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American Morning

Australian Sentenced 20 Years for Drug Charges in Indonesia; Memorial Weekend Travel; '90 Second Pop'

Aired May 27, 2005 - 09:30   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Fleet Week. Members of the Navy, Marine Corps there, doing the honors down on Wall Street. Opening bell at 9:30 here in New York City. Decent day again yesterday. 79 points on the upside at the close. 10,537 is where we start for the Dow 30. Nasdaq market site 2,071, an increase of 21 points for the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
Fleet Week continues at the Nasdaq, as well. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Bill Hemmer in New York City, along with my partner, Soledad, who is out on the Kennedy. Hey, Soledad, good morning again.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Bill, good morning to you as well. Good day for the Dow, good day here, as well, on the flight deck on the USS John F. Kennedy. You know, ships are female and this one is called Big John. And in fact, she actually is the largest of the fleets that's visiting here for Fleet Week. The sailors are exploring New York City and I got to tell you, if they are getting half of the hospitality from the city that has been showed to us on board the USS JFK, they're going to have a terrific time on their R&R.

Ahead this morning, we're going to introduce you to a man who has one of the most critical jobs -- a man and woman, actually -- critical jobs on board this ship. One is dealing with top secret information, another dealing with the dropping of the bombs by the air wing. That's ahead this morning.

First, though, let's get a look at some of the other stories that making headlines with Carol Costello. Good morning again, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad. And good morning to all of you.

"Now in the News," Pfizer is denying reports that its drug Viagra causes blindness. This comes after the FDA announced it's examining reports that link the popular drug to a type of blindness called Naion. Pfizer says: "There is no evidence that Naoion occurred more often in men taking Viagra than men of a similar age and health who did not take Viagra." Naion is a blindness caused by sudden stroke inside the eye.

Here's a big story overseas that you might not have heard about. Schapelle Corby, a 27-year-old Australian, sentenced in Indonesia to 20 years in prison for smuggling nine pounds of marijuana. Corby claims the drugs were planted in her luggage.

Australian broadcast reporter Tim Palmer is live in Bali, Indonesia, with emotional reaction to this verdict. Tell us about it.

TIM PALMER, AUSTRALIAN TV REPORTER: Carol, a dramatic end, chaotic conclusion to a court case that has galvanized opinion in Australia that was settled here in Den Fuza (ph) in Bali. A case of an Australian woman caught last October with 4.5 kilograms of marijuana in her bag at Bali Airport and at one stage faced the death penalty. At the end of a court case, her supporters emerged, claiming a complete miscarriage of justice. But none of the defense witnesses they've presented suggesting someone else put the drugs there had been listened to.

But the judge, who had a 100 percent record of never acquitting anyone on drugs charges here in Bali, maintained that record, ruling that Schapelle Corby and only Schapelle Corby, on the evidence he heard, could have put those drugs in her bag.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PALMER (voice-over): As the full weight of Indonesian law fell on Schapelle Corby, she appeared not to understand quite what had happened. Then, after checking with her interpreter, it began to sink in. She turned to glare at prosecutors, then uttered her only words, "Mom, it's OK." Looking a very long way from home, Schapelle Corby cried at the prospect of jail until she's 47 years old.

At the back of the court, there was the same confusion at first, then bitter fury from Corby's sister and mother, directed squarely at the judges.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not all right! How dare you!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We swore on the Bible (INAUDIBLE)!

PALMER: Indonesian customs officials who'd found the marijuana in Schapelle Corby's bag were accepted as truthful. Every single defense witness, those who tried to suggest someone else planted the drugs, were ruled as irrelevant to the judgment. The actions of the accused were a danger to the community, the judges read. This was a transnational crime that could damage the minds of young people. The die had been cast.

Before she was led away, Schapelle Corby forced past police to embrace her mother. Then, as she left for prison, a last exchange.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Schapelle, you will come home! Our government will bring you home!

PALMER: Left behind where her lawyers, castigated by the judges and deeply worried about their client.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE I don't think she can survive.

PALMER: But outside, it was a far angrier mood.

MERCEDES CORBY, SCHAPELLE CORBY'S SISTER: To all our family and friends, we love you all. Schapelle is innocent. This vote is unjust. The case now enters a new phase and we'll stand by Schapelle every step of the way. Our lawyers have done their best and with the support of all of the Australians (INAUDIBLE), Schapelle will be coming soon. (INAUDIBLE) take any of our witnesses!

PALMER: And then it was all over. A last few scrambled seconds and Schapelle Corby was spirited off to the Crilican (ph) Prison, a media spectacle to the end.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PALMER: But such the level of interest in this case -- such is the level of interest in this case that the entier Australia/Indonesia relationship is being discussed in terms of it. The political pressure leading the Australian government to already offer to fund an appeal and the Australian political opposition, calling on the Indonesian government to pardon the girl -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Tim Palmer in Indonesia this morning, thank you.

