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American Morning

Security Problems Slowing Down Hussein Trial; New Orleans: Three Months Later; Weather Woes

Aired November 29, 2005 - 08:59   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
The first big winter storm of the season. And the snow keeps coming. The Midwest is socked in. We're going to tell you where the storm goes next.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Miles O'Brien.

What's next for Saddam Hussein? Security concerns have the defense on the defensive, and the Iraqi people are growing impatient. We'll get a live report from Baghdad.

S. O'BRIEN: And three months after Hurricane Katrina, will New Orleans ever get back to normal? We're going to take you live to the city for a recovery report and talk to the city's new police chief on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning. Welcome, everybody.

A reminder. We start at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time now. So if you want to catch AMERICAN MORNING and you want to catch us a little bit earlier than usual, we've got a new place and new time.

M. O'BRIEN: Or if it's the West Coast, later than usual, maybe, if it's the end of their day, 3:00 a.m. there.

Anyway, we're glad to be with you early and bright. And now we enter our fourth hour. We talk about Iraq. We begin there, and the security problems slowing down the trial of Saddam Hussein.

Aneesh Raman is live in Baghdad.

Aneesh, where is the trial going from here?

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, good morning.

The trial adjourned until next Monday. A one-week adjournment, essentially because one of the defendants said that their lawyer was killed during the interim period and they rejected the court-appointed lawyer. It sets a dangerous precedent and came as quite a shock to those who were following this trial, because if another defense attorney is killed here on -- it will give the defense an opportunity to force a one-week delay.

Now, it also underscores the very difficult balancing act of this court. In the eyes of the world, they want to see entirely legitimate, defer to the defense as in when is possible. But for the Iraqi people there is a strong desire not just for the trial to end, but for Saddam Hussein to be executed.

Former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark, who is now officially a member of Saddam Hussein's defense team, was here in Baghdad, in the courtroom yesterday, and he spoke to CNN about the situation on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAMSEY CLARK, FMR. U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: ... are at fever pitch. And it will take effort at every turn by the court and everyone participating to be fair and to show that you're being fair for any -- to have any chance for a fair trial. I don't think of a more difficult situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAMAN: Now, Miles, all this week we were expecting witness testimony to begin in this first trial. That now is expected next week, but then again, anything could happen as it did yesterday -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about Ramsey Clark and his role. Is he really there to serve as a attorney, or is he there just to get some of his political views across?

RAMAN: Well, perhaps a little bit of both. Officially, in terms of what he's saying, he's here as an attorney, he's providing legal advice to the defense team.

He clearly was against the war in Iraq. He's been an activist against it, making a statement as well that this trial will be incredibly difficult to hold in Iraq in its current situation. Also saying that he might not stay on through the entire trial if it remains as it was yesterday, a process he says that is completely unfair to the defense -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Aneesh Raman in Baghdad. Thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Exactly three months ago to the day Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Gulf Coast. We know the massive destruction that followed for New Orleans. So how's the city doing now?

AMERICAN MORNING'S Dan Lothian live in New Orleans this morning.

Dan, good morning to you.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, three months later you would expect that there would be a lot of progress, but many people in New Orleans proper and some of the surrounding parishes feel that they have been left behind, even as parts of the area appear to be moving forward. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN (voice over): It's another small step on the long road to recovery. Ben Franklin Elementary is the first public school in New Orleans to reopen since Katrina.

ORA WATSON, INTERIM SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: It's been a long time coming. Too long, but we made it.

LOTHIAN: For parents like Janie Bradford, relief after some difficult months of moving her children from school to school.

JANIE BRADFORD, PARENT: It was rough. It was rough.

LOTHIAN: Another sign of progress at two of the city's libraries, where for the first time since the storm people can check out books.

SHARON KOHL, LIBRARIAN: Everybody's been wanting, you know, to have books to read to their kids and to just have books to read, something to do.

LOTHIAN: New Orleans might appear to be coming back to life. Some debris is being removed. Businesses are reopening. And some residents have reason to spread holiday cheer.

