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American Morning

Arrests in Teen Murder; President Bush's Strategy; Insurgent Roundups

Aired December 01, 2005 - 09:00   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.
A developing story to tell you about. Two men arrested in the death of a noted teenage father. We're going to take you live to Philadelphia for the very latest on this story.

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

The president is pushing his new policy for Iraq, but are Americans listening? We'll get a report from the White House for you.

S. O'BRIEN: And a weeping statue of the Virgin Mary. Is it a true Christmas miracle? It all depends on who you ask on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. A reminder. We start at a new time, 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time. We hope to see you there first thing in the morning tomorrow morning.

Also, I want to update you on a story, a terrible tragedy. We've been following it over the last couple of days.

Let's get you right to Philadelphia, this murder case. Two men now being held. And you may have heard about the young man they're accused of killing.

His name is Terrell Pough. He was featured in "People" magazine, just 18 years old, kind of turned his life around and devoted himself to his 2-year-old daughter.

That brings us right to Chris Huntington. He's live for us in Philadelphia this morning.

Hey, Chris. Good morning.

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

This is a situation that has torn apart the closely-knit African- American community here in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. Terrell Pough, a rising star, a beacon of hope in what somebody can do with their lives when perhaps they get off to a rough start, he had turned things around, all was going well.

There are now two suspects in custody here. Perhaps police are closer to solving this crime, but frankly, that does little to explain to a 2-year-old girl why she will never see her father again. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTINGTON (voice over): Philadelphia police last night arrested 20-year-old Antoine Riggins 18-year-old Saul Rosario. They are suspected of shooting and killing Terrell Pough, gunning him down outside his home in Philadelphia two weeks ago.

CHIEF INSPECTOR JOSEPH FOX, PHILADELPHIA POLICE: Riggins (INAUDIBLE) Pough knew and/or knew each other from a school which they attended together.

HUNTINGTON: Police say Riggins and Rosario conspired to kill Pough, waiting for him to arrive home from work, then shooting him in the head. The police got a break last weekend when they recovered Pough's Honda Civic which had been missing since the night he was killed.

FOX: The car helped lead to the arrest, as well as other sources, specifically other law enforcement sources.

HUNTINGTON: Terrell Pough was an extraordinary man. Only 18 years old, a single parent and full-time student who worked nights to support his 2-year-old daughter Diamond. Pough's devotion to Diamond drew national attention this past summer when he was profiled by "People" magazine as an outstanding single father.

That acclaim led to an outpouring of donations to Terrell and Diamond, including money for rent and his car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just been overwhelming. There's a major void right now. A major, major void, you know? Part of us is missing, and that's the tragedy.

HUNTINGTON: Earlier this week several hundred people attended a public memorial service for Terrell at Temple University, where family and friends celebrated the young father's life cut tragically short.

CHARLES ROWELL, POUGH'S CLASSMATE: He inspired me, because now I have -- I have a child on the way, and now I know that I should be a father like he was.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wish I would have given him more hugs instead of handshakes and tell him I love him, you know, more than saying, "All right, I'll see you later."

HUNTINGTON: Now the family of Terrell Pough hopes that justice will be served. The arrests maybe be a step toward solving the crime, but not in explaining a senseless murder.

RICHARD NESBITT, POUGH'S UNCLE: You just don't find too many children with the initiative and the responsibility. You don't. He was like a diamond in the rough.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTINGTON: Terrell Pough recently said about his daughter Diamond, "She's what I work for, what I live for, why I wake up. She's everything. If something ever happens to me, no one can ever tell her that her dad didn't take care of her."

It's just almost unspeakable how sad the situation -- the only, only bright ray of hope in this is that little Diamond's mother is back on the scene. She was only 15 when she gave birth to Diamond. She and Terrell split somewhat amicably, but she is back on the scene. And along with Terrell's mother and other aunts, there is a cradle of love around this little girl -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, that's some good news, I guess. Lots of people wanted to know what was going happen with little Diamond.

Chris Huntington with an update for us.

Thank you, Chris -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: New poll numbers this morning on what Americans think about the job President Bush is doing in Iraq.