A homicide suspect still perched upon an 18-story crane over Atlanta. This is the 41st hour of the stand-off. He identified as Carl Edward Roland, wanted in the death of his former girlfriend in Florida. Police say when he is ready, he will come down, one way or the other.

And President Bush, saluting the class of 2005. The president set to give the commencement address at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, shortly. You're looking at live pictures. The ceremony has begun. CNN will have live coverage of the president's address. That starts at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

Well, let's head back to Soledad aboard the USS John F. Kennedy.

O'BRIEN: Hey, Carol, thanks a lot.

You know, at times, there are 5,500 people on board this ship. This morning, I want to introduce to you to two of them, Petty Officer Karen Meadows and Petty Officer Kendrick Walley. Nice to see you both. Thanks for talking with us. Why don't you begin, Officer Walley, with what your job is on board?

CTT-1 KENDRICK WALLEY, USS JOHN F. KENNEDY: How you doing, ma'am? My name is CTT-1 Walley, Kendrick Walley, that is.

O'BRIEN: And what's your job? I mean, because since I'm not in the military, I have no idea what that means.

WALLEY: CTT is a cryptologic technician, and that's working in the intelligence field. And we would tell you what that is, but you know the rest of that phrase.

O'BRIEN: You basically can't tell me?

WALLEY: Yes, ma'am.

O'BRIEN: So your job is to try to intercept messages or try to block the messages that the ship is sending?

WALLEY: We will intercept. At the same time, we countering our signals to not give -- to give as little details as to where we are, things that we're doing.

O'BRIEN: Interesting. I like that he's a man of very few words. Let's go to Petty Officer Karen Meadows. What's your job?

A.O. KAREN MEADOWS, USS JOHN F. KENNEDY: Aviation ordinanceman.

O'BRIEN: Which means what, exactly?

MEADOWS: We build the bombs, we send them up to the flight deck and we load them on the aircraft. And the rest is up to the pilots.

O'BRIEN: What kind of a day do you have? I mean, I know that obviously when you're engaged in battle, as the JFK was in Falluja, you must be working around the clock.

MEADOWS: Anywhere from 12 to 18 hours one shift and then the night check will over from there. But we do what we have to do to get the job done.

O'BRIEN: You've both been in the Navy for ten years.

MEADOWS: Yes, ma'am.

O'BRIEN: How have things changed since 9/11? Has it sort of increased your commitment to at Navy?

WALLEY: Commitment, awareness, security as a whole. You know, we're always been on our Ps and Qs, sort of saying, but we definitely had to step it up to another level to accommodate, you know, more enemies and what's going on in the world around us.

O'BRIEN: And how about for you, Karen?

MEADOWS: It just means a whole lot more to me to be serving my country in this capacity with what's going on in the world today.

O'BRIEN: Kendrick, I know you have a 5-year-old daughter. Is there anything you want to say to her? She's based out of -- based, as if a 5-year-old is based anywhere -- she lives in Florida.

WALLEY: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Anything you want to say to her?

WALLEY: Hi, Kiana (ph). My daughter's name is Kiana (ph) Walley. My mother and my sister, Tuana (ph), Svandra (ph), also in Jacksonville. The rest of my family is in Mississippi. I'd like to say hi to everybody.

O'BRIEN: When do you get to go back home?

WALLEY: We will be back in about two weeks. O'BRIEN: All right, good, well, not too long, then. Thank you, both of you, very much, for sharing some of your experiences with us. We certainly appreciate it. Let's go back to Bill.

WALLEY: Thank you.

HEMMER: All right, Soledad, thanks.

22 minutes now before the hour. Looking toward the weekend right now. Americans are going to be hitting the road by record numbers, they say. AAA estimating 37 million will travel this weekend alone. That's a 2 percent increase from a year ago. 31 million by car, another 4 million by plane. 2 million will go by bus, train or boat. And travelers may be setting the pace for a record travel season.

We'll see how it's going so far. 9:30 here on the East Coast at La Guardia Airport. There's Chris Huntington. Morning, Chris.

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. Well, this may be the proverbial calm before the storm. It is a beautiful, sunny day, 70 degrees out here. Of course, it's been raining cold on the Northeast coast for much of the last several weeks. It is actually less busy now here than it was a couple of hours ago. We had a -- quite a jam at about 7:00 a.m., but, frankly, all things running smoothly here. We're told there are no delays, which for La Guardia is absolutely amazing.

Some other good news for travelers is weekend, and that is prices that you can expect to be paying. In fact, big surprise to everybody, including -- particularly those folks at the Energy Department. Gasoline prices have been coming down steadily in the last couple of weeks. And the latest figure, national average for unleaded regular, from AAA, is just a little bit more than $2.10 a gallon. And that is les than six cents more than what folks were paying a year ago. So in fact, gasoline prices up less than the overall rate of inflation.

