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American Morning

Heartbreaking Losses in Texas and Oklahoma; Flood Warnings Across Northern California

Aired December 29, 2005 - 08:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: 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 rainstorms and the threat could spread to more of the state. The severe weather forecast for you just ahead.

M. 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 affected in the least? Carelessness, waste -- or worse?

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

COSTELLO: And good morning to you.

It's 8:00 straight up, 8:00 Eastern, that is.

Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.

M. O'BRIEN: Good morning to you.

We begin with what appears to be a brewing Washington scandal. Money meant for rebuilding after 9/11 at the center of it all. A program to get loans to businesses hurt by terrorism was misused. Government investigators say no one was checking as loans were handed out all over the country.

AMERICAN MORNING'S Bob Franken live in Washington to walk us through what appears to be a situation where the SBA was not paying much attention to where the money was going -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is according to an Associated Press report that the inspector general of SBA is saying that a program that was set up -- it's called STAR program -- a program that was set up to provide money for businesses that had been affected by the September 11 attacks instead oftentimes went to places around the country, establishments around the country where there is some dubious connection. At the very least, said the I.G. 85 percent of those businesses were not properly vetted to see if they qualified.

Now, the administrator of the agency says that there is no evidence that the wrong businesses got it, but there is plenty of evidence, according to this report, that some of the establishments near the September 11th attacks in New York had inordinate difficulty getting this money.

There's going to be a Congressional investigation, says the chair of one of the committees involved in the Senate. The chairwoman is Senator Olympia Snowe. She says Congress wants to find out if there has to be a change in the regulations and if there was some activity that might be illegal -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, we have to apologize to our viewers. SBA, of course, the Small Business Administration. Folks might be more recently familiar with them because we've talked about them in the wake of Katrina not cutting checks in a timely way to people who needed help there. This is a separate thing, but perhaps fits into a pattern here about the Small Business Administration.

Tell us about the -- what they're supposed to be doing.

FRANKEN: Well, what they're supposed to be doing is as the agency normally does, providing activity and financial help to businesses that are so small they might have difficulty in the normal credit market of getting businesses.

Now, there are a number of acronyms involved. SBA, as you pointed out, is the Small Business Administration. I mentioned a moment ago the program that this covered is called STAR. I sometimes believe that they start with an acronym and then work backward to come up with a title...

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, you bet. You bet they do.

FRANKEN: In this particular case, it is, Miles -- and I want you to commit this to memory -- the Supplementary Terrorist Activity Relief Program. There will be a test.

M. O'BRIEN: A bit of a falling star this morning, I think.

FRANKEN: That's right.

M. O'BRIEN: OK.

FRANKEN: And there's one other. It's a term you hear a lot of times, I.G. inspector generals. The inspector generals are a core of people within departments who have independence, according to the rules, and make reports like this that are sometimes critical of their departments.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. I think this is a story we're going to hear a lot more about.

What do you think?

FRANKEN: Well, if I had my way, yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, OK.

Well, there you have it.

Bob Franken, thank you very much -- Carol.

COSTELLO: There has been another deadly suicide in Iraq today.

Jennifer Eccleston is covering that story and more from Baghdad.

She joins us now -- hello, Jennifer.

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

That's right, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt at a checkpoint leading to the controversial Ministry of Interior. Now, three police guards are dead, as well as one civilian, as a result of that attack. Eight others, including five police, were wounded this morning.

Now a little context here. The Ministry of Interior, which controls Iraq's police department, is a feared organization among Sunnis, who accuse it of launching deadly attacks on their community through its militia. And, of course, it is believed that large parts of the insurgency in Iraq are led by the disenfranchised Sunni community -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Also, on another front, that French engineer who's been held hostage, are there any developments in that case?

ECCLESTON: Well, that's right. His name is Bernard Planche. He was captured early this month by a group that calls itself the Surveillance For Iraq. Today they released video of the engineer where captors threatened to kill him unless France ends what the group calls its illegitimate presence in Iraq.

Now, the problem here, Carol, is France, a vocal opponent of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, has no troop presence here in Iraq. And this frustration was echoed by the country's foreign minister today, Philippe Doust-Blazy, who made that point and said nothing justifies maintaining Mr. Planche in captivity. And he called upon the kidnappers to free his compatriot without delay.

Now, Carol, there has been a surge in kidnappings throughout this country over the last month and the fate of an American aide worker, Tom Fox, and three other colleagues is still unknown, despite an expired deadline for their execution by their kidnappers. And they were kidnapped, also, earlier in December -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jennifer Eccleston reporting live from Baghdad this morning.

Thanks.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, whether they are legal or not, those warrantless wiretaps of Americans ordered by the White House are giving defense attorneys some ammunition. Lawyers representing terror suspects vowing to challenge convictions by claiming wiretaps that may have been used to build the case against their clients are illegal.

