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American Morning

A Weather Wonder; Al Qaeda Looking for a Few Hundred Dedicated Workers; Casino Reopens in New Orleans

Aired February 17, 2006 - 07:00   ET

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


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Zain Verjee in for Soledad.

O'BRIEN: It is a weather wonder. Can't keep up with changing temperatures? Get ready for a cold snap to rival all cold snaps.

Meanwhile, a massive mudslide on the other side of the world in the Philippines. The search is on for as many as 1,500 missing folks. We'll have the latest on that ahead.

VERJEE: Texas police have some news for Vice President Dick Cheney. We're going to take a closer look at the results of their investigation into his hunting accident. We'll bring you a live report.

Help wanted: Al Qaeda is looking for a few hundred dedicated workers, but how good are the benefits?

O'BRIEN: And someone won't have to go to work next week. That's if they pick the right set of numbers. Record Powerball lottery is in the works, 365 million reasons to play rookie and to continue watching AMERICAN MORNING.

Stay with us.

We begin with that wild, weird weather. Is it possible lightning and thunder in Wisconsin in the winter? Tornadoes last night in Indiana? This is February. Much of the country is experiencing unusual weather patterns, to say the least, from a warm winter season, some would even say hot in some cases, to enough snow to build an army of snowmen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: When extreme cold butts head with unseasonable warm, well, let's just say they don't get along. Now those hard-headed competing weather titans are ready to rumble. First came the winter bob and weave after the warmest January on record, with temperatures eight-and-a-half degrees above average. A snowstorm of historical proportions blanketed the northeast. Nearly 27 inches fell in New York City. Days later, it was positively spring-like, temperatures in the 50s and 60s. Just as Punxsutawney Phil predicted, winter may be here, but just a shadow of its former self.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's my shadow I see. Six more weeks of mild winter there will be.

O'BRIEN: Indeed it was raining ice in Chicago, mild temperatures melting chunks of ice off the 100-story John Hancock building. And in Minnesota, ice fishing became just plain fishing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This one of the worst years that I've seen out here in a quite a while for this time of year.

O'BRIEN: But back to your corner, Phil, the gloves are now off, and the fireworks have begun. In Utah, they're digging out from nearly a foot of new snow. High winds and bone-chilling cold across the upper Midwest. Storms and high winds knocked out power to thousands of homes in Michigan overnight. The Chicago airport is a mess, and storms created havoc across parts of Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. Now those squall lines are headed east. So enjoy the warm weather while you can. That terror from the north, Arctic cold, is closing in fast.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Relatively speaking it's getting hotter Greenland. And scientists are saying it has a potential to become a catastrophic problems. An international study is warning now that from ice from the Arctic and in Greenland, ice that sits land on land right now, is melting very fast. And by the end of the century, this will cause the oceans to rise, and it could cause enough rise in sea level to cover huge parts of South Florida, and perhaps even portions of New York City. Some say nothing can be done to stop it. The next half hour we'll take a closer look at this study and what it all means.

VERJEE: A search is under way for survivors of a terrifying mudslide in the Philippines. A report says an estimated 300 people are dead, but there's no official death toll. Fifteen-hundred people are believed to be missing. The mudslide has buried three villages on the southern Letiya (ph) island in the Municipality of St. Bernard (ph) Town. More than 20 inches of rain this month triggered the flash flooding in the region. Poor road conditions are also making it really difficult for rescuers to even get to the area.

The vice president, Dick Cheney, is speaking today on home turf at the Wyoming state capital in Cheyenne (ph). The trip comes after President Bush says that he was satisfied with his VP's explanation for that hunting accident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: It was a deeply traumatic moment for him, and obviously it was a tragic moment for Harry Whittington. And so I thought his explanation yesterday was a very strong and powerful explanation, and I'm satisfied with the explanation he gave.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VERJEE: The Kenedy County sheriff, where the shooting occurred, says no charges will be filed. We go live now to Corpus Christi and CNN's to Ed Lavandera.

Ed, do we know when Harry Whittington's, the victim, will be released from the hospital?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, doctors here in Corpus Christi are talking like it could happen sooner than expected. They are waiting on the results of one final CAT scan. If they like what they see then, Harry Whittington could be going home, perhaps in the next couple of days.

But you know, he isn't the only one who feels like he's been peppered. The sheriff of Kenedy County, who conducted the investigation, has been pummeled with questions over the last few days about his investigation into this shooting accident. And even though he says it's over, the questions just keep on coming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF DEP. GILBERTO SAN MIGUEL JR., KENEDY CO. SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Well, of course, want to find out possibly everything we can about this. I mean, we can't just go in there assuming something.

