The destruction in Southern Asia has not only left more than a million people homeless, but animals are struggling to survive as well. Last week, we showed you pictures of dogs and cats scrounging through the rubble. And now, the future for some more exotic animals may be dimming.
For that, we are joined by noted TV personality and animal conservationist, Jack Hanna.
Jack Hanna, great to have you here.
JACK HANNA, COLUMBUS ZOO: Well, it's good to be here.
WALLACE: First, let me ask you, how did animal instincts play a role in protecting some of these animals, encouraging them to evacuate and protect them from the tsunami?
HANNA: Well, it played a major role. You know, we, as human beings, hundreds and thousands of years ago had the same instincts and we listened a lot. And animals have to -- especially wild animals have to do that to survive.
Now, those domestic animals you talked about -- dogs, cats, pigs and cows -- are domesticated. So, they have lost a lot of their senses. But animals feel through their feet. Their smell is beyond comprehension. You saw where the elephants last week took off with riders on their backs 20 or 30 minutes before the tsunami even hit. And that warns other animals.
And, of course, the area you are talking about, for example, the Sumatran rhino. I think you have a picture of those, the Sumatran rhino. The Sumatran tiger. These animals are very, very rare. You talk about the Sumatran rhino. There are only about 300 left in the world. Can you imagine that? Three hundred.
The Sumatran tiger, only 400 to 500. Right there, the Sumatran tiger is one of the most magnificent creatures in the world. We breed a few of these in zoological parks, the American Zoo Association (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We hope to keep them alive for future generations.
The Sumatran rhino, the Cincinnati Zoo and the Los Angeles Zoo, along with a couple of others, are the only ones in the country that even breed these animals, they're so rare.
Now, these animals, remember, are dependent on fresh water. So, they're found more inland away from the oceans. They're not around heavily-populated areas like the coastlines and that type of thing.
But what worries me is the fact that, as you saw from your video, what happens with all of those trees, all of those houses. What do you do to replace that? You have to find wood. Where does that wood come from? It comes the forests and the rainforests that are in these areas. And that, to me, would be a major concern.
Obviously, we have to take care of people first. But I'm hoping that they'll bring in the wood and other materials -- sand, dirt -- from other areas. If they don't, then you can imagine what will happen to those species I just talked about.
Animals like the aboil (ph) species, like the Gibbons (ph), the Simang (ph), the orangutans, these are all tree-dwelling animals, and these are also animals that don't live around heavily-populated areas. But the Sumatran, the orangutan, these animals are also very rare and endangered.
The Gibbon (ph), the Simangs (ph) are animals that -- the Simangs (ph) you can see here, we have these at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio. They're an animal that lives in the trees. They warn each other by a lot of the sounds they make.
Now, these were the animals that, I'm sure, would be up there in the trees, and they saw these elephants coming and birds coming. They have an incredible sound that they go through the forests. It's whoop, whoop, whoop. That's not too good this early in the morning, but I could do a lot louder. They warn everyone.
So, you can see what I'm talking about, the effect of these animals. The beautiful orangutan there. He's call the old man of the rainforest, because he kind of looks that way when he's first born.
But these are animals that I have a great concern about, as well. Obviously, they have to go in the rainforest and disturbing the populations of wood. We don't know really what the long-term effect is going to be on a lot of these animals to answer your question, because it's going to be out there. You know, what affects the ocean eventually affects those that are inland.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Jack Chad Myers here in Atlanta. I have a question about all of the dogs and cats we're seeing in the cities around that are now homeless, family-less (ph). Do they become a danger to the people that are there at some point, they get hungrier every day?
HANNA: Well, you're talking about a dog, you know. As we've seen what's happening to this country, you take a dog that gets hungrier and hungrier it's going to start causing some problems. But we'll have to deal with that. Something will have to be done. The dogs are scavengers. The Komodo Dragon, for example, in that part of the world does live on the beaches. The Komodo Dragon is an animal that exhibits cannibalism at times. But they do run from humans. I would not say they would attack humans. But a lot of those young animals live in the trees.
WALLACE: All right, Jack Hanna, I have to jump in there. We are out of time here on DAYBREAK. Thank you so much for joining us with important information.
From the Time Warner center in New York, I am Kelly Wallace, along with Chad Myers. It's good to be with you. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.
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