Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

California Flooding; Spying Concerns; Oklahoma Fires

Aired January 02, 2006 - 06:31   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Serious storms leave parts of northern California in ruin. The danger is not over yet. We've got a live report just ahead.
Massive wildfires force families across the Southwest to pack up their stuff and run from their homes. We're going to talk this morning to a man who is trying to manage that spreading disaster.

And a Florida teenager is finally back from Iraq. What led him to spend weeks in a war zone? We'll tell his story ahead as well.

First, though, we start with a look at your weather this morning. Let's get right to Bonnie. She's at the CNN weather center with some severe weather updates for us.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The flooding in northern California is going to be expensive. In San Anselmo, about 25 miles north of San Francisco, Marin County, the mud and the water have caused about $10 million worth of damage already. The full cleanup can't even begin yet because some of the river is still above flood stage and will be today.

AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken is in San Anselmo.

Bob, how do things look there so far?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, take a look. This is not the normal visage, normal view that you have when you're thinking of Marin County. This is what is left of the flooding of the San Anselmo Creek. Normally -- and it's a little dark to see this yet, but normally it's about 10 feet down from here.

Well, until yesterday, it was about that 10 feet plus 4 feet or so on the streets here, lots of mud, lots of debris. You can see what kind of cleanup is ahead. You can see the kind of equipment that's going to be needed to bring this back under control.

As you pointed out, there's probably about $10 million in damage. They have these floods every once in a while because of the proximity to the creek.

And further to the north in Napa and Sonoma Counties, which, of course, is the famous wine country, right now they've got significant problems. The waters are receding, but they're leaving behind huge amounts of damage. The Russian and the Napa Rivers both overflowed because of all of the weather that we've had; weather that has caused flooding in a place that is normally a paradise, a place where people come to enjoy the natural beauty. But nature turned against everyone here. And so, Miles, you're left with this.

M. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken, it looks like quite a mess, and the outlook is not so good for today as well, right?

FRANKEN: Well, the outlook for northern California is just to have the waters recede. The weather is heading south. As you go further south, you get around Santa Barbara and all of that, the outlook is for pretty bad weather.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Bob Franken, thank you very much. He's in Marin County this morning.

Let's get right to Kelly Wallace with some other headlines.

Good morning, Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Miles.

Also a difficult situation in parts of the Southwest, where wildfires are raging across the region. High winds and dry conditions are causing the fires in Oklahoma to spread very quickly. Emergency officials are saying that more than a dozen homes are in ruins. Firefighters from as far east as Florida and North Carolina have been called in to help. Grass fires also a problem in Texas, where the National Guard is using helicopters to try to contain the flames. Hundreds of people are being evacuated.

To Israel now, where Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is scheduled for surgery this week. That surgery is now planned for Thursday. The Israeli leader will have a small hole in his heart closed, and that hole was discovered after the prime minister suffered a slight stroke last month.

The New Year beginning with new violence in Iraq. A suicide car bomb exploded north of Baquba. Baquba is about 35 miles outside of Baghdad. The apparent target: Iraqi police recruits. At least seven people have been killed, about 13 others are injured.

And remember Farris Hassan, the 16-year-old who spent his Christmas break in Iraq because he wanted to see what life was like there? Well, he is home now. Hassan arrived in Florida Sunday night. Asked whether Hassan will be grounded, his mom says she plans to have a private talk about all of that. And right now the family just wants to go home and relax.

You can imagine what kind of conversation they will be having, Soledad, in private.

S. O'BRIEN: Absolutely. I love you, I missed you, I'm going to kill you now, son. Welcome home. Kelly, thanks for the update.

President Bush is setting goals for the New Year. In the week ahead, he's going to push for the Patriot Act and the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. He's also going to make some speeches about the war and the economy as well.

But as Elaine Quijano reports, the president just can't shake off questions about the domestic spying program.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Bush is back at the White House after a weeklong holiday break at his Texas ranch. Before he left the state, though, he visited privately with 51 wounded troops in San Antonio and awarded nine Purple Hearts.

Afterwards, the president took the opportunity to again staunchly defend his authorization of a secret domestic surveillance program. Mr. Bush reiterated his position that the program only targets the international communications of Americans believed to have terrorist connections.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I can say that if somebody from al Qaeda's calling you, we'd like to know why. In the meantime, this program is conscious of people's civil liberties, as am I. This is a limited program, designed to prevent attacks on the United States of America. And I repeat, limited.

QUIJANO: But critics argue that determination of sorting out who should be subject to monitoring should be made by a court. And some members of Congress are concerned that the program threatens privacy rights and civil liberties.

The concerns have been expressed mostly by Democrats, but also some Republicans. Among them the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Arlen Specter. He wants to hold hearings on this issue early this year.

Elaine Quijano, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Well, her name means light, and a group of Georgia National Guard troops would like to keep it shining. With help from a lot of people, 3-month old baby Noor arrived in Savannah with her grandmother and father over the weekend.

Christopher King with her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTOPHER KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Doctors say baby Noor is resting comfortably here at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. She's scheduled for surgery in just about a little bit more than a week from now. Noor, her father and her grandmother arrived here in Atlanta on Saturday amid of sea of journalists.

