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American Morning

Florida Prepares for Hurricane Wilma; Journey Home

Aired October 21, 2005 - 09:32   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, "THE DAILY SHOW": Tom DeLay was booked today. This was actually a mugshot 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. He's just smiling like, I just sold someone a car, you know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let's take a look at the shot now, Tom DeLay's mugshot now.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: He's right. He looks very happy for a guy who's under indictment.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, his attorney has earned his salt, because in Texas, you can go to any jurisdiction to turn yourself in. He found one far away from the reporters, first of all.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, I mean, duh!

M. O'BRIEN: Secondly, one that is so sophisticated they don't put numbers, no profiles, just a straight digital shot, and it makes us think of the not-so-good mugshots, and the all-time of course great infamous mugshot is...

S. O'BRIEN: Either James Brown or Nick Nolte.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, and we begin with Nick Nolte.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, man!

M. O'BRIEN: That is a mug shot to remember there, poor Nick Nolte.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: And number two on our list is, of course, there he is, poor James Brown.

S. O'BRIEN: It's like run a comb through your hair before they take the picture, is what I would suggest.

M. O'BRIEN: You would think.

I feel bad! And now in this category, Glen Campbell, Glen Campbell, bad mugshot.

And then just to give you some recent ones, Lil Kim. See, they still have some numbers and the profile thing going on.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, the numbers.

M. O'BRIEN: Right there is the deal.

Political stuff, James Traficant, who didn't have the toupee adjusted very well that day, and that is kind of a little rogues gallery for you, if you will.

S. O'BRIEN: I think they were clearly trying to -- DeLay's people and his attorney by coming out and showing the pictures, trying to...

M. O'BRIEN: Preemptive in every way.

S. O'BRIEN: Absolutely, preemptive strike. But he's smiling so broadly, some people are just mocking it.

M. O'BRIEN: Not even the telestrator (INAUDIBLE), but notice the pin.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, he's in Congress.

M. O'BRIEN: Got the pin and everything, the tie is perfect. Excellent, excellent, all-time good mug shot.

All right, Wilma slamming Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula right now. It is moving very slowly, six miles an hour. That may not be good news for Mexico, but these are always they giveth and they taketh away things. But it does mean Florida might have a little more time to prepare.

Allan Chernoff on Sanibel Island, southwest coast of Florida, as we zoom on in there, and, Allan, give us -- bring us up to date on preparations there.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

Well, as you know, Sanibel Island is a barrier island. We are a full mile into the Gulf of Mexico. So this island is highly vulnerable. If a storm were to come this way, the island probably would get slammed. But as you can see behind me, it is also absolutely gorgeous here. Just look at some of these fantastic homes, plenty of people come here on vacation, and they don't want to give up their vacation time, their hard-earned vacation time. We spoke to people on the beach, and they don't want to leave until they have to. And for that there reason, the police chief is a little bit concerned. He told us he could order a mandatory evacuation to begin as early as tomorrow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHIEF BILL TOMLINSON: Obviously, the biggest concern to a strong storm is storm surge, and that's what we're paying close attention to. If we see the storm coming at us where the storm surge is going to affect us most dramatically, that's when we'll order a mandatory evacuation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: Of course, some people already have cleared out or are beginning to do so today. We've got homes shuttered throughout the island, so people clearing out. In fact, the gas station owner not far from here told me that he ran out of gas yesterday at 10:00 in the morning after lines up the station, all day Wednesday, and Thursday morning. He's got a little extra gas right now, but certainly people are clearing out. The traffic, as you can see, on the causeway. People still coming in, but that's mainly contractors helping to batten down the hatches here and get ready for the storm -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: As I recall, Allan, that causeway is pretty narrow. People really have to plan ahead, don't they?

CHERNOFF: It is one lane in either direction, and also we should note during Hurricane Charlie last year, lots of trees were just knocked down, so the road here was entirely blocked off. This is really not the place you want to be if a hurricane is right nearby.

