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American Morning

Sago Mine Survivor Update; Ninth Ward Demolition; Bird Flu Fears; "The Book Of Daniel" TV Show

Aired January 06, 2006 - 07:30   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Monoxide that's in his system. How is it going to work? How literally can it change things that may have already been damaged? We'll talk about that just ahead.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's oxygen at high pressure. Hopefully saturating those damaged organs.

And then we're going to go to New Orleans. The lower ninth ward. We talked about this earlier this week with the chief deputy to the Mayor Nagin there, Greg Meffert. This is the notion of when to roll the bulldozers. You see the debris there. This is lower ninth ward material blocking sidewalks, for example, streets. And the city is saying, you know, if the house is off the foundations and on a sidewalk or a street, we have the right to bulldoze it away without any real consultation to owners. And this is causing a huge controversy there, including lawsuits.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, you look at that house there. Is that house salvageable or is it not salvageable?

M. O'BRIEN: Exactly. I mean we . . .

S. O'BRIEN: And if that's the only thing you own in New Orleans, are you willing to walk away from it, you know, without anybody giving you any kind of confidence that one day your home will be rebuilt right there.

M. O'BRIEN: It's a difficult problem because you have, on the one hand, property rights, which are so embedded in our system. Then you have a city that is just trying to get back on its feet.

Let's get to Kelly Wallace now, get some headlines in.

Good morning, Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you all.

And we are beginning in Israel where Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is rushed back into surgery after a scan revealed more bleeding on his brain. The Israeli prime minister suffered a massive stroke on Wednesday. Earlier today, doctors had said Sharon remained in a medically induced coma. This impact of the medical condition of Sharon could have enormous implications for the political future of Israel and also on efforts to bring out a Middle East peace deal. Many Israelis see Sharon as their one best hope for working to achieve peace in the Middle East. President Bush is shifting gears after a week focused on Iraq. Today, he's touting the upturn in the U.S. economy. The president heads to Illinois to tour the Chicago Board of Trade. He will also give an address aimed at pressuring Congress to make his tax cuts permanent. CNN will have live coverage of the president's remarks beginning at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

Jose Padilla, the terror suspect labeled an enemy combatant by the Bush administration, is set to appear in court today. Padilla was transferred from military custody Thursday by helicopter. He made a short appearance before a judge after more than three years in custody. Padilla, you'll recall, was arrested back in 2002 for allegedly planning to release a radioactive dirty bomb. He's expected to be formally charged today.

And the possibility of a vote delay when it comes to the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court is apparently being floated by some Democrats on Capitol Hill. Alito's confirmation hearings are set to begin Monday, but aides to the senate minority leader say they may seek a one week postponement. The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Arlen Specter, says he hopes to have a committee vote by January 17th.

That gets you caught up. Back to Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Kelly, thank you very much.

One of Randy McCloy's doctors says he will leave no stone unturned to help the Sago Mine survivor, and that includes a chamber to cleanse McCloy's system of poisonous gases. Dr. Richard Shannon is treating Randy McCloy at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. He joins us this morning.

Nice to see you, Doctor. Thank you for talking with us.

DR RICHARD SHANNON, CHAIRMAN OF MEDICINE, ALLEGHENY HOSPITAL: Good morning.

S. O'BRIEN: There have been some reports that Randy was in a coma. Is he not in a coma?

SHANNON: I think that Randal McCloy has been under sedation since he's arrived here at Allegheny General Hospital. And when the sedation is lightened up, he certainly does move and bite down on his endotracheal tube and open his eyes. So I don't believe he's in a coma at this point, but he is being heavily sedated so that we can conduct our tests and we can keep him comfortable as he begins to recover from his injuries.

S. O'BRIEN: Have you seen any change worth noting in his condition since he's arrived at Allegheny General?

SHANNON: His condition remains critical, but he has been stable overnight. There have been no adverse events in that period of time. We've been able to complete his first hyperbaric treatment without difficulty. And, as we speak, he's undergoing his second treatment.

S. O'BRIEN: Tell me a little bit more about the hyperbaric chamber and what you're hoping to do by putting him in under these high pressure oxygenated treatments.

SHANNON: Well, hyperbaric oxygen delivery is used principally in cases of severe carbon monoxide poisoning like that to which Mr. McCloy was exposed. And the concept is to deliver oxygen dissolved in the blood in very high concentrations to the body's organs that have literally been deprived of adequate amounts of oxygen for prolonged periods of time. In addition, hyperbaric oxygen treatments are the fastest way to reduce the blood level of carbon monoxide.

