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American Morning

Fighting Flames in Texas; Minister Returns From Iraq War; Five in '05; On Patrol In Afghanistan; Minding Your Business

Aired December 29, 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: Hero too. An 18-year-old who, with a garden hose, saved several homes on his street. So we'll hear from him in just a little bit.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: First, though, the headlines.

North Texas, as we've been telling you, on alert this morning. Fire officials say winds are expecting to kick up again today making conditions ideal for another wave of wildfires. At least four people have died in Texas, thousands of acres charred. And because it's so dry, several counties are banning fireworks ahead of new years celebrations.

The National Security Agency already under fire for its secret wire tap program. Now worried the NSA has been spying on computers. According to the Associated Press, the NSA placed tracking files on computers of people who visited its Web site. They're called cookies. Since the story broke, the NSA says it has removed the files. A privacy advocate adds that the cookies aren't a huge deal but they do show a general lack of understanding about privacy rules.

A "CNN Security Watch" now. The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU, is up in arms about a new security procedure at airports. Screeners will talk to some passengers. Talk. The idea is to chat up the passengers to see if they're acting suspiciously. But the ACLU says random checks lead to racial profiling. Miles spoke in the last hour with a security expert from Boston's Logan Airport, one of the airports using this new procedure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAFI RON, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY EXPERT: I would certainly suggest that it is training that would reduce the level of racial profiling, rather than the other way around, as sometimes there's the impression that the ACLU is aiming at.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The new screening program is set to go into effect nationwide next year. Be sure to stay with CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

A 37-year-old baby-sitter is in a whole lot of trouble after a child he was supposed to be watching was found drunk. Police say they found the suspect passed out and two toddlers, ages two and three, wandering around. They said that little guy you saw, this little guy, was stumbling, had bloodshot eyes and wreaked of alcohol. Tests revealed his blood alcohol level was .094 percent. The baby-sitter, Juan Reyes, is being charged with two counts of child endangerment.

Let's head to the forecast center now to check on the weather with Jacqui.

Jacqui, tell us about those winds in the middle section of our country.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MILES O'BRIEN: It is an awfully grim morning in Cross Plain, Texas, and other parts of Texas and Oklahoma, in the wake of those terrible wildfires. Not a good day projected today as the dry conditions and the wind are expected to continue. In the meantime, many people without homes, in one case is a very important church lost, but there might have been greater losses were it not for the heroics of one J.D. Cook, whose mother, Patricia Cook, was at home at their house and discovered that the fire was on the way and got J.D. and he saved the day.

Patricia, let's begin with you. You saw the fire coming. What did you do?

PATRICIA COOK, HOME SPARED IN FIRE: Well, actually, I was driving in from Zepher (ph), where my daughter was at a basketball tournament. My son called me on the cell phone and said he was at a friend's house, saw the fire coming and said, mom, we can't get out, what do we do? And I said, run, honey, run fast. And he ran across the pasture with two people from Cross Plains away from the fires. The fire was nipping at their heels, crawled through a barb wire fence. The other -- Beverly and Karen Ross (ph) managed to get in another person's car and head away from the fire. J.D. would not leave. He said, I'm saving my home. And so he grabbed the water hose and started watering the house down.

MILES O'BRIEN: Let me ask you this. This is not something you told him to do. J.D., you took it on your own initiative to grab a garden hose and try to beat this fire back. What were you thinking at the time?

J.D. COOK, SAVED HOMES FROM FIRE: I was thinking that I don't want to lose my home in this fire and I want to put this out and save as many homes as possible, you know. Just - I want to save my community.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right. So when you look at those flames, you know how fast moving they are, one 18-year-old with one garden hose doesn't seem like it would be enough. How were you able to stop the fire from spreading?

J.D. COOK: Well, it wasn't just me. It was the help of the whole community. We really came together and, you know, tried to keep this fire from spreading farther than it already was.

MILES O'BRIEN: Well, explain . . .

PATRICIA COOK: We had people stop that we didn't know that were from other towns that said, grab the hose and started watering the grass and houses and just trying to keep the fire from spreading. We knew if it left one spot, then we would lose the entire block. And that's where we made our stand. We were saving our block.

MILES O'BRIEN: So give us a sense then. How many people were out there? Sort of describe the scene when you were right in the thick of it trying to beat those flames back, J.D.?

J.D. COOK: There was maybe four or five people that were just, you know, trying to save houses. And there was one guy from Rising Star that just stopped and helped and just people were being nice and help our community.

MILES O'BRIEN: Patricia.

PATRICIA COOK: Yes, sir.

MILES O'BRIEN: What did you think when you saw all this?

