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CNN Live At Daybreak

Quake Aftermath; Where's Osama?; Under Stress; IG Nobels Prizes; Baghdad Attack

Aired October 11, 2005 - 05:29   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. Welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK.

Coming up in the next 30 minutes, is the stress of living and working in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina proving to be too much for some police officers? We'll take a look.

But first, "Now in the News."

We're just getting word of a car bombing in Iraq. The Associated Press is reporting it went off in the town of Tal Afar. That's in northwest Iraq. There are reports that at least 30 Iraqis are dead.

Nineteen Afghan police officers are dead following a gun battle with suspected Taliban insurgents. The firefight lasted several hours overnight and ended in the deadliest day ever for Afghanistan's police force. The police convoy was ambushed while traveling through the southern mountains.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may travel to Pakistan this week. Rice says she's considering the side trip to show her concern in the wake of the massive earthquake in South Asia. Rice is on a multinational tour through the region, which includes a planned stop in Afghanistan.

Billionaire Greg Olsen back on solid ground this morning. Olsen spent the past 10 days in space as a tourist on the latest mission to the International Space Station. He paid $20 million for his space ride -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know you can go on your computer and get the applications and get calculator. So I divided $20 million by 10 days by 24 hours by 60 minutes, $1,388 a minute.

COSTELLO: Wow!

MYERS: That's what he paid to be up there.

COSTELLO: I guess we won't be going up ourselves anytime soon.

MYERS: Hey, at least he got back down. I don't mind about -- the going up part is fine. It's the getting back down part that I'm concerned about. Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: All right, thank you.

You know there's a big storm in Pakistan. We don't know exactly what it is.

But we want to go to Satinder Bindra. He's live in Islamabad.

Satinder, tell us about this severe weather and how it's affecting recovery efforts there.

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, the weather has turned nasty over the past sort of 15 minutes. It's raining very heavily, it's dark and it's getting cold, even in Islamabad. So you can well imagine how cold it will be in the mountains, the worst affected areas after this earthquake last Saturday.

What's happened at the Raul Pindi Air Base, which was staging most of the relief flights, is that the flights have been canceled. So no more flights today from Islamabad into Pakistan-controlled Kashmir where thousands and thousands have been waiting for food, they've been waiting for tents, they've been waiting for medication to arrive. So this is a real blow. This is real bad news.

And this is also going to create problems on the roads. Most of the roads had been blocked after landslides. These were landslides caused by the earthquake. Now with this rain, many here fear there could be fresh landslides. And those roads, which took days to open, will now be closed again.

I've been reporting to you, Carol, that people have been up and angry survivors, tons of them. There have been some food drives. People have been very emotional. And now it seems that their trauma will continue.

COSTELLO: You know and the window of recovery is closing, because there are only so many days that people can survive buried underneath rubble. So that must be a real concern, as well -- Satinder.

BINDRA: Carol, you're absolutely correct. My experience of covering earthquakes is that people can survive if they have enough oxygen and some source of water, even damp earth around them, they can survive for up to a week. But now with this rain, this is going to make conditions very cold.

This is also going to make the jobs of rescue teams extremely difficult. Just yesterday, rescue teams managed to get into some of the remote and inaccessible parts of Pakistan. But with so much of rain now, even that rescue work will slow down. So, on all fronts, the rain is going to be the most critical factor. It's going to be the most critical factor now, Carol, over the next 24 to 48 hours. And even as I've been speaking, I have noticed now some hail. So it's not much, but there was just a little bit of hail. So that will give you a sense that how cold things can suddenly get here in Pakistan and the northern parts of Pakistan, in particular.

COSTELLO: Yes, we have Chad working on a forecast, so hopefully we'll get you some information.

Satinder Bindra reporting live from Islamabad, Pakistan this morning.

That powerful earthquake that recently hit Pakistan is unlikely to have killed or injured America's most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden. Want to talk about that now.

CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Any speculation about the fate of Osama bin Laden has to begin with the acknowledgment that while U.S. intelligence thinks he's holed up in Pakistan, no one really knows. Saturday's earthquake was centered along Pakistan's eastern line of control. The dividing line between Pakistani and Indian zones of Kashmir.

The destruction does extend to the west, but not as far as the rugged border region where bin Laden is thought to have been given sanctuary by sympathetic tribal leaders who are largely outside government control. And U.S. commanders say the manhunt, for the moment, is taking a backseat to humanitarian relief.

