Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

At Least 36 Killed in Attack on Police Academy in Iraq; Winter Weather; Bodies Found in New Orleans

Aired December 06, 2005 - 09:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.
Major developments out of Iraq this morning. Two women blow themselves up inside a police academy. Dozens are dead. We'll go live to Baghdad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Soledad O'Brien.

The desperate need for better radio communication a lesson learned on 9/11, certainly. But will these vital reforms ever be put into place? We'll take a look this morning.

M. O'BRIEN: And winter weather drops a sheet of snow on the East Coast. All of the cold, powdery facts ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning to you. Fourth quarter here on CNN AMERICAN MORNING.

S. O'BRIEN: Referring to our new start time, 6:00 a.m. We hope that you join us then when we get going each and every morning here.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's get right to the news, and lots of it overseas, in the Middle East in particular. Several developing stories out of Iraq this morning to begin with.

First, Al-Jazeera television is showing video of what's claimed to be an American hostage. And at least 36 police officers and cadets killed by women suicide bombers.

Aneesh Raman live in Baghdad for us tracking all of this.

Aneesh, let's talk about the kidnapping first.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Miles, good morning.

That video airing on Al-Jazeera just about 7:00 a.m. local. The network says it is from a an insurgent group, a known insurgent group in Iraq called the Islamic Army in Iraq. They say the video shows an American that they have taken hostage.

A man is seen in the video sitting on a plastic chair, his hands bound behind him, apparently. The front of a U.S. passport, it seems, also shown.

Now, the group is saying that within 48 hours, if members of their organization, their insurgent group, the Islamic Army in Iraq, are not released, members that are in custody by coalition and Iraqi forces, they will execute this man. This is a group that is, as I say, known in Iraq for a number of attacks for beheadings, unlike the group that claims to have the four Western aid workers, Swords of Justice -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Aneesh, all right, let's move on to the other story. Tell us about this dramatic bombing pair of women suicide bombers. Apparently the insurgents realizing women are less suspicious, I guess, don't fit the M.O., if you will, now being employed.

RAMAN: Yes, a deadly attack, a shocking attack. The death toll now from Iraqi police, at least 36 people confirmed dead, 72 others wounded after two suicide bombers entered inside a Baghdad police academy and detonated.

Now, all morning we've been getting sort of conflicting information as we try to piece together what exactly took place. The U.S. military initially saying they were female suicide bombers, then withholding the gender. Now saying they were male. The Iraqi security officials, though, continue to say these were female suicide bombers.

Also, in terms of the sequence of events, we understand from the U.S. military that one suicide bomber detonated just outside of a classroom at this police academy. In reaction to that explosion, all the people there rushed to a bunker. That is where the second explosion took place.

Now, the sequence of events aside, even perhaps the gender aside, how this happened is going to raise enormous security concerns. The fact that these people were able to breach the outer perimeter security of a facility that is attached to the interior ministry is shocking -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: It is, Aneesh. A determined suicide bomber hard to stop. Thank you very much.

Aneesh Raman in Baghdad.

Let's get some more headlines now. Carol Costello with that.

Good morning, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Miles.

Good morning to all of you.

We begin with the new pictures of that crash in Iran we've been following.

A military transport plane crashed in a suburb of Tehran. It hit a 10-story building. This supposedly is in a residential area. You can see the pictures show flames and smoke billowing out of that building. All 94 people aboard the flight are believed to have died. We also have reports that 25 people inside of that building were killed. To Iraq now. More chilling testimony in the trial of Saddam Hussein.

First a woman, her identity concealed by a curtain, describing how as a teenager she was stripped and beaten by the dictator's intelligence agents. No repeat of Hussein's outbursts that interrupted Monday's proceedings. The defendant remaining quiet throughout the woman's testimony. Since then, two more witnesses have taken the stand.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Europe. And in trying to explain U.S. torture policies and secret CIA prisons, the secretary repeating the U.S. will use every lawful means to defend Americans. In a news conference with the German chancellor, Rice gave assurances the U.S. does not torture detainees and does not condone torture by its allies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: The United States does not condone torture. It is against U.S. law to be involved in torture or conspiracy to commit torture, and it is also against U.S. international obligations. And the president has made it very clear that U.S. personnel will operate within U.S. law and within our international obligations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Secretary Rice is on a tour of European allies in Europe. She's set to leave Berlin for Romania later today.

