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American Morning

Bird Flu Outbreak; Cruise Ship Mystery

Aired January 11, 2006 - 06:29   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Senators reload with more questions for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito with another long day of hearings expected today.
Bird flu fears increase overseas. A growing outbreak in Turkey threatens to spread even further. We're going to take you there for the very latest.

And in a serious death on the high seas. Was a young groom murdered on his cruise ship honeymoon? Details ahead.

ANNOUNCER: You're watching AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's good to have you with us on this morning.

That bird flu outbreak in Turkey could get even worse. Experts now say the disease poses a serious risk to farms in neighboring countries. But just an hour ago, the World Health Organization told Europeans not to panic. It says the worst situation could be a panic.

This comes as around 100 possible new cases are being investigated in Turkey. Fifteen cases are already confirmed.

CNN's Paula Newton has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Ankara, health officials are really keeping their fingers crossed. It does not seem that the human cases at least that any of the patients' conditions have worsened. Everyone remains in stable condition.

The number that remains in hospitals is still 13 that have confirmed cases of H5N1.

Now, there are dozens more cases that are suspected, although those are in labs and being tested. They don't believe that many more of those will come back positive.

In the meantime, the culling continues of hundreds of thousands of birds. They really in the last 48 hours stepped up the culling. And we are hearing, really hourly, that there are more culls going on around the country. On the advice of the WHO and the European Union they are being much more aggressive than they even thought they needed to be two or three days ago.

The key here is health officials are telling everyone that if you eradicate the illness in the poultry there is much less change of any kind of transmission to humans.

DR. MARC DANZON, EUROPEAN REGIONAL DIRECTOR, WHO: The people of the country, mainly in infected areas, need to perfectly understand that the danger is a contact between a sick or dead poultry and a human being, mainly a child.

NEWTON: There was earlier criticism that people just did not know that sick birds could in turn make them sick or kill them. And so at this point they're telling many, many people, look, if you've got a sick bird, please surrender it. In the meantime, do not handle the poultry. Don't let your children anywhere near it.

The border countries here are starting to panic a little bit. A lot of people are talking about perhaps having restrictions in traveling to Turkey. This is really the worst-case scenario for Turkey. They really depend not just on the trade but the tourism trade here. And they really do not want this to go any further.

Paula Newton, CNN, Ankara, Turkey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Let's check some other headlines with Carol Costello.

Good morning, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Miles. Good morning to all of you.

It is round two for Judge Samuel Alito. In just about three hours, the Supreme Court nominee will face the Senate Judiciary Committee for another day of tough questions. Alito walked a careful line Tuesday, telling senators he would approach cases related to abortion with an open mind. Stay tuned to CNN for complete coverage of today's hearing. "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer opens at 9:30 Eastern.

President Bush is talking on Iraq today, but his focus is on the fall elections here in the United States. His handling of the war is a big issue in Louisville, Kentucky, as it is across the country. The Republican incumbent there is being challenged by a Democrat who served in Iraq and says the war was a mistake. The president will try to sway voters' opinions.

Doctors are planning to take Iraqi Prime Minister Ariel Sharon off all remaining sedatives today, one week after he suffered a massive stroke. The prime minister has started moving both hands. That's significant because he seems to be using a part of his brain damaged by the stroke. Doctors say his vital signs are normal, and there is no immediate danger to his life. But they won't be able to make a full assessment until he comes out of a medically-induced coma.

We're hearing the 12 miners at the Sago Mine in West Virginia tried to escape. A family member telling the Associated Press the men had tried to bulldoze their way out in a mine car. And when that failed, they apparently barricaded themselves behind a makeshift curtain. The sole survivor, Randy McCloy, is still in a coma this morning. But doctors say tests show his brain is working, and they do remain hopeful.

And happy New Year. You're suspended. That's what hundreds of students were greeted with as they returned to school after the Christmas break. The superintendent at the Lancaster School District in Texas says he suspended as many as 1,000 students for not turning in a holiday homework assignment. The kids were from sixth grade on up to twelfth. He says mandatory homework during winter and summer breaks will continue until students in the district are reading above grade level.

And he means it, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, I always wanted to get suspended and never did.

COSTELLO: Oh, come on!

MYERS: Because you can stay home.

COSTELLO: Not if you have in-school suspension. That stinks.

MYERS: No, that would really be awful, wouldn't it? You've got to go in and sit there.

COSTELLO: That would be like "The Breakfast Club."

MYERS: That would be worse. Exactly.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, the mysterious disappearance of a newlywed on a honeymoon cruise. Six months later his family demands answers and accuses the cruise line of a cover-up. What really happened that day?

