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CNN Live At Daybreak

Flooded Out; Oyster Harvest; Scandal Settlements; Stevie Wonder Returns

Aired October 17, 2005 - 05:29   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Other stories "Now in the News" this morning.
Six members of the U.S. military have been killed in two attacks in Iraq. Also, an Iraqi election official says 10 election workers were kidnapped during voting for a new constitution on Saturday. Those abductions occurred west of Baghdad.

Israel has suspended security efforts with the Palestinians this morning. The move follows the shooting death of three Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Israel has also slapped tough travel restrictions on the region.

A moderate earthquake has rocked some of the Greek islands and western Turkey. The magnitude 5.2 quake struck underneath the Aegean Sea this morning. So far no reports of casualties.

The constant rain in the northeast is finally over and now the cleanup has begun. Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney lifted the state of emergency there. That means the National Guard is now deactivated.

Residents in about 30 communities across the state were forced to evacuate during heavy flooding. It was pretty much the same story in Connecticut. Two deaths in that state are being blamed on floods. And in New Jersey, residents forced out of their homes by floods are finally going home to see what's left.

CNN's Jennifer Westhoven has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER WESTHOVEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Renate and Robert Wagemann live here on Camp Lane in Fairfield, New Jersey, for the beautiful view of the Passaic River behind their home. Now their home looks like it's in the middle of that river after storms dumped even more rain here than Hurricane Rita did on the South.

Their son, Peter, grew up in this house, and now lives down the street with his wife, Peggy. They came over to lend a hand.

PETER WAGEMANN, FAIRFIELD RESIDENT: That's about three-and-a- half feet of water in here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

What's highest...

P. WAGEMANN: Yes, it came down. That was -- that came down that much overnight. I wonder if the lights still work. Hey, got electricity.

WESTHOVEN: They carried things upstairs before the waters came in. The Wagemanns and their neighbors are used to bailing out their homes, because this street floods once a year. Everyone in the neighborhood has flood insurance. But the state would like them to eventually move to higher ground, so it's offered to buy them out.

MAYOR ROCCO PALMIERI, FAIRFIELD, NEW JERSEY: It's not mandatory, so there are quite a number of people who still want to stay here, because, as I say, when the water is down, this is a beautiful area to be in.

WESTHOVEN: And Renate and her husband say they will stay in this serene and leafy spot where they've been for almost 40 years.

RENATE WAGEMANN, FAIRFIELD RESIDENT: Did you see our backyard? It's all woods on the other side. It's wildlife. We have, you know, a lot of benefits when we're not flooded. So when it's flooded comes as a package.

WESTHOVEN (on camera): Yes.

R. WAGEMANN: Yes, so that's the package.

WESTHOVEN: So Renate wants to stay here for personal reasons. Some of the other residents that we talked to here say they are going to stay for financial reasons. They say they can't afford the high real estate prices in this crowded area of New Jersey.

Town officials say it'll take about a full week before they can even start cleaning things up. That's because they need to wait for all these floodwaters to recede. After that, it'll be a two-week process, so it will be in to November before things get back to normal.

Jennifer Westhoven, CNN, Fairfield, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: More news "Across America" now.

This four-alarm fire in Detroit could be seen for miles. It burned mostly empty buildings. But just to be safe, about 40 area residents fled their homes. Some of the firefighters told the "Detroit Free Press" they had trouble fighting the fire due to some broken hydrants and poor water pressure in others.

Five people are dead following the crash of a bus chartered by a Wisconsin high school marching band. The band director, his wife and granddaughter are among the dead. The bus ran into an overturned truck on the way back from a marching band competition. A curfew in Toledo ends this morning, following an outbreak of violence over the weekend. Several buildings were looted and burned. Police were pelted by rocks during the riot. It started when people, including gang members, became upset the city had allowed an American Nazi group to plan a march through their neighborhood. The march was canceled when the fighting broke out.

The federal government missed its own deadline for finding homes for Katrina victims. All shelters were supposed to be cleared out by Saturday, but there are still about 11,000 people living in shelters in 11 states. Many others are living in hotels while they wait for FEMA to supply more permanent housing. And many of those living in those shelters are just hoping things return to normal sometime soon. That hope is echoed all along the Gulf Coast and under it.

