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A Surge of Storms; Battling Wildfires in Oklahoma; Ready for '06?

Aired December 30, 2005 - 08:59   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.
Packing sandbags in California for a huge storm that will hit in just a couple of hours. A risk of landslides and flooding. A live report is ahead.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Carol Costello, in for Soledad.

We're following developments in Oklahoma, where new fires have blazed up already this morning. Extreme conditions there. We'll take you live to the fire zone.

O'BRIEN: And intrepid, adventurous, certainly grounded, a 16- year-old from Florida who went to Iraq without telling his parents. We'll hear what his mom has to say about it ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

COSTELLO: I just can't get over that kid who went to Baghdad.

O'BRIEN: It's a story.

COSTELLO: He gets on a plane, gets a visa, a passport, and goes to Baghdad.

O'BRIEN: There he is, seeing it first-hand. We're glad he's going to live to tell the tale. He'll be back. He's still in Baghdad, but he's on his way home and he has a U.S. military escort at this point at his mother's...

COSTELLO: Yes. And he's got...

O'BRIEN: ... request.

COSTELLO: And he's got mom saying he's going to lose some privileges.

O'BRIEN: You might say. You might say.

Let's get to the weather, though. It's a wild situation out West.

Look at the storm that came through California earlier. We've been showing you these pictures in the Sierras: ice and snow, stirred by winds of up to 75 miles an hour, shutting down roads in the mountains.

You know the story of the Donner Pass. Well, this is the weather that caused that problem with the Donner party years ago.

Meanwhile, in other parts of the state, heavy rains have caused rivers to rise. A strong Pacific storm hits the state later today. They keep calling these Pineapple Expresses. I don't think it rains fruit, but it's a lot of rain.

Another storm is expected on Sunday. This, of course, all offering up a brew of potential disaster for northern California.

Let's get right to it. We'll head north of San Francisco to a place where we don't normally associate a lot of bad weather with it, Napa Valley. Usually so idyllic there.

Jen Rogers there with a hurricane windbreaker on.

Jen, how are things going?

JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, not hurricane-force winds or anything like that, yet, Miles. We just have had rain for about an hour. Nothing substantial so far. But it's certainly a taste of what's to come.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROGERS (voice over): The drumbeat of driving rain was replaced by the sound of scraping shovels as Napa, California, residents took advantage of a break between storms to prepare for the next wave of wet weather bearing down on the West Coast.

So far, widespread flooding, power outages and mudslides have been largely avoided, but with storm after storm after storm still stacked up in the Pacific, residents know there's plenty more to come.

PETER ROSS, NAPA STORE OWNER: It doesn't look good. But hopefully, maybe, if it doesn't all come at once, we can make it.

Get that technique down.

ROGERS: Peter Ross was among those trying to fight back the threat of fast-rising water. It's a chore that area residents have performed many times before.

Since 1969, flooding has caused more than a half-billion dollars in property damage alone. The last major floods in this area were in 1997. There have been a few close calls since, and many residents are taking no chances this year.

JOHN HEMINGER, NAPA RESIDENT: It comes in really quick, don't have much of a chance to really do any protection, unless we do preventive maintenance right now, and that's what we're doing.

ROGERS: The Napa River is in the middle of a more than $200 million flood control project, but it's not scheduled for completion until 2011. A start, but certainly not a solution for this winter season.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROGERS: Substantial rainfall is expected all this weekend. City officials here in Napa will be meeting at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time to make sure that their preparations are in place -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Jen, as people watch this, while, of course, people have real concerns about their homes there, many of us watching from afar think about the wine business and what the impact will be on the economy there. Is there a lot of concern about that?

ROGERS: You know, there really isn't a lot of concern about the wine business because the grapes, the vines themselves, are dormant during the winter. So they're not really impacted by all of this rain.

They can even sit in standing water. The real issue for vines, though, can be soil erosion. But so far, the few people that I've talked to about this say that's not their big concern right now. Of course property damages, though, are very fresh in people's minds still from 1997.

O'BRIEN: OK. Jen Rogers, thank you very much -- Carol.

COSTELLO: In Texas and Oklahoma, it's the dry weather that's causing all the danger. They're battling wildfires again today.