M. O'BRIEN: And later, some really frightening news for pet owners. Dozens of dogs dying and getting very sick because of toxic dog food. We'll look at whether some of the contaminated food may still be in stores, and we'll let you know how to steer clear of it. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: A mysterious disappearance that we've been following has taken some new twists. Five months ago a young man vanished from his honeymoon cruise. The cruise line has just come out casting suspicion on some passengers. The man's family thinks the company is trying to cover something up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN (voice over): The wedding appears normal. Groom George Smith, seen here dancing with his mother. But the honeymoon cruise in the Mediterranean ended in horror and mystery. Was it an accident, or was it a crime?

BREE SMITH, BROTHER MISSING FROM CRUISE: My brother was murdered at the age of 26.

S. O'BRIEN: It's not clear exactly what happened to George Smith six months ago. What we do know is that he disappeared from the cruise. His family demands answers and accuses the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line of covering up a murder.

B. SMITH: It's for their public image. You know, they don't want people to be afraid to go on their cruise ships. It will affect their bottom line.

S. O'BRIEN: The mystery deepens with what appears to be a bloody handprint found beneath the decks of some cabins on July 5.

The bride, Jennifer Hagel-Smith, says the cruise line claimed her husband's disappearance was an accident. Hagel-Smith no longer buys that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When she left the ship, she thought that this was just an accident. And it's only been in the last several months that she realizes what happened in that cabin as far as all of the blood and the forensic evidence.

S. O'BRIEN: Hagel-Smith also claims the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line essentially packed her bags and through her off the ship in Turkey. She says -- quote -- "George's sneakers were appearing out of one of the bags that was just haphazardly thrown together, in an attempt to, I'm sure, get me and anything having to do with George and I just off the ship."

The family appeared on Capitol Hill, trying to get answers. And there's a lawsuit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're suing them for negligent security. And then we also have claims for what they did afterwards in covering up this incident and intentionally inflicting emotional distress on the Smith family by just portraying this as an accident when they knew better.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Captain Bill Wright is the senior vice president of fleet operations with Royal Caribbean. He's in Miami this morning.

Nice to see you, captain. Thank you very much for talking with us.

CAPT. BILL WRIGHT, ROYAL CARIBBEAN: Good morning, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Has there been a cover-up?

WRIGHT: Absolutely not. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is the facts of this case are that literally within an hour of first understanding that George Smith possibly was missing, the ship's captain informed the Turkish police. He informed the embassy in Kusadasi. One hour after that the corporate offices in Miami informed the FBI, who, again, informed the U.S. consulate in Kusadasi, and who also informed a vacationing FBI agent.

The Turkish authorities conducted a complete, full forensic investigation with the liaison of the FBI. We have cooperated fully with the FBI from day one.

And that this could in any way be portrayed as a cover-up is just simply almost, I would have to say, absurd.

S. O'BRIEN: The captain from the very beginning -- excuse me -- seemed to speculate that he thought it was an accident. Do you think that when he said that from the very get-go of this investigation that, in fact, it affected what the Turkish authorities did and what the FBI did?

WRIGHT: In no way. It is correct that the captain is required to submit an official report called a Maritime Casualty Report. And in that report he is required to give his best estimate of what happened or his opinion. And in that very initial report at the time with the information that he had available, his opinion was that this perhaps was an accident.

But, again, the FBI and the Turkish authorities were contacted immediately. A full forensic investigation was conducted. They took photographs. They took blood samples. They took evidence from the room. They fingerprinted the room. And, you know, again, it was complete. It was with the liaison of the FBI, and in no way could represent anything that was close to a so-called cover-up.

S. O'BRIEN: Part of the family's, it seems, story in thinking that this is a cover-up is this: They say there was blood in the cabin. There was blood on the balcony leading down from the cabin. And there had been calls about noise. Some had been characterized as furniture moving or even fights, but generally noise within the cabin from rooms on both sides of the cabin.

They say, how could someone look at those three things and not say, wow, this could be foul play, by saying, oh, it sounds like an accident, in fact, is a cover-up on the part of Royal Caribbean?

WRIGHT: OK, a fair question, Soledad. The reality is, is there was only one call that came to the ship -- to the ship's officers. That was from a cabin next door to the Smiths. The guests at 4:05 in the morning specifically called the purser's desk and said that he had a noise complaint. There was a party -- and these are his words, and this gentleman is an assistant, I believe, police chief -- that there was a party going on next door. He characterized it as a drinking party, not as a confrontation. Nothing other than a loud noise, a party going on, I can't sleep, please help me out.

Our security staff showed up. When they showed up at the scene, the noise was gone. There was no indication of anything amiss. And they left the scene.

This same guest also stated that he had pounded himself on the door or the wall between his cabin and the Smiths' cabin. And upon doing so the noise and the party seemed to start breaking up.

