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American Morning

Reality in Iraq; In Her Own Words

Aired December 02, 2005 - 07:30   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: So this will be kind of nice to get them.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Now, as you know, we've now completed a week of 6:00 a.m. start time? How are we feeling about this? Are we OK?

S. O'BRIEN: Tired. But in that happy, joyful kind of way.

M. O'BRIEN: In a happy, joyful kind of tired.

In just a little bit, we're going to talk to some Marines, some riflemen, corporals, from the 325. Do you remember this particular battalion? This is . . .

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, they suffered tremendous losses.

M. O'BRIEN: Tremendous losses. Fifteen soldiers lost in a very short time period just a little while ago of their brether (ph). But they're back and at home in Ohio and their concern is that the media is just not telling the story right there. And there are some issues here. You know, for one thing, they are right on the ground and they're getting all kinds of interesting interplay with children and so forth, which is very positive. It's very difficult for the media to be where they are safely. There they are. We'll be talking with them in just a moment. Hear what their firsthand story is and hear, quite frankly, their complaints with how the media is covering this war right now.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, looking forward to hearing from them.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Other stories, of course, this morning. Let's get right to look at the news.

Good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Good morning to all of you.

It could be shaping up to be a very happy holiday season on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrials jumped more than 100 points on Thursday. That's the best upswing in a month. Stocks are at a four- year high and just within the 11,000 mark on the Dow. Plus, the government releases its job reports today and it's expected to show a big boost to payrolls. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" just ahead.

A group milestone now. He said he didn't want to be remembered as a number, but Kenneth Lee Boyd has become just that. The 1,000th inmate to be executed in this country since the death penalty resumed nearly 30 years ago. Boyd had been sentenced for killing his estranged wife and father-in-law.

The Tacoma mall shooting, six people shot, some held hostage for hours. We now have a better idea of how it happened. Police are releasing chilling 911 calls made from inside the Tacoma mall. The gunman, Dominick Maldonado, telling a 911 operator he has an assault weapon. Listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPERATOR: And what is it we can do for you here at 911?

SUSPECT: OH, I'm just alerting you that I'm about to start shooting right now.

OPERATOR: Where are you located? Sir, where are you located?

SUSPECT: Follow the screams.

OPERATOR: I'm sorry, you're on a cell phone, I don't know where you are.

SUSPECT: Follow the screams.

OPERATOR: The cell phone doesn't give me any location, sir.

SUSPECT: Follow the screams.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That's the shooter and then you could hear the shots ringing out. People understandably afraid. Here's a call from an eyewitness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPERATOR: Just stay where you're at, OK?

CALLER: OK. He's everyone's running. I think he's coming again. Please hurry!

OPERATOR: Do whatever you need to do to keep yourself safe.

CALLER: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Maldonado is accused of shooting six people, one listed in critical condition and my be paralyzed. Some changes as you take to the skies this holiday season. You can now take small scissors less than four inches along with you as well as other tools just as long as they're not over seven inches. We told you about that yesterday. But be prepared for more random passenger checks and tougher pat-down searches. The TSA will officially announce the changes in an hour and a half. But basically those changes include they're able to pat down your arms using their hands and also your legs below the mid thigh. So get ready for that.

There is a new celebrity baby on the block to tell you about. Jennifer Garner has delivered a little girl. Mom, baby, and dad, Ben Affleck, are said to be doing great. The girl's name, Violet.

And they've kissed and made up. After a 16 year so called feud, Oprah Winfrey and David Letterman have made amends. She was on his show last night. Oh, she's looking great, isn't she?

S. O'BRIEN: She looks fabulous.

COSTELLO: And look.

S. O'BRIEN: They're hugging!

COSTELLO: The (INAUDIBLE) all is great! Oprah had dismissed his offers over the years believing he was making fun of her in previous appearances. They both said there ain't no feud!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY: Could you tell me, please, what has transpired? Because I am really so curious because for years I've heard you talk about and now the press talks about this big feud that we have.

DAVID LETTERMAN: Yes. Yes.

WINFREY: I have never in my -- had a moment feud with you.

LETTERMAN: Right. No, I . . .

WINFREY: As far as I knew.

LETTERMAN: I think you're right about that.

WINFREY: I think it takes two people to feud.

LETTERMAN: Exactly.

WINFREY: I did not know we were feuding.

LETTERMAN: No, no. It's -- as far as I'm concerned, it's not a feud because I think the world of you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh, doesn't that make you feel good all over?

M. O'BRIEN: They kiss and made up.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, they did.

COSTELLO: They did.

S. O'BRIEN: She wore -- she walked over to her premier of the "Color Purple" wearing that fabulous outfit and she looks like a million bucks. And I've got to tell you, it was a star-studded event. I was going to my Blackberry because I wanted -- I had to start writing down . . .

