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CNN Live Today

Three Dead And Four Missing In New Hampshire Floods; Relief and Rescue In Pakistan; CIA Leak Probe Continues; Head Of Syrian Intel Commits Suicide

Aired October 12, 2005 - 10:00   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go ahead and get started. Let's take a look at what's happening "Now in the News."
This hour in New Orleans, a court appearance for the man whose beating by police officers was caught on tape. Robert Davis, himself, is accused of public intoxication, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and public intimidation. The retired school teacher has denied those allegations. The three police officers charged in the beating have scheduled a news conference two hours from now. CNN will carry that live.

"New York Times" reporter Judith Miller today testifies for a second time before a grand jury. The proceedings are investigating the leaking of a CIA officer's identity. Miller was jailed 85 days for refusing to identify her source. Later this week, President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, is expected to make his fourth appearance before the grand jury.

In world news.

Syrian officials say a high-ranking official in their government has committed suicide, just hours after he publicly denied allegations of corruption. Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan had previously served as the head of Syria's military intelligence in Lebanon. In fact, he was among several top officials questioned in the assassination of a Lebanese politician who demanded Syria's withdrawal.

And more violence in Iraq ahead of a key vote. At least 30 people were killed in a suicide bombing on the outskirts of Tal Afar today. Thirty others were killed in an attack on a city market on Tuesday. Iraqis go to the polls Saturday to vote on a proposed constitution.

Good morning to you on this Wednesday morning. I'm Daryn Kagan at CNN Center in Atlanta.

Let's start in New Hampshire. The governor there is meeting this hour with FEMA officials to coordinate the emergency response to widespread flooding in the state. At least four people are missing and crews with search dogs are out canvassing again today. Three deaths are confirmed, and more problems in the form of heavy rain loom ahead. CNN's Chris Huntington is in Alstead. That is where emergency operations are underway this morning.

Chris, hello. CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, good morning.

You can probably see right behind me here a big logging skider right out in the middle of Coal (ph) River here, removing a bunch of cars and trucks that were washed in the river on Sunday when the surge came through here. This is a river that was 15 to 20 feet wide. It is now more than 100 feet wide.

The storm surge built up behind a clogged culvert about two miles up-river from here and then came pounding down through here. Locals described a 10 foot wall of water washing down here on Sunday, stripping away the embankments, as I said, to about 100 foot width, taking homes, businesses. This guy's been pulling cars and trucks out of the river all morning.

We spent yesterday afternoon with Marlene Wade (ph), who leaves about a mile down river from where I'm standing right here. She lost not only her house, her barn, but all of her land. An acre and a half of land literally just washed away. We stood on the edge of what remains of her property and she can't even consider rebuilding.

There are still folks missing from this community. Three folks from Alstead that are known to be missing. Three folks from this area died as a result. And it is raining again. It is thankfully raining lightly. But, of course, as we know, more rain expected all the way through Friday.

The one unfortunate benefit of the river being wider now is that it can handle more runoff. Authorities are keeping a close watch on a dam that is about five miles up river. They say that's in good shape and shouldn't be a problem even with expected rainfall over the next few days.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Chris, I understand one of the complications of helping people out, the police department itself flooded.

HUNTINGTON: Daryn, not only that, but the roads are impassable all around here. There's a famous old saying in New England, you can't get there from here. And that is literally the case around here.

You've got bridges out. You have roads that have simply disappeared. You have many constrictions on the rescue authorities here that are potentially very dangerous because you can't get to people quickly around here.

So they are trying to move folks that have been displaced. There are, we're told by the local emergency management folks, that in this corner of New Hampshire, Cheshire County, the southwest corner of New Hampshire, that there are about they're estimating loosely about 300 households that have been displaced and are in shelters or camping with other folks, bunking down with other folks. There are shelters here in Alstead that are serving food and handling people right now.

But the situation here is stable for the time being but with more rain to come over the next 72 hours.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Chris Huntington in New Hampshire. Chris, thank you.

Let's get more on that weather forecast and bring Jacqui Jeras in. She is in the weather center.

