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CNN Live At Daybreak

Hurricane Wilma: Category 4; Islamic Outrage; Attention Grabbers

Aired October 21, 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: Well, as you heard Jacqui say, this hurricane has forecasters kind of scratching their heads just where it will head and how strong it will be, how fast it will be. One potential bull's eye, though, the Florida Keys, so let's see what's going on there this morning.
Yvonne Nava of CNN affiliate WPLG joins us live from Key West.

Good morning.

YVONNE NAVA, WPLG-TV REPORTER: Well good morning, Carol.

It's safe to say that all of us are feeling just a tad bit anxious this morning. But around 4:00, about an hour and a half ago, we did get a slight patch of rain that kind of rolled on through. It lasted about a minute and then kind of went away. So right now nothing too bad, it's just a little drizzly out here.

Taking a look behind me here on Flamingo Street, you can see in this corner, this is pretty much the picture you'll see around town, just businesses boarded up. There are some sandbags on other businesses down Duvall. But pretty much everyone has prepared.

Going down Duvall Street, you'll see it's a kind of drizzly morning, wet spots, kind of slick roads here and not too many drivers, so nothing to worry about right now. But it's not bad. We'll take this, definitely.

As far as evacuations are concerned, like you mentioned, mandatory evacuations have been postponed once again. So we're kind of waiting and seeing as to what the deal is going to be. I mean county officials and city officials are getting together this morning to discuss it and let everybody know what the plan is. As far as people who don't live in Key West, non-residents and tourists, they were already told that they had a mandatory evacuation for Wednesday.

So you know it's just a very anxious time for all of us. We're kind of waiting and seeing what happens. And until then, we'll just kind of hang tight and just hope for the best and hope that we don't have a really, really bad storm coming our way. But you never know what we're going to get.

COSTELLO: Yes, how frustrating.

Yvonne Nava, reporting live from Key West this morning, thank you. Let's head to Cancun now. Susan Candiotti is there, and the weather is much worse there.

Good morning -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Obviously we're feeling the turmoil (ph) are a lot closer to the bands of Hurricane Wilma. Obviously tourists were evacuated out of here yesterday, put on buses and gotten out of Dodge, taken to the airport, in many circumstances. That, as you can well imagine, there are only so many planes out of here and so some people were stuck. Obviously people who live here are also in a bit of a fix, and so they are hunkering down as best they can.

We are staying at a hotel that is right along the beach, along the famous seaside resort, and those are the ones that were evacuated. People who could not get out of the airport were taken to shelters, schools doubling as shelters, as well as hotels, where people, at least late last night, were in hotel lobbies. There were given some meager provisions, at least something to get them through. For example, pillows, a couple of towels, a couple of oranges, and the likes, to sleep in the hotel ballrooms to try to get through this storm.

At least 20,000 people shipped out of here, you could say, last night. Clearly the Port of Cozumel, about 60 miles south of Cozumel, rather, Cancun, was closed down as well. That's where all the cruise ships come in. Schools and businesses shut down.

You will recall that it was just last July, a few months ago, that Emily swung through here. And people are still trying to clean up from that. Ninety-six million dollars of damage from that, and now this. So people are bracing for the arrival of Hurricane Wilma, Carol, that could arrive as early as midday.

COSTELLO: Susan Candiotti reporting live from Cancun. We'll get back to you.

Thank you, Susan.

On to this now, outrage in the Muslim world is brought on by U.S. soldiers shown on videotape allegedly violating the Geneva Conventions. Australian TV shows U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan burning the bodies of Taliban fighters.

Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre reports the U.S. military is now investigating. And we warn you, some of the pictures you are about to see are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The videotape, showing burning bodies of Taliban fighters killed by U.S. troops in a firefight, was part of a documentary aired on Australia's SBS Television. It was shot early this month by a journalist embedded with U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

STEPHEN DUPONT, PHOTOJOURNALIST: You know, we have been told to burn the bodies, because the bodies have been here for 24 hours and they're starting to stink. So, for hygiene purposes, this is what we have got to do.

MCINTYRE: The program charged that the bodies were deliberately desecrated, faced toward Mecca to mock the Muslim faith, and that American soldiers from a psychological operations unit then taunted the Taliban over loudspeakers, calling them "lady boys" for failing to retrieve the remains.

DUPONT: They deliberately wanted to incite that much anger from the Taliban, so the Taliban could attack them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Smoke them out.

DUPONT: Smoke them out.

MCINTYRE: The broadcast drew a quick response from the U.S. military. One commander calling the actions repugnant. And an immediate investigation was ordered.