M. O'BRIEN: Your Blackberry? Seeing (ph) the stars you saw?

S. O'BRIEN: I did. I know, I'm such a looser but . . .

COSTELLO: No, tell us some. We want to know.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, Phylicia Rashad was there. Cicely Tyson looked like a million dollars. Jerry Seinfeld and his wife, Jessica. Chris Rock and his wife, Malaak. See this is why I need my Blackberry. They kind of just went on and on and on. And it was -- I'll get the (INAUDIBLE).

COSTELLO: You were e-mailing your husband during the show, weren't you?

S. O'BRIEN: I was like, don't you want to be here? Don't you want to be here? It was great. And it was . . .

M. O'BRIEN: That's kind of a mean trick, isn't it?

S. O'BRIEN: Sidney Poitier was there looking fabulous. The list goes on and on.

COSTELLO: That's terrific.

S. O'BRIEN: It was fun. So she -- yes, I'm glad to hear the feud is over.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, the feud. Who knows. That was a real feud, though, I think, wasn't it?

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. Let's move on to Iraq now.

The story we get out of Iraq on a daily basis, whether it's through politicians or through the media, is generally a story which doesn't paint a rosy picture of the situation there. A couple of Marines who are just back from some difficult duty in Iraq would like to tell you a little different story. They happen to be with the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, the 325. Back in August you may remember this particular battalion lost no less than 15 Marines in a one-week period. A terrible, terrible loss. Marine Corporals Jeff Schuller and Stan Mayer returned from Iraq in October and they join us now from Cleveland to talk about the reality there as they see it. Good to have you both with us, corporals.

Corporal Schuller, I'd like to start with you. How did your expectations about what you'd see in Iraq jive with the reality?

CPL. JEFF SCHULLER, 3RD BATTALION, 25TH MARINES: Well, I -- you know, you see what's on the news before you go over and you kind of make a mind image of what you think is going to go on over there. And I had to say, it was a lot more positive than what I was seeing on the media. A lot -- you know, we were -- I really felt like we were making progress and we did make many forward . . .

M. O'BRIEN: Well, I mean, things were better than you saw in the news.

Corporal Mayer, do you agree? Did you have sort of a view that Iraq was in a very bad way and what you saw was somewhat different?

CPL. STAN MAYER, 3RD BATTALION, 25TH MARINES: Oh, you see a lot of tragedy. That's obviously headline stuff. But I saw a lot of good things happening over there and that, you know, you have to bring the bad and the good in together. It's a war, so you're going to have that tragedy. But, at the same time, you know, that's the cost of all these progressive steps we're making. You know, we're really helping out. And we saw a lot of transformation in the towns we went into. They really kind of -- they got a lot safer, we got a lot more smiles after we spending enough time in a certain area.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, you guys are quite literally the -- you know, pointy end of the spears is kind of a trite term but it's very apt. you're right there at the forefront. So you, more than anybody, are in a position to see what you're seeing here and have contact with children where there is brutal honesty, one way or another.

Corporal Mayer, did you find that the -- did the children respond to you? Were they afraid of you? What happened with them?

MAYER: Well, yes, the children are skeptical at first. I mean you have, you know, big tall foreigners with scary guns and, you know, giant trucks driving through your neighborhood. I'd be pretty scared if I was a kid.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes. I think we'd all be a little scared of you guys.

MAYER: Absolutely.

M. O'BRIEN: You guys are pretty menacing when you're walking down the street in full regalia, you know?

MAYER: Well, thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: As only a Marine could say, thank you, sir. I look like a killer, thank you, sir.

MAYER: It took us a while for them to get them to warm up to us. It become a game. You know, we wanted to make the reach out to the children and we'd bring them things. We'd go out of our way to, you know, to pack some extra gear that, you know, was for the kids, you know. Maybe a bottle of bubbles for blowing or some candy or something like that. They love pens. And we would -- we'd set them out for them but they wouldn't come near us and we'd walk away from what we set down and then they'd see if the coast was clear and they'd come out and get it after we were away.

But, you know, after we spent enough time with these kids, they started to build some trust with us. They'd recognize our faces if we ended up in the same area frequently. And by the end of -- two months later in one specific town, the city of Heat (ph), I remember specific kids that were terrified of us would come right up to us and take candy right out of our hands.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, so there was a bond that was built there.

Corporal Schuller, it wasn't just kids. I understand you struck up a relationship with an older fella. And it began with a lighter of all things.