LT. GEN. KARL EIKENBERRY, COMMANDING GENERAL, U.S. FORCES, AFGHANISTAN: Right now, the entire focus of the Pakistani leadership and the military and the people are to relieve the suffering.

MCINTYRE: While the U.S. and Afghan militaries continue to engage Taliban and al Qaeda remnants, after four years, they have yet to find Osama bin Laden, or for that matter, his deputy, Ayman al- Zawahiri, or Taliban leader Mullah Omar.

Pakistani forces haven't fared much better on their side of the border. And don't expect the earthquake to shake bin Laden loose now.

(on camera): A senior defense official tells CNN there have been no indications bin Laden was killed or injured in the quake, or for that matter, even inconvenienced. But U.S. intelligence officials are keeping a sharp eye out in case he moves and gives his location away.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: As for President Bush, he's waking up in New Orleans this morning. It's part of the president's latest tour through the hurricane-damaged region. The president also met with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin to discuss rebuilding efforts.

This morning, the president plans to do some building of his own. Along with the First Lady, Laura Bush, they'll take part in a Habitat for Humanity project in Covington, Louisiana. About two hours later, the president will be in Christian Pass, Mississippi. And there he'll visit the Delisle Elementary School, which is the only remaining school in that town. Students finally returned to school yesterday.

Hurricane evacuees are learning that the amount of financial aid they get is based on where they end up. Here's an example. These are the basic welfare payments handed out last year. As "USA Today" reports, in California, the payments are more than triple than what is paid out in Mississippi and Louisiana. Differences remain in housing subsidies and unemployment insurance, as well.

A 9-year-old California boy made a big splash with his effort to raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims. Fourth grader Johnny Wilson swam 1.4 miles from Alcatraz to San Francisco. He braved the cold 53-degree waters of the San Francisco Bay and made the swim in just under two hours. Johnny managed to raise $30,000 in donations.

And, as you might expect, his dad is pretty proud.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He did it, and I'm so proud. I'm the happiest dad in the whole word.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Johnny says the worst part of the swim was in the beginning when he had to get used to the water.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, New Orleans police officers under extreme stress. Is dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina causing some of them to snap? We'll take a look.

And a reminder, our e-mail "Question of the Morning," raising security: did NYC do the right thing when it raised its security threat at the subways over the weekend? Want to know what you think, DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

Now here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Destruction, desertion, even suicide, those are words that have followed New Orleans police officers in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Most lost their homes. They've been separated from their families. As you can imagine, the stress level is huge. One expert goes as far to say it's much worse than after 9/11. And now there are allegations of a police beating on a videotape.

Dan Simon ties it all together.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The video captured by an Associated Press photographer is Exhibit A in allegations of brutality against three New Orleans police officers. As we slow down the video, you can see an officer repeatedly punch the 64-year-old suspect arrested for public drunkenness.

His attorney told CNN, he never touched a drop.

A moment later, he's forced to the ground.

One of the officers loses his temper with an AP producer, venting his frustration.

UNIDENTIFIED NEW ORLEANS POLICE OFFICER: I've been here for six weeks and I'm trying to keep my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) self alive. And you (EXPLETIVE DELETED) want to come and (EXPLETIVE DELETED) up my city. Go home!

SIMON: A CNN photographer captured these images of the man bloody and face down on the pavement. The officers have been charged with battery, a misdemeanor, and have been suspended without pay. All pleaded not guilty.

Lt. David Benelli heads the police union.

LT. DAVID BENELLI, POLICE ASSN. OF NEW ORLEANS: The officers are upset. They're upset that they were suspended. They thought their actions were justified, given the circumstances that were at hand.

SIMON: The larger circumstances also include brutal 12-hour shifts, officers separated from families and this startling figure, three-quarters of New Orleans officers lost their homes.

ACTING SUPT. WARREN RILEY, NEW ORLEANS POLICE: The stress is not just Hurricane Katrina, it's the aftermath, and it's so many other things that the officers are going through.

OLIVER THOMAS, CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT: Is this something psychological that needs to be dealt with? Yes. Do they need some time off? Yes. Should we be taking care of them? Absolutely.

SIMON: Some officers have taken advantage of counselors, but not nearly enough, says City Council President Oliver Thomas.

THOMAS: We should mandate some type of counseling and some type of therapy where they can relieve the stress and anxiety.

SIMON (on camera): That should happen now?

THOMAS: Yesterday.