Just this morning, a new fire broke out near Oklahoma City. Firefighters are exhausted. As soon as they get a handle on one fire, a burning ember starts another one. This newest fire is in Choctaw. Let's zoom into it right now. That's right outside of Oklahoma City, where KWTV's Doug Warner is this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOUG WARNER, OKLAHOMA CITY: Well, here in the eastern part of Oklahoma County, which is really still in the city limits of Oklahoma City, firefighters back at it again, even before sunup. Usually this threat is something we've been seeing after the noon hour, but yet again, out here as early as 4:00 a.m. Central Time, you can see behind me here these flames still brewing.

This is a barn that became fully engulfed directly behind a homeowner. And the homeowner had no idea his house was even on fire. He said it was fire crews that had been patrolling these streets, much like police officers would normally patrol a metro, are the ones that came up, knocked on his door, and said, "Hey, you might want to get out of this house."

They quickly got water on it, yet this fire again has spread to some dry grass. Just about everything out here is dry with lack of precipitation. We've had no rain, basically, other than the trace of snow we received about a week or so ago.

So a couple of more thousand acres burned yesterday, scorched in this very area. We had a burn about a mile and a half wide and a quarter of a mile long. So firefighters, once again, on the front lines of this with no rain in sight, possibly seeing another repeat of what we had yesterday and what we had on Wednesday and what we had on Tuesday as well.

I'm Doug Warner in Oklahoma City for KWTV.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And thank you, there.

Let's check on today's conditions, because I hope the winds are dying down, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, they're kind of strong right now, actually, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: All right, Jacqui. We'll be watching it. Thank you very much.

Times Square, the crossroads of the universe, or so those humbled New Yorkers would like to think, anyway, gearing up there for another hootenanny of hollering and horn-blowing to say good riddance to 2005.

Our Allan Chernoff was worried about getting a primo spot, so he's out there already, along with the -- I guess the naked cowboy, or something as they prepare.

Is he there? He must be, right?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. It's actually too cold for him, too windy, Miles.

O'BRIEN: It's too cold for him.

CHERNOFF: No naked cowboy right now.

Let me tell you, we've got some very serious winds right now. It's supposed to be a pretty warm day. Not at all. It's freezing here in Times Square.

It will probably be even colder tomorrow night, when this place is just packed, probably with about half a million, if not more. And certainly New York is going to be party central. So people all over town are getting ready.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (voice-over): All stylists on duty, 35 of them at the Paul Labreque Salon where New Year's Eve is serious business.

PAUL LABREQUE, PAUL LABREQUE SALON: More than half the fun is getting ready, getting your hair done, slipping into your beautiful outfit, because sometimes New Year's can really be disappointing.

CHERNOFF: Instructors are practicing their steps at Manhattan dance as the lights go up for a big salsa tango party. In Times Square, the scaffolding, sound system, of course, the ball, are ready to welcome the new year.

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK CITY: The biggest New Year's Eve party on the planet will be in full swing here in Times Square.

CHERNOFF (on camera): Some New Yorkers are planning for the big night by plotting their escape, getting as far away as possible from the Big Apple.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to a better party in Boston.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't like big crowds. I'd just soon as not be in Times Square on New Year's Eve.

CHERNOFF: New York businesses, though, can't wait to cash in. The Roxy deli will be delivering to revelers standing outside in Times Square.

JACOB BENMOHA, ROXY DELICATESSEN: We're sending people outside, taking the order, they're coming inside and they're giving them whatever they want.

CHERNOFF (on camera): Delivery?

BENMOHA: Yes, to the Square.

CHERNOFF (voice-over): The Blue Fin restaurant plans a special three-course menu, $150 a plate to dine at midnight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People are spending a lot of money to come in and dine, so we want to make sure that everyone is taken care of and treated like royalty.

CHERNOFF: And merchants throughout town are selling a new view to the new year. Six bucks seems like a lot for these glasses.

SHARI GOLD, GRAND SLAM STORES: They buy them. They really buy them.

CHERNOFF (on camera): They don't care?

GOLD: No. They're tourists. They don't care! They're tourists.

CHERNOFF: Six dollars for these glasses?

ALEX THIE, NEWSSTAND OWNER: Yes.

CHERNOFF: That's pretty good profit.

THIE: Oh, yes, of course. People buy them. It's like fun, you know?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: Well, it will be a lot of fun. All those people yelling and screaming here to welcome in the new year -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: You know, Allan, you'd look good with a set of those on. I'm surprised you didn't pick up a pair.

Every year there's a, you know, special honor given to somebody who gets to kind of push the button to start the whole process of the ball going down. Who get it this year?

