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American Morning

High Winds, High Temperatures Fueling Wildfires Across Southwest; Floodwaters Rushing Through Northern California

Aired January 02, 2006 - 08:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.

High winds, high temperatures are fueling wildfires across the Southwest today. Firefighters hoping for a break in the weather. We're live with the latest just ahead.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Miles O'Brien.

Floodwaters rushing through Northern California this morning, but now southern parts of the state could be in similar danger. We're live on that story.

S. O'BRIEN: And a Florida teenager is back from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK QUINN, ASSOCIATED PRESS: I would have been less surprised if little green men had walked into the office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, well, he wasn't the only person who was surprised when the boy turned up in Baghdad. We're going to talk with the teenager's mother.

That's ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning.

Welcome.

Happy New Year.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, same to you.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Good to have you back.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks.

M. O'BRIEN: You know, you train your kids, you want them to be independent, right?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, not that independent.

M. O'BRIEN: Not that independent.

We're going to ask the mom of Farris what she thinks about the independence he exhibited over the past few days.

S. O'BRIEN: Immersion journalism is the words that I heard. He was practicing immersion journalism?

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's it.

S. O'BRIEN: You just go there and find out for yourself.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, well, you know...

M. O'BRIEN: Well, Hunter Thompson called it gonzo journalism. This is really gonzo.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, a little bit, certainly.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: We've got that story just ahead this morning.

The top story, though, this morning, is wildfires.

And spreading wildfires could certainly cause parts of the Southwest to soon be declared a disaster area. North Texas, the town of Ringgold, basically gone, wiped out. Other areas of Central and West Texas also badly burned.

It's a similar situation just north of the border in Oklahoma. At least a dozen communities are watching fast moving fires come closer and closer. That's the case in Oklahoma City.

Ed Lavandera is there for us this morning -- hey, Ed, good morning.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, here on the northeast edge of the city yesterday afternoon, a frightening reminder for many of the residents who live here, as a wildfire crept dangerously close into a residential neighborhood, in fact, burning down about four homes. Many people forced to evacuate because of that fast moving fire. Many of those people are back this morning, but the fire chief, who you spoke with here just a short while ago, Soledad, the fire chief here in Oklahoma City, says that the conditions are still very favorable for a dangerous situation, more fires possibly today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF KEITH BRYANT, OKLAHOMA CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT: 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 breaks this afternoon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: It's interesting how quickly things will change here. Right now it's actually quite chilly outside. But as the temperature will go up later today and the wind speeds will continue to pick up, they say the afternoon time will be when the conditions are at its most ripe for more fires to spread throughout the state -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ed Lavandera with an update for us.

Ed, thanks -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: In California this morning, just the opposite kind of concern -- fears of flooding and mud slides in the north. Weekend storms dumped several inches of rain, swamping hundreds of homes and businesses. Now that storm is headed south, prompting flash flood watches there.

Bob Franken is in San Anselmo in the north. That's in Marin County.

Jen Rodgers is in the Los Angeles area.

Let's begin in Northern California -- Bob, the rain may be headed to the south, but the rivers are still cresting there, aren't they?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in the wine country, up in Napa and Sonoma Counties, they are starting to go down. But they haven't gone down below flood stage.

Here, they've totally receded. This was a flash flood.

This is an area, of course, when you think of it, you think of the scenery, you think of a town that oftentimes can be described as cutesy. But now think debris. Think cleanup.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): This normally quaint town in Marin County, 20 miles north of San Francisco, was suddenly transformed into a muddy mess after the rain swollen San Anselmo Creek spilled over its banks.

SHAROL OLIVER, BUSINESS OWNER: The front door was pushed open about this much. That's how much force there was that it just -- it was a dead bolted door and it just forced a warp in the door. So the water was really rushing hard here.