A statement issued by the U.S. military in Afghanistan said -- quote -- "The command does not advocate, nor tolerate, the wrongful desecration of anyone's remains or the use of broadcast messages in conjunction with an act such as this. These are very serious allegations," it went on to say, "and if true, they are reprehensible."

One reason for the forceful reaction, fear the incident could incite the kind of anti-U.S. violence that followed allegations of Quran abuse by the U.S. military.

At the State Department, a spokesman underscored the seriousness of the charges.

SEAN MCCORMACK, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: What we see in this videotape is not at all reflective of the values of the military or of the United States.

MCINTYRE (on camera): The U.S. government is promising a full investigation and that anyone found to have violated the Geneva Conventions or U.S. military law will be held accountable. But the U.S.-based Islamic advocacy group says that's not enough. It wants a top-to-bottom review of Pentagon procedures and policies for personnel operating in Muslim countries.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Islamic clerics warn of a possible violent anti- American backlash. Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemns the alleged desecration and has ordered an investigation.

The U.S. State Department is telling governments around the globe that the reported abuse does not reflect American values.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD NEUMANN, U.S. AMB. TO AFGHANISTAN: It's against our rules. It's against our ethos. This is just fundamentally wrong and disgusting. And I think what, really, it's hard to say what is the most irritating or bothersome about it. But we have so many people out there doing a great job, soldiers, marines, diplomats, AID workers, people in the field, as well as people in Kabul, and when you have somebody doing something like this, it just besmirches everybody else.

Joining us live now is Scott Baldauf, Staff Writer for the "Christian Science Monitor." Scott was embedded with the 82nd Airborne in Afghanistan.

Good morning to you -- Scott.

SCOTT BALDAUF, STAFF WRITER, "CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR": Good morning.

COSTELLO: We want to tell our viewers the 82nd Airborne had absolutely nothing to do with this alleged incident.

But tell us about the stresses of being on the battlefield in Afghanistan.

BALDAUF: Well you are often going into villages where there have been reports of Taliban moving through. You're often not quite sure whether villages are actively enthusiastically giving support or forced to give support to the Taliban, or even if the Taliban are passing through at all. So soldiers going through these areas are at a very much of a disadvantage with information and intelligence that they are -- that are going in but facing all of the same dangers of a battlefield as rich as Iraq.

COSTELLO: Do we see similar tactics used by the Taliban fighters as we see in Iraq by the insurgents?

BALDAUF: There are -- well one thing that's very similar is that you see a lot of roadside bombs. And there has been an increase in roadside bombs in Afghanistan. Some of them are getting increasingly sophisticated where they can shape the charges to direct the most impact towards Humvees, towards vehicles. And we've had higher casualties.

Other than that, it's a very different fight in Afghanistan. In some ways there's a lot more actual fighting going on in Afghanistan unit per unit than you see in Iraq. Iraq is mainly is a cat and mouse game, where the militants there seem to be setting off bombs and doing more urban terrorism. In Afghanistan there's just not a lot of urban area to have that sort of a campaign. So it's very much directed at the U.S. forces.

COSTELLO: You know we heard a soundbite, you know an interview from a man, an Australian reporter who said that those soldiers were burning the bodies of the Taliban because they were decomposing. Had you ever heard of that before?

BALDAUF: Well I have to say I have not heard that before. It's hard to know what the mode of operation is going to be unit for unit. I can tell you that the 82nd Airborne probably has not used that technique. They didn't use it around me. But again, it's very difficult to know what a local, a lower level commander, a lieutenant or a captain might be doing in the field at a particular time given the circumstances.

COSTELLO: Well supposedly they were burning these bodies for psychological reasons. So where might the soldiers get that kind of idea?

BALDAUF: Your guess is as good as mine, honestly. The soldiers that I spent time with were basically given a mission. They were sent out with very specific rules of what they could and could not do. Those rules came from the command post. And they went out there with the training that they had received from the military with the orders that they received from the military. They went out and they did their job. One can only assume that all units are working under that same sort of a framework.

COSTELLO: A final question for you, could something like this incite the rest of the Afghan population?

BALDAUF: It will certainly make things harder for the U.S. troops on the ground in Afghanistan. It will also make things a lot more difficult for anyone who is trying to win over the Afghan population. Remember the Quran desecration? That set off riots in cities across Afghanistan where dozens died. It's very difficult to try and convince people that you are there to do them good when news like this is coming out.

COSTELLO: Scott Baldauf from the "Christian Science Monitor" joining us live from New Delhi this morning.

Thank you, Scott.