Airline ticket prices, if you do some careful shopping, particularly online, also down. We're told on average by Triple A, down as much as 10 percent across the board. Rental car rates down, as well. You can expect to pay more for hotel rates this weekend, and we're told you can expect to pay more if you want to go to some of the major theme parks around the nation. Overall, popular destinations, of course, the national parks, theme parks and the beach, and it looks like the weather may be cooperating -- Bill.

HEMMER: And they don't call it getaway day for nothing, too.

Chris, thanks. Chris Huntington in La Guardia.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: In a moment here, some fourth and fifth graders whose favorite class is ballroom dancing. Toure looks at a new documentary in a moment here.

And in today's "Extra Effort" segment this week, one organization helps wounded veterans rebuild their lives, and they do it with hammer and nails. Soledad is back live from the flight deck of the Kennedy with that story. We are back in a moment, after this on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone. Toure is here to talk about a new movie. This one not a big Hollywood production, by any stretch.

Morning.

TOURE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, morning, Bill.

Listen, when you think of ballroom dancing, you don't normally think of little kids, but there's a new documentary, "Mad Hot Ballroom," that tells the story of fourth and fifth-graders in New York City who study ballroom dancing and then compete in a ballroom competition. The movie goes beyond dancing, of course, to reveal how kids feel about the opposite sex and themselves, but the best part is seeing those little streetwise cherubs learning how to dance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where's my tango face. A, N, G, O.

TOURE: "Mad Hot Ballroom" is a look inside ballroom dancing classes, like this one at PS-115 in upper Manhattan. In the class, they learn a number of dances, including the swing, meringue, the tango.

(on camera): What is the value of teaching ballroom dancing?

RODNEY LOPEZ, BALLROOM DANCING TEACHER: Ballroom dancing is just an alternative for kids to sort of explore their creative side and to get to learn how to deal with another human being in a social sort of setting.

JATNNA TORIBBIO, STUDENT: It's very different. It's very sort of dramatic. It's very -- I think I changed in my personality. I became very mature.

MARILYN AGRELO, PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: The part of the thing that works for the film for adults is it takes you back to when you felt that way. Our minds were blown all the time by what these kids really are thinking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Women overall, judging by scientific research, are the more advanced civilization.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Girls always think they're the boss of everything and they're the best.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now she's hot!

TOURE (voice-over): The movie followed three schools into a ballroom dancing competition.

(on camera): Some of the best moments in the film are when the school that you've been rooting for loses.

AMY SEWELL, WRITER/PRODUCER: We brought five kids out to Park City for the festival, and one little girl from the Tribeca team was upset. I said, Tera, what's wrong? And she said, I just feel that loss all over again.

TOURE (voice-over): But even if they lose, the ballroom dancing class is still everyone's favorite part of the dance.

LOPEZ: There's a ballroom culture developing in the school, and what happens is that the younger kids see the accomplishments of the older kids. Now the fourth-graders and the fifth-graders who are coming up say, well wait a minute, we know our big brothers or our older friends have experiences; we want to experience that, too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TOURE: Thanks to the kids and teachers of PS-115 for putting up with my ballroom dancing, which was definitely not as good as the little kids. "Mad Hot Ballroom," it's fun for parents and kids, because you get to see lots of cool dancing, but you also get to see the transformation and maturation of some of the kids because of the ballroom classes. You get to see them become little ladies and gentlemen. "Mad Hot Ballroom" is in theaters today.

HEMMER: Cute stuff. And some characters.

TOURE: Oh, yes, of course.

HEMMER: Have a good weekend.

TOURE: Thank you.

HEMMER: In a moment here, first you lost the pillows, then you missed the meals. You will not believe what one airline is cutting out now to save a few bucks. Andy tells us in a moment here, "Minding Your Business," after this on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right. Welcome back, everyone.

The Mary Kay lady will not visit ABC's "Wisteria Lane." And Northwest says there's no such thing as a free snack, again.

Back to Andy Serwer here, "Minding Your Business."

Cutting back again, aren't they?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, that's the name of the game for the airlines these days, Bill.

Let's go to the Big Board and see how trading is on Wall Street at this hour, down a slim point. It might even get into positive territory as we watch that little thing tick away.

Trading is going to be light today because of the holiday weekend. By the afternoon, things will be really petering out down there.

Let's talk about this airlines story. Northwest Airlines, if you're going to be flying them next month, bring Fritos. Here's why: They're getting rid of pretzels. You know those little bags of pretzels. They must cost the airline, what...

HEMMER: Nineteen cents a bag?