So, there was no indication that anything was wrong. This was a very simple noise complaint that happens at any hotel and on our ships at a given time.

S. O'BRIEN: Let me ask you about...

WRIGHT: So, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

S. O'BRIEN: Let me ask you about the young men who were taken off the ship. A couple of days after George Smith goes missing, there are four men who appear to be implicated in some kind of sexual assault or alleged rape. They are taken off the ship. It turns out these are the same guys, or some of them, are the same guys who apparently were the last people to see George Smith alive.

The family says, why do we not know this information? Why do we find this information out in press reports? Why is Royal Caribbean not being forthcoming with this sort of information that at its surface at least is suspicious?

WRIGHT: OK, well I'd certainly be happy to answer that, because it's very important to note in this entire case, and that's why we are more or less dismayed at the Smith family's and their attorney's need to come out with information. The FBI requested of us, because there is an ongoing investigation, that we refrain from commenting on the incident itself. And we respected that request. And we had hoped and thought that the Smith family themselves were respecting it.

So, we were not able to comment on it and have refrained from doing so.

However, it is correct to say that there were some of the same gentlemen that accompanied George Smith back to his cabin on the morning of July 5 were also subsequently -- and the date was actually -- the accusation came three days later on the 8th of July -- were dismissed from the vessel by the captain because of a completely separate and different incident, which was the accusation of a sexual assault.

S. O'BRIEN: Captain Bill Wright is the senior vice president of fleet operations with Royal Caribbean. Thank you for talking with us this morning.

WRIGHT: Thank you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Obviously a complicated story, a complicated investigation. You'll want to watch an in-depth follow-up tonight. The story is going to be on "PAULA ZAHN NOW," and that's tonight at 8:00 Eastern Time.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, look who dropped in. Andy Serwer is here.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: I just happened to come over.

M. O'BRIEN: Just happened to drop by, little words, a few words from the business world.

SERWER: Yes. What's the hottest company in the land, you guys? I've vote for Apple Computer. We'll tell you what Steve Jobs is up to next.

M. O'BRIEN: Google?

SERWER: No, hotter than Google. That's right. Stay tuned to AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SERWER: She has the moves.

S. O'BRIEN: A little Nellie Furtado singing.

M. O'BRIEN: Very nice.

S. O'BRIEN: Better on CD than live.

SERWER: I like Nellie Furtado.

S. O'BRIEN: Remember...

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: ... we saw her live at the (INAUDIBLE).

Anyway, business news now. Andy is "Minding Your Business." First, though...

SERWER: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: ... actually, we're going to get a check of the headlines. And Carol has got that.

Good morning again.

COSTELLO: Good morning. There's no camera pointed at me and no lights.

M. O'BRIEN: And Carol could do that, except there's no camera, there's no lights.

SERWER: Oh, no.

S. O'BRIEN: Act it out. There you go.

COSTELLO: There I am.

M. O'BRIEN: Imagine some headlines if you will read by Carol. There she is.

COSTELLO: There I am. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us.

In less than three hours, Judge Samuel Alito starts up another marathon session before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Supreme Court nominee waded through numerous questions Tuesday. Many of them focused on abortion rights and presidential power. How Alito did is in the eye of the beholder. Republicans say there's no reason to block his confirmation. Some Democrats say his answers are vague and inconsistent.

Live coverage of the hearing is coming your way at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. That's with Wolf Blitzer in a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM."

President Bush is back in front of an audience again today. He's delivering another Iraq speech, this time in Louisville, Kentucky, his second speech in two days. Yesterday he took on his war critics, saying some of them are giving comfort to the enemy.

Evacuations are now under way near Denver, Colorado. A wildfire there has already destroyed more than 2,000 acres. These are new pictures that just came in to us. Firefighters say they're worried about strong winds pushing the flames into neighborhoods, neighborhoods with more people, possibly causing a lot more damage.

Florida police are questioning a suspect in a 10-hour standoff near Walt Disney World. A couple had tried to rob a bank. And when police arrived, the would-be robbery turned into a hostage situation. The suspects traded one of four hostages for cigarettes and a lighter, and then they traded another for a promise that police would back off from the bank. In the end, a police team broke into the bank, killing one of the suspects. None of the hostages were hurt.

Las Vegas police looking for the man seen in these surveillance pictures robbing a casino on Tuesday. You see him wearing a baseball cap. He's also wearing a wig. Police say he's about 6 feet tall, in his late 20s. And then you see him running out of the casino with a bag of cash firing several rounds at security as he fled the scene. Look. He's shooting as he runs. One officer was hit in the leg. The suspect also dropped some money during his escape. It is unclear how much cash he actually got away with.