M. O'BRIEN: Allan Chernoff at Sanibel, thank you.

(WEATHER REPOT)

S. O'BRIEN: You know, we've been talking to people and talking about people who are very worried about the destruction that Hurricane Wilma could bring. In Vietnam, they are all too familiar with the destructive power of the Mother Nature. That country at the tail end of its monsoon season.

Betty Nguyen recently took a humanitarian trip to her homeland, and she joins us from the CNN Center in Atlanta to tell us about that.

Good morning, Betty.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

I saw a lot of destruction and devastation, you know, people facing difficult conditions that grew even more desperate as those floodwaters rose.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN (voice-over): The sunrises over Ho Chi Minh City. It will always be Saigon to me. This is where I was born, shortly before the communists took over and my family fled to the United States as the Americans pulled out of the war.

Today, it's a place that's familiar in the most foreign sort of way. I'm like a stranger in my own homeland, which is why I come back, to reconnect.

This time, it comes by way of a six-hour journey south of Saigon, where annual monsoons are destroying homes and putting lives in danger. We're bringing humanitarian aid donated through Help the Hungry, a charity my family founded. It's our way of giving back.

(on camera): Now that this boat has been loaded with supplies, it's already started to rain, and we're going cross this river to get to flooded homes. I can only begin to imagine what we're going to find.

(voice-over): One thing is sure, the water stretches for miles, drowning rice field which is are key to Vietnam's economy. It's deep, it's dirty, and it happens every year, filing up what are little more than grass huts with dirt floors.

I'm shocked at how many are still living in flooded homes. From the very old, who say there's nowhere to go, to the young, who've lost more than many adults could endure. These children are on their own. They're not even sure what illness killed their parents. All they have each other and a hut with three walls.

The oldest is 15. This frog will be their dinner, cooked in a makeshift kitchen next to a pole where their clothes hang.

(on camera): Not only do these orphans live in this grass hut with floodwaters just inches below them, this is where they sleep, on this wooden platform, no mattress, no blanket. This is their only toy, a broken gun.

(voice-over): We gave them enough food, and medicine and money to sustain them for a while, and maybe even a little hope, but I hated to leave not knowing what will become of them. From flooded homes to uncertain futures, this homecoming of sorts is never easy.

When you see children who should be in school digging through the dirty water, fishing out pieces of plastic to sell, you can't help but hurt inside.

(on camera): It's raining once again. It makes me wonder what kind of night the people that we met today are going have with the monsoon season here. The people, the situations, it makes me wonder also about what my life would have been like had I not left with my family after the war. would that have been me? I don't think I'll ever know the answer to that, which is why I come back I guess, searching for answers, trying to find a way to give back, a sense of purpose, to make a difference.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: You know, Soledad, it's a hard trip to make, but what always amazes me is despite everything that they're facing, there is a deep sense of hope that somehow they will make it through. And what it boils down to is that they're just like anybody else, with wants and dreams. They long for a better life, but for now, they're just doing the best that they can to survive. S. O'BRIEN: Oh, my gosh. That mush be -- I mean, it's tough to watch, and of course being your homeland, that must be just so tough for you to go back.

Betty, thank you for sharing that with us. We appreciate it.

Wow! It's really heartbreaking when you see those kids, I mean, those orphans.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, she really brings that personal connection she has. It's extraordinary, really. It changes -- it gives you a sense of the story in a way you don't appreciate otherwise.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, a short break. We're going to talk business with Andy. He's "Minding Your Business" just ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: All right. I just don't get this Google thing, Andy Serwer, they give everything away.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: You didn't own Google.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, that's the most important thing. I don't own Google, so I've got a little sour grapes. But here's the deal, you know, you've got all this stuff on there that we used to pay a lot of money for, and it's free.

SERWER: Yes, but companies pay Google money.

M. O'BRIEN: They do, don't they?

SERWER: Right, we don't. What goes up must keep going up. It's the Google law of physics on Wall Street. The company reporting bang- up profits yesterday. The stock is up 11 percent,and that translates into huge dollar amounts. How about $34 a share up to $337.