SERWER: I would say 13 cents a bag, and they're getting rid of them. Available on flights will be a $1 three-ounce bag of trail mix. CNN crunched the numbers. That's 33 cents an ounce, published reports.

Let's talk about Mary Kay cosmetics. They are pulling their ads from ABC's "Desperate Housewives," this because the American Family Association pointed out this is a racy program.

HEMMER: No!

SERWER: And that "Desperate Housewives," and that Mary Kay Cosmetics is a company whose slogan is God first, family second and career third. So they said, this doesn't match our corporate goals and strategies. So they're pulling them. And that's all she wrote for the week.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I wonder what (INAUDIBLE) them to buy a show in the first place that's titled "Desperate Housewives." What did they thinking it was about?

SERWER: Well, maybe they weren't thinking at all.

CAFFERTY: Yes, maybe so. That's a possibility.

HEMMER: Question of the Day.

CAFFERTY: Question of the Day, what would you say in the way of advice to this year's graduates? The president's going to speak to the midshipmen at Annapolis later today. We've all heard these speeches. If you were standing up there in front of them, what would you tell them.

Jim in Arizona, "My advice to graduating seniors. Stay in school. Go back to grad school. Do whatever you can to postpone reality. It's a jungle out here, and very few of you will land cushy jobs like morning news anchors."

Roda (ph) in Wisconsin, "Just because you did all the right things and made top grades, the world still does not owe you anything. Don't be discouraged at that may be your first failure."

And Randy in Ontario, "The more you study, the more you know. The more you know, the more you can forget. The more you can forget, the more you will forget. And the more you do forget, the less you will know. So why study?"

SERWER: That one lost me.

HEMMER: Thank you, Randy.

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: Happy hour somewhere.

SERWER: Bringing the vodka.

HEMMER: Let's get a break. Back to Soledad on board the Kennedy right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: For wounded troops that are returning from Iraq, they can obviously face many obstacles. Sometimes those obstacles are in their own homes.

CNN's Dan Lothian has the story of our "Extra Effort," a man who's adapting houses to fit the soldiers who live in them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Down a long stone- mined gravel driveway, veteran contractor John Gonsalves is building a dream home.

JOHN GONSALVES, HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS: There's a wall that'll come right off of this petition here.

LOTHIAN: But the dream belongs to 31-year-old sergeant Peter Damon and his family.

SGT. PETER DAMON, MASS. NATL. GUARD: It's a dream come true.

I'm thinking it's great.

LOTHIAN: Sergeant Damon, a Massachusetts National Guard aviation technician, lost his right arm and left hand in Iraq about a year and a half ago, when a Black Hawk helicopter tire he was changing exploded.

DAMON: I didn't know what was going to happen. I was Very scared.

LOTHIAN: When Gonsalves heard his story on television, he knew we to help.

GONSALVES: I got looking at that, thinking to myself, this is why I'm putting this organization together, is to help somebody like that.

LOTHIAN: A desire to help injured veterans by giving them free homes became a reality on this two-acre lot in Middleboro, Massachusetts. With volunteer workers and donations of money and supplies, Homes for our Troops was born.

DAVE BUKER, VOLUNTEER: These guys are over there fighting for us, and we're over here fighting for them, welcome them back.

JENNIFER DAMON, SGT. DAMON'S WIFE: We're got to worry about where we're sleeping and what kind of roof is over our head. We know it's a good roof and a good house.

LOTHIAN: But this house is about more than just putting a roof over the heads of an injured vet and his family.

(on camera): In fact, it is specifically designed to meet Sergeant Damon's needs.

For example, the front door here, when they put it in, he won't have to fumble around for keys; it has a keyless entry. And all the other doors in the house, like this one, won't have knobs, but rather levers, making it very easy for him to go in and out.

(voice-over): And more help for his prosthetic arm in the kitchen.

GONSALVES: We have racks under the cabinets for the plates, and it will make things a lot easier for him there.

P. DAMON: Something like this lifts your spirits to so high, I mean, and you're able to go on.

GONSALVES: For a veteran to tell me that that's aiding in his recovery, it is just unbelievable.

LOTHIAN: Thanking a soldier for his sacrifice by saying, welcome home.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Nice to see people helping out and giving a hand.

That does it for our live coverage from the USS John F. Kennedy.

Hey, Bill, you know, if you haven't had an opportunity to check out this particular aircraft carrier, I strongly encourage it. Tours are open to you, of course obviously, but the public as well, starting at noon today. And you can see some of the folks have actually come out, not only to see their sons and daughters who might be serving on this aircraft carrier, but also the general public just wants to check it out.

HEMMER: It looks great. Really terrific tour. So job well done, Soledad. Have a great weekend, OK, with your family. And enjoy the weather.

GONSALVES: Thank you, likewise.

HEMMER: And enjoy the weather, because it's actually sunny now.

See you later. Have a great weekend.