FRANKEN: Now, as the muck retreats, business owners like Sharol Oliver have their work cut out for them. In picturesque wine country in Napa and Sonoma Counties, rivers overflowed five feet above flood stage. Officials estimate up to 1,000 homes were damaged and countless businesses were destroyed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It takes a little while to recover from this. And then there's always, you know, it smells here, too, after a while, for like, I don't know, a month. It smells like, you know, the river and -- the river smells nasty.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

FRANKEN: Well, I'm pleased to report that we don't have that problem here. But as you can see, there's a real problem with cleanup. Estimates, as we heard in the last hour, could go much higher than the $10 million that they're projecting. This is a very lovely area, a very wealthy area, an area now that's going to be spending some of its resources getting back to the way it was -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Bob Franken in San Anselmo, thank you very much.

Farther south, in southern California, they could see some similar scenes.

CNN's Jen Rodgers joins us now from Santa Monica -- and, Jen, there they are bracing for a storm, aren't they?

JEN RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We certainly are bracing for what could be a pretty tough day here.

For about the last hour, we've had a little bit of a letup in the rain. But the one thing that is not letting up is the wind that continues to come in. We have a high wind advisory here. And you can take a look at the trees. They have been blowing quite heavily. We have some branches here on the ground.

The high wind could be critical because the ground is already so moist from having a number of other storms over the last couple of weeks that with this moist ground, high wind can just come along and it's very easy for trees and power lines to come out, which could lead to power outages.

Right now we are above the Pacific Coast Highway. What you're looking at down the cliff. This could also be an issue because with more rain, you could get some soil erosion, leading to blockage of highways. And we are already getting some reports, Miles, of some secondary roads having some minor slides already.

And, again, we do have some more rain, of course, in the forecast later today.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, also later today in that part of the world, Pasadena, the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl. Not good weather for that.

RODGERS: Yes, not going to be too good over there. They are looking at probably getting the first rain that they've had in 51 years. They also had rain to contend with as they were doing their preparations this weekend.

This, of course, is a very popular southern California event and, again, rain for the first time, they are thinking, in 51 years, although there are some people holding out, saying it's not going to hit yet. So we'll have to see.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, it ought to keep those floats fresh, anyhow, with all those flowers on there.

All right, Jen Rodgers, thank you very much.

Let's get a check on the big picture on the weather.

Oh, by the way, yes, Chad's coming back.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. A little long vacation.

M. O'BRIEN: They finally convinced him that he was getting way too much sleep.

S. O'BRIEN: Why is he coming back on a Thursday?

M. O'BRIEN: He's milking it for all...

S. O'BRIEN: That's like -- take the weekend, Chad.

M. O'BRIEN: ... he's getting every last ounce of sleep...

S. O'BRIEN: Come back on Monday.

M. O'BRIEN: ... every ounce of sleep he can get.

S. O'BRIEN: That's so weird.

M. O'BRIEN: Bonnie Schneider -- well, you know, he's Chad.

S. O'BRIEN: It's Chad.

M. O'BRIEN: It's a little different...

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, ATS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. He thinks a little different.

M. O'BRIEN: It's a little different for Chad -- Bonnie, good morning to you.

SCHNEIDER: Good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: By the way, we just found out Chad is actually working on an assignment for CNN. He's actually got a good excuse.

S. O'BRIEN: OK.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, we'll see you a little later, Bonnie. S. O'BRIEN: No more mocking Chad for taking a half week vacation.

M. O'BRIEN: No more mocking Chad. He's actually working.

All right, let's check some headlines now for the hardest -- with the hardest working girl in this business...

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, well...

S. O'BRIEN: Woman.

M. O'BRIEN: ... Kelly Wallace -- hello, Kelly.

S. O'BRIEN: These days, Miles, we say woman.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, is that -- did I just say -- is that like a dis?

WALLACE: Well, you know, girl, woman, as long as it's not man, we'll be fine with that.

All right, hello, everyone.

We are beginning in Iraq right now, where some police recruits are coming under fire once again. U.S. military sources say a suicide car bomb exploded near Ba'qubah. That's about 35 miles north of Baghdad. And we have some new pictures just in to CNN this morning which we can show u.