Jacqui, good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Right now we turn to the aftermath of the south Asian earthquake. More international aid is coming to the region. But many of the estimated 2 million homeless have yet to receive food, medicine or tents. About 30 nations have sent supplies to Pakistan, including an Indian relief plane that landed in Islamabad today. India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two of them over this very Kashmir region.

Yesterday's rain stopped supply runs and may have triggered landslides in the remote areas. And with freezing temperatures overnight, there's a rush to get tents to displaced people. The official death toll in Pakistan right now is about 20,000. But local government, police and hospital officials put the number more around 41,000.

Amid the horror, there are incredible stories of survival. In the northern Pakistani city of Balakot, a four-year-old boy was pulled alive from the rubble by a French rescue crew. Sixty miles to the south in the capital of Islamabad, two members of a family were rescued. CNN's Stan Grant has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Sometimes miracles do happen. While a nation counts its loss, this family is counting its blessings.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A big miracle that God saved all of my children. And then he saved me and my mother, also. And I came back to them. I can see them. And I saw in my eyes that so many people loves me.

GRANT: These are the images that tell of hope, where all around there is hopelessness. Fifty-five-year-old Khalida Begum (ph), and her mother, Mabi (ph), 75, plucked from the rubble that was once their home. A 10 story apartment block now reduced to this. For 80 hours they were in darkness, trapped. Outside their family waited and prayed. Yet faith alone could not banish fear. Their thoughts turned to the worst.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you ask me honestly, I didn't think they were going to make it. Because I had been there. I had seen what it was like. And I really didn't know how me and Thelha (ph) escaped. I really couldn't understand how I made it out there. I believed that God had pushed us out.

GRANT: Anzum Tarif (ph) was in the apartment with her mother, Khalida, and grandmother. She remembers that moment when disaster struck. She grabbed her three-year-old son and ran for the door. Khalida and Mabi could not find a way out. Within moments, it all came crashing down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This thing came on me and my mother's own head. And it was a big sound. And then we felt that we are going down because the floor opened and we went inside the basement.

GRANT: In the long, dark hours that followed, it was cold. Khalida thought of her family. She huddled together with her mother, caring for her, making her comfortable. She heard voices outside. The rescuers working through the day and night. When they found her, it was not a relief. She did not want to face her worst fears.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was not worried about me, I was only worried about my children. And all that time I was praying, if they're alive, so please bring me out. If they are not alive, don't bring me out.

GRANT: Now, safe together, four generations of family reunited. Khalida and Mabi have survived with minor injuries. Elsewhere in the hospital, people are being treated wherever doctors and nurses find them. These are the lucky survivors who've made their way from the worst affected towns and villages. They are battered and bruised. They are thankful for the smallest of mercies.

The people of Pakistan have been traumatized. But life has taught them patience and perseverance. Where Khalida and her mother were rescued, others now wait for news of their loved ones.

This is in every respect a desperate race against time. The people behind me are searching for anyone who may still be alive underneath this rubble. Now rescue workers and medical teams say that people can survive between five to seven days in these conditions. We are now at day five, about to enter day six. But while there is life, there is hope.

Stan Grant, CN, Islamabad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: This also from the region, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Pakistan today. It was a show of support for the quake damaged nation. This is Rice just after she arrived at Islamabad. Later, she held meetings with President Pervez Musharraf and the Prime Minister Shaka Salton (ph). Rice added Pakistan to her stops on her current Asian tour. She said the U.S. will likely provide more financial aid to help Pakistan recover. She didn't tour any of the devastated regions. She didn't want to get in the way of any relief efforts.

If you'd like to donate to the U.N. relief effort in the earthquake region, here is the number to call, 1-800-4UNICEF. That's 1-800-486-4233. You can also go online at unicefusa.org.

"The New York Times" reporter Judith Miller is making a second appearance today before a grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA operative's identity. The covert operative was Valerie Plame. Prosecutors are trying to determine whether any crimes were committed when Plame was outed as an agent. There's a lot at stake here for key members of the Bush administration, both legally and politically. Our Bob Franken is outside the federal courthouse in Washington.