We got to run. You guys have a great weekend. Happy holidays.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired May 27, 2005 - 09:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Fleet Week. Members of the Navy, Marine Corps there, doing the honors down on Wall Street. Opening bell at 9:30 here in New York City. Decent day again yesterday. 79 points on the upside at the close. 10,537 is where we start for the Dow 30. Nasdaq market site 2,071, an increase of 21 points for the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
Fleet Week continues at the Nasdaq, as well. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Bill Hemmer in New York City, along with my partner, Soledad, who is out on the Kennedy. Hey, Soledad, good morning again.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Bill, good morning to you as well. Good day for the Dow, good day here, as well, on the flight deck on the USS John F. Kennedy. You know, ships are female and this one is called Big John. And in fact, she actually is the largest of the fleets that's visiting here for Fleet Week. The sailors are exploring New York City and I got to tell you, if they are getting half of the hospitality from the city that has been showed to us on board the USS JFK, they're going to have a terrific time on their R&R.

Ahead this morning, we're going to introduce you to a man who has one of the most critical jobs -- a man and woman, actually -- critical jobs on board this ship. One is dealing with top secret information, another dealing with the dropping of the bombs by the air wing. That's ahead this morning.

First, though, let's get a look at some of the other stories that making headlines with Carol Costello. Good morning again, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad. And good morning to all of you.

"Now in the News," Pfizer is denying reports that its drug Viagra causes blindness. This comes after the FDA announced it's examining reports that link the popular drug to a type of blindness called Naion. Pfizer says: "There is no evidence that Naoion occurred more often in men taking Viagra than men of a similar age and health who did not take Viagra." Naion is a blindness caused by sudden stroke inside the eye.

Here's a big story overseas that you might not have heard about. Schapelle Corby, a 27-year-old Australian, sentenced in Indonesia to 20 years in prison for smuggling nine pounds of marijuana. Corby claims the drugs were planted in her luggage.

Australian broadcast reporter Tim Palmer is live in Bali, Indonesia, with emotional reaction to this verdict. Tell us about it.

TIM PALMER, AUSTRALIAN TV REPORTER: Carol, a dramatic end, chaotic conclusion to a court case that has galvanized opinion in Australia that was settled here in Den Fuza (ph) in Bali. A case of an Australian woman caught last October with 4.5 kilograms of marijuana in her bag at Bali Airport and at one stage faced the death penalty. At the end of a court case, her supporters emerged, claiming a complete miscarriage of justice. But none of the defense witnesses they've presented suggesting someone else put the drugs there had been listened to.

But the judge, who had a 100 percent record of never acquitting anyone on drugs charges here in Bali, maintained that record, ruling that Schapelle Corby and only Schapelle Corby, on the evidence he heard, could have put those drugs in her bag.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PALMER (voice-over): As the full weight of Indonesian law fell on Schapelle Corby, she appeared not to understand quite what had happened. Then, after checking with her interpreter, it began to sink in. She turned to glare at prosecutors, then uttered her only words, "Mom, it's OK." Looking a very long way from home, Schapelle Corby cried at the prospect of jail until she's 47 years old.

At the back of the court, there was the same confusion at first, then bitter fury from Corby's sister and mother, directed squarely at the judges.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not all right! How dare you!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We swore on the Bible (INAUDIBLE)!

PALMER: Indonesian customs officials who'd found the marijuana in Schapelle Corby's bag were accepted as truthful. Every single defense witness, those who tried to suggest someone else planted the drugs, were ruled as irrelevant to the judgment. The actions of the accused were a danger to the community, the judges read. This was a transnational crime that could damage the minds of young people. The die had been cast.

Before she was led away, Schapelle Corby forced past police to embrace her mother. Then, as she left for prison, a last exchange.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Schapelle, you will come home! Our government will bring you home!

PALMER: Left behind where her lawyers, castigated by the judges and deeply worried about their client.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE I don't think she can survive.

PALMER: But outside, it was a far angrier mood.

MERCEDES CORBY, SCHAPELLE CORBY'S SISTER: To all our family and friends, we love you all. Schapelle is innocent. This vote is unjust. The case now enters a new phase and we'll stand by Schapelle every step of the way. Our lawyers have done their best and with the support of all of the Australians (INAUDIBLE), Schapelle will be coming soon. (INAUDIBLE) take any of our witnesses!

PALMER: And then it was all over. A last few scrambled seconds and Schapelle Corby was spirited off to the Crilican (ph) Prison, a media spectacle to the end.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PALMER: But such the level of interest in this case -- such is the level of interest in this case that the entier Australia/Indonesia relationship is being discussed in terms of it. The political pressure leading the Australian government to already offer to fund an appeal and the Australian political opposition, calling on the Indonesian government to pardon the girl -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Tim Palmer in Indonesia this morning, thank you.