CHERNOFF: Well, they're going to have Wynton Marsalis, the jazz great, of course, a native of New Orleans here. And they'll also have representatives of the volunteers from the fire department, the police department who went to help out along the Gulf Coast during Hurricane Katrina. So that's really who the mayor wanted to honor this year.

O'BRIEN: Excellent. Good choice. Good choice. Allan Chernoff, stay warm. Thank you very much.

And as we just mentioned, Wynton Marsalis, who is going to be there with the mayor, along with others, will be -- that's not Wynton, trust me. That's like Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians.

Anyway, he will be our guest in just a few moments. Wynton is more hip than that, folks.

All right. We've got to take a break here.

Here's Carol.

COSTELLO: You're not going plug CNN's Anderson Cooper? He'll be in Times Square...

O'BRIEN: I was told there's breaking news. There's breaking news. So...

COSTELLO: All right. There is a bit of breaking news, and it's serious breaking news, so let's get right to it.

There has been an explosion in central Baghdad. Iraqi police confirmed to CNN two car bombs exploded on a street in central Baghdad. At least five are dead, more than 20 others are wounded.

Police in southern California are searching for a man behind a string -- we have -- actually, we have a bit more of developing news.

We just got a statement about the consul general about that teenager we've been telling you about, 16-year-old Farris Hassan. Remember, he went to Baghdad on his own just to see how things were going there. Well, he was in a hotel in Baghdad under the watch of U.S. military forces. The consul general in Iraq tells us he is now on his way home.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD HERMANN, CONSUL GENERAL: I am very pleased to announce that the young American citizen who has been in Iraq the past few days has now safely departed Baghdad. And this young American is now on his way back home to his family in the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: He also told us that Baby Noor, the little baby with Spina Bifida that's coming here to the United States for emergency surgery, is on her way to the United States. The final destination for Baby Noor is Atlanta, Georgia.

She'll be taken to a children's hospital there. The surgery will be performed for free. All this weekend on CNN, we will be following her progress, but she left Baghdad very, very early this morning. And you can see -- you can see the efforts to take her to Kuwait and then to the United States beginning here.

Police in southern California, let's get back to this story now. They're searching for a man behind a string of robberies this past week.

This is surveillance video from a Thai restaurant in Del Mar. It shows an employee handing over cash.

The robber also stole from dozens of people at gunpoint. He's hit eight restaurants in six days. The suspect is described as white, 50 to 60 years old, six feet tall with a graying beard.

In California, also, it's a $175,000 lesson a violinist won't soon forget. While illegally parked, this woman's car was towed. When she went to get it back, she says an 18th century Italian violin worth $175,000 was missing.

To make matters worse, it wasn't even her violin. It was on loan. Her wallet and iPod also missing. The owner of the shop that lent her the violin says that trying to sell it would be like trying to discreetly hawk the Mona Lisa.

O'BRIEN: Wow.

Coming up, an update on the latest controversy at the National Security Agency. So-called cookies on its Web site to track visitors' Web habits, but commercial sites like Amazon, they're all over the place. Should you be worried?

Plus, more on the developing story we've been following for you. Little Baby Noor on her way to the U.S. for desperately-needed surgery. We'll have a live report on the mission to save her life ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: New pictures this morning from Oklahoma as the wind has kicked up a little bit. We've talked to firefighters and emergency personnel there, and they tell us they're not as worried about today as they are about Sunday, where the winds could exceed 50 miles an hour there. These fires won't be out by that time. No rain expected in the forecast. And thus, the fire situation in Texas and Oklahoma continues to be a problem.

It's affected all kinds of people. At least 200 homes have been destroyed. Five people are dead in the wake of all of this. And lots of harrowing tales to tell.

Ladonna Laskey has one. She lives in Oklahoma City. Her parents are in Spencer. And the fire line was awfully close for comfort for them. She joins us now from Oklahoma City.

Ladonna, good to have you with us.

Tell us your story. The fire came how close to your parents' house?

LADONNA LASKEY, OKLAHOMA CITY RESIDENT: It was right behind the house.

O'BRIEN: And how did they find out about it? What did you do about it?

LASKEY: Well, I was actually coming from the hospital, and I noticed the big smoke. And at the time we got to the house we noticed, like, the firemen -- my mother then was on their way to eating, and they didn't notice the fire until I came and told them about it. And so...

O'BRIEN: And so what happened then?

