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In Aftermath of Katrina, New Orleans Police Trying to Keep the Peace; Possibility of Bird Flu Pandemic has 80 Nations Meeting in Washington

Aired October 07, 2005 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Lots to tell you about this morning, not only terror threats in the subway here in New York City, but also we'll take you back to New Orleans, update you on what they're doing there. First, though, a look at the headlines this morning. Carol has those.
Good morning.

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

New York City Police beefing up security after a specific threat to the city subway system. Extra officers have been posted because of the terror alert. A Bush administration official tells CNN the threat involves the use of explosives hidden in baby carriages, but Homeland Security officials are downplaying that threat.

The chief nuclear inspector Mohamad ElBaradei says he is humbled and honored after winning this year's Nobel Peace Prize. ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency, share the prize for their efforts to limit the spread of atomic weapons. The official ceremony is set for December 10th in Oslo, Norway.

The cost associated in fighting the war on terror could surpass half a trillion dollars in the next five years. That's according to a new congressional report. Most of that money said to be for Iraq. In the meantime, the Senate is set to vote on a new bill that would add another $50 for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's part of the military-spending bill for the new fiscal year.

It's not clear when, but presidential adviser Karl Rove has agreed to testify again on the leak of a CIA operative's identity. His lawyers say Rove has been asked to testify for a fourth time, but this will be his first time on the stand without protection against indictment.

And that mysterious illness in Toronto appears to have been identified. The disease has killed at least 16 people at a nursing home and left more than 30 others hospitalized this week. Canadian authorities now say the illness appears to be Legionnaires Disease, a bacterial illness related to pneumonia. They say there is no risk of it spreading any farther. Those already affected are now being treated with antibiotics.

(WEATHER REPORT) M. O'BRIEN: In the aftermath of Katrina, New Orleans police are trying to keep the peace. In addition to regular police patrols, anti-looting squads will help maintain law and order. That's what we just heard from the acting New Orleans Police Superintendent Warren Riley in an interview Soledad just did here.

Dan Lothian is in New Orleans, reporting on how the city is getting back on its feet.

And, Dan, I'm just curious because you've really had a chance to see just how daily life works or doesn't work there. What sort of police presence are you seeing right now?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, we have noticed over the past few days that there's been a heavy police presence. I mean, police were always seen around city, in the outskirts of the city, but it does appear that that has been picking up over the last few days, and not only the police presence, but also military patrols which continues. Perhaps this is even as more and more people are coming into the city, they continue to expand that police presence.

Now, to that point of more of the evacuees returning to the city, Mayor Ray Nagin had warned many of the residents that when they returned they should bring their own food, their own water, their own supplies, because a lot of those materials did not exist here, at least not yet, but one week later, some of those hurdles still remain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN (voice-over): New Orleans is welcoming back its evacuees into a different way of life. So many things once taken for granted just aren't there yet.

(on camera): We've all gotten so used to getting last-minute cash from ATMs, but now you have to plan in advance because most of them aren't work.

You can still find the mailbox standing, the problem is no one is picking up the mail, so if you drop something in, it will probably stay look locked up here for a long time.

If you want to grab a newspaper to catch up on the morning headlines, many of the boxes are empty, including "USA Today." This one, though, had a copy from August 26th, the weekend Katrina hit.

Public transportation is spotty. The buses are running on a reduced schedule. The trolleys aren't running at all. So if you don't have a car, it's much more difficult to get around.

(voice-over): Some taxi cabs are running, but with radio towers down, they must be dispatched by cell phones, which aren't always reliable. Most hospitals, some heavily damaged, are closed. There are some makeshift facilities, but only one hospital emergency room in the city are reopen. And while more and more businesses are reopening everyday, these women say sometimes it's hard just to get a cup of coffee. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How long did it take you to find your coffee?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God, I'm aggravated. .

(CROSSTALK)

LOTHIAN (on camera): So you had to drive all of the way around to try and find a coffee.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you have to get on, go toward Baton Rouge, get off at Bonneville (ph), and then you can get off at Carrolton (ph), and it takes you right here.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): It's more complicated to get your prescription from the local drugstore, or pick up some groceries at the local supermarket or get a late-night fix at a convenience store.

Ernest Brownson recently returned to his uptown neighborhood, and while he says a couple of big stores just reopened, it hasn't been easy.

ERNEST BROWNSON, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: We depart the city every three days, and go the north shore and stock up and bring what we need.