The apparent target, apparently a bus carrying Iraqi recruits to a training center. The attack killed at least seven people and an investigation is now underway.

President Bush is back at the White House this morning and back on the defensive. The president is once again standing up for his domestic spying program. He says he was elected to protect Americans and he will use all available resources to do so.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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: The president also criticized government officials who had exposed details of the wiretapping program. He says those leaks could make the country more vulnerable to attacks.

We are going to hear from someone who disagrees with the president and thinks the wiretap program is illegal, just ahead.

Pope Benedict XVI is calling for world peace. The pope made the appeal during New Year's Day mass at St. Peter's Basilica. Tens of thousands gathered in the rain to hear him speak. The pope said: "Fanatic fundamentalism must be stopped." The Catholic Church celebrates January 1st as its World Day of Peace.

And did you see it? And if you didn't, you're lucky. We're going to show it to you right now. Doug Flutie of the New England Patriots converting a drop kick during the fourth quarter of Sunday's game. It is the first successful drop kick in the NFL in more than six decades. The last time, 1941. It wasn't enough to save New England, though. The Miami Dolphins won 28-26. But what a moment. And for all the sports fans, it brings to mind that Hail Mary pass by Doug Flutie when he was quarterback for Boston College against Miami.

Do you remember it?

S. O'BRIEN: How can Doug Flutie be 43 years old? How...

WALLACE: It makes me feel very old.

S. O'BRIEN: Doesn't it?

WALLACE: Yes, Doug Flutie...

M. O'BRIEN: I'm not liking it. I'm not liking it one bit.

S. O'BRIEN: Doug Flutie is 43 years old.

WALLACE: Wow!

M. O'BRIEN: Here's where he gets me. He's 43. I'm a little older than that. And somebody said well, last time it happened in 1941, and I think Doug Flutie was around for that. What does that make us...

S. O'BRIEN: No. Us, kemosabe?

M. O'BRIEN: Get out the walkers right now.

S. O'BRIEN: We're not talking about us at all here.

Kelly, thanks for the update.

WALLACE: Sure.

M. O'BRIEN: I called you girl. I mean what more do you want?

S. O'BRIEN: I know.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, what would you do if your teen went all the way to Iraq without telling you? That's what 16-year-old Farris Hassan did. We'll ask his mom what she thinks about that surprise trip and, more importantly, what that reunion was like that you're seeing there.

S. O'BRIEN: Also this morning, remember our good old friend Lizzie Malloy?

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Lizzie Malloy, 16 years old...

M. O'BRIEN: She is a great girl.

S. O'BRIEN: She is.

She is.

And she's kept a video diary for us ever since hurricane Katrina devastated her hometown, Long Beach. And she's going to show us what the holidays were like in Long Beach, Mississippi, and also talk about her thoughts for the year ahead.

M. O'BRIEN: We'll look forward to that.

S. O'BRIEN: That's ahead.

Stay with us.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Well, so how does grounded for life sound?

That Florida teen who slipped away from his family, traveled to Baghdad, back now home in Florida. Mom happy, dad happy. But Farris Hassan, well, he just may not be.

Farris' mom, Shatha Atiya, joins us from Fort Lauderdale.

So what do you think, mom?

Grounded for life?

SHATHA ATIYA, FARRIS' MOTHER: No. No, that's not very reasonable. We're going to sit down and discuss consequences and he understands what he had put us through. So he's pretty flexible with that. And we'll go from there.

M. O'BRIEN: Flexible. That's good. He needs to be flexible now, I think.

When you say he understands the consequences, you've had a time -- a little bit of time to talk to him.

What did he say? What did you say to him?

Give us a little sense of the tone of the conversation.

ATIYA: Well, we only -- we briefly met in the airport before he went to his dad's. So basically we just hugged, kissed. We were happy. We told him that we're very happy that he's home alive and everyone cried a bit. And I had to brief him a little bit about the presence of the media because it was pretty overwhelming. And we just, you know, just embraced and talked about how we feel.