LASKEY: All my nieces and nephews gathered together and got the livestock out of the way. And we had an entry where the firemen could come in and go to the pasture where it was burning. So we had access with the fire department also.

O'BRIEN: And your parents have an arc full of animals there. They have horses and cattle and so forth. How did you handle all that?

LASKEY: Well, we had probably about four trailers. And they turned around -- my nephews took the horses and put them in the trailers and moved the horses. And also, they moved the trailers so the trailers wouldn't get burned.

O'BRIEN: We're talking about two dozen horses and two dozen head of cattle. That's a lot to handle.

LASKEY: Oh, yes, but, you know, we have done this job like they have done for many, many years. They know how to maneuver.

O'BRIEN: Now, but your dad and mom are in their 70s. Are they hale and hearty and able to help out in these situations?

LASKEY: Well, you know what? If you look at my dad, he don't look like he's 70. He looks like he's 16. So he maneuvers. He actually gets up in the morning around about 4:30, gets his coffee. He goes to the hospitals and nursing homes, he'll check on his church and makes sure his livestock is well.

So he maneuvers. So he don't look 70. But he looks 16.

O'BRIEN: Clean living and hard work.

LASKEY: Oh, yes.

O'BRIEN: I see some firefighters right behind you there. If you look over to your left there, you'll see some firefighters walking off there. They must be pretty tired.

LASKEY: Yes. I think they're probably exhausted because they've been fighting fires and everything. I stopped by there last night to see if they had anything to eat. And some of the firemen and policemen said they already had ate. So...

O'BRIEN: Yes.

LASKEY: ... we are a concerned community about the fire department.

O'BRIEN: You're helping them. That's good.

LASKEY: Right.

O'BRIEN: Tell me this: do you think your parents' property is out of the woods, so to speak?

LASKEY: Well, you know what? We thought that yesterday, but when you watch -- we have a flag in the yard, and we noticed that when the flag shifted we knew that the fire was coming back towards the house. But so far, the fire hasn't hit the house. It had bypassed, but right now my father's here with me. So...

O'BRIEN: Oh. Well, shoot, we should have had him on. Where is he? Is he right there?

LASKEY: Oh, yes.

O'BRIEN: Where is he?

LASKEY: Yes, he's right here.

O'BRIEN: Bring him in.

LASKEY: Dad. Dad.

O'BRIEN: I just want to see this 16-year-old 70-year-old. Where is he? Bring him in. Bring him in. I want to see him.

LASKEY: Bring him in? Here he is.

O'BRIEN: Get on in there.

LASKEY: He's right here with me. All right.

O'BRIEN: He does look good. All right.

LASKEY: He looks good, don't he?

O'BRIEN: I know he can't hear me, but I'm glad we at least got a cameo walk-on for him. And we wish you ad your family well as you beat back those flames.

LASKEY: Right.

O'BRIEN: I think you're in good hands there, Ladonna. I think you've got a good genetic mix running through you there, too. We wish you well.

LASKEY: Oh, yes. I've got a good man.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

LASKEY: All right. Happy New Year.

O'BRIEN: All right. Best to you. All right.

LASKEY: All right.

O'BRIEN: He looks good.

COSTELLO: He was not going to smile, either.

O'BRIEN: No. No, no, no.

COSTELLO: He's looking tough.

O'BRIEN: You know, they are a tough people in Oklahoma. Okies are tough people. Look at that. He's tough and works hard and acts like a 16-year-old.

COSTELLO: We Midwesterners come from good stock.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, jazz musician Wynton Marsalis live in our studio. He's one of the guests of honor for the Times Square New Year's Eve bash.

Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: You recognize this, don't you, Mr. Marsalis? Just a couple of finishing touches being put on the crystal ball that will drop in Times Square on Saturday.

Hundreds of thousands of people will pack the middle of New York City for that big night. And New Yorkers will pay special tribute to New Orleans on Saturday during the New Year's Eve celebration. Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, a New Orleans native, is among those honored guests. He'll actually push the button that dops the countdown ball to 2006. Marsalis is the artistic director of jazz at New York's Lincoln Center, and he joins us now.

Welcome.

WYNTON MARSALIS, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF JAZZ, LINCOLN CENTER: All right.

COSTELLO: So what will you be feeling when you press the button to drop the ball?

MARSALIS: I just -- I hope the ball drops.

(LAUGHTER)

MARSALIS: There's going to be a lot of us, you know. The mayor, we have the fire department, the police department, the department of corrections, Habitat for Humanity.