LOTHIAN: These are the hurdles facing returning evacuees.

BROWNSON: You try this or you try that, and just something that works.

LOTHIAN: Finding a way to live in a city struggling to reopen after Hurricane Katrina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: At one of the checkpoints in the city, some volunteers were handing out this list, a guide of what is open, to try to help out some of those residents as they return. It's only one-page, but no doubt it will grow longer with each passing day -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Dan Lothian, imagine that, one-page for a city of more than a half million at one time -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: The possibility of a bird flu pandemic has 80 nations meeting in Washington right now. They can probably all agree that the world is unprepared. Now they're working on a plan to try to save millions of lives in case there is an outbreak.

Andrea Koppel is live for us at the State Department this morning.

Hey, Andrea, good morning. What's going on today exactly?

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, it's all about convincing as many countries as possible around the world, not just those countries on front line, but every country from Russia to Southeast Asia that they need to have some kind of a pandemic plan in place and they need to share information as quickly as possible if there is an outbreak of avian flu. That's because experts explain that pandemics are diseases without borders, and a threat against one nation is a threat against the entire world.

Experts believe that if they can get information quickly about the outbreak of bird flu they might be able to react in time to prevent a pandemic, but even if they can't, they believe cooperation will be essential in dealing with the pandemic once it starts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE LEAVITT, HHS SECY.: The world is obviously unprepared, or inadequately prepared, for the potential of a pandemic. The enemy virus currently is H5N1, but I would like to suggest to all of us that our task is not simply battling H5N1; our task is to make broader pandemic preparations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: And so for that reason, conference organizers say that their goals include the following, to build political momentum so that countries can coordinate. They also want to quickly identify and respond to any outbreak and provide support for affected countries.

Soledad, so often when there have been cases of avian flu, they've occurred countries which are still communist, Vietnam, for instance, and Laos, and there is no incentive in those communities. In fact, there's a disincentive. The farmers feel that they could be punished if they were to come forward with this information. Today's conference is just a beginning, but they hope to come up with ideas to help the governments change that way of thinking -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Andrea Koppel for us this morning. Andrea, thanks.

Still to come, we are "Minding Your Business." Investors are getting their first look at the losses in that September jobs report. Andy's going to tell us how Wall Street's reacting to those numbers, much lower than they actually thought.

M. O'BRIEN: And I guess that's god news, but you never know Wall Street. That could be bad news.

Well, anyway, let's move on here. We'll find out how an American soldier became an American shaikh. His story of understanding and hope in Iraq is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: When dale horn was deployed to Iraq, he thought he'd be fighting battles, protecting the local people, never thought he'd be made a shaikh. Staff Sergeant Dale Horn joins us. He's with his wife Amanda. And the kids join us as well. There's Marcus, who's seven, and Dominic (ph) and Haley who are the 4-year-old twins.

Good morning, nice to see you, and the whole family, too.

Let's get right to it. How'd you become a shaikh?

SGT. DALE HORN, U.S. ARMY: I was doing local projects in the community around the base, and since I was doing a lot of things, as they call it, freely for the people, one of the local shaikhs, Dr. Muhammed (ph), said you must be a shaikh for doing everything for the people, and in a security council meeting, they voted me in as a shaikh.

S. O'BRIEN: That must a been a big honor, or were you sort of more perplexed, like, OK, I'm a shaikh. What does that mean exactly?

HORN: It started off, I believe, as a joke. He announced it and people nominated me by voice, and then the next security council meeting, they had a doctrine. So I was pretty much in awe the whole time.

S. O'BRIEN: Now there are some perks that come with being a shaikh. And you know, I think, you get livestock, right? And I think you might even get some property. And, I think -- oh, look, there's someone's little head poking in. I don't know. Who was that, that little boy there?

AMANDA HORN, WIFE OF DALE HORN: Marcus.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, Marcus, the big one. All right. All right, well, we'll talk about the kids. There we go. And you also get to have multiple wives, is that right?

D. HORN: No, not by wife.

S. O'BRIEN: Dale smiles and Amanda shakes her head, no way.

All right, Amanda, so Dale called you on the phone. He's like, honey, guess what? They made me a shaikh. What was your reaction?

A. HORN: I was surprised and stuff and very proud of him.

S. O'BRIEN: Because it's really, in all seriousness it's based on doing pretty amazing good deeds in the 11 months that you've been deployed. How about the wife thing, though, Amanda? Were you like, let's talk about that.

