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CNN Live At Daybreak

Quake Aftermath; Videotaped Beating; Terror Anxiety

Aired October 10, 2005 - 05:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It's Monday, October 10, Columbus Day.
A bloody beating in New Orleans, and it was all caught on tape. Allegations of police brutality in the aftermath of a brutal hurricane. Did these officers go too far?

Also (VIDEO GAP) to loosen the tie just a little bit.

Well, good morning, everybody. From the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, this is DAYBREAK on your Monday. I'm Betty Nguyen, in today for Carol Costello.

We'll have more on that brutal beating in just a moment.

Also ahead, New York City commuters will see more police under ground this morning. But are the subways really safer?

And international aid is headed to the areas worst hit by the earthquake, but will it get there in time?

But first, "Now in the News."

President and Mrs. Bush will head to the Gulf Coast hurricane zone, making stops in Louisiana and Mississippi tonight and tomorrow. They'll take part in a Habit for Humanity project in Louisiana and then visit a reopened grade school in a devastated Mississippi town.

Talking security now, and promoting democracy. That is what Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will do when she kicks off a week- long trip to central Asia today. Her stops include Afghanistan, which was hard hit by that earthquake, and Kazakhstan.

New Hampshire is under a state of emergency. Look at this. Amid some of the worst flooding in years, it could take months to repair damaged roads.

Heavy rain over the weekend flooded homes from New England to North Carolina. Hundreds of people have been evacuated.

Speaking of that weather, Chad, are they going to get any relief anytime soon?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: They're going to get some showers today, but nothing like they had over the weekend, which was really the remnant moisture of what was Tammy, that old tropical storm that rolled all the way into Florida, then back up here. (WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: You bet.

NGUYEN: Well, massive destruction, a rising death toll, and desperate need for relief. We begin with the aftermath of last weekend's earthquake in South Asia. In response to Pakistan's plea for help, the U.S. is rushing aid to the region. It's made an initial pledge of up to $50 million.

Now, the U.S. is also sending military aircraft. They'll carry supplies to remote spots that rescuers haven't been able to reach. Also, a seven-member disaster assistance response team arrives in Pakistan today.

Nearly 31,000 people are confirmed dead so far. Most of them in Pakistan.

CNN Senior International Correspondent Satinder Bindra joins us now from one of the hardest-hit areas.

Satinder, how are rescue operations going? Because I know it's been very difficult over the weekend.

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Betty, rescue operations are proceeding, but they're proceeding very slowly. Many of the victims, many of the survivors quite angry in the remote areas of Pakistan that they still haven't received any relief or any aid. But in the next 45 minutes to an hour, the situation should improve somewhat.

That's when we expect about eight U.S. helicopters will land in Islamabad. They're part of the relief effort. And we're also given to understand they'll be flying their first sorties, the first missions tomorrow.

Right at the moment, Betty, I'm in a very small village called Chapagram (ph). Now, it's a very remote area. The Pakistani army, in fact, has just managed to get in today itself. And here is the Chapagram (ph) village. Everything that I can see in front of me has been abolished.

I would say about a few hundred homes here have been flattened. These homes were made primarily of mud and wood. Eighty people were killed here, and the 1,008 survivors in this village are now just camping out in the open.

They haven't received any relief. And they say they need emotional support as well. They need support very quickly.

And Betty, this is just a microcosm of what's happening here. There are several other villages like Chapagram (ph) in this region suffering the same fate. NGUYEN: Satinder, we're looking at live pictures now, and it looks like pretty much a tent city there that's been set up. For those who have survived this, of course they have no home, their future is very uncertain? What about those aftershocks? Because that has to play into this as well.

BINDRA: Betty, just about four or five minutes ago I was standing on the top of some toppled homes, and there was another huge aftershock. These aftershocks are continuing, and they continue to traumatize already troubled people.

You said it very appropriately. People here have lost so much. They've lost their families, they've lost their homes. They've lost their businesses. And they've lost will, also, in some cases, to look forward into the future.

Many of them just sit around here with vacant gazes on their faces, not knowing how to put their lives together. And as far as the stress, Betty, many of the people who've suffered so much in Pakistan are the poorest of the poor. And unlike other parts of the developed world, where people have insurance against calamities, they have home insurance, people here don't have that.

So when they've lost everything, it's a very, very big and a tall ask for them to sort of think about rebuilding and regrouping. This is going to take a long time.