But in this case, we're hoping that the treatments will particularly help in the recovery of any neurological injury that he may have suffered. And there is some evidence to suggest that treatment with hyperbaric oxygen may be helpful in these circumstances. And so that's really the goal of the treatment at this point.

S. O'BRIEN: And so if you -- potentially, you could be treated in a hyperbaric chamber and that could reverse the damage that the carbon monoxide has already caused to the organs? Is that the theory?

SHANNON: That's right. And, again, exactly how this sort of later use of hyperbaric oxygen results in improved neurological outcomes is not clear. But there have been several randomized trials which have illustrated that there may be some benefit. And again, I want to emphasize, this is usually in severe toxicity as is the case with Mr. McCloy.

S. O'BRIEN: The family members told us that Randal's been responding in some ways. And you mentioned some of those responses, too. Do you take those movements as a sign that he's in control or are these involuntary movements that would indicate brain function, do you think?

SHANNON: I think it's a little difficult to say right now because of the combination of the injury and the sedation that we're using. I think that over the course of the next several days, as we lighten up on the sedation, as we continue our neurologic evaluations, it will be much easier to tell. But I think we're still in the period of time where the injury is being stabilized and, hopefully, recovery will begin shortly and we'll have a better idea about just what, if any, neurological injury will be permanent.

S. O'BRIEN: Doctor Richard Shannon is the chairman of medicine at Allegheny General Hospital.

Dr. Shannon, we know you're really busy. We certainly appreciate you talking to us this morning. SHANNON: Sure. My pleasure.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin backs the city's plan to demolish hundreds of damaged homes without the owners consent. That plan has led to a lawsuit which goes to federal court today. But it also led to an angry confrontation on the streets of the city's heavily damaged ninth ward. Gulf Coast Correspondent Susan Roesgen joins us now from New Orleans lower ninth ward.

Good morning, Susan.

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

You know, the city says it doesn't have to demolish a lot of these homes out here in the lower ninth ward because the flood demolished them. But some people say the city shouldn't do anything, shouldn't even touch this area, until the people who live here decide what they want to do.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROESGEN, (voice over): Four months after New Orleans lower ninth ward was completely walloped by Katrina, there are signs of life and protests.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, who's the supervisor? Who's the supervisor?

ROESGEN: On Thursday, community activists and homeowners were infuriated to learn that work crews were out clearing sidewalks. The protesters claimed houses were also being swept away in defiance of a court order in place until a lawsuit over which homes should be demolished is resolved. The protesters confronted the workers and one of the workers confronted our camera. Eventually, the workers gave in and a half dozen federal agents escorted the big equipment away.

But an underlying issue remains, where and how much to rebuild of the lower ninth ward. Many homes here belong to poor African- Americans and some suggest the city is trying to keep them from coming back.

GRETA GLADNEY, HOMEOWNER: The mayor and others have said they don't want entrenched poverty. And by keeping poor folks from coming back, that eliminates some of that problem. They don't have to deal with providing services to poor people and many of them, the majority of them, are African-Americans.

ROESGEN: Greta Gladney is fixing up her home even though she's afraid it might eventually be torn down. She is part of the lawsuit demanding a say in what happens to her neighborhood. Bill Quigley is representing the homeowners.

BILL QUIGLEY, ATTORNEY: Even if it looks like a pile of rubble to other people, it's people's most treasured possessions and they have a right to at least have notice that it's coming down so they can have a chance to get there and take their stuff out of it or be able to challenge it if, in fact, they think it's a mistake.

GREG MEFFERT, NEW ORLEANS CITY OFFICIAL: This is a perfect example of what we're talking about. ROESGEN: Greg Meffert, who's office will overseen the demolition, says the city only plans to knock down what's left of homes that can't be saved, not destroy the neighborhood.

MEFFERT: I understand that fear. Believe me, I get calls every day about that fear. But it's not tied to what we're doing. The city just needs to get back to the point of stop playing victim and start the rebuilding. And if you can't start here, where do you start?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROESGEN: And that is exactly what the city will argue in federal court.

Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, here's the thing. You know, we all know about property rights, but we also know that if there's a specific hazard, the city does have a right to tear down property, remove it, or get rid of that hazard one way or another, right?

ROESGEN: Absolutely. The city has that right without the consent of the homeowner. But still the homeowners are going to argue, look, we deserve a voice in what happens to this area and they want the city to give it to them.

M. O'BRIEN: Susan Roesgen, at the lower ninth ward, thank you very much.

Coming up in our next hour, we'll talk with one of the attorneys for those ninth ward residents who are fighting the planned demolition.

Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's get a check of the weather. Chad Myers is back and he's got that. He's at the CNN Center this morning.

Hey, Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, new bird flu worries. For the first time ever, human deaths are reported outside of East Asia. Is it just a matter of time before it hits the U.S.?

S. O'BRIEN: Also the controversy over the new TV show "Book of Daniel." Does it show a bias against Christians?

M. O'BRIEN: And starting this year, we'll see about that, credit card companies are hiking your monthly minimum payments. We'll tell you why that's actually good news, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Well, is the bird flu headed our way? Is it a matter of if or simply when? We ask on the heels of the death of an 11-year-old girl in Turkey, the third death there linked to the bird flu. The bird flu coming out of East Asia for the first time. Dr. Anthony Fauci is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He joins us from Washington to shed some light on all of this.

Dr. Fauci, good to have you with us.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Explain the significance of these deaths in this location.

FAUCI: Well, what we're seeing is essentially a movement of the bird flu, which is an infection among birds, which is highly lethal among birds and rarely, as we see in this case, jump species from birds to human. We've been focusing on Southeast Asia where there have been over 140 cases and over 70 deaths. What's significant about this is something that actually was predictable. That following the root of migratory birds, the chickens now in Eastern Europe, for example in Turkey and in Romania, have new gotten infected with H5N1, which is the designation of the bird flu.

The two children in Turkey were the first non-Southeast Asian victims of bird flu that jumped from the birds to the humans. So we have been talking for some time now as you get migratory bird spread from one region of the world to another, that it is not at all surprising that, a, that we're seeing bird flu in these countries and, b, that we're seeing the unusual or rare case of it jumping species, in this case to the 14 and 15-year-old siblings in Turkey.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, and let's make it clear for people at home that these children were in direct contact with poultry which apparently were ill.

FAUCI: Absolutely.

M. O'BRIEN: And that is a key point, isn't it?

FAUCI: Well, it's a key point and that's essentially the way the vast majority, the overwhelming majority of cases, occurred in Southeast Asia. You have children either playing in their backyards where you have free roaming chickens with chickens that were documented to be sick with H5N1. The family ate the chickens themselves, perhaps even poorly cooked, which compounds the problem. But you don't even need to invoke that. You just need to invoke the physical proximity between children or anyone who are in their backyard or on a farm or what have you and come into close contact with sick birds, which is what we saw in Southeast Asia and what we've now seen in Turkey.

M. O'BRIEN: The concern for pandemic comes when a virus mutates in such a way that it can be spread and spread easily, I should point out, human-to-human. There's really no way to predict when that will happen, is there? FAUCI: It's entirely unpredictable. First of all, if it will happen and when it will happen, because it's entirely conceivable that this virus will never achieve the capability of jumping or spreading in a sustained, efficient manner from human-to-human. And right now it's extremely . . .

M. O'BRIEN: Dr. Fauci, what is the likelihood of that? Because everything I've read has said it's just, you know, these viruses will, in fact, mutate over time. Or is it a slim likelihood it will stay within poultry?

FAUCI: You cannot put a number on it. And we've learned through decades of experience with influenza and it's seasonal variety and in the unusual case where you have a pandemic flu. We had three of them in the 20th century. It's entirely unpredictable. Right now it's been around for several years. The first H5N1 was first in Hong Kong in 1997.

So you could argue, on the one hand, that it's been around that long and it hasn't happened so, therefore, it might not be genetically capable of ever going efficiently from human-to-human. On the other hand, can you make the argument, as long as it's still percolating around, you're still giving it the opportunity for those mutations. So it's really folly to try and put a number on it.

I wouldn't, for the general public, be instilled with any fear or any overwhelming concern about it for the public health officials who have to do the preparedness. We should prepare for the worst case scenario. The general public should not assume a worst case scenario, but in your preparations, that should be the driving force, even though one can say it's probably unlikely that the very worst case scenario will occur.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Dr. Anthony Fauci. It's hard really to assess it all, isn't it? So many variables. Thank you for your time.

FAUCI: You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: Andy is "Minding Your Business" just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

What you got coming up?

ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, two more public relations black-eyes for Wal-Mart. One's sort of silly. One outrageous. Stay tuned for that coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, Wal-Mart. Tough times for Wal-Mart. Let's talk about that with Andy who's "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Good morning.