QUESTION: To your satisfaction, are you satisfied that all of your questions have been answered?

MIGUEL; Yes, sir. No charges will be filed on anybody, and that's it.

QUESTION: Do you find it strange your agents were turned away at the gate?

MIGUEL: They weren't turned away. They were never turned away. Read the report.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Now the report doesn't shed any new light on exactly the circumstances around this shooting. But it's clear that the sheriff came to the quick conclusion that it was an accident after he spoke to one eyewitness and spoke to a friend who had spoken to some other eyewitnesses. And based on that, he decided to send his chief deputy to do the official interviews 14 hours later -- Zain.

VERJEE: What was the reason for that? I mean, why did the sheriff decide to have that interview done the day after the accident?

LAVANDERA: Well, he says that he felt very comfortable with the information he got from the one witness that he spoke to. And in speaking with his friend who is also a constable in this county. He says, look, it's a small community. We all know each other. He felt that the people that he had heard from were people he could trust. And because of that, he thought it was clearly an accident, in his opinion, and felt it would be OK just to send his chief deputy in the next morning.

VERJEE: Ed Lavandera reporting. Thanks, Ed.

It looks like the White House will escape a Senate investigation into the president's secret wiretap program. But a federal judge's ruling could force the administration to go public with certain details of the NSA eavesdropping program. Meanwhile, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee says that there won't be an investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R), INTELLIGENCE CMTE. CHAIRMAN: I believe that such an investigation at this point is -- basically would be detrimental to this highly classified program and our efforts to reach some accommodation with the administration. This program is one which I believe is vital for the protection of the American people.

SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D), INTELLIGENCE CMTE. VICE-CHAIRMAN: It is apparent to me that the White House has applied more than -- more than apparent to me that the White House has applied heavy pressure in recent days, in recent weeks to prevent the committee from doing its job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: Nonetheless, the administration did agree to give members of Congress more briefings on the specifics of the program -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: It's not your run-of-the-mill job offer. The salary is decent, the benefits surprisingly good. The only trouble is, from our perspective, is the job is with al Qaeda.

Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us live now from Washington with details of an actual al Qaeda employment contract. Hard to believe, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hard to believe, Miles. Very bizarre. But some disturbing new insight into the world of al Qaeda.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): So what does it take to be an employee of al Qaeda? The U.S. military academy at West point has released documents offering extraordinary details to answer that question. Military officials tell CNN they were chilled when they read a document known as the "al Qaeda employment contract," which they strongly believe to be authentic. It was seized after 9/11 in the home of an al Qaeda operative in Kandahar, Afghanistan. There is an al Qaeda vacation policy. Married members get seven days of vacation every three weeks. Bachelors get five vacation days every month. Requests for vacation travel must be submitted two-and-- half months in advance. Monthly salaries are spelled out, 6,500 Pakistani rupees, about $108 if you're married, 1,000 rupees, about $17 for bachelors. An extra 700 rupees per wife if you have more than one.

The contract requires al Qaeda members to exercise and stay healthy. But they also get 15 days sick leave a year. The document is one of dozens that special operations command asked West Point to analyze. The idea was to develop a better understanding of the al Qaeda network in their own words. And the contract requires, of course total loyalty, secrecy and adherence to jihad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: Miles, we don't know how many al Qaeda members actually ever signed this contract. But what the military says it is disturbing. What they remind us is four years ago, they didn't realize this even existed. They didn't maybe realize what an organized business venture al Qaeda was, and so their very concerned about they may not know now -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: I guess we should all be concerned about that. Thank you very much, Barbara Starr -- Zain.

VERJEE: Miles, coming up, scary news for millions of women using a popular birth control patch. Just ahead, a new warning about some dangerous side effects.

O'BRIEN: Also another step on the road to recovery. New Orleans Harrah's Casino reopens for the first time post-Katrina. But is it too big gamble with half the city still gone?

VERJEE: And have you seen this dog? Yes, Vivi, the wayward Whippet, is still missing. And a formal search is over. But what are her owners going to do now? We're going to speak to one of them, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Money, to be or not to be. To sleep perchance to dream. I think that's what Hamlet said. A dream of $365 million.

O'BRIEN: I just you to know, you are so classy. You really raised the bar on this program, in so many respects. I just want you to know that.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: I agree.