M. O'BRIEN: Is that for real? Is that a misprint?

SERWER: How do they do that.

M. O'BRIEN: They just are making a lot of money. Google gone wild, ga ga for Google, Google for Cocoa Puffs. It's Friday.

I want to change gears here a little bit, Miles, talk about another bill.

Let's go to the Big Board actually first and see actually a little slippage there on the Dow Jones Industrials, down two.

M. O'BRIEN: Down seven.

SERWER: Down seven.

M. O'BRIEN: Once again, not wearing the spectacles. SERWER: It's Friday again.

M. O'BRIEN: He's a man with (INAUDIBLE), but yet he won't admit it.

SERWER: Yes. I want to talk about what's going in Congress. Yesterday, we told you about the cheeseburger bill. Now the house has passed the Saturday night special bill, as we're calling it. This is a bill that would prevent individuals, victims of gun shootings, prevent them from suing gun manufacturers. The president says he supports this bill.

Where do I come out on this thing? Well, in case you care, I guess if guns are legal in this country, it doesn't make sense if to allow people to sue gunmakers. On the other hand, I think they should be able to sue gun shops if they're selling guns improperly, and of course if guns are effective, they should be able to sue gun manufacturers as well.

But I mean, if guns are legal why should we let people sue gunmakers?

M. O'BRIEN: It's a good point. Cigarettes are legal, we sue them.

SERWER: Yes, that's true.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, of course guns don't kill people. Cheeseburgers don't kill people.

SERWER: Cigarettes sort of do.

M. O'BRIEN: Sort of cigarettes sort of do.

SERWER: We could go on and on.

M. O'BRIEN: We could go on and on.

Let's just remember the Google motto today, shall, we, first, do no evil, right, isn't that...

SERWER: No, it's what goes up keeps going up.

M. O'BRIEN: Don't be evil.

All right, Soledad, it is all yours.

All right, guys, thanks. Still to come this morning, Ed McMahon talks to us about his career as Johnny Carson's right hand man. We've got that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Live pictures now. Austin, Texas, courtroom, Tom DeLay in court, there for a first appearance on charges of money laundering and conspiracy related to the formation of a political action committee in Texas whose stated goal was to rejigger the state assembly, such that the state assembly would vote to reapportion congressional districts in a way that would favor the Republicans.

The strategy was quite successful, but the allegation is that political contributions were improperly funneled to those state assembly candidates through that pack, violating some election laws. Of course, Mr. DeLay and his supporters would tell you all of this is political vendetta by a zealous prosecutor with a Democratic background.

In his case, DeLay has requested that this legal proceeding be moved out of this courtroom and away from this judge. He says that Austin is too Democratic, one of the last bastion of Democratic politics in Texas, and that the judge himself has a long history of contributions to Democratic candidates.

So we're going to watch the picture. Right now, they're just waiting there. And as soon as -- Tom DeLay with his family, obviously -- and as soon as things get gaveled to order, we will bring that to you immediately.

In the meantime, we had told you, Soledad spoke with Ed McMahon. So here's Ed!

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Johnny Carson passed away in January of this year, but who will ever forget this introduction?

ED MCMAHON, ENTERTAINER: And now, ladies and gentlemen, heeeere's Johnny!

S. O'BRIEN: The now famous introduction by Ed McMahon, friend and sidekick for many, many years. Ed McMahon's written a new book about Johnny Carson and, it's called -- what else -- "Here's Johnny." Nice to see you.

MCMAHON: That's right. It's pretty good when you have the title before you have the book. I want to do something for you, because I've been following your career and you're terrific. Besides being a beautiful...

S. O'BRIEN: "Here's Soledad" doesn't have the same ring.

MCMAHON: ... beautiful, and I followed you from the Saturday morning to here and everything. Here it is, you ready?

S. O'BRIEN: I'm ready. Roll tape, guys.

MCMAHON: And now, ladies and gentlemen, heeeere's Soledad!