PATRICIA COOK: First, I was thrilled to see my son and then my husband, who's a highway patrol, walk across the field drenched in sweat and soot just trying to save who he could and what he could. And then another highway patrol that was off duty that was here and doing the same thing. Another member of our congregation just drove by and started watering -- he jumped up on a roof and starred watering the roof down to keep another house from going up in flames. Unfortunately, we did lose one house on our block, a school teacher from Cross Plain, who lost everything in the fire. We tried to save it.

MILES O'BRIEN: But you saved a lot of other houses, though, right?

PATRICIA COOK: Yes, we did. We did. But we couldn't save her house and we couldn't save our church.

MILES O'BRIEN: You're standing in front of the . . .

PATRICIA COOK: But the church was just -- yes, the church was just a building. Our family, our church family, we're all still here.

MILES O'BRIEN: Your congregation will celebrate its 120th anniversary on new years day. And as you look -- we're looking at some pictures now of the damage there. And there's just nothing left there. You're hanging on to the optimism that you're all there together.

PATRICIA COOK: Oh, yes, sir. We're strong in our faith, strong in God, strong in each other. And yesterday we were picking up pieces of the old church stain glass that had broken out of this church and we're going to do something with it for our new church. We don't know what, but we will do something. And we took numerous pictures and we'll put together a scrapbook and we'll remember. MILES O'BRIEN: I'm sure you'll never forget this day.

PATRICIA COOK: No, sir.

MILES O'BRIEN: Patricia Cook and her quick thinking son, heroic son we might add, J.D., of Cross Plain, Texas. Thanks to you both and great work out there.

PATRICIA COOK: Thank you.

J.D. COOK: Thank you.

MILES O'BRIEN: Carol.

COSTELLO: A pastor from President Bush's hometown returns from Iraq a changed man, but still holding strong to his faith and his hope. Dana Bash has more for you from Crawford, Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Down the road from the president's ranch, Pastor Kent Berry unlocks the door to his Crawford church and turns on the lights.

REV. KENT BERRY, PASTOR IN CRAWFORD, TEXAS: Feels very good to -- yes, indeed. Good to be home.

BASH: He's preparing to preach for the first time since returning last month from Iraq. Being from the president's hometown makes Berry's story unique. Dealing with the tough transition from war does not.

KENT BERRY: First it's kind of a postpartum thing, you know, that you go through. Either part of you is still very much a part of the people and the work and everything that goes on.

BASH: Their ministering to troops meant frequent travel on treacherous Iraqi roads, preparing every day to die.

KENT BERRY: I would do things like clip my nails, you know, my toe nails and make sure I had clean clothes on. If you get killed or if you get hurt, you know, they're going to deal with whatever is left.

BASH: Now he's reconnecting with the family we followed since before his national guard unit deployed 18 months ago. Watched him try to stay engaged from afar.

KENT BERRY: Are you still going with the same guy that you were going with last week?

BETHANY BERRY, DAUGHTER: Yes.

BASH: And saw daughter Bethany quietly join in when the war debate came to Crawford this summer, holding a sign in her dad's honor to counter Cindy Sheehan's anti-war protests. Now that he's back, she says war left its mark.

BETHANY BERRY: Dad's a little bit different. He's more quiet, more serious.

BASH: Home in Iraq was Camp Caldwell (ph), next to a brick factory. Chemicals spewed into the air and were the source, he believes, of asthma and a constant ringing in his ears.

KENT BERRY: It's like your station on the radio is just a little bit off or it's gone off the air but the, you know, it's just a shh kind of, yes.

BASH: His famous neighbors sent a few letters of encouragement. Being from the Bush's Texas town gave him notoriety.

How about a sense of responsibility?

KENT BERRY: Oh, yes. In the sense that I hopefully will not say anything particularly just stupid, you know.

BASH: Berry left for Iraq feeling matter of fact about his mission but returns supportive and proud.

So your message is going to be, I'm back from Iraq and there's hope?

KENT BERRY: Yes, absolutely.

BASH: But Chaplins are not in the business of justifying war, he says, so he'll find his message in scripture.

KENT BERRY: Ecclesiastes, where there is truly a time for everything. We go through phases and we have our experiences but, at the end of the road, we have every reason to be hopeful.

BASH: Dana Bash, CNN, Crawford, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN: Coming up, one company's stock surges after word gets out its working on a new drug for alcoholism. We're "Minding Your Business" on that.

COSTELLO: Also up next, our special series on the newsmakers of the year. It's called the top "Five in '05." Today, how Terri Schiavo sparked a legal, ethical and political battle and made us all take a look at how we'd like to die. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Turning now to our week long look at five people who captured our attention this year. The top "Five in '05." Today, Terri Schiavo.