CNN's Dan Simon takes a look at one industry that's looking for just a little bit of good news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Louisiana is to oysters as Maine is to lobster. Now it's feared there could be an oyster shortage. Boats destroyed, fishermen displaced and the oysters are being killed off by the wrath of Katrina.

(on camera): How long have you been a fisherman?

GEORGE BARISICH, OYSTERMAN: I've been down here on a boat since I've been 9 years old with my daddy. My daddy is a second generation. I'm third generation.

SIMON (voice-over): George Barisich took us to the Plackamans Parish, usually an oyster hotbed.

BARISICH: Today we'll be looking for, basically determining mortality of the oysters, see how many have survived.

SIMON: That's an oyster drudge, and George and his crew are hoping it will be filled up. This is what it would look like in good times.

BARISICH: We drag it along the bottom at a certain angle and the teeth kick everything up. And as they kick it up, it goes in a bag. And you dump it periodically on a table and whatever is good you put in a sack, whatever is bad you throw back overboard.

SIMON: But on the first go around, no luck. It appears grass and silt has covered the oysters, robbing the creatures of oxygen to survive. And some experts fear as much as 60 percent of Louisiana oysters have been affected in a similar fashion.

BARISICH: And if it gets on top of your reef, to the extent where it covers the whole oyster, the oyster can't filter feed, it can't breathe and it's going to die.

SIMON: Nothing comes up the second time either, and George is concerned.

BARISICH: Don't look good here.

SIMON: As we go about our search, he says nothing will discourage him from doing what he loves.

(on camera): Do you love this business?

BARISICH: I love the business, you know, it's in the blood. And when people tell you how can you keep doing this, you know, all the adversity that we go through? And the basic address when they say it, when I get cut, a little saltwater comes out before the blood.

SIMON (voice-over): The third try yields our first oyster. Time for a mini celebration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, we found a couple of live oysters. We've got two live oysters on top.

SIMON: But that doesn't tell you if they're edible, a concern, because of the possibility of contaminated water. In this situation, there's only one way to find out. George can barely contain himself.

BARISICH: It's been five-and-a-half weeks since I had one of these delectable delights from the sea. I've got to get my pure shot of protein.

SIMON (on camera): How does it look to you?

BARISICH: It looks great. And it doesn't get any better than this.

SIMON (voice-over): So we end our day on a high note. But based on this journey, it's clear finding healthy, plump oysters is going to be a challenge. Just one more the state didn't need.

(on camera): Most of Louisiana's oyster beds are closed down because of health concerns. Some have reopened. The Department of Health and Hospitals is running some tests to see if they might be able to open some more. Meanwhile, oysters outside the region have not been affected.

Dan Simon, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And still to come on DAYBREAK, singer Stevie Wonder is singing a new tune. We'll give you a taste of it a little later.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Years after the sex abuse scandal rocked the Roman Catholic Church, there has been no national response or settlement. Each diocese is handling the scandal on its own. And in Los Angeles, negotiations between the church and hundreds of alleged victims have now stalled.

CNN's Peter Viles tells us why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RITA MIA (ph): My name is Rita Mia. I was abused by seven priests.

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Los Angeles, still no resolution to the Catholic Church sex scandal. Alleged victims feel betrayed by long-serving Cardinal Roger Mahoney.

MARY GRANT, VICTIMS' RIGHTS ADVOCATE: You knew that the rape of kids was a crime. You kept it secret. You didn't call the police. You moved the predators. You caused more innocent lives to be shattered.

VILES: Mahoney told CNN last year that the church once thought it could cure abusive priests and did not inform authorities. But now he says it has a zero tolerance policy for abusive priests. This week, the church released summaries of abuse allegations against more than 200 priests.

MICHAEL HENNIGAN (ph), ATTORNEY FOR L.A. ARCHDIOCESE: What we have here is a church that is embarrassed, that is contrite, that is ashamed of what happened in the past, and is committed to reforming it, to the extent that it is humanly possible to do so.

VILES: The documents show that priests accused of abuse were sometimes sent into therapy but not reported to authorities.

JAMES BALDRIDGE, ALLEGED SEX ABUSE VICTIM: What they cared about was their image and how can we suppress this and make it go away as quickly and as painlessly as possible.

VILES: Jim Baldridge says he was repeatedly raped as a boy by a priest who died 18 years ago.

BALDRIDGE: It's a nightmare for a lot of us. And it doesn't just affect the victims. It affects our families. It affects my wife and my children. And the part that really tears me up is I was one of the best Catholics out there. I worshipped the ground the priest walked on.