But just around the corner, down streets still lined with mountains of debris, you'll find Rose Taylor.

ROSE TAYLOR, DISPLACED NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: We just don't know what to do now.

LOTHIAN: And many others like her. The home she built with her husband 17 years ago in New Orleans East is destroyed.

TAYLOR: That's the kitchen. And that was the living room. We just...

LOTHIAN: Taylor now lives in a small trailer provided by FEMA as she waits for answers from her insurance company.

TAYLOR: My children are scattered all over. We had Thanksgiving sitting in a trailer, me and my husband.

LOTHIAN: Miles and miles of devastation in New Orleans alone have left tens of thousands of others in limbo, too. Many who have lost everything, and those who protect what they have with blue tarp.

Mayor Ray Nagin got an earful at a recent town hall meeting in Houston as he tried to encourage displaced residents to return and rebuild.

INGRID LEBLANC, DISPLACED NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: I need to know what's going on happen with me, my future and my home. Because I want to go back.

LOTHIAN: But the biggest concern, levees.

SEN. MARY LANDRIEU (D), LOUISIANA: Will we be safe? And right now the answer is no.

LOTHIAN: To help solve the levee problem, the Dutch, who created a much heralded flood protection system, are now being called on to help. Their ambassador to the U.S. toured the region with Senator Landrieu.

BOUDEWIJN VAN EENENNAAM, DUTCH AMBASSADOR: A lot of lessons we have learned, and a lot of expertise which also can be made of use here.

LOTHIAN: Shoring up the city so residents can feel secure, so Rose Taylor can find the will to rebuild and heal.

TAYLOR: They're saying don't cry, don't feel bad about it, God did this for a reason. I don't believe that. I'm trying to hold up here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: Mayor Nagin says 40 percent of the city remains without power, 50 percent without natural gas. Of course, though, the biggest problem continues to be those levees. Lawmakers saying that if this city cannot be made safe and secure, then those displaced residents will never return -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: And that's kind of the beginning of the equation, Dan. There's a new police chief who really is a familiar face. He's got kind of a big job, too.

LOTHIAN: That's right. Warren Riley will be heading the police department. He was sworn in yesterday.

He really faces a major task. In particular, trying to restore confidence in a police department that was rocked in the days following Katrina -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: He was the acting police chief, now officially has the job. We're going to be talking, Dan, with Police Chief Warren Riley in an exclusive interview on AMERICAN MORNING a little bit later.

Dan Lothian for us this morning from New Orleans.

Other stories making news. Carol has those.

Good morning, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

Good morning to all of you.

President Bush tours the U.S.-Mexican border in El Paso today. He's been talking about cracking down on people who enter the country illegally.

He's also pushing a plan he introduced last year that would allow some people in the country illegally to get work visas. That plan has some members of Congress skeptical.

We may learn a little more about the Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito today. He's filled out a questionnaire for the Senate Judiciary Committee, and we're expecting its release soon.

Two million dollars in bribes. Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham pleading guilty to taking cash and gifts from military contractors and for evading more than $1 million in taxes. Cunningham made a tearful apology.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RANDY "DUKE" CUNNINGHAM (R), CALIFORNIA: I was not strong enough to face the truth, so I mislead my family, friends, staff, colleagues, the public, and even myself. For all of this I am deeply sorry.

The truth is I broke the law, concealed my conduct and disgraced my office. I know that I will forfeit my freedom, my reputation, my worldly possessions. Most importantly, the trust of my friends and family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Cunningham faces up to 10 years in prison and a $350,000 fine. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger must now call for a special election to replace him.

They were caught on camera and now they may soon be hauled in by police. Police have now identified six suspects who vandalized two liquor stores in Oakland, California, but the story doesn't end here. One of the stores was destroyed by an early morning fire on Monday, and police are now looking into a possible link.

And take a look at this. It's not from rain. Oh, no. It's water gushing from that broken water main.

Look at that. This is a look at the northbound lanes of Interstate 90, 94, near downtown Chicago. Fortunately, it was repaired in time for this morning's rush hour. Still, dozens of cars, including a police car, had to be towed because some of those cars were practically under water. But it's fixed now -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: We're glad of that.