VERJEE: I just cram a few things and pretend like I know something. Onward and upwards.

O'BRIEN: We're just a couple of rubes (ph) besides you here.

VERJEE: Andy, you got some business news?

SERWER: I do. I want to start off talking about our parent company Time Warner here. You know that expression all over but the shoutin'? It appears, according to "The Wall Street Journal," that Carl Icahn has given up his attempt to take over Time Warner. Why? Because he couldn't get enough other investors to follow him, that's why. The paper is reporting that instead of trying to replace the entire 14-member board with a new slate of directors, he will only try to have five people elected who support him. And the paper reports that talks between the company and Icahn continue.

Meanwhile, this might be great news for Dick Parsons and other executives of the company, but for shareholders it may be another story. The stock has been retreating a bit this morning in European trading. That's because there's no one there exerting pressure, perhaps, on the executives to get the stock price up.

O'BRIEN: Right. You sort of predicted this. You felt like Icahn didn't have a very strong hand.

SERWER: I did. On the other hand, I've got to be honest, I also said I didn't think he would go away easily. So I'm sorry to say that that might not be correct. But I don't think it's completely over either. I mean, he's still trying to get the five people on the board. He hasn't said I give up, I'm walking away. It looks like he's partially capitulating. It's kind of unclear exactly where he stands.

O'BRIEN: Feels like a Trojan horse to me.

SERWER: It could be. It's hard to know.

A couple of other things we're watching this morning, you guys, Mastercard, the number-two card processing company, was set to go public this spring. Now they are telling us they will be postponing that IPO because CEO Bob Selander has prostate surgery. The purchase New York company that was founded in 1966, said he had surgery and his prognosis is excellent, so we wish him well.

VERJEE: Andy.

O'BRIEN: Thank you, Andy Serwer.

VERJEE: Thanks.

O'BRIEN: It's a big city we live in. Easy to get lost here in this city. Actually not that hard to get lost.

But if you're over at JFK Airport in the swamp, it's a different story.

Vivi is what we're talking about, Vivi the whippet, in town for the Westminster Dog Show. On her way home, or so it was hoped. One little mishap on the ramp, and Vivi has now vanished from her sky kennel. The search, the official search, called off. They have other things they have to take carp of over there. And now they are kind of just looking out for the dog in the course of their normal rounds.

Allan Chernoff picks up the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mike Pastore has been searching tirelessly for the now famous missing whippet. It's what he does for a living. He works for animal rescue.

MIKE PASTORE, ANIMAL CARE & CONTROL N.Y.: I think this dog is afraid. He's a little spooked at what's happened, all the stress that he's been through.

CHERNOFF: From the air and on land.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vivi!

CHERNOFF: The search for Vivi, formally known as Champion Boheim C'est La Vie (ph), continues.

(on camera): Vivi was supposed to have been on a Delta flight to California Wednesday. But according to an airport police officer on the case, the whippet made her escape while baggage handlers were trying to load her cage.

(voice-over): Owner Paul Lepiane is worried sick.

PAUL LEPIANE, VIVI'S OWNER: She could easily be hiding. Always a concern. They're going to get hit by a car somewhere if she gets out of the airport.

CHERNOFF: Delta Airlines will say only that it's conducting an internal investigation as to how the dog got loose.

(on camera): Kenedy airport encompasses about 5,000 acres, much of it marsh lands with tall grass, certainly not an easy place to find a dog.

(voice-over): Indeed, the police say Vivi was last seen heading into the marshland.

BO BENGSTON, VIVI'S TRAINER: The guy who almost caught her, the Port Authority guy who was very close to her, just a few feet away from her, he did the right thing, and he bent down and just acted like normal, and come little doggie, that kind of thing.

CHERNOFF: Now it seems everyone at JFK is searching for Vivi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Didn't see any dogs running around while I was pulling in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably went to the cafeteria.

CHERNOFF: That is everyone except the pigeons, who appear to be searching for their luggage.

Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Now Vivi's co-owner will be joining us in our next half to tell us what's next in the search for his wayward dog. We'll see how they're doing. I'm sure they're very concerned at this point -- Zain. VERJEE: Miles, coming up, a key sign of progress in New Orleans. The city's big casino opened its doors for the first time since Katrina. But are there enough people left in New Orleans to keep it going?

And later, should Gitmo be shut down? We're going to get a reality check on that scathing U.N. report. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Well, do you feel lucky? Harrah's in New Orleans sure does. Six months after Hurricane Katrina hit, the casino finally opened again for business.