VILES: The church in neighboring Orange County paid more than $1 million per victim to settle abuse claims. Based on that math, a Los Angeles settlement would exceed $600 million. But talks between the archdiocese of Los Angeles and 560 alleged victims have stalled. Both sides say the church's insurance companies are refusing to negotiate.

RAYMOND BOUCHER, ATTY. FOR SEX ABUSE VICTIMS: We've been in settlement discussions for about three years now. The insurance companies are clearly the single greatest impediment to resolving these cases. They want to see them drag on as long as they possibly can.

VILES: So both sides say it is now increasingly likely that some of those 560 alleged victims will soon have their day in court.

Peter Viles, for CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:42 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

The White House brings in the big guns. Two former Texas Supreme Court justices come to Washington today to pump up the qualifications of Supreme Court justice nominee Harriet Miers. The White House hopes that will mute some of the criticism from conservatives.

In money news, a new law takes effect today making it harder for you to file for bankruptcy. "USA Today" last week said a record 102,000 people filed for personal bankruptcy ahead of the deadline.

In culture, it was a foggy weekend for moviegoers. A remake of the classic John Carpenter horror flick, "The Fog," was tops at the box office with $12 million.

In sports, the Chicago White Sox are in. The Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-3 to advance to their first World Series in more than 45 years. They haven't won the Series since 1917.

And in the National League, the Astros are just one game away from making it to their first-ever World Series. Houston beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 in game four. Game five is tonight -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You've got to love those guys as they run up that hill out there in the back. And then there's a pole.

COSTELLO: That was a great catch, wasn't it?

MYERS: Then there's a flagpole in the middle of it, no less.

Good morning, everybody.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

That's a look at the latest headlines for you.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, the music Wonder has a brand new album. You'll get a preview when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It's time for our DAYBREAK "Eye Openers."

Here's a real Pontiac fan. This rooster has been a fixture at this Silvaria (ph) car dealership in Hillsborough (ph) for four years. But when he began crowing in the middle of the night, people got a little upset. So, a vet was found to perform a delicate vocal cord operation. Now the rooster doesn't crow, but at least he can still cross the street. That's a sad story.

Did you miss the Bigfoot conference? This was the fifth year for the conference in Texas. Participants learned how to make casts of the possible, well, you know, big feet. They even had a Bigfoot tailgate party. More than 400 people showed up. No word on if there were any sightings though.

And say happy birthday to Kermit the Frog. He's 50, but he doesn't look a day over 30, does he? This is in the small West Texas town of Kermit where residents turned out to honor the popular amphibian. They really love this "Sesame Street" character. The town water tower has Kermit's face painted on it. And the street where city hall is located had its name changed to Kermit the Frog Boulevard. Cute.

Time to check out our "Web Clicks" this morning. We're always interested in what you're clicking on to on CNN.com.

And one of the most popular stories, Chad, is very interesting.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: The prom is canceled at one Long Island school.

MYERS: I was reading this, because the kids are spending too much money.

COSTELLO: Yes.

MYERS: He just thinks that this has got completely out of control. I remember maybe two or three kids, when I went to school, out of 600 got limos. Now they're just up and down all the streets.

COSTELLO: Well this is in Uniondale, New York; Long Island, New York. Brother Kenneth Hoagland, who is with Kellenberg Memorial High School, said we are withdrawing from the battle and allowing the parents full responsibility. Kellenberg is willing to sponsor a prom, but not an orgy. He said some students last year put down $10,000 to rent a party house in the Hamptons.

MYERS: Yes, that's too much.

COSTELLO: Fathers were chartering boats for their children's late-night "booze cruises." And then girls were spending outrageous amounts of money on their dresses.

MYERS: I spent $42 on my powder blue tuxedo, Carol, with the little powder blue little tufts here.

COSTELLO: I'm proud of you for even admitting to that.

MYERS: 1980.

COSTELLO: Yes.

So no prom there at one school in Long Island. The other story of interest on the Web has to do with Michelle Wie. We were talking about this a little early. In her first professional tournament, she's disqualified.

MYERS: Right. Actually, she was disqualified for putting the wrong score on her scorecard, and that kind of all goes downhill from here.