And later on we're going to meet today and discuss the rest of the important things that we have to go through.

M. O'BRIEN: So a little family council, a little family tribunal. We'll have to check in with you a little later today and see how that goes.

But how did Farris react to the reaction?

The media response has been tremendous. He picked, quite frankly, kind of a slow news week to do it. But nonetheless, this would have been a story any old time.

What's his reaction to that swarm of reporters that were there?

ATIYA: He said that it was all right. I think because we briefed him and he was -- he thought there was going to be some presence. But I think it was pretty overwhelming for everyone how it was. It was just so many cameramen and it went a little bit wild. So we were all a little bit taken by that.

M. O'BRIEN: I should say so.

We still are kind of scratching our heads here, and I'm sure you are, as well, as to how successful he was at getting as far as he did.

Do we have any more answers as to how he was able to get on a plane -- he had about $1,800 in cash and a passport -- get his way to Kuwait City, then Beirut, then finally into Baghdad?

How did he do it?

ATIYA: I don't have the details yet, so I really, you know, we're going to sit down and learn all this, these informations. I am pretty surprised that a minor could get a ticket overseas, international, and visas. But I also understood that his father helped him a bit to get to -- a visa to Iraq. So -- but I'm not clear, like you are, on many little details that he will hopefully fill me in.

M. O'BRIEN: I have the hunch that your son is probably pretty good at talking his way into situations.

Is it safe to say that's true?

ATIYA: I would say that's true.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

Let's talk about the school for just a moment.

He was studying journalism at the school. Immersion journalism was the subject.

What has the school said about all of this? And are -- will there be any punishment from their end?

ATIYA: Well, the school did not approve the research. The research was suggested as, you know, any other research and the student taking it from there. So they absolutely did not support his going into any dangerous, you know, area.

But we are going to meet with the school before he starts tomorrow. We're going to have an early meeting and we'll go from there.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

It looks like Farris has some explaining to do now.

Shatha Atiya, we wish you well as you handle this parental challenge of high order. And I know you'll do fine. And please check in with us.

ATIYA: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Tell us how it goes with him.

ATIYA: All right.

M. O'BRIEN: And there's much more on this story at cnn.com, including this. It's an -- it's kind of cool. It's an interactive map which actually shows every step of Farris' amazing adventure, all the way from Fort Lauderdale through Amsterdam, into Kuwait City, through Beirut, back to Baghdad and on and on it goes. And you'll be able to fully appreciate what he pulled off at the age of 16 -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, she won't ground him for life, just the next 20 years.

What is he, 16?

M. O'BRIEN: He's 16.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, 20 years will be fine.

M. O'BRIEN: Twenty years.

S. O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, we're going to check-in with our good friend Lizzie Malloy. Ever since hurricane Katrina swept through and devastated her hometown, she's kept a video diary for us. What were the holidays like there? We take a look just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: President Bush is on the offensive in defense of his call for wiretaps.

Here's what he had to say on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: The policy will soon be debated in congressional hearings. Debate, though, already raging nationally.

Jonathan Turley is a George Washington University Law School professor, also an interested defense attorney.

He is representing Ali Al-Timimi, a convicted Islamic cleric.

Nice to see you, Jonathan, as always.

JONATHAN TURLEY, PROFESSOR, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL: Good morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks for talking with us.

Good morning to you.

Your client, convicted of exhorting his followers after 9/11 to wage war on U.S. troops.

What makes you believe that he was a target of these warrantless eavesdropping by the United States?

TURLEY: Well, Soledad, there is an overlap in the dates. We know this operation was in full force during the period that we know Dr. Al-Timimi was also under surveillance.

Also, the phone intercepts that are described, in terms of what the type of things they were looking for, also overlaps with Dr. Al- Timimi.

And so we think there is a very good likelihood that he was intercepted.

