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American Morning
Well-Digging Project in Afghanistan; Paula Zahn Now Preview; Grim Discovery in New Orleans; Five in '05
Aired December 30, 2005 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: You know, once a kid becomes 16, they're hard to keep track of. They get their driver's license, you know they're out and you have to have curfews. This is a case where it gets a little bit out of hand.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, it certainly did.
MILES O'BRIEN: A young lad who gets on a plane and goes to Iraq.
COSTELLO: He just wanted to see what was going on there.
MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, he did.
COSTELLO: I mean it's great that he thought enough about what's happening in the world to want to find out. But to actually go there, probably a bit to far.
MILES O'BRIEN: Boy, that is half full. That is a half full analogy. I'm glad -- you're going to be his defense counselor, I think, in this case.
COSTELLO: Oh, my goodness, yes. Well, we're going to talk to his mother a little later on AMERICAN MORNING.
To the headlines now though.
Texas Governor Rick Perry asking President Bush for disaster relief. A massive grass fire is moving through the state. Nearly 20,000 acres scorched, more than 200 homes destroyed. The governor calls the state a tinder box.
In Oklahoma, the latest of four major fires is starting to enter the fringes of Oklahoma City. Some 30,000 acres have been burned since the fire started on Tuesday.
And we're hearing about hot, dry weather in the region. Jacqui Jeras is at the CNN Center to tell us if any rain will fall any time soon.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: A New York City woman is shot dead while looking out of her fifth floor apartment window. According to prosecutors, a soldier on leave from the Army was drinking in the neighborhood when he fired off a couple of rounds into the air. A stray bullet struck the woman in the head. The mother of two died instantly. The soldier is being charged with second-degree manslaughter.
Shocking news about teenagers and depression. Last year nearly one in 10 American teenagers experienced major depression and fewer than half were treated. Those numbers from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Their survey found older teens were more at risk than younger teens and says this should be a wake-up call to parents.
And President Bush has had quite a few memorable phrases this year, but this one takes the prize.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to thank you all for -- and, Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job. The FEMA director is working 24 . . .
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Oh, that line, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job," is number one this year on the list of Bushisms. That's run by the Global Language Monitor. Ten days after the quote, Michael Brown resigned amid an uproar over his poor response to Hurricane Katrina. Coming up, Brown made our "Five in '05" newsmakers list. That story is coming up in just a bit.
And that's a look at the headlines for you.
MILES O'BRIEN: U.S. troops in Afghanistan are finding that winning the confidence of the people there involves more than just hanged out food and going on patrol. Sometimes it's a matter of something simple. I guess you could call it shovel diplomacy. Our Becky Diamond joins us on the video phone to explain that one.
Becky, hello.
BECKY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, Miles.
Well, it's been a very deadly year for U.S. forces here in Afghanistan. There have been 91 fatalities this year. Nearly double the amount of U.S. forces died this year over last. And the U.S. is undertaking all sorts of efforts to keep its soldier-safe and also to stabilize the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAPTAIN SCOTT MOORE, U.S. ARMY: How are you?
DIAMOND, (voice over): Captain Scott Moore is using more than combat skills to win the war on terror in Afghanistan.
MOORE: We have the money ready. And as soon as they come up with a plan that everybody agrees with, we can get people to work and get these reservoirs started.
DIAMOND: This 35-year-old Army reserve captain is part of a civil affairs unit and is meeting with village elders to discuss a U.S.-funded $5,000 project to build a well in the district of Shwack (ph). It's one of a series of projects across the country. The village sits close to a dangerous stretch of road that leads from Pakistan into Afghanistan and has been the site of many insurgent attacks.
This village elder says that foreign fighters come into Afghanistan and disrupt security, but they haven't had an Taliban- supported attacks in the last few months.
MOORE: OK. It looks like we're ready.
DIAMOND: The group travels to the site of the well. One reason for the improved security, according to the U.S. military, is projects like this one. The proposed well will allow villagers in this remote area to store water during the winter and the project will employ local Afghans who will make $3 a day.
MOORE: They know as there's more peace and more security, that more reconstruction will occur. We focus our projects on areas that might be a little more insecure in the hopes that security will come. We can leave -- that's our goal, to leave here.
DIAMOND: Captain Moore, hoping to win the loyalty of villagers. A small step that could lead to a bigger victory in the war on terror.