A homicide suspect still perched upon an 18-story crane over Atlanta. This is the 41st hour of the stand-off. He identified as Carl Edward Roland, wanted in the death of his former girlfriend in Florida. Police say when he is ready, he will come down, one way or the other.

And President Bush, saluting the class of 2005. The president set to give the commencement address at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, shortly. You're looking at live pictures. The ceremony has begun. CNN will have live coverage of the president's address. That starts at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

Well, let's head back to Soledad aboard the USS John F. Kennedy.

O'BRIEN: Hey, Carol, thanks a lot.

You know, at times, there are 5,500 people on board this ship. This morning, I want to introduce to you to two of them, Petty Officer Karen Meadows and Petty Officer Kendrick Walley. Nice to see you both. Thanks for talking with us. Why don't you begin, Officer Walley, with what your job is on board?

CTT-1 KENDRICK WALLEY, USS JOHN F. KENNEDY: How you doing, ma'am? My name is CTT-1 Walley, Kendrick Walley, that is.

O'BRIEN: And what's your job? I mean, because since I'm not in the military, I have no idea what that means.

WALLEY: CTT is a cryptologic technician, and that's working in the intelligence field. And we would tell you what that is, but you know the rest of that phrase.

O'BRIEN: You basically can't tell me?

WALLEY: Yes, ma'am.

O'BRIEN: So your job is to try to intercept messages or try to block the messages that the ship is sending?

WALLEY: We will intercept. At the same time, we countering our signals to not give -- to give as little details as to where we are, things that we're doing.

O'BRIEN: Interesting. I like that he's a man of very few words. Let's go to Petty Officer Karen Meadows. What's your job?

A.O. KAREN MEADOWS, USS JOHN F. KENNEDY: Aviation ordinanceman.

O'BRIEN: Which means what, exactly?

MEADOWS: We build the bombs, we send them up to the flight deck and we load them on the aircraft. And the rest is up to the pilots.

O'BRIEN: What kind of a day do you have? I mean, I know that obviously when you're engaged in battle, as the JFK was in Falluja, you must be working around the clock.

MEADOWS: Anywhere from 12 to 18 hours one shift and then the night check will over from there. But we do what we have to do to get the job done.

O'BRIEN: You've both been in the Navy for ten years.

MEADOWS: Yes, ma'am.

O'BRIEN: How have things changed since 9/11? Has it sort of increased your commitment to at Navy?

WALLEY: Commitment, awareness, security as a whole. You know, we're always been on our Ps and Qs, sort of saying, but we definitely had to step it up to another level to accommodate, you know, more enemies and what's going on in the world around us.

O'BRIEN: And how about for you, Karen?

MEADOWS: It just means a whole lot more to me to be serving my country in this capacity with what's going on in the world today.

O'BRIEN: Kendrick, I know you have a 5-year-old daughter. Is there anything you want to say to her? She's based out of -- based, as if a 5-year-old is based anywhere -- she lives in Florida.

WALLEY: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Anything you want to say to her?

WALLEY: Hi, Kiana (ph). My daughter's name is Kiana (ph) Walley. My mother and my sister, Tuana (ph), Svandra (ph), also in Jacksonville. The rest of my family is in Mississippi. I'd like to say hi to everybody.

O'BRIEN: When do you get to go back home?

WALLEY: We will be back in about two weeks. O'BRIEN: All right, good, well, not too long, then. Thank you, both of you, very much, for sharing some of your experiences with us. We certainly appreciate it. Let's go back to Bill.

WALLEY: Thank you.

HEMMER: All right, Soledad, thanks.

22 minutes now before the hour. Looking toward the weekend right now. Americans are going to be hitting the road by record numbers, they say. AAA estimating 37 million will travel this weekend alone. That's a 2 percent increase from a year ago. 31 million by car, another 4 million by plane. 2 million will go by bus, train or boat. And travelers may be setting the pace for a record travel season.

We'll see how it's going so far. 9:30 here on the East Coast at La Guardia Airport. There's Chris Huntington. Morning, Chris.

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. Well, this may be the proverbial calm before the storm. It is a beautiful, sunny day, 70 degrees out here. Of course, it's been raining cold on the Northeast coast for much of the last several weeks. It is actually less busy now here than it was a couple of hours ago. We had a -- quite a jam at about 7:00 a.m., but, frankly, all things running smoothly here. We're told there are no delays, which for La Guardia is absolutely amazing.

Some other good news for travelers is weekend, and that is prices that you can expect to be paying. In fact, big surprise to everybody, including -- particularly those folks at the Energy Department. Gasoline prices have been coming down steadily in the last couple of weeks. And the latest figure, national average for unleaded regular, from AAA, is just a little bit more than $2.10 a gallon. And that is les than six cents more than what folks were paying a year ago. So in fact, gasoline prices up less than the overall rate of inflation.