Here's Jeanne Meserve.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Muslim scholar Ali al-Timimi is serving a life sentence after being convicted for inciting his followers to wage war against the United States overseas. His lawyer is going to federal court so he can try to determine if some of the evidence used against al-Timimi was developed from National Security Agency wiretaps conducted without a warrant and if any evidence favorable to his client was withheld.

JONATHAN TURLEY, ATTORNEY FOR ALI AL-TIMIMI: The government's not allowed to do a type of legal three card Monty, where you have to guess where the evidence is, under this card or that card. It has to turn over all the cards.

MESERVE: Truck driver Iyman Faris is serving 20 years in a maximum security prison after pleading guilty to plotting to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge as an Al Qaeda agent. His attorney says he also will be asking a federal court to force the Justice Department to tell him how the NSA program was used in his case. Government officials familiar with the program have confirmed that NSA eavesdropping helped authorities move against Faris. A civil suit against President Bush for illegal wiretapping could be in the works.

DAVID SMITH, LAWYER FOR IYMAN FARIS: I think that there's a good likelihood -- I mean, I believe that he would be happy to bring such a lawsuit.

MESERVE: But legal experts who agree with the White House that the NSA program was constitutional and legal do not believe it will undercut the government's terrorism prosecutions.

DAVID RIVKIN, FORMER REAGAN JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I really do not see how any of all the criminal convictions that have taken place so far and resulted in indictments would be undermined by that. So, I mean, I would call it fishing. I would call it grandstanding.

MESERVE (on camera): The Justice Department declined comment on the legal maneuvering. But a White House spokesman said no one should be surprised that defense attorneys are looking for ways to represent their clients.

Jean Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: The Justice Department and the White House have made no comment on the expected legal moves by defense attorneys -- Carol. COSTELLO: Well, let's talk about the weather and wildfires now in parts of Texas and Oklahoma. Residents are waking up to a scene of devastation. Fires blamed for killing five people, four of them in Texas. Two deaths in Cross Plains are blamed on these fires, putting a human face on the Texas wildfires.

Listen to this amazing story. We talked to this mother and her son just a short time ago. She's very proud of her son this morning. He did not run when the flames got close, he fought. They saved not only their home, but six others on the block.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The entire Cook family safe and sound this morning. And you know what some are calling the son, J.D.? A hero.

In Oklahoma, moister air and calmer winds helped firefighters, but high winds and relatively low humidity are in the forecast and that could mean trouble ahead.

It's not fire but the rain that's a problem in Northern California. There's already been lots of rain. Way more is on the way. The next storm in a string of them will hit the state beginning tonight. Flood warnings already posted.

In the Sierra Nevada, colder air moving into the region will bring lots more snow. It'll make the skiers happy and the drivers, well, probably late, at the very least.

Let's head to the forecast center for more -- hello, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Carol.

Yes, a lot of those people at the ski resorts now that are going to be trying to come back into the new year are likely going to have some trouble as these storm systems are still lined up.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: And before you go dipping your toes into any Los Angeles area lakes, be warned -- there might be a gator in there. Criminal charges are expected to be filed in the case of Reggie the Alligator. Maybe you remember him. He was apparently dumped in a Harbor City lake this summer when he got too big to keep as a pet.

So far, attempts to find Reggie have been unsuccessful. The search is likely to resume in the spring. So he's in there somewhere. Coming up, that plea deal reached by Enron's ex-accounting chief -- how much trouble does it create for the company's former bosses? We're going to talk to one of their attorneys.

M. O'BRIEN: And later, did the U.S. miss out on a big opportunity to catch Osama bin Laden? We'll ask a former CIA field commander who was there about some claims in his new book.

But first, a holiday message from our troops overseas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPC. ROCIO MARQUEZ, HOUSTON, TEXAS: Hi.

My name is Specialist Rocio Marquez from Tikrit, Iraq.

And I wish -- I want to wish Happy Holidays to my family and friends down in Houston, Texas.

LT. COL. JOHN MCLAURIN, WITCHITA FALLS, TEXAS: Hi.

This is Lieutenant Colonel John McLaurin in Kabul, Afghanistan, wishing a Merry Christmas to my wife Laurie and my two boys, Brian and Daniel, who are in Witchita Falls, Texas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Prosecutors are getting more to work with in their case against Enron. Enron's chief accounting officer, Richard Causey, has made a deal to testify against Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, the former chairman and president of that company respectively.

Causey pleaded guilty to a fraud charge rather than stand trial with the other two.

Daniel Petrocelli is Jeffrey Skilling's lawyer.

He joins us live now.

Good morning, sir.

DANIEL PETROCELLI, ATTORNEY FOR JEFFREY SKILLING: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Did this come as a shock? I mean you were working with Mr. Causey's defense attorneys and with Mr. Causey.