MOORE: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DIAMOND: This well, Miles, will serve 2,000 villagers. And I spoke to a group of locals around this area yesterday and they all said the same thing, they hope that projects like this bring in more money for their local citizens and thereby improve security, improve the stability of the country. Also projects like this help establish a national federal presence. Show people that their government cares about them. Something the U.S. military hopes will also improve security here.
Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN: Well, Becky, it was supposed to be a mission about building a well, but it turned into something much more than that, didn't it?
DIAMOND: It did. It did. It was fascinating. There was actually a dispute. There's been a history of animosity in this area between two local tribes and it turned out that the U.S. soldiers were sort of in the position of mediating where this well should go. That the two different tribes each wanted the well near their area.
And they left the room several times, negotiated by themselves, came back in. And finally, in a show of pure democracy, decided the well should sit in between them where they all agreed. And it was a story with a happy ending. And everyone hopes, the villagers and the U.S. military, that this will again really improve their security of their neighborhood. And the U.S. military hopes will encourage locals to, you know, avoid any kind of criminal activity or possible terrorist activity.
Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN: You know, it occurs to me, Becky, this is not the kind of training that our military folks get at boot camp. That's a lot of diplomacy that they have to learn as well.
Give us a sense, in general. You've given us great insights all week, exclusive access in Afghanistan like we haven't seen for some time. But this mission stands out. It was really different from the others. What was it like being on this one?
DIAMOND: It's fascinating. The soldiers on this mission were Army reserve soldiers. And on other missions I've been out with, they've been national guard soldiers. and something that is an advantage to these soldiers is, they have experience in the so-called real world. Certainly Army soldiers do, too, but the Army is very good at destroying things. They're also good at building, but their focus is really on maneuvering war, war operations.
National guard soldiers, reserve soldiers, they tap into other strengths. And in every day life, we have many, many moments where we must be diplomats at work, negotiations with work, with loved ones, with friends, even simple things. So these soldiers are able to draw on all of those skills and leverage those and really apply them into a culture and into a society where they're really foreigners. And it was fascinating and thrilling to see.
Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN: So join the Army and learn to be a mediator. Who knows. Becky Diamond, excellent work there all this week. We appreciate you giving us some insights into Afghanistan that you can only see here on CNN thanks to people like Becky.
Carol.
COSTELLO: Have you ever day dreamed about meeting a long lost relative? For some young men and women who are about to meet, it's no longer a dream. They're brothers and sisters but never knew it. Tonight on CNN "Paula Zahn Now," it takes a closer look at this intriguing story. Here's a preview from CNN's Deborah Feyerick.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like finding the long lost siblings you never had. I mean, how many chances -- what are the odds that that's going to happen?
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): More surprising for 15-year-old Justin, an only child. Unlike the others here, he only found out this summer he was conceived using donor sperm. Immediately curious, he went online and that's where he found twins Erin (ph) and Rebecca (ph), and siblings Tyler (ph) and Mckenzie (ph), all from the same donor, donor 66. All live in the Denver area within an hour's drive from each other. Wendy Kramer (ph) brought the teens together through her web side, DonorSiblingRegistry.com. She created it with her son Ryan to help him find his own donor dad. So far, the site has made 1,000 matches between donor siblings or between donors or their children.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Oh, that brings up so many questions, doesn't it? Especially this one. Now that they found each other, should those kids try to find out who donor 66 is and actually meet their biological dad? Catch more about this remarkable story at 8:00 Eastern on "Paula Zahn Now."
Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, a look back at the man who became the face of FEMA's failures after Hurricane Katrina. Ex-FEMA Chief Michael Brown. It's part of our series on some of the year's top newsmakers, "Five in '05."
MILES O'BRIEN: Plus, we're "Minding Your Business" this morning. Earlier we looked at Wall Street's big winners in 2005 which, of course, leads us to the losers. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MILES O'BRIEN: Ellen McGirt is here. We begin with a reversal of fortune, you might say. It's not "Fortune" magazine, it is "Money" magazine, which she is proudly associated with. And I stand corrected on that having misidentified her earlier. My apologies.
ELLEN MCGIRT, "MONEY" MAGAZINE: Not at all. Not at all. It's a honor anyway (ph).
MILES O'BRIEN: Let's talk about losers. Let's talk about losers, shall we?
MCGIRT: OK. Absolutely. Because there was some. And they really are some big stories.
Number one, of course, is GM. Down 53 percent for the year. And it's worth noting that Ford isn't far behind. You know, everything that happened in Detroit this year was really rough. Of course, I'm sure it's going to be a big story in 2006.