And all of those tabloid pictures of Angelina Jolie's tiny bump, they're confirmed, because she is pregnant. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are expecting a baby. Jolie confirming the pregnancy to "People" magazine. That issue is set to hit the newsstands on Friday. We're still waiting for Jolie to confirm the news to CNN. But it seems Pitt will become a daddy one way or the other. He's in the midst of trying to become the legal father to Jolie's two adopted children, Maddox and Zahara.

To the forecast center and Chad.

MYERS: And in the old words of Jack Cafferty, Carol, I've got nothing.

COSTELLO: I know.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Chad Myers got nothing. That's a news flash right there.

When Steven Jobs speaks, people listen. The tablets came down from the mountain. He spoketh and he sayeth what, Andy Serwer?

SERWER: He sayeth a lot. I've got something here.

And sometimes you get the feeling that it's Steve Jobs' world, and we just live in it.

Yesterday the man in the black turtleneck rolled out a bunch of new stuff, including the first Apple computers run by Intel chips. This is big news in the world of tech, because previously Macs had only run on chips by Motorola and IBM. But they weren't fast enough or powerful enough for Jobs, so he switched over to Intel. All of the rest of the world's PCs run on Intel chips. So that's big new there.

And, of course, the iPod. He talked about that. No new models, just simply the sales figures: 42 million sold in total, 32 million sold last year, 14 million sold in the Christmas quarter, 850 million songs sold on iTunes.

And Apple stock, of course, has been streaking. Yesterday it was up even more, 6 percent, four times average daily volume. You can see, this is just one year where it's gone from 30 to 80, an all-time high. And this is great news for investors obviously, but also for Steve Jobs himself, whose stake in the company is now worth $800 million. He traded in some options for some restricted stock.

There he is with that black shirt. He always wears that.

S. O'BRIEN: That's all he ever wears.

M. O'BRIEN: Is it the same shirt?

SERWER: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Same shirt, yes.

SERWER: Well, no, I think he's got a couple of different ones. He can afford it.

M. O'BRIEN: Right.

SERWER: But one analyst said, listen, $800 million is a bargain, because the market value of the company has gone from 7 billion to 68 billion over the past couple of years.

And then finally yesterday, this may be the best thing introduced the whole day, iPod jeans. We don't have pictures of them yet. Levis has announced jeans that the iPods fit in...

M. O'BRIEN: The iPod pocket.

SERWER: ... and they dock in, and they have some...

M. O'BRIEN: Well, here we go. There are some jeans right there.

S. O'BRIEN: Those are jeans.

SERWER: Well, those are just generic jeans.

M. O'BRIEN: Those are generic jeans.

SERWER: That's the jeans file.

S. O'BRIEN: Wait. They have a special pocket?

SERWER: That's a special pocket. It has a dock in it and a little controller. So you can just walk down the street and listen to your iPod and no one even knows. But they're cool jeans.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, of course.

SERWER: Right?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: And they're going to cost a couple of hundred bucks, no doubt.

S. O'BRIEN: But of course.

SERWER: Right?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, because they've got that extra pocket.

SERWER: That's part of the whole thing. Yes, the $200 pocket.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes, the $200 pocket.

M. O'BRIEN: How long before they're just implanted in our backsides, if you know what I mean?

SERWER: Or some other part of your body.

S. O'BRIEN: Stay out.

M. O'BRIEN: You know what I mean.

SERWER: How about your head? Anyway...

S. O'BRIEN: With the knob right here on your arm. SERWER: Yes, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: That sounds good. All right, Andy, thank you.

SERWER: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, have you heard about this book? It's called "A Million Little Pieces." We've got it right here.

SERWER: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Some people think, though, maybe a better title would be, a million little lies. We're going to take a closer look at the credibility of the best-selling author of this book. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Be sure to go to our Web site, CNN.com, for the very latest on this morning's top stories, including this one: Samuel Alito hearings once again. Yesterday Democrats through a lot of questions at the nominee. He was able to deflect most of them though. That's going to continue again, that Q&A, today.

Also, one of the most popular stories people are taking a look at, this one: a suicide pact in San Francisco. A 106-year-old woman and her caretaker, who is much younger, in his 30s, died together. Apparently they had a suicide pact in the home that they shared. This is one of the stories getting a lot of attention on our Web site today.

If you're about to head out the door, head for work or school, you can stay in touch with CNN and AMERICAN MORNING. Just log on to CNN.com and our pipeline video service. You can catch live commercial-free news updates throughout the day all there at CNN.com/pipeline.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, as we approach the top of the hour, let's check the forecast. Chad Myers at the weather center, he's got something, right?

MYERS: Good morning, Miles. I do, yes.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MYERS: The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.

S. O'BRIEN: Chad, thanks. Good morning, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

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