SCHULLER: Actually it began with food and water, basic -- you know, just trying to make a gesture, trying to let them know that, you know, we're here to help you. We're here to try to, you know, give you the opportunity to live the kind of life that is of your choosing. And -- but, yes, it ended up ending with my uncle sent me a lighter back from home, obviously. And just a Zipo. And he -- I noticed he smoked quite a bit and I gave it to him. And, you know, just -- I'm not really a translator. You know, I -- you learn a little bit of, you know, of the language and then they know a little bit of English here and there. And, you know, it was just a, you know, gift, gift and very pleased, very impressed with the Zipo lighters.

M. O'BRIEN: Final thought here, Corporate Schuller. You guys are, you know, right there on the ground, one to one. You don't -- big picture is not your thing when you're a corporal.

SCHULLER: No.

M. O'BRIEN: But the big picture analysis here is that, militarily, this is -- it may not be a war that the U.S. can win. Do you disagree with that?

SCHULLER: Definitely.

M. O'BRIEN: Why is that?

SCHULLER: I believe that -- I've seen firsthand the progress we've made. The, you know, people being scared to come out of their houses. The people being scared of you. You know, their media portrays us in a very negative light most of the time and so, you know, they don't get to see the -- you know, they hear that we're, you know, not nice people and then when we actually get to interact with them, you know, they see that we're there to help. We're trying to assist them in making their country a place they can be proud of. M. O'BRIEN: Marine Corporals Jeff Schuller and Stan Mayer, we thank you for your service. We wish you well. We know you're both going back to school and we wish you well with that. With the 325 Marines. And as they always say, semper fi.

SCHULLER: Thank you.

MAYER: (INAUDIBLE).

SCHULLER: Simperfi.

S. O'BRIEN: Forty-one minutes past the hour. Time to check the weather with Jacqui Jeras.

Good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Andy is "Minding Your Business." What are you talking about this morning?

ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, we're going to tell you how the banks are getting richer and we're getting poorer. Maybe not a big surprise. The sad truth coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, it's like robbery, those fees from our banks. Literally robbery.

SERWER: Yes. Yes. They're taking it to you.

S. O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning.

SERWER: They're taking it from you.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, man, and it's your money, by the way.

SERWER: Right and they're treating it like it's theirs.

This is some news that you may not be surprised to hear. Bank fees, ATM fees, hitting an all-time high. This is according to bankrate.com. And it's especially true if you use what's known as the wrong ATM. The wrong ATM would be another bank's ATM because you get hit twice. A lot of people don't know this and they try to hide it from you. You get hit by fees from your own bank and from the other bank and it adds up to almost $3 a transaction on average.

Now I find myself using the wrong ATM about once a week. That's $150 that I'm spending unnecessarily.

S. O'BRIEN: And you're tried of it.

SERWER: You know, three times 52 weeks. So it's a lot of money there. Less people using ATMs. More people using debit cards these days. So, therefore, they're trying to increase the fees to make up for lost business. And it adds up to a situation that's ugly. And, you know, it's one of these things that if you plan your day a little bit better, you can avoid these kinds of fees by going to your own bank's ATMs. But it's hard to do all of the time.

M. O'BRIEN: We're not in the habit of planning well in these matters, are we?

SERWER: No. People don't do that very well and they should because it's your money.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, desperate words from a hurricane survivor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are broke and we will be homeless again in three weeks. No, we are not OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: We'll talk with this woman about what's really going on in New Orleans. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: All right, a little follow-up here. Let's catch you up with a family we first told you about last week. You might remember Will Tebo, we hope you do, from our "Week of Giving" series. A great young man. He's now attending Georgetown Prep free of charge after his school, a Jesuit school also, was destroyed in New Orleans.

Now tomorrow, a letter written by Will's mother, Cecile Tebo, will be published in the "New Orleans Times-Picayune." And in it she stresses the city of New Orleans and its people are not OK. Here's the letter in Cecile's own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CECILE TEBO, NOPD CRISIS UNIT COORDINATOR: So my friend calls me from North Carolina and says, wow, I was just watching the news and it looks as though the city is doing great. The French Quarter looks wonderful and I see that the zoo is back. You must be so much better. My response, no, we are not better at all. We have received no assistance from either our homeowners or flood insurance despite the fact that we met with adjusters in September. The home we are renting will no longer be available in three weeks. Our trailer has not arrived. We've never met with a FEMA adjuster. We are broke and we will be homeless again in three weeks. No, we are not OK.

I know I speak for thousands and thousands of people who have called New Orleans their home. The attention received in the early days of this tragedy was relentless. Our pain and suffering touched every home in this country in this nation on a daily and sometimes hourly basis. But, now, as thousands continue to suffer and drown in grief and despair, the cameras have stopped, the attention has left us to suffer alone in fear and broken promises.

I sat today with hundreds at the FEMA station. The looks in everyone's eyes display the heartache and sadness of what has happened to them. The insurance companies have robbed us of future hopes and are responsible for the now ongoing mental anguish of uncertainty, fear, and inability for many of us to even take a step in the rebuilding process.