And today is the last day for voting in the recall election for Spokane mayor Jim West. The vote was triggered by allegations that West was offering city jobs to young men in exchange for sex. The mayor acknowledged having relationships with the men, but denies he did anything illegal. No criminal charges have been followed.

And talk about a frequent flier reward. Virgin Atlantic Airways says it's going to offer its best customers free trips to space. The first space flight will take place in 2008, and that gives members time to save up the two million miles needed to redeem the trip.

So you have to fly a lot to get that trip into space.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's do the math on this for a moment. Two million miles...

COSTELLO: Two million miles.

S. O'BRIEN: You can do it. My husband has two million miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, well, I mean...

COSTELLO: Does he?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. M. O'BRIEN: Yes, but Virgin Atlantic is just New York-London, New York-London, all back and forth.

S. O'BRIEN: But you could do it. I mean, yes, I know.

Now, I don't want to go to space.

COSTELLO: You don't?

S. O'BRIEN: I'd give my miles to Miles so he could go to space because that's anchor love.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, that's really kind of you. But if it's $150,000 or $200,000, whatever he's charging -- I think it's two -- I mean, you could just pay. Wouldn't that be cheaper than buying all those tickets?

COSTELLO: Oh, I see.

M. O'BRIEN: You see what I'm saying?

COSTELLO: But you'd have to pay all at once.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes. No, it's...

M. O'BRIEN: It's a bit of a gimmick.

COSTELLO: The flights would be over time.

M. O'BRIEN: Right. Right. Whereas you could just write the check.

COSTELLO: Right, if you had that much money.

S. O'BRIEN: Right. Theoretically, you just have the miles and you want to burn them up is what's going on.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. All right. Or get the company to pay. But that's another story.

All right. Thank you, guys.

We are checking on the East Coast snowstorm, and we're looking at what it means for travel today. We have a couple of reports for you.

Rob Marciano is in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Kimberly Osias in Washington. All of them in their excellent winter togs.

Let's start off with Rob. You've got to get one of those snow coats with the big CNN logo, don't you think? You know? Like the hurricane deal.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, those are more expensive than the raincoats. So we'll see if -- we'll see if that happens. That's not a bad idea. It's chilly out here, Miles. As you imagine, it's cold enough for snow, and that's what we had last night, although not quite as much as originally forecast. Maybe about a half -- about a half as much as what we thought we'd get here on the Jersey shore.

Three, four, in some cases five inches of snow. We're along the pier. Snow plows actually come out here along the pier. And just to give you an idea of what the consistency of the snow is, this is already plowed, but it can't -- it doesn't stick anymore. You can't make snowballs out of it.

Last night you could make snowballs out of this. So the air has certainly gotten drier and certainly gotten colder, and that's going to be the ongoing theme across the eastern third of the country. Very cold air coming in behind this system.

Plows were out in full force, of course, last night across Jersey and across the Northeast. Six hundred plows total. Much more than that, sand trucks.

They had in some cases over 130,000 tons of sand -- salt, a half a million gallons of calcium liquid, and a new brine solution they were testing out for all reports we're getting in. The roads, the main roads, at least, are for the most part clear, or at the very least slushy.

This boardwalk runs about four miles. Taj Mahal and all of the other casinos -- as far as casinos, business is concerned, they said, well, this is a slow time of year, of course. The boardwalk pretty quiet. The pier where the amusement park typically would be busy during the summer months also pretty quiet, and the Atlantic Ocean very quiet as well.

Sun peaking through those clouds. A pretty sight. The corpuscular rays coming through. Almost like heaven shining down on us.

S. O'BRIEN: Corpuscular rays.

M. O'BRIEN: What are you talking about?

MARCIANO: As far as the kids are concerned, Miles...

S. O'BRIEN: Corpuscular rays?

M. O'BRIEN: You know, I've got to tell you, I lost you on calcium.

S. O'BRIEN: Corpuscular rays.

M. O'BRIEN: First of all, let's go back. I want to review this. Can we roll the tape back? What is the calcium all about? Is there osteoporosis on the roads? What's going on?

MARCIANO: I don't know. I just read what the DOT sends me.

(LAUGHTER)

M. O'BRIEN: Calcium on the snow.

MARCIANO: The corpuscular rays, that's a meteorological thing. I can explain that a little bit later.