Did you know this was in the works?

PETROCELLI: No. This was highly unexpected and I must tell you it's tragic. Mr. Causey is the latest in a number of people at Enron who felt they had no real choice but to plead to something they did not do and they know they did not do.

COSTELLO: What do you mean he had no real choice? why do you say that?

PETROCELLI: Well, you need to understand that these cases involving Enron are being prosecuted by federal prosecutors who are part of a presidential task force in a highly politically motivated case. They have all the resources in the world and when they bring these indictments and prosecutions, people simply don't have the resources to fight back. And if they do fight back and they do get indicted, all of their funds are frozen and they don't have any money to hire or pay for the lawyers or finance a defense against the federal government.

But the kicker is, is that if they resist and they somehow find it within their means to fight back, like Mr. Lay and Mr. Skilling are, the government threats you with life in prison with the charges that they bring against you. Under federal guidelines, these sentences are very, very lengthy and the government knows that here in Houston, you still have people in the community who are angry and disappointed what happened at Enron...

COSTELLO: Well, let me interrupt you for just a second, because I understand where you're going. But if I'm a prosecutor, I might expect you to argue that way, because -- and I'm going to quote something from the "Houston Chronicle." This is from the Houston trial lawyer. He says: "The toughest witness in the world is the insider who turns. He has access to records and can explain things the government never understood and can provide a road map to conviction."

So, how can you beat that?

One way you could beat that is by, you know, kind of hinting to the jury that this man was somehow forced to plead guilty.

PETROCELLI: Well, of course he was. I think that the government is not sure at all whether they intend to call Mr. Causey as a witness. And he did not agree to testify for the government as a witness. His plea agreement does not involve that commitment.

And if he were to testify, Mr. Causey -- and I worked side by side with him for the past year, and I can tell you, this is an honorable, decent man and if he takes the stand, he'll tell the truth and the truth will not be helpful to the government in this case.

COSTELLO: Yes, but if he tells the truth the prosecutors say he's going to tell, his sentence can be reduced, because I think he's going to get seven years. But if he gives useful information at trial, that sentence will be reduced to five.

PETROCELLI: And many of the cooperators that are working with the government do exactly that. But what I am telling you, in the case of Mr. Causey, I believe in this man. He's an honest man. He did this to protect his family and he is not going to get up on the witness stand and tell a bunch of lies. He is an honorable guy and we hope he does testify.

COSTELLO: Oh, yes. You're saying that. He was responsible for the company's public accounting statements. He reported directly to your client for years. So he well could have damaging information. And even though you say you're not afraid of his testimony, a part of you has to fear it.

PETROCELLI: Mr. Causey has no damaging information. The government has been trying to get him to make a deal for three or four years and what he said in court yesterday, in my view, doesn't even amount to a crime. I mean it's a very, very thin statement that was made as part of his deal yesterday. And I think it reflects his unwillingness to tell the government what they want to hear.

He is an important person, no doubt. He was the chief accountant. He was going to be a big part of our defense. And he still may be.

COSTELLO: Thanks very much.

Daniel Petrocelli, Jeffrey Skilling's lawyer.

We'll continue to follow this story.

PETROCELLI: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Thanks, sir, for joining us this morning.

PETROCELLI: Thank you very much.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, the latest in our series on 5 Diets That Work.

Today, one that might sound the most appealing. As a matter of fact, it's my favorite. It's called The No Diet Diet.

You want to stay tuned for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All this week, we're taking a look at diets that work.

The trend this year has been away from calorie counting and toward awareness of what we eat, how much we eat, the food choices we're making.

Nutritionist Heidi Skolnik joins us to talk about intuitive eating, or what's also being called The No Diet Diet.

What exactly is intuitive eating?

HEIDI SKOLNIK, NUTRITIONIST, "MEN'S HEALTH" MAGAZINE: Intuitive eating is more of a philosophy or an approach to the way we eat versus an actual diet. In fact, it's a non-diet. It's the non-diet approach. Traditional dieting has to do with being restrictive and counting calories or avoiding too much fat or carbohydrate or protein or whatever you want to select. It's about avoiding taboo foods.

And this approach is more about tuning into your body, not getting the cues from anybody externally telling you when to eat, how much to eat.

S. O'BRIEN: That sounds hard. I mean that sounds like it would be really hard to do.

Let's go through some of the principles so we can kind of throw it out there for folks.

You say listen to your physical cues first. Avoid external influences. Respect the anti-diet mentality.

What does that mean?

SKOLNIK: The anti-diet mentality is one that's sort of -- it's like the French woman's diet, it's embracing that we and our bodies -- we know ourselves better than anyone. And if you really can tune into when you're hungry and what you want, you will be better able to make good, healthy choices and reach a realistic...