CNN's Kathleen Koch at the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The CNN "USA-Today"-Gallup poll tells us that not very much has changed. Despite the president's speech yesterday, some 54 percent of Americans still give the president poor marks for his handling of the war in Iraq. Only 44 percent say he's doing a good job. But most of those polled, 59 percent, do side with President Bush in believing that the U.S. should withdraw troops from Iraq only when the goals there are achieved and not on a specific timetable.

In a speech at the Naval Academy, President Bush rebuffed those who say that now is the time to start bringing home U.S. troops.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These decisions about troop levels will be driven by the conditions on the ground in Iraq and the good judgment of our commanders, not by artificial timetables set by politicians in Washington.

KOCH: That was an obvious reference to Democratic Congressman John Murtha, who two weeks ago called for U.S. troops to begin pulling out of Iraq. The White House says that would be a recipe for disaster.

Kathleen Koch, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Turning to Iraq now, and insurgent roundups, thousands of U.S. and Iraqi troops joining forces in a major offensive, several, actually, around Baghdad and the west of the capital as well.

Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson is in Baghdad this morning.

Nic, good morning to you. And give me a sense of how involved Iraqi troops are in all these operations.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, they're making up about one-fifth of the forces in a major operation, Iron Hammer, in the west of Iraq. It's along the Euphrates River Valley. That's the river valley that links the Syrian border to Baghdad.

It's in the town of Al Hit. The operation on the quieter eastern bank of the river, away from the main roads where coalition commanders believe Zarqawi and al Qaeda have been building car bombs. They say this operation and the other of the same Euphrates River Valley over the last month or so is having a big impact.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the month of November there's only been 68 car bombs. Last February, there were 130 car bombs. We had 11 car bombs this past week, 24 the week before. So as you look at trend lines, you see a significant reduction in car bombs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: The commanders are still very concerned about the next 15 days in the run-up to elections. They fear, Soledad, there could be big spikes in the violence yet to come.

S. O'BRIEN: Nic, there was a report involving what is believed to be the first Western female suicide bomber working in Iraq. What can you tell us about that?

ROBERTSON: She was a 38-year-old Belgium, Muriel Degauque. She came to Iraq, it's not clear exactly when, from Belgium.

She detonated her explosives on the 9th of November. U.S. commanders say just north of Baghdad a female suicide bomber blew herself up, only slightly wound one -- one U.S. soldier.

She came from a town of Belgium, Shalwar (ph), where the Belgium officials have rounded up a number of terror suspects who they believe have been helping funnel would-be suicide bombers and other insurgent supporters to Iraq. It's a town that has quite a high Muslim immigrant population -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson for us, reporting from Baghdad this morning.

Nic, thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's check the headlines now. Carol Costello with that.

Good morning, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

I do have an update on that bus crash we told you about just a little while ago in Prince George's County, Maryland. A bus and a car collided. We're hearing at least two people were hurt. The driver of the car especially.

You can see the bus is sort of in a ravine here. This is in Landover, Maryland, to be specific, right by the metro station there, you know, where you catch the subway?

No passengers were onboard the bus at the time, but as I said, the driver suffered trauma. She is in critical condition in the hospital this morning. When we get more information as to actually who was at fault -- this is an accident, of course.

I'm just waiting to see if we ever see the car. This is from our affiliate WTTG in Washington, D.C.

And there you see the red car. And the woman in that car was terribly hurt. In fact, she suffered very much trauma, according to the fire department there in Prince George's County.

Stanley "Tookie" Williams is hoping for clemency form California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's pretty much his last hope.

Williams is the co-founder of the LA street gang The Crips. He's set to be put to death in less than two weeks. The California Supreme Court has refused to stop the execution.

It is World AIDS Day, and across the globe people are taking part in events to raise awareness to help fight the spread of the disease. These are pictures of a march in New Delhi, India.

It's estimated more than 40 million people in the world are living with HIV or AIDS. President Bush will have some remarks less than one hour from now, and we'll dip into his speech. That comes your way at about 9:55 Eastern.

Dare I say it? That crackberry you constantly look at could be a thing of the past. A judge has refused to enforce a disputed deal that may ban the sale of the BlackBerry.

The judge turned down a request by Research in Motion. It wanted the judge to enforce a $450 million settlement with the patent holder.

There are some four million BlackBerry users, most of them in the United States. Stay tuned on this one.

And take a look at this, frightening pictures. Two window washers were on this rigging, 12 stories at the side of a building in Denver. Winds were gusting at 20 miles per hour, and you can see what that can do.