Bob, good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And the focus has been on top level members of the administration. We know because sources tell us that Judith Miller is back for the second time since getting out of jail because of some newly discovered notes that she had of conversations that occurred with the vice president's chief of staff, Louis "Scooter" Libby, before the time that she testified when she was here last on September 30th. She was interviewed yesterday by the prosecutor and now she's making an appearance before the grand jury.

Scooter Libby, the vice president's chief of staff, is a name that has come up repeatedly as a source during the disclosures that are the basis of this investigation. Also another one is Karl Rove, the deputy White House chief of staff, the top political adviser to President Bush for just about his entire political career. Rove is scheduled to appear before this grand jury for the fourth time, which many attorneys believe is quite significant.

Patrick Fitzgerald is the special prosecutor and attorneys all say that he has told them he has not yet made up his mind whether there will be charges, what the charges would be if there are, and against whom they would be leveled. But this is an investigation that has literally reached to the top levels of our government.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Bob Franken live from Washington, D.C. Thank you.

On to Syria, which says a top official has taken his own life. Ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY, why the death of Ghazi Kanaan is so significant to the state of affairs in the Middle East.

And get ready, you don't want to hear this, for a long, cold winter. And while you're at it, figure out how to pay for the high cost of staying warm.

And did you know that women, more women than men, buy and use laptops, computers and DVD players? A look at how American women are changing the way we live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: In Iraq, a new political deal is prompting hopes for Saturday's passage of a proposed constitution. The Shia/Kurd coalition reached agreement with one Sunni party. That deal would make the constitution to be voted on, on Saturday only a temporary one. After December elections, lawmakers would re-evaluate the constitution. If it's rewritten, a new referendum would take place. The deal will be voted on by the Iraqi National Assembly.

For the second straight day, the mostly Sunni city of Tal Afar has been targeted by insurgents. At least 30 people were killed in a suicide bombing outside an army and police recruitment center. On Tuesday, a suicide bomber drove a car into a crowded market killing at least 30 people.

And there was more violence in Iraq today. An Iraqi police official says a parked car bomb wounded six people when it was remotely detonated in Western Baghdad. The official says the bomb was apparently targeting the convoy of a Sunni official. Authorities say eight people were wounded in the car bombing outside the city of Baquba. The apparent target was an Iraqi patrol.

And there is shocking news out of Damascus today. Syrian officials say the country's interior minister has committed suicide. Ghazi Kanaan had been the head of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon for two decades. He also had been investigated by U.N. investigators looking into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Joining me now to talk about Ghazi Kanaan is CNN's senior editor for Arab affairs, Octavia Nasr.

This is a man most Americans probably have never heard of but ends up being a key player in this international mystery.

OCTAVIA NASR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Let's make it simple for our viewers. A lot of people know the story in the Middle East, Lebanon, Syria, and their relationship. But let's talk about the U.S. and its draw in the region.

You know the U.S. is working very hard on stabilizing the region. And according to this administration, the Bush administration, Syria plays a key role in that stability of the region. Syria has been under pressure from this administration to get its act together and stop, for example, helping militants to infiltrate in to Iraq and join the insurgency. It's also been under pressure from the U.S. to stop meddling in Lebanon's business.

So this man is at the heart of the debate. He, as you mentioned, he had been the head of security and intelligence, military intelligence, in Lebanon. So many fingers point at this man for assassinations, for kidnapings.

KAGAN: Well, let me just jump in here, Octavia, because speaking of assassination, these pictures we're looking at from when the former prime minister, Rafik Hariri, was assassinated by a car bomb.

NASR: Right.

KAGAN: He had spoken out as Lebanese saying it is time for Syria to get out.

NASR: Right. That was not long ago.

KAGAN: Right.

NASR: That was only February of this year. Since then, there were 13 attacks in Lebanon, four assassinations and two failed assassinations and many car bombs. So this suicide comes at a time when Lebanese are waiting for very important results of a U.N. investigation. And this man spoke to the investigators, as you mentioned. So it's going to be very interesting to hear what he said.