MILES O'BRIEN: You know, there used to be an expression, as GM goes, so goes the nation. Probably not true anymore but there is some truth in there, isn't there?
MCGIRT: I think there is. I think it probably will turn out to be more true than we'd like to think about. And as Toyota goes, so goes the nation, doesn't really have the same ring to it, does it?
MILES O'BRIEN: No, it doesn't, does it? COSTELLO: That's true.
MCGIRT: OK. Moving on to Gateway. Down 59 percent. My goodness.
MILES O'BRIEN: What happened there?
MCGIRT: The sales have been declining every year since 2000. They had a little happy blip in the middle of the year this year, which we thought was going to actually be some good news. But when you look at the quality of their earnings, you can really see that they've been in trouble. The quality of their earnings was really about a one-time payment from Microsoft. Their receivables have been going up, their inventory has been going up and they really are struggling. Trading at $2.50 (ph) a share. They really are a tech loser.
MILES O'BRIEN: Well, and let's face it, Dell has it figured out and it's been commoditized (ph). You know, it's like buying a refrigerator now.
MCGIRT: One word, Dell. Dell really has it figured out. Although HP did really well this year too.
COSTELLO: You know what it is, it's service. I mean when something goes wrong with a Dell, there's always someone there to help you.
MCGIRT: Yes.
COSTELLO: And they have that down.
MCGIRT: Yes.
MILES O'BRIEN: Yes.
COSTELLO: And as a consumer, that's what I want.
MILES O'BRIEN: It might be in Bangalore (ph), but they're there for you nonetheless.
MCGIRT: They are there 24/7. And they're (ph) managing inventory, which we don't get to see, really passes along some savings and efficiency to us.
And then there's RadioShack. Back in the day.
MILES O'BRIEN: Oh, RadioShack, geez.
MCGIRT: And it was a big deal share to own back in the day, but they're down 36 percent. And there's rumors they may be cutting their dividend next year, which is never a good sign.
COSTELLO: Part of the reason is, is that people buy, you know, the bits and pieces that they need for their computer in bulk with their computer. They no longer need to go to RadioShack and pick up a cord for this or that.
MCGIRT: Yes. And they really sort of bet the farm on their wireless division, their wireless sales and services and they've just got a tremendous amount of competition that's easier to get other places.
MILES O'BRIEN: That was probably a mistake to go into the wireless world. So much competition. Whereas, you know, let's face it, they had a niche there with all the little connectors and things you can't get anywhere else.
COSTELLO: But that didn't work on out for them either.
MILES O'BRIEN: Of course, it's not a high profit business is it?
MCGIRT: No, no it isn't. If you've got any one of these losers in your portfolio, sell them. You know, they're (INAUDIBLE).
MILES O'BRIEN: You only have a few hours left.
MCGIRT: That's right.
MILES O'BRIEN: Do it now, take the loss and move on, right?
COSTELLO: Reap it.
MCGIRT: Yes.
MILES O'BRIEN: All right.
COSTELLO: Thanks, Ellen.
MILES O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Ellen.
MCGIRT: Thank you.
COSTELLO: When Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast region, thousands were left in New Orleans flooded lower ninth ward. After the storm, rescue workers looked for victims but they did not find all of them. Sean Callebs has the story of one man who took matters into his own hand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Robert Green's brother David had enough. Two days ago he decided it was time to leave Nashville to look for his mother's remains somewhere in the decimated ninth ward.
ROBERT GREEN, FOUND MOTHER'S BODY: Yes and he just said, to hell with it. He just decided to come down here. And we stopped at a Wal- Mart and bought shovels, hammers, picks and everything else and we're going to dig to find my mother's body.
CALLEBS: Robert was with his mother when flood waters washed their home away at the height of the storm. Joyce Green had Parkinson's and was severely debilitated. The night Katrina blew in, Robert's family couldn't save her and she drown. Four months the family waited, constantly calling the coroners office hoping recovery teams and efforts lead by Governor Kathleen Blanco would turn up his mother's remains.
GREEN: But we had to come out here because they didn't do their job. We had to come out here because Blanco didn't do her job. We had to come out here and find my mother's body.
CALLEBS: Finally, four months to the day since Katrina hit, Robert, not police or recovery crews, but Robert and other family members, found Joyce Green's remains in the splintered wreckage of the house where they left her.