That scaffolding holding the platform broke, and that sent this thing going back and forth. It was one scary ride. Firefighter actually had to rescue the two window washers from inside of the building through one of the windows.

One worker was slightly hurt. But you can bet they're both really glad it's over.

Let's head to the forecast center now to check in with Jacqui Jeras.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Is it too early make light of Hurricane Katrina? One shopping mall in New Orleans thinks so.

Frank Evans designs the holiday display -- or designed the holiday display for Lakeside Shopping Center. This their year his winter wonderland includes scenes of New Orleans, battered by hurricane Katrina.

The blue tarps, the spray-painted walls indicating casualties, people being rescued from roofs, that sort of thing. A few customers complained to the mall management that the display was in poor taste and the mall ordered Evans to remove those portions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK EVANS, HOLIDAY DISPLAY DESIGNER: I thought it was appropriate. I didn't really use any of the elements, you know, that were really bad in the city just the blue roofs. You know, and everybody here knows the only thing FEMA could do is put on blue roofs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Evans did apologize to anyone who might have been offended by his display, and it turns out that a lot of people liked it. And it may get replaced, placed in another place. As he said, there's another place he'd like to do it, but they don't have electricity yet. And as soon as -- you know, which kind of speaks to how fresh this whole thing is.

S. O'BRIEN: And some people want to buy them.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: I mean, you know...

M. O'BRIEN: So look for them online, I guess.

S. O'BRIEN: There was one woman who said the situation is so bad that you just have to sort of laugh about the parts of it where you can find a little humor. But I guess a lot of people -- or a number of people -- or enough people were offended that they yanked it.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, everybody has their own timetable for turning the tears into laughter. And it probably was a little early. On the early edge. S. O'BRIEN: In St. Bernard Parish, it doesn't look like they're getting near that timetable at all. The recovery there is still very slow three months after Hurricane Katrina hit.

This morning we talk to the sheriff of St. Bernard's Parish and find out what kind of progress has been made.

M. O'BRIEN: Also, President Bush says Iraqi troops are coming along. But how do his claim step up to reality? We have some more on that.

S. O'BRIEN: And a success story in the battle against AIDS. Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes us to Rwanda on this World AIDS Day just ahead.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Live pictures, Fort McNair, in the Washington area. That is the Joint Chiefs chairman, General Peter Pace, who is addressing -- I guess you could say preaching to the choir here. But on the day after the president's speech, once again bolstering the message yesterday, which was, in fact, that the administration does have a plan for victory.

One of the central tenets of the speech yesterday for the president was the notion that the Iraqi military was improving and that many battalions were at a point where they were combat-ready.

Let's listen briefly to the president.

BUSH: Now there are over 120 Iraqi army and police combat battalions in the fight against the terrorists, typically comprised of between 350 and 800 Iraqi forces. Of these, about 80 Iraqi battalions are fighting side by side with coalition forces and about 40 others are taking the lead in the fight.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Let's check those numbers now with an expert.

Former CIA analyst Ken Pollack, who's now with the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution, he's in our Washington bureau this morning.

Ken, good to have you back with us.

KEN POLLACK, SABAN CENTER AT BROOKINGS: Thank you, Miles. Good to be here.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's get -- these numbers are difficult, I think, for people to sort of get a handle on. For one thing, who knows how big a battalion is? It even varies, right?

POLLACK: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: And on top of that, when you say a battalion, what does that -- what does that mean? Does it include all the backup support, the infrastructure, all of the things you need too wage war?

POLLACK: Well, the answer is to that last question no. And I think this is one of the areas where there's still a lot of work to be done.

I thought the president's speech was good. It was a lot better than the past. I think that the administration's finally beginning to actually level with the American public about what is and isn't going on. That's a very positive development. And it certainly is true that we've got more combat battalions being trained in Iraq, and some of those combat battalions actually have a fair degree of capability.

What wasn't in the president's speech, one of the big problems that we still have out there, is that the Iraqi army really has no capacity to support these combat formations. There's no real logistical support, communications, command and control, even training. That's almost entirely still done by the United States.

M. O'BRIEN: And without all of that, let's point this out. That's not just, you know, ancillary stuff. That's crucial.

You can't have an army without all the logistics that support it, right?