COSTELLO: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Think about that for a moment. It's fixed.

A lot of severe, wintry weather out there, including snow in Oregon. Traffic accidents being reported across the state. The forecast not looking good today either. Let's go to the Northwest, shall we? Hood River, on the state line between Washington and Oregon, Ted Fein (ph) driving the Google Earth there. Kevin Koari, of our affiliate KPTV, outside the town beside the river.

Kevin, what's it like out there early this morning?

KEVIN COARI, REPORTER, KPTV: Well, Miles, good morning.

Fortunately, it is warming up a bit and the snow is starting to melt in this area. The main road here behind me, as you can see, has been plowed and sanded, and that looks pretty good, but I'll give you an idea of what the side streets here in Hood River look like.

It's really just kind of a slushy, sloppy mess out here. And that's going to pose quite a challenge for drivers here in Hood River. A lot of hills in the Hood River area, and so that will be tough for people to navigate this morning.

We don't have official estimates from the weather service yet, but from the looks of it we've got about two to three inches last night and overnight. And people in Hood River, that's quite a bit of snow for this area, I'll tell you.

Take a look at some video that we shot yesterday afternoon and last night. The snow started falling around 2:30 yesterday afternoon, and it just did not quit for about eight hours. The snow just pounded this area.

Snowplows were out in full force working overtime and really playing catch-up out here. We did, as I mentioned, see about two to three inches of snow, saw a couple of accidents, mainly in the hills of Hood River. Drivers just saying that they are not ready, necessarily, for this storm. They lost control.

It was slick at that time, especially in the hills. And they slid and hit other cars and basically got stuck on the sides of roads. And actually, it led to the city officials here in Hood River having to actually close a few streets.

As I mentioned, plows worked overnight, and they used sanders out here. And it looks like things are warming up again this morning. So it looks like it should improve here pretty quickly here in Hood River.

Live in Hood River this morning. Miles, back to you.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Kevin Coari of our affiliate KPTV. And got to warm up that camera a little bit and get rid of that condensation. That's tough to...

S. O'BRIEN: It looks chilly there, doesn't it?

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. You sort of have to keep them acclimated, the camera outside -- inside and outside. That's bad for them.

Jacqui Jeras, in Oregon they don't get a lot of snow like that this time of year, do they?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, they certainly can get some pretty heavy snow up into the higher elevations. Into the Cascades, they tend to get quite a bit of snow. In fact, they're going to see quite a bit, I think, over the next week or so.

We've got about three, four weather systems just waiting in the wings offshore, and each and every one of them is going to be slamming into this region and continue to bring in some heavy, wet conditions.

There you can see the winter storm warnings in effect for the higher elevations. Portland itself should be OK. We think it's just going to be rain for you there.

Winter weather advisories for Seattle, that has been dropped now because we don't think that snow is gong to be mixing in. Possibly could see a few snowflakes a little bit later on for tonight.

As we head down to the south, we still have some warnings in effect throughout the Sierras. Could see good totals up to 18 inches there. And we're expecting this to be moving through the interior parts of the Southwest.

Salt Lake City should see some snow there for today, heavier as you head into tonight. And there you can see some of those showers already in effect.

We also have our big storm system across parts of the East. Severe weather concerns in the Carolinas and also up to Washington, D.C., and all of the way down into the Savannah area.

Back to you, guys.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Jacqui.

S. O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, an AMERICAN MORNING exclusive. We'll talk with the newly sworn in police chief in New Orleans. Just how is he going to tackle all of the problems? And I've got to tell you, it's a long list of problems that he's now inherited.

M. O'BRIEN: That's a tough job. I don't know if I could take that one. That's tough.

Anyway, the holiday blues are nothing new, but hurricane victims are especially vulnerable, as you might imagine. We'll take a look at the huge public health concern that is growing all along the Gulf Coast.