Airline ticket prices, if you do some careful shopping, particularly online, also down. We're told on average by Triple A, down as much as 10 percent across the board. Rental car rates down, as well. You can expect to pay more for hotel rates this weekend, and we're told you can expect to pay more if you want to go to some of the major theme parks around the nation. Overall, popular destinations, of course, the national parks, theme parks and the beach, and it looks like the weather may be cooperating -- Bill.

HEMMER: And they don't call it getaway day for nothing, too.

Chris, thanks. Chris Huntington in La Guardia.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: In a moment here, some fourth and fifth graders whose favorite class is ballroom dancing. Toure looks at a new documentary in a moment here.

And in today's "Extra Effort" segment this week, one organization helps wounded veterans rebuild their lives, and they do it with hammer and nails. Soledad is back live from the flight deck of the Kennedy with that story. We are back in a moment, after this on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone. Toure is here to talk about a new movie. This one not a big Hollywood production, by any stretch.

Morning.

TOURE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, morning, Bill.

Listen, when you think of ballroom dancing, you don't normally think of little kids, but there's a new documentary, "Mad Hot Ballroom," that tells the story of fourth and fifth-graders in New York City who study ballroom dancing and then compete in a ballroom competition. The movie goes beyond dancing, of course, to reveal how kids feel about the opposite sex and themselves, but the best part is seeing those little streetwise cherubs learning how to dance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where's my tango face. A, N, G, O.

TOURE: "Mad Hot Ballroom" is a look inside ballroom dancing classes, like this one at PS-115 in upper Manhattan. In the class, they learn a number of dances, including the swing, meringue, the tango.

(on camera): What is the value of teaching ballroom dancing?

RODNEY LOPEZ, BALLROOM DANCING TEACHER: Ballroom dancing is just an alternative for kids to sort of explore their creative side and to get to learn how to deal with another human being in a social sort of setting.

JATNNA TORIBBIO, STUDENT: It's very different. It's very sort of dramatic. It's very -- I think I changed in my personality. I became very mature.

MARILYN AGRELO, PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: The part of the thing that works for the film for adults is it takes you back to when you felt that way. Our minds were blown all the time by what these kids really are thinking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Women overall, judging by scientific research, are the more advanced civilization.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Girls always think they're the boss of everything and they're the best.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now she's hot!

TOURE (voice-over): The movie followed three schools into a ballroom dancing competition.

(on camera): Some of the best moments in the film are when the school that you've been rooting for loses.

AMY SEWELL, WRITER/PRODUCER: We brought five kids out to Park City for the festival, and one little girl from the Tribeca team was upset. I said, Tera, what's wrong? And she said, I just feel that loss all over again.

TOURE (voice-over): But even if they lose, the ballroom dancing class is still everyone's favorite part of the dance.

LOPEZ: There's a ballroom culture developing in the school, and what happens is that the younger kids see the accomplishments of the older kids. Now the fourth-graders and the fifth-graders who are coming up say, well wait a minute, we know our big brothers or our older friends have experiences; we want to experience that, too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TOURE: Thanks to the kids and teachers of PS-115 for putting up with my ballroom dancing, which was definitely not as good as the little kids. "Mad Hot Ballroom," it's fun for parents and kids, because you get to see lots of cool dancing, but you also get to see the transformation and maturation of some of the kids because of the ballroom classes. You get to see them become little ladies and gentlemen. "Mad Hot Ballroom" is in theaters today.

HEMMER: Cute stuff. And some characters.

TOURE: Oh, yes, of course.

HEMMER: Have a good weekend.

TOURE: Thank you.

HEMMER: In a moment here, first you lost the pillows, then you missed the meals. You will not believe what one airline is cutting out now to save a few bucks. Andy tells us in a moment here, "Minding Your Business," after this on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right. Welcome back, everyone.

The Mary Kay lady will not visit ABC's "Wisteria Lane." And Northwest says there's no such thing as a free snack, again.

Back to Andy Serwer here, "Minding Your Business."

Cutting back again, aren't they?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, that's the name of the game for the airlines these days, Bill.

Let's go to the Big Board and see how trading is on Wall Street at this hour, down a slim point. It might even get into positive territory as we watch that little thing tick away.

Trading is going to be light today because of the holiday weekend. By the afternoon, things will be really petering out down there.

Let's talk about this airlines story. Northwest Airlines, if you're going to be flying them next month, bring Fritos. Here's why: They're getting rid of pretzels. You know those little bags of pretzels. They must cost the airline, what...

HEMMER: Nineteen cents a bag?

SERWER: I would say 13 cents a bag, and they're getting rid of them. Available on flights will be a $1 three-ounce bag of trail mix. CNN crunched the numbers. That's 33 cents an ounce, published reports.