DAYBREAK will be back in two minutes.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Turning to your health now. A pet database is being used to help scientists detect outbreaks of Bird Flu in bioterrorist attacks. Researchers say household pets could provide the first signs of an outbreak, like Canaries once detected poison gas in coal mines. Scientists at Purdue University are using Banfield's PetWare database, which has up to nine million pets in 44 states. The project is being funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Bird Flu has killed more than 60 people in four Asian countries now and it has spread to Europe. Germany has now ordered all poultry to be kept in pens. Poland says domestic fowl must be kept indoors to prevent contact with migrating birds. And France and Italy are trying to reassure consumers its poultry is safe because imports from affected areas have now been banned.

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

Syria rejects as false accusations a U.N. report that implicates Damascus in the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The report goes to the U.N. Security Council today.

Plain old soap and water is just as good for fighting household germs as antibacterial soaps. A panel of FDA experts says manufacturers should have to prove they are better.

In money news, early next year Southwest Airlines is flying back to Denver. Pulled out of the former Stapleton Airport in 1986 because of congestion and delays.

In culture, Sao Paulo, Brazil will let Pearl Jam play after all, but the rock band will have to finish their shows by 9:45 p.m. in order not to disturb people who live near the stadium. The December 2 and 3 shows are part of Pearl Jam's seven-city Latin American tour.

In sports, third ranked Virginia Tech cruised to their seventh straight victory behind quarterback Marcus Vick. Michael Vick's little brother accounted for 300 yards and a touchdown in the Hoakies 28-9 win over Maryland.

To the Forecast Center now and -- Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Carol, I love Pearl Jam, by the way. Not that you care, but I do.

Anyway, we're taking a look at Wilma at this time. It's still a very powerful hurricane, unbelievable Category 4 with 150 miles per hour. The eyewall is nearing Cozumel at this time. And those hurricane force winds, the sustained hurricane force winds extend out 85 miles from the center of the storm.

Could see landfall by midday there today, and that would weaken the storm some, but still expected to stay at hurricane status at least and possibly could be as strong as a 3, a major hurricane, making landfall in Florida. Depends how much interaction this thing has with land.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Thank you, Jacqui.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, forget all that weight loss surgery stuff we told you about yesterday, these guys show us why lots of skin, and I mean lots of skin, is in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Take a look. The paint on the plywood says it all, so many hurricanes, so little time! The boarded up windows you see are in Port Charlotte, Florida on, ironically, an insurance company building.

The Port Charlotte area was hit by Hurricane Charley a year ago in August. Residents there know what a storm can do. Already some of the evacuations routes you see here pictured on the map are busy. Parts of Interstate 75 have been bumper to bumper.

We learn more about that from Ed Hill of CNN affiliate WTVT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HILL, WTVT-TV REPORTER (voice-over): Dale (ph) and Pricilla May (ph) thought their escape from Lee County would be easy.

DALE MAY, LEE COUNTY RESIDENT: We got out onto 75 and it was pretty much an open highway for about a mile, then all of a sudden...

HILL: All of a sudden they were confronted with this, Interstate 75 northbound jammed for miles.

PRICILLA MAY, LEE COUNTY RESIDENT: Just stop and go. At times you don't go anywhere, so it's horrible.

D. MAY: But we were really surprised that that many people are leaving this early.

HILL: Hundreds of thousands of people from southwest Florida had evacuated to escape Wilma.

P. MAY: Our island was hit last year with Charley, so we don't take any chance anymore. And with this not knowing which way it's going.

HILL: Cynthia (ph) and Joe Churny (ph) said they had no choice either.

JOE CHURNY, FLORIDA EVACUEE: We were hit by Charley.

CYNTHIA CHURNY, FLORIDA EVACUEE: Took most of our roof last year and our lanai, so we decided we weren't going to wait around to see what happened.

HILL: But the Churnys had had enough of the traffic, so they booked a room at this motel in Tampa.

C. CHURNY: So we've had it. The older you get, the less you want to do this.

J. CHURNY: We can watch WTV (ph) and pay attention to what's going to happen, because it seems like you know they have models all over the place.

HILL: Whatever happens, the Mays believe they will remain safe, and so will their family history that they packed with them.

P. MAY: I had three children. So over the years I've had photos of my children and my grandchildren, and I have every photo, every tape that was made.

D. MAY: The worst thing that can happen to us is our home gets devastated, you know, ripped apart or the surge becomes so great that it takes our home away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: New in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

What did FEMA officials know about the deteriorating situation in New Orleans and when did they know it? According to one whistleblower, it's more and sooner than you think. You'll hear what he had to say to Congress.

And the big business of hurricane relief is getting a second look from government auditors.

DAYBREAK will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, "THE DAILY SHOW": Tom DeLay was booked today. There's actually a mug shot on the Web where he's smiling. It's a great shot of him. It's him literally doing this. Like it's literally the best day of his life. And he's just smiling like I just sold someone a car, you know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Do we have the picture of the mug shot, I pray?