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, it doesn't have the same ring at all. Not even close. Was it hard to pick and choose? I mean, you guys had such a long history together and an amazing history. How do you fit it into a book that's not, you know, this big?

MCMAHON: Well, you know, they don't want a big tome. You know, they figured, it could have gone on for a thousand pages, but they didn't want that because they wanted a good book that people would pick up at the airport and, you know, it would take you to Pittsburgh. And that's...

S. O'BRIEN: But it's full of great stories.

MCMAHON: ... the kind of book it is. And it's an easy read and a lot of laughs, a lot of fun. We used to talk about it. I'd say, you know, they want me to write a book. And I said, I don't want to -- you should write the book. He said, I'm not going write a book. You know, the way he was. I'm not going to write a book. If anybody's going write it, you're going write it. I'm not going to write it. You know me better than anybody. And what he says in the back is so beautiful -- he said -- you know, we were closer than most married couples. And, in fact, I called Ed my insignificant other.

And, but it was true. We were just bonded together from day one. And the signals. I could look at him and get his signal. He walked out one night in the early, early days of "The Tonight Show" and he said, boy it was cold in New York today. Now, when he said it, he didn't look at the audience. He looked over at me. I was on his right.

And he gave me that little look, you know, like that, and I knew he wanted something, being the good second banana. I said how cold was it? Now, the audience picked up on that. And then they got ahead of us. Because every time he would said that, you know, it was so cold. And I'd say -- and the audience would be with me. I'd look at the audience. How cold was it? And he said, it was so cold I saw a robin putting his worm in a microwave. You know, boom, and then we'd have a joke.

S. O'BRIEN There was nothing funnier, I always thought, than when he would do a joke but wouldn't get through it because he was laughing so hard.

MCMAHON: Yes, that's right, he enjoyed it so much.

S. O'BRIEN: Like all of the time on Carnac the Magnificent.

MCMAHON: Well, the Carnac -- the funniest joke, he told me, he set me up. I used to go see him before my warmup when I warmed up the audience, and we never talked about the show. We talked about anything in the world -- the pope, religion, divorce, marriage, whatever, kids. Never talked about the show.

But one night he said, I've got a Carnac tonight that's going to put you away. Now we're doing Carnac, the envelope, you know. I hold in my hand, you know, the -- so forth and so on. And every one, I think it's the one. And again, those eye signals that we had worked. He finally picks up this one and I see the eyes. Those steely blues. I said, this is it. Opens it up. The question is -- the answer, rather, is sis boom bah. Do you know it? S. O'BRIEN: No.

MCMAHON: You don't? All right. Sis boom bah. What is the sound made by an exploding sheep. Now, not only couldn't he -- I couldn't continue, but he couldn't continue, either. Here we were two grown men, graduates of major universities, pounding on the table. We couldn't go on.

S. O'BRIEN: It's an amazing book. It's a great book.

MCMAHON: Thank you very much.

S. O'BRIEN: I wish the most success with it.

MCMAHON: Thank you, darling. Nice seeing you.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks for coming in to talk to us. We really appreciate it.

MCMAHON: You're beautiful.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, you're nice, you're very kind. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: You know, he looks like a million bucks, doesn't he? Oh, I'm sorry -- we've moved into other thigns.

S. O'BRIEN: We're not talking about Tom DeLay.

M. O'BRIEN: Maybe so. That's in the eye of the beholder here. Certainly his mug shot, he looks good. He smiled for the cameras. There he is in court, in Austin. He's there with his wife Christine, who is his life partner in so many ways, political adviser to him, as they strategize there in court, as we wait for the court session to begin. I believe his daughter Danielle was there just a little while ago. She stepped out of the camera.

And we will, of course, bring this to you as the camera does a switch pan. It looks like we might be seeing something, the attorneys shaking hands. That's his attorney Dick DeGuerin. And we will do what we can to bring this to you as soon as it begins.

In the meantime, we'll take a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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