A. HORN: No way. No way.

S. O'BRIEN: Didn't need to discuss it at all, did you?

S. HORN: Exactly.

D. HORN: Not at all.

S. O'BRIEN: Tell me, Dale, about some of the projects that you worked on. What are the things that you're most proud that you accomplished, not necessarily in your role as a soldier, but in your role where you helped the people in Iraq. D. HORN: In my area, we completed about 13 projects, totaling about 136 -- $100,000, and I did a water project for four months in the summer for 40 villages. There was a bridge project, a lot of roads, a chicken farm project, many things to help the local community and to start an economy base there in the local area.

S. O'BRIEN: So what started as a joke really was a huge and serious thank you for the work that you did. You're home now.

Amanda, how's it been. You've got 4-year-old twins which, hey, you know what a potential nightmare that can be. What's it like to have him home?

A. HORN: it's wonderful.

S. O'BRIEN: I bet it is.

S. O'BRIEN: Do you feel optimistic, Dale, about the Iraqi people's chances to govern themselves without American troops there in the near future?

D. HORN: I really can't say in the near future. However, I do believe that they have a great start, a good base. The Iraqi police and the army are doing great things, and they're training hard every day. So I believe that in time, they will. They'll be able to govern themselves and be a free nation.

S. O'BRIEN: I'm watching the kids. Can you guys get a shot of these kids here? I don't know what they're looking at. They are so funny and so cute. Dale, you must be thrilled to be home, even with the honor of being a shaikh.

D. HORN: I am.

Dominick, sit down, please.

S. O'BRIEN: You know that's not going to work while they're on TV, right? Parenting while you're doing a live shot? It doesn't work. I've tried it. It's not possible.

But you must be happy to be back.

D. HORN: I am. I'm thrilled. I've missed them so much, and this will be my third short tour away from my family, so it's nice to be home.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, congratulations on being a shaikh.

Sorry about the whole second wife thing, but Amanda's put her foot down.

D. HORN: Oh, yes. She canceled it from the get go.

S. O'BRIEN: You weren't even going get traction on that one.

D. HORN: Not at all. S. O'BRIEN: Dale Horn and Amanda Horn. And to your absolutely adorable children, thank you for being with us. We appreciate it.

D. HORN: Thank you so much.

A. HORN: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles?

M. O'BRIEN: Who's the one leaning on mom there?

S. O'BRIEN: That's, I believe, Marcus. He's the older, right, and then the twins are Dominick and Haley.

M. O'BRIEN: Marcus is gripped by this interview, just gripped.

S. O'BRIEN: Another child I put to sleep in an interview.

M. O'BRIEN: Can we put on the cartoon network now, please, mom.

D. HORN: He's been up since 3:00 in the morning, so he's pretty tired.

M. O'BRIEN: No, he deserves it.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: They're so cute.

M. O'BRIEN: Great family. All right, "CNN LIVE TODAY" is coming up next.

You know, Tony Harris, they say in show business, you should never follow animals or children, and here you go, Tony. Try to top that.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Here we go. OK, Miles, we've all been there with our kids, that's for sure.

A busy morning ahead with this new terror threat. We'll take you inside New York's own CIA, a rare at how the Big Apple prepares for a potential terror attack, also Senator John McCain locked in a showdown with President Bush over the treatment of military prisoners. It's a topic Senator McCain, a former prisoner of war himself, feels strongly about, and we'll talk to him live, coming up on CNN LIVE TODAY.

Miles, back to you.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, Tony. See you then.

Still to come, a closer look at a new film directed by George Clooney. "Good Night and Good Luck," it is called. It's all about Edward R. Murrow. Do today's journalists live up to the lofty standards set by the great one? That story is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Kind of a tense commute this morning in New York City. We'll show you some live pictures now, coming from Pennsylvania Station. Our Alina Cho is there and she's working on it right now trying to figure out what's going on, but apparently some portion of Penn Station has been cordoned off by police. We know nothing more than that, so please just put that in the category of early developing stories without a lot of facts at this point. But nonetheless, we're watching it very closely.

This, of course, in the wake of that terror threat we've been telling you about all this morning, focused on the New York City transit system. Alina Cho will be checking in with us very shortly with some further details. In the meantime, let's go to Andy Serwer to talk a little bit about business news this morning. Andy, good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" COLUMNIST: Good morning to you, Miles. This morning, stocks are trading up, bucking a trend that took place most of the week, up 38 points. The Dow Jones Industrials stocks slipped Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday on inflation fears. What's going on this morning on Wall Street? Some security stocks are up and that's sport sort of based on what's happening in the news this morning.