SIMON: Psychologists say police officers generally don't seek professional help. It's not in their rough and tumble culture to spell out personal issues. All the more reason says Councilman Thomas to make it a requirement. THOMAS: And I'm not an expert, but when you've been, your family is gone, don't have a place to live, you haven't slept maybe but a couple of hours a day for five or six weeks, yes, it would take a -- it's going to take a human toll on anyone.

SIMON (voice-over): Still, Lt. Benelli with the police union doesn't believe stress or fatigue played a role in the officer's behavior.

BENELLI: We're working long hours, but we're coping with working these long hours.

SIMON: There will be more long hours ahead, as National Guard troops and other law enforcement agencies begin to pull out and the citizens of this beleaguered city try to move back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And we'll have more on that taped beating coming up throughout the morning here on CNN. On "AMERICAN MORNING," Soledad O'Brien sits down with the beating victim, Robert Davis, and his attorney. That comes your way at 7:00 a.m. Eastern. At 6:30 Eastern, we're going to have someone from New Orleans from WWL Radio on to explain just how much stress everyone is under in that city.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:44 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

The death toll from Saturday's South Asia quake climbed today to more than 42,000 in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. In the meantime, CNN's Satinder Bindra reports relief flights from Islamabad have now been postponed due to severe weather.

Relief is on the way to some of the more devastated areas of Guatemala, though. Parts of that country literally washed away by mudslides and rain caused by Hurricane Stan. At least 500 people are dead in the flooding, and that number is expected to rise.

In money news, IBM says it won't use genetic tests against its employees. The company promises that DNA testing will not enter into health care equations or hiring decisions. There has been a fear that companies would use genetic technology to discriminate against people with a predisposition to disease.

In pop culture, Irish author John Banville's new novel, "The Sea," wins the prestigious Booker Prize. The Man Booker Prize is Britain's top literary prize for fiction. Past winners include Salman Rushdie.

In sports, the Pittsburgh Steelers hit a field goal with just six seconds left to win 24-22 over the San Diego Chargers. But the win may have come with a price, Steelers quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, had to be helped off the field late in the game. He hurt his knee -- Chad.

MYERS: Man. COSTELLO: Not good.

MYERS: He really was my hero last year. He just took over that team and just, man, charged away, didn't he?

COSTELLO: He's been great this year, too.

MYERS: Yes, really, exactly.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Back to you.

COSTELLO: No.

Thank you, Chad. Don't go away, though, time to read some e- mail.

MYERS: That's right. Yes, the "Question of the Day" was raising the security in New York City about the subway information. Did New York City do the right thing or did they overreact? DAYBREAK@CNN.com if you still want to go there.

Steven (ph) in Queens, people that favor err on the side of caution for non-credible threats, they shouldn't support this occasional and arbitrary vigilance; but they should, instead, support a permanent police state. I personally feel the timing of these threats and the announcement is related to politics.

And from Sarah (ph) in Long Island, although I don't particularly like him, I think Bloomberg did the right thing based on the information he was given. I find the timing of the information also to be suspect.

Jack (ph) from New York, the real problem was the media. New York City made a decision. They had a decision to make with the information that they had available. That's what they are paid to do. Everybody wants to second-guess now. The media exaggerates the issue just to make news.

And from Sunny. Sunny from Sunny's Chocolates and Truffles, Carol. There is absolutely no choice when it came to this terrorist alert. Can you imagine if we ignored this and something like 9/11 would have happened again? No choice, err on the side of safety.

Happy birthday, Carol, by the way.

COSTELLO: Thank you very much.

MYERS: A lot of folks chiming in with your birthday wishes. When I said happy birthday, I thought it was yesterday, because I was a day ahead. I thought today was already the 12th, but it's not.

COSTELLO: I know when you work this shift your timing is all off. We don't know what day it is, if it's night or day.

MYERS: Right, exactly.

COSTELLO: But thank you very much.

MYERS: Happy birthday.

COSTELLO: And thanks to all of you for wishing me happy birthday. It makes me feel great this morning.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, with rising gas prices, politicians are telling us to conserve energy and buy fuel-efficient cars. But did you ever wonder what your governor is driving? That's obviously the wrong video, and we apologize for that. We'll have more on the gas story after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Time to pick on some governors. Gas prices in the wake of Hurricane Katrina have some of the nation's governors rethinking what cars they're using for official travel, especially since they're promoting energy conservation now.

An Associate Press poll finds 50 percent of governors currently travel in SUVs, 24 percent use sedans and 22 percent use SUVs and sedans. Florida Governor Jeb Bush is among those giving up gas- guzzling SUVs for more fuel-efficient vehicles. He travels in a Ford Escape hybrid, which of course combines electric and gas power.