JERAS: You've got to see it.

COSTELLO: I know, you've got to see the mug shot of Tom DeLay to know what Jon Stewart was talking about.

JERAS: But you know...

COSTELLO: Are we digging it up? We're getting it. So let's talk about it until we get it -- Jacqui.

JERAS: OK.

COSTELLO: Because Jon Stewart was right, he was smiling and he looked like he had not -- there it is.

JERAS: There it is. But you know what, Carol, that's my policy, no matter what the circumstances, you may as well look good.

COSTELLO: Come on, if you're indicted?

JERAS: Well, people are going to see your picture. What about your driver's license picture? Nobody looks good in that. You want to look good, right, no matter what? COSTELLO: I think that's a little different from a driver's license photo. We were wondering where -- you know usually you see numbers underneath the person's chin. They're holding up numbers. He didn't have to do that.

JERAS: I know, no numbers.

COSTELLO: And we haven't seen a profile shot either. You know how they like take three or four mug shots.

JERAS: Right, right, yes, forward, side, other side.

COSTELLO: But you know I understand why he did that, because it's going to be shown on television.

JERAS: Right.

COSTELLO: It's going to be on the Internet. It's going to be in newspapers. So does he want to be seen like, you know, looking dower?

JERAS: Exactly. Have to have a little pride, right?

COSTELLO: I guess so.

OK. You know baseball.

JERAS: All right.

COSTELLO: Let's change the topic now, shall we?

JERAS: All right.

COSTELLO: Baseball is our national pastime and football is our most watched sport. But there is one international sport that's hoping to gain a foothold in the United States. It is not curling. It is not cricket.

CNN's Jeanne Moos has the answers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Better to laugh with them rather than at them. Hold the traffic, the sumos have come to town.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!

MOOS: They're storming the talk show circuit. Even Regis donned a thong.

REGIS PHILBIN, HOST: Can't take your eyes off me, can you?

MOOS: They're doing photo-ops at the Carnegie Deli. "When Deli Met Belly," says "The New York Times." Average intake...

RONNY ALLMAN, SUMO WRESTLER: Six meals a day, 10,000 calories. MOOS: Which brings us to the weigh-in, on a scale normally used for meat and cattle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three hundred eighty pounds.

Four hundred eleven.

Four hundred sixty-one pounds, even.

MOOS: Even we were swept off our feet.

(on camera): So I weigh about half of you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One hundred thirty.

MOOS (voice-over): He's Norwegian, he's German, 24 wrestlers from all over the world. Their mission, to make Americans fall for this ancient Japanese sport, but jazzed up, sort of like pro wrestling. Well maybe sumo won't be quite as pumped up as wrestling.

Its promoters say the Battle of the Giants won't be fake and will stick to traditional Japanese rules.

JEFFREY DANIELS, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, BIG BOY PRODUCTIONS: This is going to be an absolutely spectacular theatrical sports entertainment event, the likes of which no one has ever seen before.

MOOS: Yes, but can it beat that Pepsi commercial featuring sumo chickens? Can it outdo Austin Powers? And will Americans be able to get over that outfit?

(on camera): You never get self-conscious about your bottom hanging out?

ALLMAN: In the beginning, it was a little bit strange.

MOOS (voice-over): This Hawaiian sumo confesses to being self- conscious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do, that's why I wear this.

MOOS: Who knew the thong comes in yellow, it comes in orange?

ALLMAN: Mawashi gets cold. It's a -- I think a garment like this.

MOOS (on camera): Wait, you have a credit card?

(voice-over): These days, you never know what you'll find in a mawashi.

You may hear a sumo ring out of the ring. These guys may have a spare tire in front, but the back is a flap.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, guys, I think it's just way too early to be seeing this right now. MOOS: We may be gung-ho for sumo, but please, don't turn around.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And, unfortunately, we have some sad news just in to CNN. A lawyer for a former chief judge of Saddam Hussein's Revolutionary Court was kidnapped. That happened on Thursday. Kidnapped by gunmen from his office. We understand now his body has been found. He has been killed.

We don't know much more than that. When we get more information, we'll pass it on. And hopefully we'll go to Aneesh Raman live in Baghdad.

We're going to take a break. The next hour of DAYBREAK starts in a couple of minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Again, this news just in to CNN. A lawyer for a former chief judge of Saddam Hussein's Revolutionary Court was kidnapped on Thursday. This morning, his body was found. He is dead.

Now this lawyer had been representing Awad Hamad al-Bandar, the former chief judge. He is accused of having sentenced to death 143 residents of Dujail following a failed assassination attempt on Hussein back in 1982. As you know, Saddam Hussein and seven others are on trial for those crimes right now.

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