POLLACK: Absolutely. And that's the problem, Miles, is if we were to walk away from Iraq tomorrow, or even within six months or so, that army would collapse. All those combat battalions that president talked about would ultimately be meaningless because there would be no way to support them, now way to sustain them in combat.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Let's move on and talk about another thing the president dealt with, which was sort of a classification system for the insurgency.

He calls them rejectionists. In other words, people who are just -- the status quo is not to their liking, perhaps they preferred what it was before or not. Loyalists who definitely preferred Saddam Hussein before, and then just outright terrorists, al Qaeda-supported, or franchised, or whatever coming in from outside.

Does that simplify too much? Or is that an accurate take on what's happening now with the insurgency?

POLLACK: Well, it obviously does simplify it, because the insurgency in Iraq is extremely complicated. But truth to tell, it's not a bad way of thinking about the insurgency. And in particular, the president is right to divide this group up into three different groups with different sets of motives.

You do have a group of terrorists. You know, we experts call them salafi (ph) jihadists. These are the hard-core al Qaeda types who believe that they are fighting...

M. O'BRIEN: I'm sorry. Can you say that term again? What do you call them?

POLLACK: Salafi (ph) jihadists.

M. O'BRIEN: Explain that. It's a tough one, huh?

POLLACK: Yes, exactly. And how do I do it in a 30-second sound bite? Very hard to do.

These are people who they follow Osama bin Laden and a number of other Muslim extremists who believe that it is their job to wage jihad and to basically purify the Muslim world and drive out the infidels from the Muslim world. They're the guys who are active in Afghanistan, they're the guys who are active in Saudi Arabia, all over the place. Al Qaeda is simply one branch of that larger movement.

And they're in Iraq. They're determined to wage this jihad in Iraq.

You also do have remnants of the Ba'athist regime. They're also dead-enders. They're never going to give up because there's nothing else for them. They're trying desperately to regain control over Iraq.

But what I think the president did nicely is he talked about there is a much bigger group that is part of this insurgency. He used the term "rejectionist." I think you might use better terms than that, but nevertheless, the point is these people have a much different set of motives than the hard-core terrorists or the hard- core Ba'athists.

In many cases, they're fighting out of fear. They're afraid that the Shia are going take over Iraq and oppress them exactly the way that Saddam Hussein's Sunni regime oppressed the Shia.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, and just to add to that whole notion, as we hear these reports of Shiite death squads, who in fact are creating a tremendous amount of fear and rounding up Sunnis. And so that -- putting that all in the picture, I think many people probably would say this is pretty much the same as we dealt with during the reign of Saddam Hussein.

POLLACK: Yes. And this is a very important issue, Miles.

I went and I read the 35-page strategy document last night, and one of the big gas that I saw -- and it was no discussion of this issue -- the fact that the Shia are themselves not united, that there are huge splits within the Shia, and that you do have Shia who are beginning to take maters into their own hands, who are starting to wage a low-level internecine conflict.

Some people have even said this is the start of a civil war with these death squads, with these instances of ethnic cleansing, with the militias taking control over fairly significant chunks of Iraq. This is a major problem, and it's also a major problem for the Sunnis, who look at it and say, you know, you Americans, are you going save us from these Shia? When you get control over the Shia death squads, then we'll be willing to talk to you about disbanding our own terrorists. M. O'BRIEN: The more it seems simple, the more complicated it gets.

Thanks very much, Ken Pollack, joining us from the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution -- Soledad.

POLLACK: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, it's World AIDS Day today, and hope is on the way in one remote area of Africa. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is there, was there, and now he's back to fill us in on a success story there.

Plus, President Bush speaking this morning about the battle against AIDS. We're going to have that for you as it happens. It begins in just about 30 minutes.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Today is World AIDS Day, and our focus this morning is on medication and just how effective AIDS drugs are in treating the estimated 40 million victims around the world.

Senior Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Hey, Sanjay. Good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

We traveled to Rwanda to see one of the areas hardest hit by AIDS, and what we found was certainly more of a story of optimism than it was not. But it's a lot more than just getting drugs to these areas, as we found.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice over): This is a meeting of the local AIDS association, Francuabu (ph) District, eastern Rwanda.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Let me tell you, AIDS, I know you. I can fight you. I can fight you because I know you.

Some of my sisters and brothers died because of AIDS.