S. O'BRIEN: Which means, what are corpuscular...

M. O'BRIEN: No, no, no. We want to know now.

MARCIANO: Well, Jacob's ladder.

M. O'BRIEN: Jacob's ladder?

MARCIANO: It's just the way the clouds kind of diffuse the sunlight.

S. O'BRIEN: Jacob's ladder?

M. O'BRIEN: Jacob's ladder?

MARCIANO: All right.

S. O'BRIEN: You confused us.

M. O'BRIEN: I think you have gone through a worm hole, dude.

S. O'BRIEN: With the clarifications.

MARCIANO: It's cold out here, man. The noodle's getting a little frozen. Give me a break.

S. O'BRIEN: The clarification was more confusing than the original confusing...

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. It's Jacob's ladder.

MARCIANO: Glad I could help out.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Rob.

M. O'BRIEN: Go warm up in the truck. Get a hot cocoa.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you so much.

Corpuscular rays, I'm going to work that into our next half-hour.

MARCIANO: See you guys.

S. O'BRIEN: Corpuscular rays.

M. O'BRIEN: I think he's been in that casino. You know, they give out free drinks there.

S. O'BRIEN: Kimberly, are you seeing any corpuscular rays where you are?

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I tell you, I can't dazzle you with that fancy weather lingo like Rob has. But I'll tell you practically what's going on here, guys.

You know, he got a little bit less than what was expected in New Jersey. Here we got exactly what was predicted and what was planned for.

They thought two to six inches or so in the tri-state area, and that is what we got in the district, about two to four inches more in Virginia. About six inches in some areas.

And, you know, when you live in the Midwest -- and they're used to getting sort of a foot of snow -- or in the Rocky Mountain area, like where I used to live in Colorado, I mean, it's great stuff. And you think, what the heck? Two to four inches, that's nothing!

But you know what? The thing about snow is it is all really relative. And just to give you an idea of some statistics, over 30- year average in December for the district, about an inch and a half is sort of the mean snow level.

And I'll just also give you another little comparison. This time last year in December for the district, about a tenth of an inch overall -- Miles, Soledad.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. I understood most of what you said.

S. O'BRIEN: We got what you said.

M. O'BRIEN: That was good. Very well done, Kimberly.

S. O'BRIEN: Corpuscular, which, you know -- but we knew what you...

M. O'BRIEN: I think he made that up. There's no corpuscular rays.

S. O'BRIEN: You know, Rob's right.

M. O'BRIEN: No, no, no. When you ask somebody what a corpuscular ray is and they start talking about Jacob's ladder, they don't know what they're talking about, right?

S. O'BRIEN: Or they're a meteorologist and they really know what they're talking about.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about New Orleans. And quite a grim discovery. The discovery, in fact, of two bodies. And it's raising questions about how homes in the cities were searched for the dead.

Keith Oppenheim live for us this morning in New Orleans.

Hey, Keith. Good morning.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

An elderly couple was found dead in their home, the home behind me, nearly 100 days after Katrina struck. And that speaks to some potential communication problems, but also to the determination of a family friend to find ut what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OPPENHEIM (voice over): Her nickname was Toni (ph), and this picture from 40 years ago is the only one friends could find of her. Eighty-eight-year-old Antonio Jackson (ph) lived with her 97-year-old husband Eddie (ph) in this house in Gentilly, a New Orleans neighborhood. Their best friend, Gwendolyn Alexander, checked in on them regularly, but says Hurricane Katrina changed all that.

The destructive floods of Mew Orleans forced her to flee to Texas. And ever since then, Gwendolyn says she's been trying to find out what happened to the Jacksons.

GWENDOLYN ALEXANDER, FRIEND OF JACKSONS: It's not like her. She would have called me.

OPPENHEIM: Gwendolyn says she kept making phone calls to the house and to authorities.

ALEXANDER: I called the police department. I had them drive by. They said they came in, they checked the House, nobody was in the house.

OPPENHEIM: In fact, when Gwendolyn came to the house once before she saw official markings on the outside seeming to indicate zero bodies were found in the home on September 14. She didn't go inside. Still, something didn't sit right with her.

ALEXANDER: Even when my kids would come here to New Orleans to see about their property, they'd ride bay and they said, "Mama, they have a zero on the house." I said, "You all go check on Miss Toni." They said, "Ma, they have a zero on the house. That means no one is in the House."