Now, of course, before he took his life this morning, he spoke to a Lebanese radio station, and basic he cleansed his hands of any wrongdoing in Lebanon. So many people are saying, well that's exactly what he told the U.N. investigators as well. So it will be interesting if this man pointed any fingers at any other Syrian officials as he was cleaning his image.

KAGAN: You will be watching for us.

NASR: Absolutely.

KAGAN: Thank you.

This news of Kanaan's death came just after our own Christiane Amanpour completed an exclusive interview with Syrian President Bashar Assad. His country has been accused of sheltering terrorists and supporting the insurgency in Iraq. You're going to hear what he said to say to Christiane coming up in the next hour of CNN LIVE TODAY.

All right. We have breaking news. But apparently we will get to that in just a moment. We also have news out of New Orleans.

A break coming up. We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: This just in to CNN. It is news coming out of Gaza. Word of a kidnaping. Right now the information is very slight but we're hearing that two people, one British citizen and one American citizen, have been kidnaped in Gaza. Early words say that they were kidnaped by Palestinian gunmen. More information as that becomes available.

Right now another break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: With the holidays looming and American debt level rising, a lot of us are grappling with some painful financial realities. In today's "Top Five Tips," our Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis offers some advice on changing your spending habits.

It's like going on a diet, Gerri.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right, Daryn. Good to see you.

Tip number one, you've got to do some calculations. Look, most people don't even know if they're in debt trouble. But if you're paying the minimum on those credit cards or if you don't even know how much you owe, it's time to rethink. Start by calculating your debt- to-income ratio. Take all of your expenditures for the month and then your income for the month after taxes, net income, and divide the debt by the income. If that number is 0.36, you're in good shape. However, if your debt is very big, then you're in big trouble. It's important to know the numbers.

KAGAN: Do you include your mortgage in that debt?

WILLIS: Yes, you do, but only the monthly. We're talking about your monthly bills.

KAGAN: Oh, your monthly payment. OK. Very good.

Now when you want to kind of get your house in order, it might be a good idea to make your payments automatically.

WILLIS: Well, you know, the beauty of that is that you don't pay any late fees. And you want to make sure that you make bill paying as easy as possible, particularly if you're under a lot of pressure, because it can be easy to slide those bills away on the top of the desk if you're not doing it automatically over the web. And remember, Daryn, this can be free. You're really saving the amount of money you'd spend on postage. So make it easy on yourself.

KAGAN: And if you're looking to cut back, you don't want to do that on your health insurance.

WILLIS: Look, even if you're young and you're healthy, if you don't have health care coverage, you could get into big trouble. The number one problem or one of the big problems, I should say, for people who file for bankruptcy is often medical costs. They have some huge bill from a hospital, from treatment for something and they can't pay it. If you're unemployed, do it, pay for Cobra coverage. It's expensive. But at least if you have a car accident, God forbid, or anything bad happens, you'll be able to cover yourself.

KAGAN: And it's not just you, it's those little kids spending money, too.

WILLIS: Well, yes, that's absolutely right. Health care coverage, it's expensive. Kids really expensive. And if you don't teach them good financial habits, they will drain your budget. I saw a number recently, Daryn, the average college student has credit card debit of something like $2,800. You definitely want to avoid that. Train your kids. Give them a debit card with a specific ceiling on spending. Don't give them a credit card. Train them early.

KAGAN: And keep an eye out for scam artists out there.

WILLIS: You know, a lot of people are signing up for credit counseling. But some of these folks are scam artists. They charge you a lot of money to do their business, to reorganize your debt, but you may not need them. You want to think twice before you listen to anybody who says that they're a credit counselor. If they tell you they can fix your problems very easily, watch out. And remember, they're going to cost you some money, as much as $40 a month and $75 just to sign up.

KAGAN: Gerri, thank you. Good tips, as always, even if it's a reality check we don't really like. Thank you.

WILLIS: Thank you, Daryn.

KAGAN: Then there's the expense of filling up our cars. Now it's going to cost more to keep them warm to keep ourselves warm this winter. Exactly how much more can we expect to pay? That news is ahead.

Plus, more than 22 million American women now live alone. A big increase over the past 20 years. It's just one new trend outlined in this new book. The authors of "What Women Really Want" coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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