S. O'BRIEN: And when can U.S. troops come home from Iraq? We're going to check in with a senator who is just back from Iraq. Senator Joe Lieberman will join us live just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: The process (ph) dominating Washington, D.C., these days is troop withdrawal. Tomorrow we expect President Bush to talk about conditions in Iraq and just what it's going take to start bringing Americans home.

Senator Joseph Lieberman just back from Iraq. He's in Washington this morning.

Nice to see you, Senator. Thanks for talking with us.

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: Thank you, Soledad. Good to be back with you.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. You've made four visits, I understand, to Iraq over the last 18 months.

LIEBERMAN: Right.

S. O'BRIEN: And you sound encouraged upon your return. Why?

LIEBERMAN: I did see progress. It's not perfect, obviously, but I saw progress economically, militarily, and politically.

I mean, some of the kind of practical common interest stuff that I saw was just more cars on the streets in Baghdad, in the other cities I was in. Almost every roof seems to have a satellite dish. The economy is beginning to move.

Politically, there's a full-fledged campaign going on in Iraq now for the national assembly elections in December, and there's an independent -- a large number of independent television stations and newspapers covering it.

Militarily, the Iraqis are beginning to show much more self- sufficiency. They're a long way from being able to take it on their own. And that's why we have to be careful not to withdraw too soon. But progress really is being made.

S. O'BRIEN: So that's the category of progress. Some people would put in a list of things that are not going well, security. Not only for U.S. soldiers, but for the Iraqi people, too.

LIEBERMAN: Yes. Well, look, this is a war. And the more I go back there the more I see it as a war between 27 million Iraqis.

That's just about their total population who really want to live a better, freer, safer life, who feel liberated to be rid of Saddam Hussein. And 10,000 terrorists who are prepared to blow themselves up and to go at -- to go at the Iraqi people and American and Iraqi military who are trying to protect the Iraqi people.

Why do they do it? Because they want to establish a center, a base in Iraq to replace the one we took from them in Afghanistan. They don't want Iraq to be free and modern because it sets back the terrorists' retched causes.

If they should win there, which is to say to get us out before the country is stable, I think it will have disastrous effects not only on Iraq and the Middle East, but on American security.

S. O'BRIEN: Here's what you wrote in "The Wall Street Journal" op-ed -- it runs today -- "Almost all the progress in Iraq and throughout the Middle East will be lost if these forces are withdrawn faster than the Iraqi military is capable of securing the country."

I think you sum up in that line the $64,000 question, which is when?

LIEBERMAN: Right. And the "when" cannot be set by us here in Congress or anybody in the White House or the executive branch on kind of a mechanical basis. The "when" has to be determined by conditions on the ground. And the basic question is, when are the Iraqi security forces able to protect their country and fight these 10,000 terrorists on behalf of all the people of Iraq so we can begin to leave?

I see improvement. I think one of the most important things I saw on this trip, Soledad, is that the policy that the United States is following and our allies in Iraq has not remained stagnant. It's changed, because a lot of what was done right after Saddam was overthrown was a mistake. In fact, there were some big mistakes made, but we're learning from those.

S. O'BRIEN: So when you hear the president say stay the course, stay the course, which he has said a lot over the last several years, do you agree or disagree?

LIEBERMAN: Well, I agree to the extent that we have to stay the course of the policy we chose in overthrowing Saddam and helping the Iraqi people become free, which will really make us a lot more secure and set the terrorists back. But not to stay the same policy that we followed after Saddam was overthrown, because it didn't work.

We've changed it. We're now embedding American forces and Iraqi forces. We're creating provincial reconstruction teams in every province in Iraq. And it's beginning to work. And it's why the Iraqi people, ironically, by polling I saw while I was there, are quite optimistic about their future even as the American people, unfortunately, become more pessimistic about how we're doing in Iraq.

I think there are reasons for optimism if we don't cut and leave too soon.

S. O'BRIEN: Senator Joseph Lieberman joining us this morning.

Nice to see you, Senator.

LIEBERMAN: You, too, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.

LIEBERMAN: Have a good day.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you. You, too -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, a little bit of perspective for all of us. For many of us in the holiday season, the toughest problem is choosing gifts. I've been looking for that Xbox, for example. But for those who lost everything in Hurricane Katrina, the problems are much deeper and bigger, of course.