COSTELLO: So that ball will drop.

MARSALIS: It's going drop. It's going to drop.

COSTELLO: Oh my goodness.

MARSALIS: Not on our watch. We won't drop the ball.

COSTELLO: That would be terrible, wouldn't it? If I dropped the ball -- and that would happen -- but that would happen to me, the ball would just stay up there.

MARSALIS: Oh, no.

COSTELLO: But I'm sure everything will go well.

MARSALIS: Yes, it will.

COSTELLO: So New York City is honoring those who have helped in New Orleans. And being a New Orleans native, that has to mean a lot to you.

MARSALIS: A great deal. All of the assistance that we've received from around the world, of course, means a lot to us, New Orleanians. But because I'm always a New Yorker and I love this city so much, the type of outpouring of love and concern that people have shown for our city has really been touching.

COSTELLO: Has it continued? Because sometimes, you know, right after a disaster people are very charitable and giving and then they sort of forget.

MARSALIS: Well, we're not in the media like we were, but we have to remember that our people are dispersed all over the country. And people are looking out for New Orleans, people everywhere. And also, we're bringing our feeling, we're going to churches and going to different places, fixing our New Orleans food and talking about our experiences. And we're invigorating a lot of communities.

And I think that people around the country and the world are friends adopted (ph) for me, one of our neighborhoods. So people want to help us.

COSTELLO: Wow!

MARSALIS: And it's continuing. The story will continue.

COSTELLO: You are the chair of the Louisiana lieutenant governor's Commission for Culture.

MARSALIS: Right.

COSTELLO: And you guys were supposed to come up with this plan to save the culture of New Orleans. How is that going?

MARSALIS: Well, our work is done. I'm also on the mayor's commission. So the mayor's commission, our work, we finished with our paperwork.

We've come up with our plan. We've put prices to everything. And it's been unbelievable work, because we had the input from so many citizens and so many people from just people from the street culture to people -- executives.

People are volunteering. They're working day and night. I mean, it's been an unbelievable -- it's coming together.

COSTELLO: But specifically, what will your plan call for?

MARSALIS: Well, you know, I'm not supposed to talk about the plan until...

COSTELLO: Come on!

MARSALIS: I can't talk about the plan until everybody...

COSTELLO: Just give me a hint.

MARSALIS: Basically, we're talking about what it would take to bring artists back to the city, what it would take to rebuild a structure of our cultural institutions, what it would take to have everything in place to strengthen our arts district. We're talking about a unified arts district.

We're talking about things as important as mapping and signage...

COSTELLO: Wow.

MARSALIS: ... to very small -- I mean, it's a very detailed plan. It's like 32 compact pages.

COSTELLO: But your plan will go to another commission. MARSALIS: Right.

COSTELLO: And we've heard some negative stories about some of these commissions that really aren't doing effective work.

MARSALIS: That's the -- first, that's not true. I'm on the phone with people every day. I know, I'm working on it. So what we hear is not accurate.

We are talking, we have executive level people. We have help from all over the world, experts. And we have seminars.

The education commission -- each commission has a different charge and is led by very competent people. And we are very serious about what we're doing.

We're not all getting in a room fighting and arguing and screaming and hollering. We're taking suggestions. And most of our work is finished. So I can speak authoritatively about this subject.

COSTELLO: Because you're the man in charge.

MARSALIS: I'm not in charge, but I'm just saying it's not...

COSTELLO: Well, it sounds like you're in charge.

OK. So, when you have your hand on the button to drop the ball, and you're making your resolution for the year 2006, what will it be?

MARSALIS: For me, my personal resolution will be to be more patient.

COSTELLO: That's tough, though, isn't it?

MARSALIS: That's hard. That's hard.

COSTELLO: Wynton Marsalis. Thank you for stopping by. We appreciate it.

MARSALIS: Thanks.

COSTELLO: And good luck on Saturday night.

And Wynton's CD, "Higher Ground," is available in stores now. All of the proceeds go to his Hurricane Katrina relief fund.

Let's take you to Times Square now live. You can see Wynton Marsalis with Anderson Cooper live here on Saturday night. That's pretty cool.

Ring in the new year right here on CNN. Anderson Cooper, New Year's, live, beginning at 11:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, a little lesson of cookies. It's not the kind you eat. No, no, no, the kind found on the Web. The National Security Agency site used them to track Web surfer's habits. Sites like Amazon use them, too. Should you worry about all this?

Cookies 101 ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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