Now, look, a big jobs report happened this morning here for the month of September. We learned that the economy lost 35,000 jobs. The unemployment rate ticked off to 5.1 percent. Not that many jobs lost Miles, because job gains very strong in other regions of the nation. So in other words, we lost a lot of jobs in the Gulf Coast, yes, but job gains in other parts of the country, maybe California, the East Coast, to offset those losses.

M. O'BRIEN: Of course, there's probably a little bit of a delay in there, because some people would still be on the payroll for a little bit of time. So we don't know the full implications yet.

SERWER: That's also true. And so we're going to have to watch that one.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. Andy Serwer, thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, let's get right back to Penn Station in New York. As we've been telling you all, there have been threats against New York City subway system. Alina Cho has been reporting for us all morning from Penn Station. And now you have some areas of Penn Station closed down. What's happening there, Alina?

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, here's what we know at this point. One of the main entrances at Penn Station is sealed off. That's the entrance right behind me. Penn Station, if you don't know, is one of the largest subway stations in New York City. What we know right now, according to our producer inside, is that the Amtrak portion of the station has been sealed off. No new riders are being allowed in. Only security and police personnel and at least two men in Hazmat suits. Now, it is entirely possible, Soledad, that police are just being extremely cautious. After all, yesterday they held a highly- publicized news conference, saying that there was a terror threat against the New York City subway station. And this morning, they have said before, as well, that they are being extremely cautious.

S. O'BRIEN: Clearly, riders who are on higher alert today probably a little bit more nervous right now that we're getting this new information. Alina, obviously, you're going to stay with the story, and we'll continue to update folks as soon as we know more. Alina Cho at Penn Station in Manhattan this morning. Thanks, Alina.

A short break. We're back in just a moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: In his new feature film, George Clooney tells the story of legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow. Back in the 1950s, Murrow upheld the profession's highest standards. That, despite a vicious campaign to silence the news media.

Brooke Anderson takes a look at whether journalists today are meeting the standards Murrow set a half century ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EDWARD R. MURROW, JOURNALIST: This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy's methods to keep silent.

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow takes on Senator Joe McCartney in George Clooney's "Good Night and Good Luck." In 1953, Murrow defied corporate and political pressures on his famous "See It Now" program, to report McCarthey's communist witch-hunts.

GEORGE CLOONEY, "GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK": He actually stuck his neck out when it was hard to stick your neck out.

ANDERSON: It was a battle that hit home for Clooney, who co- wrote, directed and starred in the film.

CLOONEY: I grew up sitting on floor of WKRC in Cincinatti, Ohio, watching my dad work on the news. And he was the news director, he wrote his own news. It's a constant fight between the journalists who want to break the story and the people who pay their checks.

ANDERSON: More than 50 years later, many say Murrow is still the gold standard of American journalism.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTL. CORRESPONDENT: He dared to be honest and have integrity and do what a real journalist is supposed to do. That's the kind of emotion and feeling that I think we all revere.

ANDERSON: But are reporters today willing to follow Murrow's example and risk their careers to challenge the powerful? HOWARD KURTZ, MEDIA CRITIC, "WASHINGTON POST": For several years after 9/11, I think journalists just became more passive. There was a feeling in the country that we were under attack and we should all pull together and I think aggressive journalism, while it certainly didn't end, got pushed off to the back burner for a while.

ANDERSON: Hurricane Katrina blew it back on the burner. The government's response to the tragedy had reporters asking tough questions again.

TED KOPPEL, NEWS ANCHOR: I'm not asking you, Mr. Brown, why the city didn't have buses available, I'm asking you why you didn't have National Guards in there with trucks to get them out there..

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Coalitions of politicians thanking each other and complimenting each other. You know, I've got to tell you, there are a lot of people here who are very upset.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is the aid? It's the question people keep asking us on camera.

DAN RATHER, NEWS ANCHOR: Murrow set that as the standard. He set such a high standard, none of us will ever be able to achieve it. But in trying and reaching for it, every time we do, we're better and so is the public.

MURROW: Good night and good luck.

ANDERSON: Brooke Anderson, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Raises a lot of interesting questions, I think, certainly in the wake of all the coverage of Hurricane Katrina.

We're out of time. Let's get right to Tony Harris. He's at the CNN Center, going to take you through the next couple of hours.

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