The Pakistani army, I mentioned, is in this area and have no short-term plans. They're going to be here for the long term, and one of their priorities is going to be to bring in rescue teams.

In fact, just this morning, on the same helicopter that I arrived, a Japanese rescue team is also in region. They have their work cut out for them, because they have to go through hundreds of homes here, hundreds of damaged homes. Their priority, of course, is to look for survivors -- Betty.

NGUYEN: That is priority number one at this point. Satinder, thank you so much for bringing us the latest details out of an area that is just devastated.

We want to move now to Guatemala. Officials there say they may soon call off the search for hundreds of bodies buried by mudslides. And they fear entire communities will be declared mass graveyards. They say it's simply too dangerous to keep looking for bodies.

Now, the official death toll in Guatemala is about 500. But that number is expected to rise. About 800 people are presumed dead in a remote town of Panaba (ph), which is about 100 miles west of Guatemala City. The mudslides were triggered by torrential rains after Hurricane Stan hit Mexico last Tuesday.

Our top domestic story this morning is what appears to be a brutal beating on Bourbon Street. Three New Orleans police officers have been charged in the incident, and it began with a relatively routine arrest. But then it turned ugly, and very ugly very fast. A warning now. Some of the pictures are disturbing.

CNN's Alina Cho has the full story from New Orleans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On the tape, two New Orleans police officers can be seen trying to make an arrest. The man in question, identified as 64-year-old Robert Davis, does not appear to resist. Moments later, an officer on horseback maneuvers in front of The Associated Press photographer, blocking his view of the scene.

Then a glimpse.

By our count, Davis sustains four blows to the head. His head also appears to hit the wall. Later, four men, two of them clearly identified as police, push Davis to the ground and place him in a headlock. They try to handcuff him. Here again, an officer punches Davis two more times.

CAPT. MARLON DEFILLO, NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPT.: Now, the question that comes to mind as far as the investigators is the degree of force used by the officers, and was that force appropriate? And we believe that the approach, based on the preliminary review, was not appropriate. It was not in line with the department policies and procedures. It was not in line with the department's training.

So certainly that's a great concern for the police department.

CHO: At this point, a man who identifies himself as Officer F.M. Smith pushes The Associated Press producer and pins him against a car. In a tirade full of expletives, the officer says, "I've been here for six weeks trying to keep myself alive. Go home."

All of this is happening just outside a hotel where a CNN photojournalist is staying. He notices the street is blocked off, a bloodied man is on the ground, and beings taping.

Davis' shirt is soaked with blood. As he tries to turn over, it becomes clear he has suffered head injuries.

DEFILLO: Those three police officers that we've identified will be suspended from the department and they will be arrested, and will be arrested for simple battery.

CHO (on camera): The suspect, Robert Davis, is charged with battery on a police officer, public intoxication and intimidation, and resisting arrest. A New Orleans police spokesman calls The Associated Press tape of the incident "troubling" and says the department has launched a full criminal investigation.

Alina Cho, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: "Troubling" is putting it mildly. As we said, three of the officers were arrested late last night and charged with battery. Two were charged with beating Robert Davis. The third is charged in the attack on The Associated Press television producer. AP reports that the other two men seen on their tape appear to be federal officers.

Davis was treated at a hospital before being released into police custody.

Well, former President Bush says it reminds him of the Asian tsunami disaster. He's wrapped up a tour of the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast with a helicopter trip over Texas and Louisiana.

During his trip people waited in line to shake his hand, some of them wiping away tears. Bush and former President Clinton have led a national fund-raising drive for storm victims.

Now, that's the spirit. Not even hurricanes can stop the music in New Orleans. With trombones blaring and marchers waving parasols, a traditional jazz memorial service was held for chef Austin Leslie. The 71-year-old died just days after being evacuated from his flooded home last month.

Organizers say the jazz memorial shows that New Orleans culture is still very much alive.

Well, it looks OK on the outside, but the real damage is on the inside. Hurricane damage to the Beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, is much worse than officials first thought. And they say fixing the crown jewel of the Gulf Coast casinos could take more than a year. It's a tough setback for the more than 3,000 employees who work there.

And it looks like the FBI is having trouble finding a few good workers. So the traditionally straight-laced agency is considering relaxing its hiring policy on drug use. Some FBI managers had been frustrated by not being able to hire applicants because they may have smoked pot in college or used other illegal drugs earlier in life.