Her tragedy forced us to look at our own lives and how we'd like to die. Millions of Americans riveted to the emotional tug of war between Terri's parents and her husband.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO, (voice over): Terri Schiavo became a legal, moral and ethical battle ground. One that would dominate the headlines for weeks in 2005. In February 1990, at the age of 26, Terri suffered massive brain damage after a heart attack. She couldn't swallow, eat or talk. Doctors said she had little or no brain function. At first, her husband Michael and Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, were united in grief. But by 1993, there was a falling out. And in 1998, Michael Schiavo undertook what would become a marathon legal battle to have Terri's feeding tube removed.

SCOTT SCHIAVO, MICHAEL SCHIAVO'S BROTHER: This was not about money. This was not about hurting anybody. This was about doctors telling Mike, there's nothing left to do.

COSTELLO: Terri's parents vehemently disagreed. They showed pictures to the world touting them as proof that their daughter was aware of her surroundings, that she could still make eye contact and respond to them, and possibly get better.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's very capable of making a recovery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Their heads are being filled with such false hope.

COSTELLO: The legal fight eventually landed at the office of the Florida governor, Jeb Bush. He supported legislation called Terri's Law which was passed in 2003 and gave him the authority to have her feeding tube reinserted. But a year later, that law was declared unconstitutional by Florida Supreme Court.

By now, the fate of Terri Schiavo had become politically decisive nationwide and it touched on issue for right to life activists. In March this year, it made its way to Washington. President Bush cut short his vacation and declared when he returned to Washington that the court should have a presumption in favor of life. But the next day, with the appeals process in Florida exhausted, doctors finally removed Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. Even as her life ebbed away, the Republican leadership in Congress looked for new ways to keep her alive.

REP. TOM DELAY, (R) TEXAS: That act of barbarism can be and must be prevented.

CROWD: Give Terri water! Give Terri water!

COSTELLO: Outside the hospice where Terri Schiavo lay, emotions ran high and voices grew louder.

RANDALL TERRY, PRO-LIFE ACTIVIST: The world is watching us. How do we treat the most defenseless among us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please, I'm begging you, have mercy. Have mercy. FATHER FRANK POVONE, PRIESTS FOR LIFE: She is a living, breathing human being and has as much dignity as the rest of us who are living and breathing.

COSTELLO: Right to Life protesters kept a vigil. There were prayers as last minute legal appeals by Schiavo's parents were rebuffed by federal courts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what you're seeing is a textbook example of judicial tyranny.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Terri Schiavo has died 15 years after she collapsed.

COSTELLO: Michael Schiavo was by her bedside when Terri died 13 days after her tube was removed. She was buried in Florida. The words on her tomb stone read, I kept my promise.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And, of course, her husband, Michael, had an autopsy done on her and her -- she was, indeed, brain dead. In fact, she had very little brain matter left.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, I remember hearing the results of that autopsy and it was just so obvious what was there medically. I think the best thing that can be said about all that, I think most everybody took the opportunity to look into at least a living will and I hope people did do that because all of that would have been solved with that.

COSTELLO: Exactly. With that living will. You're right about that.

Tomorrow, the final part of our series, "Five in '05." We look at the former head of FEMA, Michael Brown.

MILES O'BRIEN: We continue our exclusive look at America's forgotten war today. In Afghanistan, 18,000 U.S. troops remain in harm's way. They are focused on training the Afghan military so U.S. men and women can come home. Our Becky Diamond is in Afghanistan. She recently joined an army unit on patrol. It's a story you'll only see on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LT. MICHAEL GEORGE: We're heading to a city called Sahawk (ph).

BECKY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Lieutenant Michael George is on a different kind of combat patrol.

GEORGE: It's kind of like rolling the dice. We talk to numerous people. We might get one to come into the FOB.

DIAMOND: The FOB is short for the forward operating base where this 29-year-old Florida national guard trains Afghan army soldiers. GEORGE: Ready to go.

DIAMOND: Today's mission, a walking patrol to help the Afghan army establish a presence in a remote village. It's part of an area where the lieutenant says bomb makers and rebel fighters likely live.

GEORGE: If you have anything that you want to share with us, any kind of information, you can always come to us. We are located at the (INAUDIBLE) FOB.

Instead of just driving around, we actually get to talk and deal with the people and they actually see us walking around. We might get lucky and find somebody who wants to actually tell us something.

DIAMOND: The lieutenant says about one in 20 people they visit on patrols like this will show up at their operating base, offering information about possible terrorists or criminal activity. This man says he feels safer with the Afghan army patrolling. And says there are some foreign fighters coming into the area. No bullets fired on this front line, but encounters that could prove decisive in the war on terror.