GUPTA: About one Rwandan in 10 is infected with the HIV virus. Sadly, in Sub-Saharan Africa, that's par for the course.

(on camera): How many people had a full meal today?

(LAUGHTER)

GUPTA: How many people know somebody who's died of HIV? Wow. Everybody. Just about every single person.

(voice over): But here, in the most unlikely of places, is a kind of oasis, what amounts to a first-rate hospital in a third-world environment. It's run by the Boston-based group Partners in Health.

DR. MICHAEL RICH, PARTNERS IN HEALTH: This is almost the same conditions as Haiti. So it's very, very similar.

GUPTA: In Haiti, Partners in Health proved patients in poor countries would stick to a treatment regimen. That if medication was available, patients could get better if they also got nourishment. You see, without food, the medicine won't work. Here, every AIDS patient and their family gets at least a six-month food supply.

RICH: A lot of organizations are going in and starting up HIV programs, and they're being very specific that they're treating HIV, but they're not addressing some of the other problems. And we have the complete opposite philosophy, that we can't just go in and say, you know, sorry, you don't have HIV, we can't help you.

GUPTA (on camera): When we first arrived here, the 10-foot brush outside had been cleared. But there was still a lot of work to do.

The hospital had only been half rebuilt. They'd still need an operating room and lots of medical supplies. This room could be a patient ward, but they need fresh paint, new windows, and at least 15 to 20 beds.

(voice over): At least the pharmacy was stocked, and there was no shortage of patients. The project was made possible with money from Rwanda's government and with help from the Clinton Foundation, which brokered a deal that lowered the cost of AIDS-fighting medicine from around $10,000 a year per patient to less than 500.

But money alone can't buy hope. It takes political will, hard work. And in eastern Rwanda, a bicycle.

Jean Claude (ph) is a volunteer. He rides through the countryside visiting the same two patients day after day, delivering AIDS medication, making sure they take it, asking about their health. One of Jean Claude's (ph) charges is John Kanangwe (ph).

Before the new hospital was built, he spent his small life savings on doctors, who could offer little in the way of help. Now on antiviral medication, he's getting stronger.

(on camera): What would have happened if you didn't get the medicine?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through transltor): I would have died.

GUPTA: Like Koneggue (ph), this community is slowly, but surely coming back to life.

(END VIDEOTAPE) GUPTA: You know, it's amazing, Soledad, the drugs do work, and there's been a lot of studies about this recently. It's believed that if you give drug to impoverished countries, and the citizens won't take them it and they're made useless. The drugs work. A new study coming out saying it improves survival by about three times. So it triples survival rates.

But it's not just about getting the drugs. That was one of the things that we saw there. You need to get them food and water as well, combining. All these programs together is really what it takes to fight back this AIDS scourge in Rwanda and other parts of Africa.

That's a pretty remarkable discovery and a nice piece.

S. O'BRIEN: Sanjay, thank you for sharing that with us.

GUPTA: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Coming up in just a few minutes, live coverage of President Bush's marking of World AIDS Day. We've got a speech from the White House this morning. We're going to bring you some of that.

And also the long, hard road to recovery along the Gulf Coast. The sheriff of one of Katrina's hardest-hit regions, Sheriff Jack Stephens, is live in our studio to tell us what it's going to take to bring St. Bernard Parish back.

And as we go to a short break, the opening bell just rang on Wall Street. Here's a look at the numbers. The Dow Jones Industrial Average at 10,805, down 82 points at Wednesday's close.

A short break. We're right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: It's been roughly three months now since Hurricane Katrina hit. One of the tragic consequences, hundred of families still divided. Typically mom, and kids in a new city separated from dad who is back home working.

AMERICAN Morning's Dan Lothian is in New Orleans, where he's tracked families caught in that bind.

Good morning, Dan.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

Well, you know, it's tough to get exact numbers as to how many families are being impacted by this, but certainly there are many who while having to jump over all of the hurdles created by Hurricane Katrina are now having to deal with being apart.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN (voice-over): While Kenny Rubenstein runs the family- owned clothing store in downtown New Orleans, his wife, Lesley, their three children, two dogs and a cat are more than 500 mice away, living in Dallas.

LESLEY RUBENSTEIN, EVACUATED W/CHILDREN: I think that's been probably the hardest part through this whole Katrina thing, being separated.