Now, current rules prohibit the FBI from hiring anyone who used marijuana within the past three years or more, than 15 times ever. They also banned anyone who used other illegal drugs, such as cocaine or heroin, with 10 years, or more than five times total.

If the rules are relaxed, they would affect positions such as accountants or computer specialists, not FBI special agents, who conduct most criminal and terrorism investigations.

Very interesting, Chad. I mean, OK, so if you're a pot smoker, are you really counting how many times you've smoked ever?

MYERS: That's what they're asking you to do.

NGUYEN: Very interesting.

MYERS: And they're still not going to relax that no current drug use policy, period. I mean, that's not even thought about at this point in time. But the thought is, if they're non-critical jobs -- and I don't know if there is such a thing in the FBI -- but, you know, like you were saying, linguists, computer specialists, accountants, and all those other things that are not out on the street -- we're not talking about the G-Men that are out there. But they can't find any good guys, or women. They're all, well, I don't know, failing that polygraph.

NGUYEN: For one reason or another.

MYERS: Exactly.

So, we want to know what you think, should the FBI relax its drug policy so that we can get these positions filled, or keep it as it is?

Go to DAYBREAK@CNN.com -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right.

News "Across America" this morning.

A 7-year-old boy is safe and sound after wandering away from his family's campsite. Around 800 volunteers joined Las Vegas police in the search for James Estes (ph), seen there being hugged. The boy, who spent the night alone in the desert, was finally found miles away from the campsite. But as you can tell, he's A-OK.

Strong currents off the Oregon coast stranded two surfers and left one of them clinging to the rocks. But a Coast Guard helicopter was able to lift both men safely. Neither suffered any major injuries.

And in case you didn't know, today is a holiday. It is Columbus Day. Many cities, including New York, held a parade yesterday. But New York has another one scheduled for today. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is the grand marshal in that parade.

And still to come, New York's mayor declares the subways safe for this morning's commute. But after an anxious weekend, federal officials say the severity of the threat may be debatable.

The severity of flooding in New Hampshire is not debatable. Swamped homes and washed-out roads after 36 straight hours of rain. We'll get a live update from the scene.

And the devastating toll from the South Asia earthquake keeps rising and rising and rising. We have a live update from Pakistan in just minutes.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news on this Monday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: The international markets are mixed today. Tokyo's Nikkei is down 131 points. The London FTSE's up, though, 25. And the German DAX is higher by 38. In futures trading, oil is up 42 cents, at $62.26 a barrel this morning.

We have your news, money, weather and sports. The time is 5:17 Eastern, and here is what is all new this morning.

That death toll keeps rising in South Asia after this weekend's massive earthquake. It is now nearing 31,000. Most of the deaths are in Pakistan.

President and Mrs. Bush will spend tonight and tomorrow in the Gulf Coast hurricane zone. They'll take part in a Habitat for Humanity project in Louisiana and then visit a reopened grade school in a devastated Mississippi town.

Now to money.

Gas prices jumped about a dime a gallon over the past two weeks. The reason? Lingering hurricane damage to Gulf Coast refineries. The national average is $2.91 a gallon, but analysts expect it to drop soon.

And in culture, moviegoers were anxious to see the long-awaited return of "Wallace and Gromit and the Curse of the Were-Rabbit." The comical pair of clay figures pulled in $16.1 million over the weekend, to take the top spot at the box office.

In sports, the Astros are moving on in some late-inning heroics to beat the Atlanta Braves in the National League division series. Look at that. The Astros won with a homerun in the 18th inning, and with 18 innings it was the longest game in post-season history.

And over in the American League, the Yankees evened up their series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Yanks won 3-2 to send the series to a deciding fifth game. They will play tonight in New York.

And Chad, I know you're going to be watching. Yes, actually, I might stay up. You might see me with toothpicks in my eyeballs tomorrow morning, trying to keep my eyelids awake. It should be a pretty great game there.

Congratulations to the Houston Astros, too. They played a very phenomenal game yesterday. There was nobody left. They had one player -- I think Estrada was still there to play. Everybody else had already been played. Whole benches were used up.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Thank you, Chad.

An increased police presence will greet New York commuters again today, but police chief Ray Kelly says just act normal. A state of alert still exists on the subway after last week's announcement that a possible terror attack may be coming.