S. O'BRIEN: For the rest of your life?

SKOLNIK: Right. It's much more sustainable. It's not going on a diet, which implies going off a diet. This is something that is like I don't have to eat all the cookies today because I'm never going to eat them again. I can have a cookie today and then I can have another one tomorrow. Or if I want a shake, I'll have a chocolate shake now, but maybe I really want, you know, tomato soup.

So what I really want.

S. O'BRIEN: It requires really listening to your body. I mean here's another word we've been talking about a lot this week, mindful, being mindful of what you're eating.

SKOLNIK: It's really recognizing when you really want food, how does it feel? You know, when you want a meal that's going to safety you in a different way than when you want a sweet. And if you eat a meal when you want a sweet, it's actually not going to be satisfying, and vice-versa.

When you're eating mindlessly to sort of fill a void, anxious eating, emotional eating, that's not about hunger and matching your physiology. That's about psychology and emotion. And it's -- you're never going to get satisfied.

S. O'BRIEN: I've got to think, though, it's going to be tough for some people because, I mean, honestly, if I just listen to myself, I'd be eating candy bars all day and Cozy Shack rice pudding.

SKOLNIK: Well...

S. O'BRIEN: I mean that would be my mindful...

SKOLNIK: ... the...

S. O'BRIEN: ... my mind would be telling me umm, more rice pudding.

SKOLNIK: Well, this does take a little work. And it's true, we don't really know. This is a philosophy. So it may not work for everybody. But the idea would be that probably you wouldn't. If you really gave yourself permission to do that, what would happen is after a few days you would say you know what? I really feel like having some chicken or a piece of steak or some fish. I really want some broccoli or a good, nice old salad.

S. O'BRIEN: And so you think at the end of the day, or at the end of the month, at the end of the year, you've had a very varied diet?

SKOLNIK: As you (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Exactly.

S. O'BRIEN: Because you made the right choices.

SKOLNIK: Right. And it's also really about not the aesthetic, not thin at all costs, but going -- shifting it so it's about health. It's about making choices that support your health and your goals. And that ultimately your body will find its natural and healthy weight.

S. O'BRIEN: As a nutritionist, do you like this book or no?

SKOLNIK: I like it very much. It's used by many practitioners as an approach. And, you know, we've talked about this, Soledad. I think what we'll see at the end of the week is that all diets can work because it's about reframing and rethinking and integrating.

So I think this works extremely well, but it doesn't mean in the absence of nutrition knowledge. You don't have to throw it all out and say that I'm going to eat, you know, pudding all the time. But you would take the knowledge you have, but begin to integrate it in a different way of looking at food.

S. O'BRIEN: Make smart choices, kind of take that tone and deliver.

SKOLNIK: Right.

S. O'BRIEN: Heidi Skolnik, thank you, as always.

SKOLNIK: Thank you.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Tomorrow's diet that works, the three hour diet -- how small meals every three hours burn fat.

Now, remember the emergency landing by that Alaska Airlines jet we told you about yesterday -- the one that had to land because it had a hole in its side? A strange coincidence with another incident. Now, on Wednesday, there was a potential pressurization problem on another Flight 536. That same number as Monday's troubled flight, but a different plane. Luckily it turned out to be not a big deal.

Two passengers on the Monday flight talked about the experience on CNN's "PAULA ZAHN NOW."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "PAULA ZAHN NOW")

DAVID ZWICKER, PASSENGER: There was a big bang on the plane and then what happened was our ears started to pop a lot. And it was a definite change in what was happening. And there was a -- cold air started to come through on the vents up above. People started to reach up and turn the vents off.

LESLIE COMSTOCK, PASSENGER: I honestly thought it was going to be the end, you know? I mean you just don't know what to think when there's a loud crash and all of a sudden the oxygen masks drop, nobody is saying anything and the, you know, flight crew is running up and down a aisles to help people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Yikes!

Tune in to "PAULA ZAHN NOW" weeknights, 8:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Coming up on the program, the latest on those raging wildfires in Texas and Oklahoma. The emergency workers call these red flag conditions. If it sounds serious, well it is. We'll look at the biggest worry for firefighters going into the weekend.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Get the latest news every morning in your e-mail. Sign up for AMERICAN MORNING Quick News at cnn.com/am.

Now, still to come, we are going to meet a guy who's a former CIA operative. He was there in Afghanistan for the Battle of Tora Bora. He claims -- this is his book. It's called "Jaw Breaker." His name is Gary Bernstein.

I want you to check out some of these pages. The CIA obviously didn't like what he was writing here. You see those black portions? Those are -- they call that redacting. We blacking out because they are concerned about some of the things he has to say.

We'll ask him about the redacting and we'll ask him how close we came to getting Osama bin Laden.

COSTELLO: Yes, because he's saying that we should have caught Osama bin Laden.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

That's coming up in a bit. You won't want to miss it.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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