And that's what I kept saying. I said, "Well, maybe she's someplace else." It just stayed on my mind, check the House, check the house.

OPPENHEIM: Monday afternoon, Gwendolyn decided to check the house again. With some help from a friend she made the decision to go inside.

ALEXANDER: So he pushed the door open and we went in. And as we were walking in, when we got to the kitchen part, he tried to open the door back there so we could have a little light to see. And I screamed. That's all I can remember. I seen a body laying down on the floor and I screamed.

OPPENHEIM: Gwendolyn told me the body on the floor was Eddie (ph). They later found Toni (ph) dead in the living room.

Gwendolyn was convinced until her entry no one had gone into the home to check on the Jacksons. We learned the markings came from the Oregon National Guard. Oregon Guard officials said the painted zero did not necessarily mean the inside of the home had been searched.

GEN. DOUGLAS PRITT, OREGON NATIONAL GUARD: The zero meant that there were no living inhabitants that identified themselves to us. We didn't put down that we found any remains, because we didn't enter homes to find remains.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OPPENHEIM: The Oregon National Guard was one of many units that were doing searches in New Orleans. And a spokesman for the Oregon Guard told me that on the day of the search in this neighborhood they had a policy against forced enterings (ph) -- entries, rather.

So the markings on this household, despite what they might look like, might have been misinterpreted by many. They were not a declaration that this house had been searched on the inside.

Back to you.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, what a shock for people to come back and find a really gruesome discovery. Keith Oppenheim with an update for us.

Thanks for that interview. That was pretty amazing -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, you know what's interesting, too? The official time period where Katrina deaths are counted has passed. So you have to wonder when these bodies are discovered, do they count in all of the things associated with the aid you would receive and so forth? So...

S. O'BRIEN: I'm sure they will be updating those numbers.

M. O'BRIEN: I hope so. I hope so.

Still to come on the program, what we have here is a failure to communicate. More than four years after 9/11, and the police can't talk to the fire, can't talk to the ambulance. Why not? It's pretty outrageous. We'll take a look.

S. O'BRIEN: And then a look at the bird flu and fighting it. Are we prepared for what would happen if a pandemic really came here to the U.S.? Dr. Sanjay Gupta has got a look at that.

M. O'BRIEN: And a mixed ruling for Tom DeLay. The beleaguered congressman is one step closer to a trial. One charge dropped. We'll go live to Washington and assess the political prospects there on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: The group which emerged from the 9/11 Commission report with its final report card yesterday. You heard them talking about it all yesterday and the day before, for that matter.

Not very good grades. And one that really struck is is this notion of a failing grade on getting proper communications between police and fire and paramedics and across jurisdictions.

The government is now saying it will take until 2009, eight years since the 9/11 attacks, in order for communication to work between all those jurisdictions and all those agencies. Why?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just had a plane crash into an upper floor of the World Trade Center. Transmit a second alarm and start relocating companies into the area.

M. O'BRIEN (voice over): On September 11, hundreds of firefighters and police converged at the World Trade Center.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, he's responding to all of that operation. All units need to keep off this frequency unless you are an officer.

M. O'BRIEN: But emergency responders were hampered by poor communication, radio channels unable to handle the large volume of transmissions by rescuers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Utilize your KT (ph). Utilize your KT (ph) and switch it to hand-held (ph).

M. O'BRIEN: Even at the Pentagon, radio channels were saturated. Former 9/11 commissioners are pushing for an immediate solution.

TIM ROEMER, FMR. 9/11 COMMISSIONER: Allowing our first responders, police and fire chiefs, and emergency personnel to talk to one other and join together just as we try to link up our armed services and our personnel in Iraq when we send them overseas, we haven't done that.

M. O'BRIEN: The same applies to natural disasters. After Hurricane Katrina, rescuers in boats often couldn't speak with helicopters overhead. To fix the problem, first responders from different agencies need extra radio frequencies. But the electronic highway known as the broadcast spectrum is now full.

RICHARD SCHEIRER, GIULIANI PARTNERS: It's like a bottle. The bottle can only hold a certain or give up a certain amount of liquid. That's what the spectrum is. And it's shared with all -- it's shared with radio, TV, public safety, the military.

M. O'BRIEN: Broadcasters are supposed to be releasing more analog channels as they transition to digital TV, but the former 9/11 commissioners warn the timing is too slow.