LOTHIAN: A family divided by Hurricane Katrina, connected only by phone.

KENNY RUBENSTEIN, SEPARATED FROM FAMILY: I talk to my wife two or three times a day.

LOTHIAN: And quick visits by dad every two weeks.

K. RUBENSTEIN: The visits there are nice, but they're nothing to having them here, definitely.

L. RUBENSTEIN: It helps me really appreciate the people in the military, because they're separated a lot more.

LOTHIAN: Just before Katrina hit New Orleans they joined the masses who evacuated the city. They ended up in Texas, and with predictions that it would be months before anyone could return, they rented this Dallas home, settled down, enrolling their kids in school.

K. RUBENSTEIN: It was just more stable for them, to, once we got them there, to leave them there for the semester.

LOTHIAN: When the city reopened faster than some had predicted, Rubenstein returned to get the 81-year-old family business back on its feet. But things were still too unstable for the entire family to return.

K. RUBENSTEIN: My house needed a little repairs. And my kids have allergies and other things, and going through tearing up the wall and stuff like that and possible mold, it was better that they were there, and they were in school.

L. RUBENSTEIN: I also didn't want to bring the children there to be in the middle of all of that right now.

LOTHIAN: But it hasn't been easy, especially when the kids aren't feeling well, like on this day, or when they have a lot of homework, or when it's bedtime.

L. RUBENSTEIN: That's when I can tell they really miss their dad a lot more. And so we have a lot more heart to heart talks about dad.

LOTHIAN: Being alone has been hard on her husband, too.

K. RUBENSTEIN: You know, I haven't been there to hug and hold. It's extremely quiet and lonely in my house. LOTHIAN: A family driven apart in a storm, anxious to being it again at home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: Now, the good news is that the family has an end date to all of this. They will be spending Christmas together, then they plan to return to New Orleans for good shortly after that -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, we wish them well as they're reunited. Dan Lothian, thanks very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: (INAUDIBLE), but only 7,000 people have come home to St. Bernard Parish since Hurricane Katrina hit. You do the math and that's just about 90 percent of the parish that's still some place else.

Jack Stephens is the sheriff of St. Bernard Parish. It's nice to have you back. Thanks for talking with us this morning.

So you started with about how many residents?

SHERIFF JACK STEPHENS, ST. BERNARD PARISH, LOUISIANA: About 70,000 people.

S. O'BRIEN: And how many, number-wise, residents do you have?

STEPHENS: Well, you know, the 7,000 is really misleading. We really only have about 500 citizens who are not associated with first responders or our sewer and water board employees.

I checked before I came up here. FEMA has actually assigned 244 trailers through the individual assistance program. And if you use two people per trailer as multiplier, than really we have less than a thousand citizens who are back who are not associated with government or in some way contracting to clean up the parish.

So we've had very few people return. Frankly, it's not because they don't have the will to return, Soledad, because they do. It's just right now, institutionally, the government has not moved fast enough.

S. O'BRIEN: On which front? Because, I mean, there are some people saying, no one's really going come back and invest in their home if it's even fixable if you don't know if you're ever going to have a levee system that works and protects people. Do you agree with that?

STEPHENS: I do agree with it, but the people that want to come back right now are willing to accept something on an interim basis, and that's FEMA trailers. And I know that -- you know, you can beat this horse to death -- the government just hasn't been expediting this process. So people who choose to come back and live in a trailer on an interim basis until a decision is made about levees and base flood elevation, really don't have an opportunity to do that.

S. O'BRIEN: How many people -- estimate for me -- would like to have a FEMA trailer but aren't getting one?

STEPHENS: Well, I would think originally there were like 7,000 requests just in St. Bernard Parish and those, again, are not emergency workers. They're not police, fire...

S. O'BRIEN: People who want to park the trailer in their -- I mean, because in St. Bernard Parish, you actually could put the trailer up on your yard and live there.

STEPHENS: Exactly. And there's also been an effort to try to locate some trailer of mobile home parks where people can come in, again, on an interim basis.

You know, a friend of mine that advertised three weeks for employees from St. Bernard to help in the clean up effort, he got one application in three weeks. And people were telling him, we just don't have a place to live. We want to work, we want to come back. But they just don't have the means to do that right now. And the assistance -- the iindividual assistance is moving very slowly.