She lost the ball here in unplayable lie. She finally picked it up, put a tee down where it was, came out of the bush, made a drop, chipped it in and made par, only taking one stroke. Now the problem was, they said, that she dropped it 12 to 15 inches closer to the hole than where the ball actually was. She said there's no way it was closer than three inches. She did that what she called the triangulation thing.

And then they came out later on after the match was over, after the round was over. And they used a string, Carol. They took a string from the cup, took the string over to where the ball was lost or where it was unplayable and then took it over to where she dropped and hit it, and it was a foot closer, and that's illegal.

Now she should have taken a two-stroke penalty because of that illegal move, making her score a 76, not a 74. And that's why she was disqualified, because she signed the card that had the wrong score on it. That's all. It goes downhill from here. Fifty-three thousand dollars she lost.

COSTELLO: Annika Sorenstam, by the way, won that tournament, the old pro.

MYERS: Big. Yes, like by eight strokes, so that was not part of it.

COSTELLO: Want to know what everyone else is reading this morning? Point and click your way to CNN.com/mostpopular. The top 10 stories on our Web page are right there for you to see.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, all new at 6:00, what's in a name? Well, Stevie -- that was the wrong video. We're going to talk about these pandas, because the National Zoo is going to name the little baby panda. Two hundred thousand people voted on this name. That's coming up in the next hour of DAYBREAK. That was Stevie Wonder.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: "Entertainment Headlines" for you this morning.

Reality TV is going to the dogs, if Al Roker has his way. The NBC "Today Show" weatherman's production company is making what it calls the first-ever dog reality television show. I'm not kidding. Cameras will catch canines behaving like animals and then a trainer steps in and then the dogs behave like people. No network has bitten yet.

Beam me up, Scotty. The catchphrase for the late James "Scotty" Doohan takes on new meaning. The "Star Trek" actor's remains will be sent into space on December 6. The show's creator, Gene Rodenberry, also had his remains sent into space. Doohan died in July at the age of 85.

Tom Petty is dusting off his tux. On December 6, he's being awarded the Billboard's Century Award for Creative Achievement at the Billboard Music Awards. When the award was inaugurated in '92, Petty presented the very first one, and it went to ex-Beatle George Harrison.

R&B Grammy winner Stevie Wonder is back after a 10-year record hiatus. Wonder's new CD goes on sale tomorrow and it's all about love.

CNN's Denise Quan sat down with the musical wizard.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DENISE QUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's regular time, and then there's Stevie time.

(on camera): So this is Wonderland Studios, huh?

STEVIE WONDER, SINGER: It is, it is, it is.

QUAN: How long have you been here?

WONDER: Oh my god, for about 16 years.

QUAN (voice-over): The legendary music star kept our crew waiting at Wonderland Studios for two hours. But that's nothing, compared with the 10 years he kept Motown waiting for his latest studio CD "A Time To Love."

WONDER: I don't regret the time that it took. I just feel that I was, you know, really was in God's time.

QUAN: His 36th album includes "Shelter in the Rain," a single also available via digital download to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina.

WONDER: When you see if you're white, a little black kid who is in distress, you've got to feel the same pain for that kid as if it were your own kid.

QUAN (on camera): What are these symbols that are up here on the console and they're also in Braille?

WONDER: Because these are the African symbols, the tribal symbols that we used from some of the outfits that I have.

QUAN (voice-over): Blind since too much oxygen was pumped into his incubator as an infant, the 21-time Grammy winner has never let that slow him down. When other kids jumped off a roof, he jumped too, until somebody ran and told his mother. WONDER: Here we go. Are you ready? Yes. Here we go. One, two, three. I jumped right into my mother's arms. I got a major beat down.

QUAN: This father of seven doesn't spare the rod.

WONDER: But kids have to understand that there's a consequence. If I'm blind, I got to understand the belt, you must understand the belt, too.

QUAN: But real violence, including war, is another matter.

WONDER: I don't care if you're a Christian or Muslim, if you're commitment is to destruction or killing innocent people, terrorism or war, then you're not really committed to God or Allah. You're committed to evil.

QUAN: There's regular time and there's Stevie time and then there is "A Time To Love."

WONDER: There has been no time with a greater need for "A Time To Love" than right now.

QUAN: Denise Quan, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Good as ever.

The next hour of DAYBREAK begins in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is Monday, October 17.

And Tropical Depression 24 is now a storm with a name and a projected path. All eyes on Wilma this morning now forming in the Atlantic.

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