In New Mexico...

MYERS: Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes -- Chad.

MYERS: Four percent said they declined to comment. What are they driving, dump trucks? I mean, I'm taking the city garbage truck to work.

COSTELLO: They just don't want to get involved in the controversy, I guess. I don't know.

MYERS: I guess. Anyway...

COSTELLO: The New Mexico governor and the former U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, by the way, says his administration plans to buy a hybrid car later this year.

MYERS: Good.

COSTELLO: So he's making the big switcheroo. Now you know.

MYERS: I hope the fuel economy goes up on those hybrids, because I haven't heard great things about it. I mean, you know.

COSTELLO: It's a start, though.

MYERS: It is absolutely a start. And if I could plug my car in and drive from here to work and back and not have to worry about ever doing anything else, I would absolutely buy an electric car that didn't even have a motor in it, but.

COSTELLO: That would be great, wouldn't it?

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: I think you should buy a scooter.

MYERS: For a 19-mile ride? That would be fun.

COSTELLO: You'd be nice and windblown.

Anyway, it's Nobel Prize season, Chad. They've been doling them out one by one, but there's another kind of prize that's not quite so Nobel.

MYERS: The IG.

COSTELLO: The IG. CNN's Jeanne Moos checks it out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Penguins and frogs and locusts and fake testicles and rolling alarm clocks may never win Nobel Prizes, but they did earn IG Nobel Prizes. For instance, the IG Nobel Peace Prize went to researchers studying brain cell activity in locusts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While the locust was watching selected highlights from the movie "Star Wars."

MOOS: Researchers in England really did show "Star Wars" to locusts. Because locusts swarm without colliding, researchers figure studying their reactions to oncoming spacecraft could someday help in designing collision avoidance sensors for humans.

MARC ABRAHAMS, ANIMALS OF IMPROBABLE RESEARCH: These are prizes for things that first make people laugh and then make them think.

MOOS: Marc Abrahams is Editor of the "Annals of Improbable Research." And he runs the IG Nobel Prize ceremony, which is a very big deal at Harvard. Real Nobel laureates come and present the prizes while the audience launches paper airplanes.

The IG Nobel Prize for economics went to the creator of clocky (ph), a shag covered alarm clock that runs away from you so you can't shut off the alarm and go back to sleep.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sometimes he will go under the bed and sort of get lost under there.

MOOS: Ignoble was defined as being of low character. And the IG Nobel Prize for fluid dynamics was certainly low brow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pressures produced when penguins poo calculations on avian defecation.

MOOS: Go ahead and laugh, but defecating penguins display powerful propulsion.

As for the IG Nobel Prize for medicine, the winner is fake dog testicles.

GREGG MILLER, CREATOR, NEUTICLES: It took nearly two years to get the balls rolling.

MOOS: Inventor Gregg Miller accepted via videotape. His invention, Neuticles, have been implanted in some 150,000 animals.

We once accompanied unsuspecting pets on their way to get neutered. After the real things are snipped off, Neuticles allow pets to maintain their manliness.

(on camera): I actually have the honor of owning a Neuticles key chain. Neuticles, by the way, come in various sizes, from Chiuaua size to Rottweiler.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we can't go any bigger than what we're doing today.

MOOS (voice-over): For the days when dogs fetched balls rather than have them implanted.

A Japanese doctor won the IG Nobel Prize for nutrition. He photographed and analyzed every meal he's eaten for...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirty-four years and counting.

MOOS: Real Nobel Prize winners, like Jimmy Carter, may get all the glory; but even a Nobel laureate can't afford to oversleep.

By the way, the MIT grad who invented clocky is planning on mass producing it. If the alarm doesn't wake you up, maybe the thump will.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: What do you say after that story? That would be nothing.

The next hour of DAYBREAK starts in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is Tuesday, October 11.

Aid begins arriving, but is it already too late for those at the epicenter of a devastating earthquake? In the midst of the rubble and wreckage, a new problem, severe weather, freezing cold and rain coming down right now. We're going to have a live report for you.

And fury and fallout after a police beating in New Orleans caught on tape.

All this on DAYBREAK.

ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.

COSTELLO: We are following breaking news this morning and it's coming out of Baghdad. At least 20 people are dead in a suicide car bombing that police say targeted an Iraqi army convoy. Want to get the latest.

Let's head live to Baghdad and Aneesh Raman.

Tell us more -- Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning.

Dozens dead after two attacks rocked the Iraqi capital of Baghdad in the northwestern

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