But, you know, the key here is that, you know, Dr. Al-Timimi's case was controversial from the beginning. He was convicted of what's called "violent speech." He didn't take any action. He was convicted of statements made at a dinner. And this is adding to the controversy.

So what we are going to be seeking is to have the case returned to the trial court, to see if evidence was, indeed, withheld from his trial. It's a very serious matter.

S. O'BRIEN: So you're not claiming that your client didn't make those statements. You're saying that the evidence that showed that he made those statements may have been gotten illegally? TURLEY: Well, there are some statements that we definitely denied. But what we are arguing on appeal is even if those statements were made, American citizens have the right to state their mind. And when Dr. Al-Timimi said that Muslims should support Muslim nations, one of the key statements in this case, we believe that's a first amendment issue. And...

S. O'BRIEN: But you argued that already in the court, right?

So what we're really talking about here is how that information made its way into the court in the first place.

Do you think that he if, indeed, the information was illegally gotten, he should be freed?

TURLEY: Well, you know, ultimately we have to look at what information was withheld. You know, what we're interested in is there's obviously intercepts that we probably didn't see. Those intercepts might include exculpatory information. They may contradict the government's witnesses.

The point of a federal trial is that you don't hide the evidence. You don't play a shell game. You reveal the evidence to the judge and then the judge makes a decision of what she believes should be brought into the trial. That's the point of a federal trial. It's not some type of game.

And, you know, when the president says, well, this was a very limited operation, you know, it doesn't matter if it's limited or not. It doesn't seem limited to me. But it doesn't matter if you have a limited crime or a very extensive crime. Most academics -- I write in this area of surveillance and FISA and I don't see any question that this was a criminal operation.

And so whether it's limited or not doesn't make a difference.

And when the president describes the operation, he still doesn't seem to be describing the actual operation. The description he gave was what was considered lawful. He didn't do that. To the contrary, he changed it so that you intercepted calls originating in the United States.

And so this thing just seems to get worse by the day.

S. O'BRIEN: A question, though. At the end of the day, and we're not only talking about your client, but others, as well, who would sort of fall under this category, theoretically you could release terrorists who -- people who have been convicted even though they've been convicted, just the evidence was gotten illegally at this...

TURLEY: You know, Soledad, there's a lot of concern about that. And what I want to emphasize is two points.

One is, it is not clear that people are going to be released. When you have evidence like this, you could have a potential for a new trial. That's the nature of our system. The odds are that many people would be re-convicted in these terrorism cases.

But the second point is, you can't put a thumb on the scale in that way. You can't say well, gosh, we don't want to comply with the law because someone we don't like might be free. Then this whole rule of law that we're supposedly fighting for becomes something of a farce.

And we have to do it right. Otherwise, we're fighting for something that's deeply hypocritical.

But at the end of the day, many of these terrorism cases would likely go the same way. They might not even have a new trial. But the problem is we're committed to finding out as a nation and to guarantee that when we convict someone, we do it fairly.

S. O'BRIEN: Jonathan Turley is a law professor at George Washington University.

Jonathan, thanks for talking with us.

TURLEY: Thanks, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, the confusion over Medicare's new prescription drug plan. What are the problems you or your parents could run into when signing up?

Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Doesn't the park just look beautiful?

M. O'BRIEN: It's dog walking time, so be careful when you walk through the park later, if you know what I mean. Always look where you walk in the park.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Miles, for ruining what was really quite a picturesque little scene there.

M. O'BRIEN: Otherwise idyllic. Here I am, messing things up, so to speak.

Medicare. Would that there were a pill to take to understand the new Medicare prescription plan.

S. O'BRIEN: It's complicated.

M. O'BRIEN: Forty-seven options and you can't even get to the site, because it's overwhelmed by people who are confused. And so we're going to try to sort it out for u. We've got some -- an expert here who will give you some basic points to get you through this. You know, it's changed. It's new and a lot of it is just trying to get accustomed to the whole thing.

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