CNN's Keith Oppenheim as more on that state of alert and anxiety.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): To show life in New York doesn't need to change, Mayor Michael Bloomberg marched in a series of Columbus Day parades over the weekend. This one in the Bronx.

But with all the demonstrations of normalcy, the mayor said he believes something very real and dangerous was behind his decision to warn the public about a possible terrorist attack on the New York subway system. While federal officials at the Department of Homeland Security questioned the credibility of the threat, Bloomberg said again he felt compelled to act.

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (R), NEW YORK CITY: You've got to understand that what we've got to do is deploy our resources. And we're not in the business of saying, well, let's wait until everything's sure. We want to make sure that we do everything that we can in advance.

OPPENHEIM: At subway stops across town police presence was high. And for the most part, commuters and residents were defiant, insisting threats should not change their New York way of life.

HECTOR LINO, BRONX RESIDENT: I'm not going to have anybody outside of me telling me what I'm doing and what I'm not doing. So I made no change in plans whatsoever. I jumped on the train as soon as I could to get where I had to go.

OPPENHEIM: Not everyone put on a brave face. While ridership did not appear to be affected by the scare, some New Yorkers acknowledged the news has taken a toll.

DEIDRE JACKSON, BROOKLYN RESIDENT: I'm nervous. And I'm not -- I'm not -- I'm OK with saying I'm nervous. And I think a lot of people are nervous. But I have to go to work, I have to pay bills, so I must do these things. But I'm not happy to live in this state. No, I'm not happy.

OPPENHEIM (on camera): Many commuters will be starting their work week. Some perhaps defiant, others less confident. But all knowing their sense of security just isn't quite the same.

Keith Oppenheim, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And still to come this morning, more than 30,000 people feared dead, and thousands injured from that devastating earthquake that hit over the weekend. More on the recovery efforts and international aid. That's ahead this hour.

You're watching DAYBREAK for Monday, October 10.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MYERS: Our "Question of the Day," getting hired by the FBI, should it relax its drug policy for certain jobs, such as intelligence analysts, linguists, computer specialists and accountants? It seems they can't get enough workers. They're all a bunch of pot heads.

What do you think? DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

Not the current FBI. The guys that they can't hire, of course.

NGUYEN: All pot heads, huh? OK, Chad.

MYERS: Not -- obviously not the current guys.

NGUYEN: Right.

MYERS: We're talking about those -- the good guys.

NGUYEN: We got you. We got you.

MYERS: Talking about the guys that they can't hire.

NGUYEN: OK. If that wasn't an "Eye Opener" for you, here are some more. Take a look at this.

This 10-foot Burmese python -- you're going to see it coming up soon -- may have an upset stomach, or else it has something upset in its stomach. The snake was found in a Miami neighborhood with a housecat in its belly. Now, of course the cat's owner wasn't particularly thrilled to hear about that. The python was eventually carted away to a kids' park, of all places, where I hope they're keep their smaller kids away.

MYERS: Really.

NGUYEN: Yikes.

Here's a new invention that could quite possibly drive you insane. It's an alarm clock that you basically have to chase, Chad. The inventor says she came up with the idea for Clockie (ph), as it's called, because she herself is a so-called serial snooze alarm user. So now you have to actually get up out of bed just to find -- find the clock so that you can turn it off.

It makes sense, though.

MYERS: Yes. But it looks like if you don't get up it will clean your floor.

NGUYEN: Yes, multi purpose.

MYERS: So on Saturday you just let it go.

NGUYEN: All right.

Ed "Cookie" Jarvis was the man to beat at the grilled cheese eating championship at the Arkansas State Fair. And, you know, Cookie didn't disappoint.

He downed 19 sandwiches in just 10 minutes. And, by the way, the contest is sponsored by the same people, Chad, you remember, who paid $28,000 for that Virgin Mary cheese sandwich.

MYERS: Oh, right, right, right. Yes. Yes, Golden Palace, sure. Right, of course.

NGUYEN: Right. Presumably, that item was kept far out of reach from these contestants, or it would have been eaten right up by Ed "Cookie" Jarvis.

All right.

Here's what's all new in the next half-hour. Getting serious now.

A state of emergency in New Hampshire after a day and a half of drenching rain.

Plus, the Bush White House jumped quickly into the earthquake relief efforts in South Asia. We'll have live reports from both fronts in just a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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