Becky Diamond, CNN, Gardez, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN: The Pentagon is reducing the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan by about 6,000. They are to be replaced by NATO troops.

Coming up, is there a new drug for treating alcoholism that's on the way? We're "Minding Your Business" on that next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: That was a horrible picture of Ted Danson. Who picked that?

MILES O'BRIEN: Oh, Mare. It's OK of Mare. But Ted. And Jude.

COSTELLO: Jude Law. He can't take a bad picture.

MILES O'BRIEN: Just two words for you, Jude Law.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's a pretty boy.

MILES O'BRIEN: You got a little -- you know your eyes kind of got a little bit zoey (ph) eyed there.

COSTELLO: Let's not revisit that.

MILES O'BRIEN: Jude Law. Jude Law.

LISOVICZ: As long as the nanny isn't around.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes.

Let's talk about this drug which might treat alcoholism. That's a big story potentially.

LISOVICZ: It's huge because there's an estimated 18 million Americans who abuse alcohol. Only a small percentage of them actually seek treatment each year. But that's about 2 million and that's exactly who Alkermes Research wants to go after. It received yesterday, late yesterday, conditional approval from the FDA to put out a drug that in essence would ward off the craving for alcohol.

It's an injectable drug taken once a month. It's called Vivitrol. Now Alkermes still doesn't have final approval. It still has to meet several conditions before it can actually put this drug out on the market. But if it meets them, Miles, I mean it could be out on the market as early as the second quarter of 2006.

Wall Street has already spoken. This is a publicly traded company. Its shares up 6 percent right now.

MILES O'BRIEN: So too late. This is -- the buy opportunity has already happened.

LISOVICZ: Yes, to buy low. Yes, but apparently there was a little action just before the news came out on the stock.

MILES O'BRIEN: Interesting how that happens. Yes. All right.

COSTELLO: That always seems to happen, doesn't it.

Oh, you've got to see it to believe it. I've been waiting for this because I didn't get to see it but I'm going to see it now.

LISOVICZ: You've been talking about it all morning.

COSTELLO: You know, I love when teams lateral in a last-ditch effort to . . .

MILES O'BRIEN: You love the lateral.

COSTELLO: This is the Alamo Bowl. Michigan versus Nebraska. Michigan is down by four points.

MILES O'BRIEN: Look at that. Oh, my gosh, you've got to be kidding.

COSTELLO: And they're desperately trying to win the game. Of course, they need to make a touchdown to win. This is in the final seconds of the game.

MILES O'BRIEN: This is sped up, folks, by the way, in case you didn't know.

COSTELLO: Don't you love that.

LISOVICZ: Speed record. MILES O'BRIEN: How many laterals were there?

COSTELLO: And look, the players run out on to the field because they knew it was a losing effort. Some of the coaches came out as well, but they kept on trying, those Wolverines, didn't they. But they just couldn't do it. So Nebraska wins the Alamo Bowl, to the delight of Chad Myers because, you know, he was Harry Cornhusker in college.

MILES O'BRIEN: What? He was the actual corn . . .

COSTELLO: He was the guy . . .

MILES O'BRIEN: And he's still doing corn years later.

COSTELLO: He claims Harry Cornhusker did not dress up as an ear of corn, but he wore a funny little hat.

MILES O'BRIEN: Oh, didn't? There's a kernel of truth to that, I think.

COSTELLO: I think so. But Nebraska wins it's, what, fifth Alamo Bowl. So Nebraska is coming back.

MILES O'BRIEN: Five laterals by the Wolverines. That was good. That's like, you know, football from the 1920s.

COSTELLO: Yes, I know, but it was a sad end for the Wolverines. Not like, what, 1982 when Cal/Stanford did the same thing but that came out good for the team that was lateralling.

MILES O'BRIEN: She just likes saying that, don't you?

COSTELLO: I do.

You want to lose weight in the new year, you better listen up. Our special series "Five Diets That Work" is coming up. Today, it's the no diet diet.

MILES O'BRIEN: I'm in.

COSTELLO: I am too. How about you?

MILES O'BRIEN: Sign me up. Sign me up.

LISOVICZ: Sign me up.

COSTELLO: We'll tell you about it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MILES O'BRIEN: Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.

Heartbreaking losses in Texas and Oklahoma. This, a live picture from Cross Plains, Texas. Morning breaking there. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed. A full report ahead. COSTELLO: I'm Carol Costello in for Soledad today.

Flood warnings across northern California as rivers rise to their highest levels in seven years. A relentless series of rain storms and the threat could spread to more of the state. A severe weather forecast for you just ahead.

MILES O'BRIEN: And billions of dollars set aside to help businesses struggling after 9/11. So why did the money go to companies that weren't effected in the least? Carelessness, waste or worse? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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