And let me say this. With regards to FEMA, I mean, I think they are decent, honest people who want to help and from the standpoint of the sheriff's department, they've put us back on our feet. We have guns, we have cars and we have temporary housing and we're working.

But from the individual assistance process, they're been very slow on this thing and bureaucracy is bogging them down. And those are the things, I think, that the White House and the Congress have to break through to give people an opportunity.

And I will tell you this. I am much more encouraged today than I was a month ago with regards to the prospects of rehabilitation in my own parish. I know the people that I represent want to come home. They have the will. The United States Congress has to give them the means. And by that, we need to simplify this message.

There is a mission there and that's building levees and restoring coastal wetlands that there's only one institution in the world that can undertake and that's the United States Congress. And until they do that, we're dying on the vine down there.

S. O'BRIEN: Last time we spoke, I think it was October 5th, when you said we ran out of money. We're out of money. Today is October 5th, we are now officially out of money. And I know shortly after that TV appearance, the money came and everybody got their act together and FEMA then sort of started putting you guys back on your feet.

What's it like to sort of have to sort of grovel on national television every time you need something for your community? I mean -- and we hear it from you, we hear it from Mayor Ray Nagin. We hear it a lot from elected officials, because sort of the system doesn't seem to be working, so you take to the airways to say I need this.

STEPHENS: You know, we've been involved in crisis management for over three months now. And to include as a component of that crisis management begging for enough money just to continue operating creates a strain on the government executive level in New Orleans. And certainly, we have enough problems right now to deal with other than thinking about where do we pay police and fire and essential government personnel.

And there's a defect. I mean, FEMA really is outdated. That whole system needs to be looked at again in view of the response to this weather event we've had and the catastrophe that resulted from it. And we have to streamline this process.

You know, I keep telling people, if the government would just help us for six to eight months or a year, we will be back on our feet. We will have taxable transactions. And we want a hand up, not a handout. And we're asked to be treated like a third world country that the Congress would do.

And you know, in this holiday season -- this is a really bittersweet holiday season for us. You know, people are thankful to be alive. And those who have not lost loved ones are certainly grateful for that. But I'm asking the United States Congress to look at the grief and pain and the extent of it along the Gulf Coast and open their hearts and put their political differences aside and their biases and help us. We need help.

S. O'BRIEN: Sheriff Jack Stephens, it's always nice to check in with you just to get a sense at how things are going there. Thanks for talking with us. We appreciate it.

And we have to remind you, we are waiting for the president's speech for World AIDS Day. We're expecting it in just a few minutes from now. We're going to bring that to you live when it happens. We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: We are going to do wicked fast business here, right?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" COLUMNIST: Yes, we are.

S. O'BRIEN: What's with the accent?

SERWER: With the accent. That was on earlier. Let's talk...

M. O'BRIEN: It's out of context, you might say.

SERWER: ... the markets, first of all.

We'll go to the big board, see what's happening. I'm trying to do this fast. Up 72 points on the Dow Jones Industrials. Retailers reporting their numbers for the month of November. Wal-Mart, Wet Seal, Abercrombie & Fitch, doing well. Federated (ph) and the Gap doing badly. We're down three days in a row, maybe we'll be up today.

Here's a sign you don't see very often in this country, maybe hardly ever: "Automakers Wanted." OK? This is Toyota. A new plant down in San Antonio, they're hiring -- hiring -- 2,000 autoworkers. Truly amazing because, of course, GM has been laying off thousand and thousands of people. And you have to wonder if maybe some of the people who have been laid off from GM will be headed down to Texas to try to get some of the those jobs.

This is a new Tundra pickup plant that will be opening up pretty soon. They plan to make 150,000 and 200,000 of the babies every year and they've got 2,000 jobs, paying between $9 and $11 an hour to start out. So that is something different.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, sure is.

M. O'BRIEN: Sign me up. How are the hours?

S. O'BRIEN: Later than these.

SERWER: Probably not this early, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: You know, every few months you see a story like this, but a report of a miracle that generally involves the Virgin Mary. Well, this time the case comes to us from Sacramento, California. While we wait for the president's remarks on World AIDS day, we're going to listen to more on this story from Rusty Dornin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At first glance, the cool white alabaster of the Virgin Mary's face gives no hint of what's attracted the crowds at the Vietnamese Catholic Martyrs Church in Sacramento, California. But a closer look at her left side and down the front of her cloak reveal the mysterious brownish-red trail. The faithful here claim it's tears of blood.