Let's talk about Mary Kay cosmetics. They are pulling their ads from ABC's "Desperate Housewives," this because the American Family Association pointed out this is a racy program.

HEMMER: No!

SERWER: And that "Desperate Housewives," and that Mary Kay Cosmetics is a company whose slogan is God first, family second and career third. So they said, this doesn't match our corporate goals and strategies. So they're pulling them. And that's all she wrote for the week.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I wonder what (INAUDIBLE) them to buy a show in the first place that's titled "Desperate Housewives." What did they thinking it was about?

SERWER: Well, maybe they weren't thinking at all.

CAFFERTY: Yes, maybe so. That's a possibility.

HEMMER: Question of the Day.

CAFFERTY: Question of the Day, what would you say in the way of advice to this year's graduates? The president's going to speak to the midshipmen at Annapolis later today. We've all heard these speeches. If you were standing up there in front of them, what would you tell them.

Jim in Arizona, "My advice to graduating seniors. Stay in school. Go back to grad school. Do whatever you can to postpone reality. It's a jungle out here, and very few of you will land cushy jobs like morning news anchors."

Roda (ph) in Wisconsin, "Just because you did all the right things and made top grades, the world still does not owe you anything. Don't be discouraged at that may be your first failure."

And Randy in Ontario, "The more you study, the more you know. The more you know, the more you can forget. The more you can forget, the more you will forget. And the more you do forget, the less you will know. So why study?"

SERWER: That one lost me.

HEMMER: Thank you, Randy.

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: Happy hour somewhere.

SERWER: Bringing the vodka.

HEMMER: Let's get a break. Back to Soledad on board the Kennedy right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: For wounded troops that are returning from Iraq, they can obviously face many obstacles. Sometimes those obstacles are in their own homes.

CNN's Dan Lothian has the story of our "Extra Effort," a man who's adapting houses to fit the soldiers who live in them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Down a long stone- mined gravel driveway, veteran contractor John Gonsalves is building a dream home.

JOHN GONSALVES, HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS: There's a wall that'll come right off of this petition here.

LOTHIAN: But the dream belongs to 31-year-old sergeant Peter Damon and his family.

SGT. PETER DAMON, MASS. NATL. GUARD: It's a dream come true.

I'm thinking it's great.

LOTHIAN: Sergeant Damon, a Massachusetts National Guard aviation technician, lost his right arm and left hand in Iraq about a year and a half ago, when a Black Hawk helicopter tire he was changing exploded.

DAMON: I didn't know what was going to happen. I was Very scared.

LOTHIAN: When Gonsalves heard his story on television, he knew we to help.

GONSALVES: I got looking at that, thinking to myself, this is why I'm putting this organization together, is to help somebody like that.

LOTHIAN: A desire to help injured veterans by giving them free homes became a reality on this two-acre lot in Middleboro, Massachusetts. With volunteer workers and donations of money and supplies, Homes for our Troops was born.

DAVE BUKER, VOLUNTEER: These guys are over there fighting for us, and we're over here fighting for them, welcome them back.

JENNIFER DAMON, SGT. DAMON'S WIFE: We're got to worry about where we're sleeping and what kind of roof is over our head. We know it's a good roof and a good house.

LOTHIAN: But this house is about more than just putting a roof over the heads of an injured vet and his family.

(on camera): In fact, it is specifically designed to meet Sergeant Damon's needs.

For example, the front door here, when they put it in, he won't have to fumble around for keys; it has a keyless entry. And all the other doors in the house, like this one, won't have knobs, but rather levers, making it very easy for him to go in and out.

(voice-over): And more help for his prosthetic arm in the kitchen.

GONSALVES: We have racks under the cabinets for the plates, and it will make things a lot easier for him there.

P. DAMON: Something like this lifts your spirits to so high, I mean, and you're able to go on.

GONSALVES: For a veteran to tell me that that's aiding in his recovery, it is just unbelievable.

LOTHIAN: Thanking a soldier for his sacrifice by saying, welcome home.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Nice to see people helping out and giving a hand.

That does it for our live coverage from the USS John F. Kennedy.

Hey, Bill, you know, if you haven't had an opportunity to check out this particular aircraft carrier, I strongly encourage it. Tours are open to you, of course obviously, but the public as well, starting at noon today. And you can see some of the folks have actually come out, not only to see their sons and daughters who might be serving on this aircraft carrier, but also the general public just wants to check it out.

HEMMER: It looks great. Really terrific tour. So job well done, Soledad. Have a great weekend, OK, with your family. And enjoy the weather.

GONSALVES: Thank you, likewise.

HEMMER: And enjoy the weather, because it's actually sunny now.

See you later. Have a great weekend.

We got to run. You guys have a great weekend. Happy holidays.

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