Coming up, we'll talk with a leading trauma specialist. He has some ideas on how the hurricane survivors can handle the holidays.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Three months to the day since Hurricane Katrina came ashore, causing tremendous damage all throughout the Gulf Coast, in particular the city of New Orleans, but also in places like Gulfport, Mississippi. And the people who were victimized by that storm are now facing a very grim holiday season in many cases.

Joining us now to talk about how to cope with all of this is James Halpern, a psychologist and director for the Institute for Disaster Mental Health at the State University of New York at New Paltz. He has a two-page business card just for that title.

Good to have you with us, Dr. Halpern.

JAMES HALPERN, INSTITUTE FOR DISASTER MENTAL HEALTH: Good to be here.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's -- before we get into the whole notion of the holidays here, let's just talk about what it's like three months after a disaster like this, because quite frankly, the coverage goes away, the media goes away, the attention kind of recedes, and the problems are still very real and present for those who are left behind.

HALPERN: Yes. I mean, there has been some significant research that's been done on looking at the emotional stages following disaster. And this is what's often called the disillusionment phase after a heroic or sometimes honeymoon phase, where people really are left with having to deal with the recovery on their own.

The reality of the losses set in, and for many people this can be a more difficult time than the initial stages of shock.

M. O'BRIEN: Interesting you call that first part honeymoon or heroic, because there is so much focus on the drama of the event. And that -- that recedes, quite literally.

HALPERN: That's right. I mean, there can be some adrenaline that helps people to cope. And three months later, that adrenaline could be diminishing.

M. O'BRIEN: You're out of adrenaline, for sure.

Now, let's couple that with our expectations about the holidays and being -- I mean, when I think of all of the tremendous stress inducers that are wrapped up in something like this, loss of a home, loss of family members, and throw in the holidays, that's a difficult time.

HALPERN: Well, the holidays can be difficult for a lot of people because of that discrepancy about how things are supposed to be with joy and cheer and family and friends and so forth, and the way they sometimes often are. And certainly in a circumstance like this, where people have had all of those losses, they may not even have a familiar church in which to pray because that's gone.

They may be displaced. So they've lost a lot of resources, and it's going to be clearly that much more difficult for many of them.

M. O'BRIEN: And that's where this one sort of transcends a lot of the other disasters we talk about. The entire support network is gone in many cases, friends, family, churches, all of those things that are familiar that help us through these difficult times.

HALPERN: That's right. And I think it's going to be a while before we really fully understand and get some real information on the impact of this disaster.

Right now it's anecdotal. We don't have the epidemiological surveys. There has not been a disaster like this one. So what the toll is going to be we're not going know for some time.

M. O'BRIEN: Probably not going too far out on a limb to say, though, that there is increased depression and probably potentially suicide as a result of all of this.

HALPERN: And family discord and increase in substance abuse and alcoholism and anxiety-related disorders. I do want to suggest, though, and we can't overlook that most people will find ways of coping effectively, but many won't. And those are the more vulnerable populations: women with young children, children, people with few resources, people who have lost loved ones, people with injuries.

M. O'BRIEN: Where should people go for help, in a nutshell?

HALPERN: Well, in a nutshell, they need to look to one another, they need to look to family, friends, clergy. And all of us can provide some assistance either by donating to charitable organizations, by getting the training that can allow us to volunteer and offer some assistance.

A group of students from SUNY New Paltz will be going down to the Gulf, trained by the American Red Cross. And it's that sort of model that I think could be particularly helpful.

M. O'BRIEN: Maybe we'll bring a camera along with them. I'd like to see how that goes.

Dr. Halpern, good to have you with us.

Dr. James Halpern with the Institute for Disaster Mental Health, State University of New York at New Paltz.

Thanks for your time. HALPERN: Thanks very much.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Coming up, an AMERICAN MORNING exclusive. The new chief of police in New Orleans joins us live. He inherited a ton of problems when he took the job, so what are his plans to fix the system? That's a little bit later on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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