Doctors say the little girl suffers from what appears to be a severe form of spina bifida. Her spinal cord never closed completely. Soldiers from the Georgia National Guard found Noor last month when they raided her parents' home in Abu Ghraib looking for insurgents. They found Noor instead, her parents pleading for help.

The soldiers contacted the members of a church outside Atlanta, who in turn connected with a nonprofit group that transports sick children to the states. Doctors in Iraq had given Noor only 45 days to live. But doctors here say if treated in time Noor should survive.

Christopher King, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: What a cute little baby.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: I actually hope they're able to pull off that surgery and do it very successfully and send that baby home.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm sure they will.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm sure they will.

S. O'BRIEN: We're going to talk to the doctor who is going to be performing that surgery ahead this morning as well.

M. O'BRIEN: We look forward to hearing from him.

S. O'BRIEN: Also, if you've resolved to fix your finances this year, we're "Minding Your Business" with some tips to help you stay on track.

M. O'BRIEN: Plus, we'll have a live update on those devastating wildfires in Oklahoma. They're also in Texas and actually a little part in New Mexico as well. Do firefighters have enough manpower to battle all of those flames? And what do they need to put them out? Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: A new year but a familiar story along the fire lines in Oklahoma, Texas and now a sliver of New Mexico even. Dozens of fires are still burning in Oklahoma. Yesterday the wind gusting there to 50 miles an hour. A quarter million acres now burned, 200 homes destroyed. Firefighters are facing an incredible test of endurance.

David Barnes is the director of Oklahoma County Emergency Management. He joins us from Oklahoma City.

Mr. Barnes, I know you're busy. Good morning. Thank you for being with us.

How are things going this morning? DAVID BARNES, OKLAHOMA COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Well, this morning we've got an increase in humidity, which is a significant factor for us. And the winds have subsided substantially. So, we are looking favorably for today.

However, as the warming begins and the sun comes up, sometimes things change. And we are anticipating to have more fire outbreaks this afternoon.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. And so the outlook for today, at least initially, looks good. How is the rest of the week looking? I think basically you need some rain more than anything, don't you?

BARNES: Absolutely. In this particular portion of the state, we are about 12 inches below normal. Other portions of the state as much as 24 inches. So, moisture is certainly the key factor for us.

Tomorrow it appears, according to the information from the National Weather Service, that it will be a significant day and probably have significant challenges as we have experienced in the last few days.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. So, tomorrow could be another bad day. Once again, no rain is forecast on the horizon. Give us a sense of how all of the men and women on those fire lines are holding up right now.

BARNES: Well, Oklahomans have a significant history of being resilient in dealing with these types of situations. However, when you get a long extended period, as we're experiencing now, we certainly can have some challenges.

We've been very fortunate. We've had minimal injuries, a couple of things certainly have occurred, stains and stretch and those type things. But the firefighters are doing quite well with support. And we've received a great deal of support, mutual aid and other companies from our area and surrounding areas of the state.

M. O'BRIEN: Have you thought about bringing in some federal help, maybe some smoke jumpers from the Forest Service, that kind of thing?

BARNES: Actually we do have resources on the ground now at the incident command post, the statewide incident command post that have come in from Florida, South Carolina, I believe Arkansas and Tennessee as well. So, those type resources are here now, and they are being made available to us.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. So, you're pretty well staffed as much as can be given the situation. Give us a sense now of the broad outlook of damage. I know you had neighborhoods in Oklahoma City yesterday that were evacuated. How much damage was caused there?

BARNES: Well, this one particular fire scene that you're referring to, which is just behind us, we actually lost five structures, four of those would be residences. And it was a smaller fire in terms of acreage burned. However, with the loss of structures it was significant. And we have lost probably 20 to 25 homes in the last three days in this area.

About 20 miles north of us near the city of Guthrie yesterday was a very devastating day with one particular -- excuse me -- incident there, a total home count of losing 60 homes in that particular area.

M. O'BRIEN: That's not good.

BARNES: It just depends on what area.

M. O'BRIEN: That's not a good...

BARNES: Correct.

M. O'BRIEN: ... not a good situation. We talked before the weekend there was a lot of concern about people using fireworks to celebrate the New Year. Did you see much of that? And if it wasn't that, what is actually sparking these fires initially anyway?

BARNES: Well, the fireworks displays did go on for the New Year. There were significant measures put in place to protect the citizens and the property from those situations. And they were monitored very closely. We've had a variety of fire causes, some accidental.

And we had one yesterday where a child was actually outdoors playing with matches and the parents were not apparently paying enough attention to that situation. But there are a variety of causes.

Occasionally there would be a rekindle. When we have high winds, as you mentioned earlier, gusts of 50 miles an hour, embers from previous fires can certainly jump and fly. And those are a significant concern for us as well.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Kids should watch their parents, especially as it regards to playing with matches anytime, but especially now.

BARNES: Absolutely.

M. O'BRIEN: David Barnes is the director of Oklahoma County's Emergency Management Office. Thanks for your time this morning.