Save bet Susan Roesgen is on the story for us. Susan, good morning to you.

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles. You know, tourism is the life blood of New Orleans, and so this means that at least one big business believes that tourism is coming back here. Harrah's Casino is gambling on gambling in New Orleans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROESGEN (voice-over): After nearly six months away, Nanita Jones was dealing cards again.

NANITA JONES, DEALER: Good luck!

ROESGEN: Loosening up her fingers and loving being back at Harrah's Casino.

JONES: When I walked down the street you know, for the last week, and they all see my badge, when y'all opening, you know, a lot of people ask me. It's going to be hectic, in a way, but I'm sure, you know, it's going to be fun.

ROESGEN: Sixty-five percent of Harrah's employees lived in areas hit hard by the hurricane, and so far only able to hire half of its work force back. Jones is lucky to be here, but her two teenage daughters still live in Dallas while she tries to find temporary housing here in New Orleans.

GARY LOVEMAN, HARRAH'S CEO: Welcome back. I'm really grateful to you for coming back.

ROESGEN: Harrah's CEO Gary Loveman says luring customers back is next.

LOVEMAN: We had a fantastic business here before the hurricanes came at the end of the summer. And we feel that, over time, that business will come back.

ROESGEN: Harrah's wants that business and so does Louisiana. In exchange for being the only land-based casino allowed in New Orleans, Harrah's must pay the state $164,000 a day, a payment Harrah's continue to make even when it was closed.

Now with three-quarters of the city's population gone, no one knows how many locals will spin the wheel again. Before Katrina, half of Harrah's customers were local. Then there is the question of tourists returning.

LOVEMAN: None of us can predict how quickly all of that's going to come back. But we're in this for the long haul. We're going to be here a long, time, and we think that over time, this will be revitalized. We're very confident about it.

JONES: Yes, ma'am!

LOVEMAN: And Nanita Jones is glad to be back.

JONES: It was hard for me. I mean, being that I had no sense of direction, which way to go. You know, so to get back to New Orleans, it's great. And Harrah's was the perfect reason to do that, to get back to work.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROESGEN: Harrah's Casino now is getting ready for the grand reopening. The first quarters will hit those slot machines just after noon today, Miles. And before the hurricane, Harrah's Casino took in about $30 million a month here in New Orleans.

O'BRIEN: I don't suspect it will be back at those numbers right away, but it's good to see they're opening.

Let's talk about the convention center, also opening up today. Of course, we all remember the convention center for very some negative things. The hope is to put a new -- well, change the image, I guess, huh?

ROESGEN: Absolutely, Miles. The convention center does open today with a jewelry show. And next weekend, then you're going to see a lot of Mardi Gras balls in the convention center. A real contrast to the human misery we saw there back in September.

Harrah's Casino city depends on the convention center to get conventioneers to stroll over here. It's not far away. The city depends on the convention center to fill its hotel rooms. So yes, you're right, we did see an awful scene there back in September, but the city needs to see some good things there coming up.

O'BRIEN: Susan Roesgen in New Orleans. And we'll be seeing her there in just a little while. We're going to all be going down to Mardi Gras where they say (FOREIGN LANGUAGE), "let the good times roll." The city is gearing up to do just that. Another term they like there is "Carpe Diem," a little Latin for "seize the day."

Fat Tuesday is Mardi Gras Day, that's Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, get it? It's only 11 days away. That's the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, and thus a day of great excess, historically. The question is, what will it be like this year? The party really begins to kick off tomorrow, because you can't just do it over a day. Marchers stepping out for the first of a dozen Mardi Gras parades over the next week and a half or so. The theme this year, appropriately, "May God bless New Orleans."

And AMERICAN MORNING, as we said, will be live from New Orleans Mardi Gras day, Mardi Gras -- we'll be there Monday as well, we'll be there Ash Wednesday, too. Soledad and I and the rest of the crew will be down there to see how the event is playing and we'll look at some of the neighborhoods where the parades will not be, and get you up-to- date on how things are there. It's really a mixed bag there as the city tries to come back.

Zain.

VERJEE: Miles, coming up, a frightening new warning about the side effects of a popular birth control patch. Millions of women could be affected.

Plus, what's really going on at Gitmo? A new report cites torture, and says the prison should be shut down. We're going to get a reality check from a journalist who knows Gitmo well. That's ahead, here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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