JAMES THOMPSON, 9/11 COMMISSIONER: The Congress has a bill to turn over this capacity to talk to each other in 2009. This is 2005. Are we to go unprotected for another four years? Why? What's the rational?

M. O'BRIEN: Emergency responders also need money to buy new equipment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: High millions, maybe low millions, when you think of all of the different police departments and fire departments and volunteer and the fire services which make up a very big part of the public safety picture around the country outside of major cities.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Now, Robert Scheirer, who was head of emergency management for New York City on 9/11, tells us that it's not just as simple as going out and buying a bunch of walkie-talkies. There's all kinds of infrastructure, like repeaters and antennas and so forth that go along with all of this, as well as a lot of training and protocols to determine who talks when and how you hear that communication, because in a situation like that when you have that many responders on one frequency, that is not necessarily a prescription for better communication -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: It's clearly complicated. At the same time, 2009, I think anybody would argue that that's just not soon enough.

M. O'BRIEN: It's complicated, but it's completely solvable, and certainly should not take eight years. And that is where the term "scandalous" comes in.

S. O'BRIEN: One would think.

Ahead this morning, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to make a "House Call." He'll take a closer look at the government's plan to fight bird flu. He tells us why some people say it's just not going work. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: The bird flu could be one of the worst potential health threats America's ever faced. So just how prepared are we to handle a deadly pandemic?

Senior Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more on this morning's "House Call."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): We all remember the horrifying images from the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Thousands waited and waited and waited to be rescued without food, water or shelter, day after sweltering day. Many who were ill died before help ever came.

It was hard to comprehend that this was even possible in the United States of America. But some health experts say if Americans don't prepare immediately the human suffering could be even more painful during a worst-case flu pandemic. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president of the United States.

GUPTA: Under the president's national strategy for pandemic influenza, the federal government will stockpile vaccine and drugs to protect Americans.

(on camera): It's 2005 now, and the president's announced a plan to try to protect Americans against the bird flu. You heard it. Will it work?

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: Well, we also have to understand it's a lot like the guy who has got his 25th class reunion tomorrow and he's decided that he wants to lose 50 pounds tonight.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I'm asking that the Congress fund $1.2 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services to purchase enough doses of this vaccine from manufacturers to vaccinate 20 million people.

GUPTA (voice over): But the vaccine is still in clinical trials. It isn't approved by the FDA, and you can't go to your doctor's office and get it. And the amount of vaccine the president's talking about would be enough to vaccinate only one in 14 Americans. And only if the virus doesn't change significantly.

If a vaccine isn't available to stop a pandemic, what else might?

Like many countries, the United States government is attempting to stockpile two antiviral drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza. That might be helpful.

Some European countries are stockpiling enough for 25 percent of their populations, but the U.S. only has enough to treat about two percent. It could take two years before the goal of 25 percent can be met.

Even if we did have enough Tamiflu or Relenza, are scientist scientists sure they would even work? None of these drugs have actually been tested against bird flu.

And what about the things most people haven't even thought about?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can assure that things like food, basic healthcare, the kinds of things around security are all there. We've got to do that now.

GUPTA: In fact, Osterholm says in the disasters of Katrina we find lessons for the flu.

OSTERHOLM: Imagine in the hospital setting that we saw in New Orleans, seven to 10 days in what was an absolutely horrific situation brought these people to the very edge of their fatigue and capability. Now imagine having to try to do that for 12 to 18 months.

GUPTA: Osterholm says many of the problems we saw after Katrina would be magnified in pandemic flu. Grocery store shelves would be empty. Mail could stop. There would likely be a gasoline shortage.

(on camera): What are you doing to prepare?

OSTERHOLM: I bought some masks and I've stockpiled some food. And I think at the very least I also have a plan to communicate with my family. I know what we're going do, I know where we're going to go.

GUPTA (voice over): The key, he says, is to have a plan. Prepare now to be able to sustain your own family for several months so you don't have to wait for days for help that in the case of pandemic flu might not be coming.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Be sure to watch Sanjay's special. It's called "Killer Flu A Breath Away." It's on Sunday, December 11 at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

M. O'BRIEN: Now that I'm completely panicked, let's -- let's move on. I've got to tell you, the more you read about that stuff, the scarier it gets.

Coming up on the program, a decision on Tom DeLay. A judge's ruling keeps the congressman on schedule for his day in court. We'll go live to Capitol Hill for the political fallout.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com