SERWER: Good morning, Soledad. And this company just seems to get more gaps going than is imaginable really. First of all, Wal-Mart investors were treated to a little quirky holiday cheer recently when they called up and listened to a weekly recorded sales call and heard a remake of the Christmas ditty "Up on the Housetop" that kind of made fun and made light of the company's financial performance which has been, at best, mediocre. The lyrics, I won't sing it because we have a ban on that. Ho ho ho, wouldn't you like to know, just by our stock, don't sell, sell, sell. Maybe not so funny considering the company's stock has gone from the mid 50s to the mid 40s. As you can see here, it has been one of the worst performers on the Dow Jones Industrial last year. People don't like that.

S. O'BRIEN: Not so hysterical if you're an investor.

SERWER: Yes, exactly. And so that's the silly one. Now here's the seemingly outrageous one.

And this happened yesterday. Customers and bloggers at Wal- Mart's website noticed that if you were looking to buy certain movies on the website, it was directing you to certain other movies. And the link between these two movies was seemingly racist and very offensive.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, you've got to spell it out better than that.

SERWER: I will do that. I will tell you. The movies were "Planet of the Apes" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." And it would then . . .

S. O'BRIEN: So you typed those in. You wanted to go buy those.

SERWER: You type those in. You want to buy those.

S. O'BRIEN: And then you do - and you also might like.

SERWER: Right. Exactly. Like Amazon does. It's a technique called mapping and websites do this. And it was suggesting if you liked "Planet of the Apes" or "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," you might like other films that were African-American related. For instance, the story of Martin Luther King or the boxer Jack Johnson. And you can see this is just outrageous.

S. O'BRIEN: OK. But what does "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" have to do with African-Americans or "Planet of the Apes"?

SERWER: Right. Well . . .

S. O'BRIEN: There are not any African-American actors in either of those movies. Huh?

SERWER: Right. Well, and the company said it didn't -- it had no idea how this seemingly random linkage occurred but it had corrected it. And, you know, probably this is just some sicko working at their website doing this.

S. O'BRIEN: That's disgusting. SERWER: It's just really crazy stuff. Anyway, they fixed it.

S. O'BRIEN: But they haven't fixed the stock issues, though?

SERWER: No, they haven't fixed that.

S. O'BRIEN: Those other problems.

SERWER: Yes, exactly.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. Andy, thanks.

SERWER: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: NBC is premiering a new religious drama, it's called "The Book of Daniel," tonight. And controversy has preceded it. Is it anti-Christian? CNN's Brooke Anderson has more on the network's leap of faith.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARRET DILLAHUNT, ACTOR: I thought you were cutting back on those?

AIDAN QUINN, ACTOR: I have to play golf later.

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): The NBC drama "The Book of Daniel" is about an Episcopalian minister with an addiction to pain killers who has frequent conversations with a contemporary Christ.

QUINN: I don't know what to do about Grace.

DILLAHUNT: She'll be fine.

ANDERSON: Reverend Daniel Webster, played by actor Aidan Quinn, seems to be in search of grace as he copes with his dysfunctional family. Including a daughter's recent drug arrest, his son's sexuality and a wife's reliance on early afternoon martinis.

SUSANNA THOMPSON, ACTRESS: I'm having a martini. It's the weekend, it's afternoon, I'm having a martini.

ANDERSON: Not surprisingly, some Christian groups say they're offended by the show. The American Family Association, a conservative Christian organization, I asking its members to petition their local affiliates not to air the program. Its chairman, the Reverend Donald Wildmon, released a statement saying, "the decision by NBC to air the series reflects the anti-Christian bias which exists at the highest levels of the network."

Two NBC affiliates in Arkansas and Indiana have already announced they won't air the series. But the creator of "The Book of Daniel" is urging viewers not to rush to judgment. JACK KENNY, CREATOR, "THE BOOK OF DANIEL": I hope that the people who are thinking about not watching it or are determined not to watch it will open up their minds and their hearts and give us another chance and take a look at it and watch two or three episodes and I bet we'll pull you in.

ANDERSON: NBC is betting on that, too.

QUINN: Let us rise for the procession of faith.

ANDERSON: Brooke Anderson, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Well, Tivo it and you be the judge. How's that?

S. O'BRIEN: Sure. I mean, I don't know, it doesn't look that - outside of all the controversy, it looks boring anyway.

M. O'BRIEN: There you go.

S. O'BRIEN: It may not be worth watching.

M. O'BRIEN: Suffice to say, I'm really not going to Tivo it.

S. O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, Chris Rock was one and done as the host of the Oscars. Now John Stewart's getting the gig. But is "The Daily Show" host right for the job.

And pop ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is back on the operating table right now. Doctors are performing emergency brain surgery. They're trying to stop the bleeding. We're live in Jerusalem with the very latest on this developing story.

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