BARNES: You're welcome. Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, did you resolve to do a better job at managing your money in the New Year? We've got some tips on financial resolutions just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. Fleetwood Mac for you on this Monday morning.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, a good way to start off the morning. S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Gerri Willis is in for Andy. She's going to be "Minding Your Business" in just a moment.

First, though, let's get right to the headlines. Kelly Wallace has that.

Hey, Kelly.

WALLACE: Hey there. Thanks, Soledad.

And we are beginning in northern California, where a flashflood alert is out this morning for parts of northern California. Obviously not very good news for residents there. Over the weekend the message in Napa, forget the car, take a boat. Homes were evacuated in several towns after rivers overflowed because of heavy rain. People have already started cleaning up some of the mud and the debris. And officials estimate up to 1,000 homes have been damaged by the flooding.

Wildfires blazing across parts of Oklahoma and Texas today. Take a look at some of these pictures. Fire crews battling a 35-mile-long fire about 130 miles west of Dallas. Some parts of the fire were up to three miles wide.

Moving to Oklahoma now, where a wildfire destroyed several homes on the northeast side of Oklahoma City. Dry and windy conditions could cause even more problems. Oklahoma's governor has asked President Bush to declare an emergency in his state.

And speaking of President Bush, he is defending his domestic spying program. The president visiting with injured soldiers Sunday said, yes, he ordered secret surveillance of Americans, and that he'd do it again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: We're at war with an enemy that wants to hurt us again, and the American people expect the commander-in-chief to protect them. And that's exactly what I intend to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And the president is back at the White House following a holiday break spent at his Crawford, Texas, ranch.

And it doesn't quite rank up there with Doug Flutie's famous hail Mary pass for Boston College against Miami back in the 1980's, but take a look at this. Flutie converting the first drop kick extra point since 1941 on Sunday. And that brought a big celebration for the 43-year-old's New England backup quarterback. People just couldn't believe it. Still, though, the Patriots lost -- that's say to say -- 28-26 to the Miami Dolphins.

Well, fearless forecaster and severe weather expert Chad Myers back here on Thursday, but right now Bonnie Schneider at the CNN center with another update. (WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: If one of your New Year resolutions was to, what, save more money and be richer...

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Be richer, that's a good one.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, I vow, my resolution is to be rich.

S. O'BRIEN: Get out of debt is another good one.

WILLIS: That's the number one for so many people.

M. O'BRIEN: Help us out. How can we implement said resolution?

WILLIS: Well, I think Soledad has got the right idea here. You really want to save money this year. You want to get rid of that debt. Job number one, pay off the Christmas bills.

So that means looking at your credit card and making sure you've got the absolute best deal on that credit card.

Remember, the average variable rate of interest is about 13 percent. If yours is higher, you can probably find a good deal, particularly if your credit score is 650 or higher. Go to cardweb.com or cardtrack.com to find really great deals.

And I'm telling you, Miles, it makes a very big difference of what kind of card you have.

M. O'BRIEN: Cardweb or cardtrack.com.

WILLIS: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: And these rates, you've got to watch it, though, because there's a lot of little catches on that. They can change the rates, the fees, all of the things...

WILLIS: Variable, absolutely. And you think you know what's going on, but unless you're reading the fine print in those agreements maybe you don't.

Of course, the big things this year are the cash back cards, and there are new regulations on this all over the place. Right now American Express has a new card they call American Express One that you might want to take a look at. It's 1 percent cash back, which is not too unusual. However, they put the money in a high-yield savings account. It returns about 3.5 percent, which is very good.

Bank of America right now has also got a very interesting deal on. When you buy something using your debit card, they round up that amount of money that you're paying. If you're paying $4.30 for something they take that 70 cents, it would take it to $5.00 and put it in a savings account. And they're matching that money as well. So, it's an interesting deal that Bank of America is offering, to.

M. O'BRIEN: Interesting. So they charge you a little more and put it aside for you.

WILLIS: And you put it in a savings account, and then they have a cash back offer on that as well.

M. O'BRIEN: So you've got to spend to save.

WILLIS: You've got to spend to save. Well...

M. O'BRIEN: That's what Sandy has been telling me.

S. O'BRIEN: I was going to say, people have been saying that for a long time, but usually that's not what they mean exactly.

WILLIS: Well, you do have to be careful. You have to watch those interest rates. As I said on those cards, you want to make sure you're not paying too much. And, you know, for many of us, credit cards are a sad fact of life.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: You've got to have them. You've got to have them.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. It's how you manage them is what matters. You've got to pay them, too.

Gerri, thank you very much.

Ahead this morning, we're going to update you on the condition of that little baby, baby Noor. The Iraqi girl is now in the U.S. for surgery that could save her life. We're going to talk to one of the doctors just ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: As we approach the top of the hour, let's get a check of the forecast. A reminder: Chad Myers is back with us on Thursday. Right now Bonnie Schneider is at the CNN center.

Good morning, Bonnie.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. Chad is extending his vacation just a little longer, but he'll be back Thursday.

(WEATHER REPORT)

SCHNEIDER: In the meantime, the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.

M. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Bonnie. Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.

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