GREEN: Even as far as how I found my mother's body, I went politely and eagerly walk to where her body lay. I didn't have to climb anywhere. I didn't have to move anything.
CALLEBS: He had looked in this area before, but with no luck. This time, he noticed a landmark he remembered from the night of the storm. And within minutes, he found what had eluded authorities for such a long time.
GREEN: All that's left of my mother is her clothes, her stove and her skeleton. Now they could have come and did the same thing just as easily as I did.
CALLEBS: It has been a cheerless four months since the storm tore this section of New Orleans to pieces. Robert's granddaughter, Shina (ph), drown the night the hurricane hit. The three-year-old was buried November 19th. Authorities haven't officially confirmed the remains are his mothers, but he's convinced. Robert has been told identification could take up to two weeks. He's not bitter, he's not angry, but there is a huge sense of loss.
GREEN: I don't see my baby no more. I don't see my mother no more. I don't see my neighbors no more. All I can do is just be happy that she's going to be buried. That's all I can do is be happy.
CALLEBS: Sean Callebs, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Coming up, our week-long series on some of the newsmakers of 2005. We're calling it "Five in '05." Today, the man who became the center of controversy after Hurricane Katrina, beleaguered ex-FEMA Chief Mike Brown. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Now to the last in our "Five in '05" countdown. A look at the people who captured our attention in 2005 and changed the way we think about our nation.
Today, former FEMA Chief Michael Brown. A man blamed by many for government failures after Hurricane Katrina.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job.
COSTELLO, (voice over): These are words President Bush probably wished he'd never said. Because while the president was hailing his hand-picked FEMA director, New Orleans was descending into unimaginable chaos.
CROWD: We want help! We want help! We want help!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't take this. We've been out here for three days and we've been asking for help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where are the police at? Where are the national guard at to control all this?
COSTELLO: After Katrina, Michael Brown stood at the center of a new storm and comments like this one didn't help.
MICHAEL BROWN, FORMER FEMA DIRECTOR: We're going to ask you, for the time being, to turn to the American Red Cross, the charities, Salvation Army, local churches, others who can provide for your immediate needs.
COSTELLO: Especially as meteorologists had been predicting the mother of all storms for days.
DR. WALTER MAESTRI, JEFFERSON PARISH EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Within a 10-hour period, the metropolitan New Orleans area is totally devastated. It's gone.
COSTELLO: Brown did travel to Baton Rouge to get a better handle on the disaster, but a series of e-mails suggested that while people on the ground were trying to impress upon Brown the gravity of the situation, he and his aids were worrying about everything from restaurant reservations, to getting a sitter for his dog, to how he looked on television. A staffer at FEMA offered this advice, "you just need to look more hard-working . . . roll up the sleeves."
BUSH: And the FEMA director is working 24.
COSTELLO: But no matter how Brown tried to fix things, damaging news reports continued to surface. "Time" magazine reported his resume wasn't exactly chock full of disaster related experience. He'd been a commissioner for the International Arabian Horse Association and an assistant to the city manager of Edmond, Oklahoma, a job "Newsweek" said had been padded on his resume.
BUSH: Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government.
COSTELLO: Brown finally resigned after being pushed out of the recovery effort and was later hammered on Capitol Hill. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because you didn't do a good job is why you were let go. Because you were clueless about what was happening.
BROWN: I don't think that I'm clueless. I think I know exactly what I've been doing.
COSTELLO: Brown now has started his own disaster consulting service. "If people want to take shots at me, fine," he says of his new mission, "but let's figure out a way to make this thing work better the next time." At least most would agree with Michael Brown on that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And when he testified before Congress, Brown insisted that state and local officials were to blame for the bungled response to Katrina. But it is safe to say Michael Brown will forever be associated with government failures after Katrina.
MILES O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, all you folks resolving to lose weight in the new year, and aren't we all among them? Listen up. Our special series "Five Diets That Work" is coming up. Today, we have the final diet. Number five. This is the three- hour diet. In other words, stop eating for three hours and that will solve all your problems. No, I think it's a little more complicated than that. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MILES O'BRIEN: Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.
A developing story from Oklahoma. Tinder box conditions persist there. Fires have started up yet again this morning. These are some new pictures for you. A full report on the destruction is ahead.
COSTELLO: I'm Carol Costello in for Soledad today.
The West Coast gets ready for a long weekend of relentless rain. They're watching for landslides and floods. We'll have a live report for you.
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