My job is to work the streets with our heroic police officers trying to assist them in response to calls of the mental health nature. The calls these days are generally from those who have given up. They have lost everything and are completely devastated.

A precious dear friend of mine took his life not long ago. The agony of what lay ahead was simply too great to bear. Others are making this same choice because of agony, hopelessness and helplessness are greater than one's own ability to cope. Why is the media, who tends to love the horror stories, not sharing this news? We are living the ultimate nightmare.

No, we are not OK and we cry for your help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: That's quite a letter. Cecile Tebo joining us live now from New Orleans.

Cecile, must have been hard to write that one.

TEBO: It was. It was. But we are so desperate and I sunk so low myself that I woke up Monday morning and was just like, I have to do more and out came that letter. \

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. It must have been when your friend said, hey, things look great, that must have really triggered it because I think many people in New Orleans have this sense of that the world has kind of moved on to other things, whether it's the war in Iraq or just Christmas shopping . . .

TEBO: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: And largely has forgotten the plight of New Orleans and, you know, in fairness, we should talk about the whole Gulf region here. There are parts of Mississippi where people are feeling the same pain.

TEBO: Absolutely. I mean, and there is a feeling of total abandonment and that was a fear. That was a fear. What is interesting, my husband last night said, you know, we all remember 9/11. How many people know the date of this hurricane? How many people are thinking 8/29?

M. O'BRIEN: Maybe we should all be thinking that way, 8/29. TEBO: Yes, 8/29.

M. O'BRIEN: Give us a sense. You know, you refer to the frustration of the insurance adjusters and FEMA. Just give us a sense of what that's like fighting that battle on a daily basis. You must, at times, want to just throw your hands up and give up?

TEBO: Oh, we have received nothing, nothing, and we started early in the game. We started September 10th meeting with adjusters, talking to our insurance companies, really feeling like we were ahead of the game. And to this date, we have not received anything. It is constant phone calls. We have not met with a FEMA adjuster. We have not received our trailer. None of the promises that were made to us are coming through.

And I was one of the ones to come back to this city. We were encouraged to come back. I work for the police department. I came back. I started working. Assuming that our insurance companies would come through as they have promised to us. You know, we are insured and part of that insurance is that we will be taken care of when our world crumbles and it has not happened to any of us.

I speak for thousands. I talk to people every day just wondering, have you received anything? And the answer is always no. And there is just total disbelief. I've paid insurance premiums for 25 years and if I didn't pay on time, I got penalized, right? Paid the penalty. Where are they?

M. O'BRIEN: Well, yes, it's supposed to be a contract, isn't it, you know?

TEBO: Yes, it is.

M. O'BRIEN: We were looking at your house and I know you've actually just sort of started some work on spec, if you will.

TEBO: Yes. Well, out of our pocket.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes and I know that comes with a great financial burden along with all that.

TEBO: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Do you regret going back? Do you think maybe it would have been smarter to stay away? And do you think a lot of people might feel the same way?

TEBO: Miles, I mean, I'm tossed. I am from here. This is my great city. My heritage is here. My husband's heritage is here. Our children's home is here. They wanted to come back. And we took the risk. And being a parent, being 45 years of age, I am filled in fear that maybe we didn't make the right choice. And if we didn't, what's going to happen to us next?

M. O'BRIEN: What's your message this morning? Take away message for our audience. TEBO: My message is, please, call your insurance companies. I mean, you may have the same insurance company we do. Tell them they need to do their part. I went to the zoo when it opened and I thought these animals are doing better than we are because the people who were entrusted to take care of them are doing their part! We need our companies, our insurance companies and our government to do their part. That was a promise made to us and to this whole country.

This country has embraced us. The people have done their part, but the insurance companies and the government are not doing their part. And it needs to happen now because we are drowning. The flood waters have gone, but, inside, emotionally, mentally, we are drowning.

M. O'BRIEN: Who's your insurance company?

TEBO: We are Fidelity

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Give them a call.

TEBO: So, I will. And can I just give you a big yee-haw for New York? Because I have to tell you something. The only person who has responded to my plight has been Rudy Giuliani who heard this story. And can I tell you, within a month he had his mold remediation (ph) company down here cleaning up. Cleaning up. They responded. They're doing the job. And I thought, well, you know what, New York knows how to deal with a crisis. We need help here.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, you could probably use a few Giuliani's down there, I think. Cecile Tebo.

TEBO: Yes, we could. We could. We're working with our mayor. Our mayor is great, but he can't be the only quarterback in the game.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. We wish you well. Stay in touch with us, OK. Keep us posted.

TEBO: I will. Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Cecile Tebo. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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