Parishioners say the marks first appeared in early November, but were wiped clean by the parish priest. Then on Sunday, November 20th, church volunteer Anthony Nguyen saw it had returned.

ANTHONY NGUYEN, CHURCH VOLUNTEER: We see the eye, blood come out.

DORNIN (on camera): That was right before church you saw.

NGUYEN: Yes.

DORNIN (voice-over): Now they come to sing, sometimes bearing gifts, more often just to pray, gaze riveted on what they can't explain.

Barbara Chancellor, a life-long Catholic, documented her visit.

DORNIN (on camera): Why did you come here today?

BARBARA CHANCELLOR, PARISHIONER: I think curiosity, and I get choked up. Even if it isn't a true miracle, I've never seen a miracle, but it just gives me a -- reinstates my faith and hope.

DORNIN (voice-over): A miracle, no the a word the Catholic Church wants to hear at this point.

Church spokesman Father James Murphy has not seen the statute.

(on camera): How do you handle something like this?

REV. JAMES MURPHY, SACRAMENTO ARCHDIOCESE: The church's position is always to be skeptical about these cases, because many times a natural explanation eventually emerges, many times.

DORNIN (voice-over): But some Catholics question that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It happens so often as far as I know, that they don't even bother investigating it anymore. But I believe they should. It pays to see whether it's a hoax or not.

DORNIN: And many here seem to have the patience.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I tend to believe it. But I'm hoping they can prove it's really blood. I'm hoping. I'm waiting.

DORNIN: Rusty Dornin, CNN, Sacramento, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: The Catholic diocese of Sacramento says there is no plan, at least of the moment, to investigate this Virgin Mary mystery.

Just a few minutes, the president's speech on World AIDS Day. We're going cover that for you live when it happens. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: On this World AIDS Day, the focus is on HIV and AIDS not only in this country, but around the globe and also to highlight the fact that despite some progress, the AIDS epidemic is still outstripping global efforts to try to contain it. 40.3 million adult asks children live with HIV in 2005. That is the highest level ever. Over 3.1 million people died in the year 2005. More than half a million of them were children. Nearly five million people were newly infected with the virus in 2005, and the president is going make remarks at the White House on this World AIDS Day. We're expecting that in just a few moments. The theme from the president will be keeping the promise and the president is just expected to tout the administration's progress and efforts to combat HIV and Aids.

It's taking place at the Eisenhower Executive Offices, which right across the street from the White House. And as soon as we see the president appear there, we're going to bring that event to you. We are told that first lady Laura Bush, in fact, will be introducing the president.

A short break. When we're back in just a moment we'll have the president's words.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. In the last few remaining minutes on AMERICAN MORNING, we are waiting to hear from the White House. I should from -- across the street from the White House, the Eisenhower Executive Offices, where we're expecting to see the president make some remarks on this World AIDS Day.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, World AIDS Day, and the question is on many people's minds as we take a look shortly. We'll see the podium where he's going to speak and the Eisenhower EOP. Is the president, is the administration honoring its commitment to spend some $15 billion over, I believe, it's a three-year period in the global fight against AIDS. There are some activists who would say they're not following through as they should. The administration, of course, denies all of that.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, the theme for the administration, in fact, is keeping the promise, and of course the argument is over not only the money, the 15 billion, but also what comes as part and parcel of that, a lot of focus on abstinence programs.

M. O'BRIEN: Some strings attached.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, exactly. So we're going to have words from the president in just a few moments. We're expecting that, and of course, World Aids Day is in its 18th year.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, it's kind of in its own right that we're still having to fight that battle.

S. O'BRIEN: It's sort of breath taking to see that, and I guess it began January of 1988 in London with a number of health ministers who first got together and really decided that the focus of the world needed to be on HIV and AIDS.

And obviously while we talk about just one day, it's not day; it's hopefully bringing the focus to a really devastating disease. So we're going to hear from the president.

You know, President Bush is usually incredibly prompt.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, but sometimes we give him five minutes either way, and so as we wait to speak, we're going to turn the reins over to Daryn Kagan, who is in Atlanta at CNN Center here for you for the next couple of hour.

Good morning, Daryn.

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