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American Morning

Battle Over Ports; Church Fires Arrests; Rash of Attacks in Iraq

Aired March 09, 2006 - 09:00   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. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Miles O'Brien.

Who will blink first? House Republicans defy President Bush over the controversial ports deal. And they are using Katrina relief as a bargaining chip.

S. O'BRIEN: It's a so called prank, but it's really a disturbing reality. Three Alabama college students now arrested for allegedly burning churches.

M. O'BRIEN: Bitter words at the Enron trial. The prosecution's star witness is called a greedy liar as the defense gets a little aggressive, shall we say.

S. O'BRIEN: And Kansas firefighters are trying to get the upper hand on a fast-moving grass fire before it's too late. We'll bring you up to speed on that story.

M. O'BRIEN: And some testing troubles for some high school seniors. Their scores on the all-important SAT, well, they weren't right.

A key U.S. House committee tossing a wrench into the White House's plans for that port deal. It says, push the deal and there will be no money for Katrina, Iraq, Afghanistan. Billions of dollars at stake here.

CNN's Chief National Correspondent John King joining us from Washington with the latest on this.

Good morning, John.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles.

This is a big deal. The White House being challenged on what is the president's calling card issue, national security.

The president wants that money you mentioned for Afghanistan, Iraq, Katrina relief. It's the traditional emergency supplemental budget, essentially the money you need to fill in the new bills the government has. And the House Appropriations Committee says, Mr. President, if you want that money, you also have to sign a bill that says this ports deal, letting an Arab company take control of six U.S. ports, will not go through.

Now, the White House hopes it doesn't come to that, but is another example of Republicans now lining up publicly, gleefully, to challenge the Republican president.

M. O'BRIEN: Interesting turn of events, John.

All right. The president said he will veto any bill that blocks this port deal. This may be one way to armor up a bill for -- to make it veto-proof by attaching it to all these other important projects.

KING: Well, they certainly hope at the White House, Miles, that it does not come to this. The House Appropriation Committee has voted this policy. There's no doubt that it has the votes to pass the House. There's even no doubt that it has the votes, the support, to pass the Senate.

The White House is hoping that cooler heads prevail, if you will, before that. But follow the reporting of this over the last couple of weeks. Dana Bash at the White house, Ed Henry on Capitol Hill, have been way out ahead of the story. And you have a dynamic where every time the White House tries to come up with a compromise or an alternative, or the company tries to come up with a compromise or an alternative, people in the House say, maybe, we'll look at it, and then say no.

The passions in this debate are overwhelming, what some say are the facts. And many say the facts support going forward with this deal. But I'll tell you, Miles, in politics, as you well know, sometimes the passions and the emotions can overwhelm any factual discussion. And that may be what we have here.

And there's a bigger picture, too. Again, Republicans are picking this fight with the president. It's not a fight they are going into reluctantly.

They are lining up and challenging their president. They think his political standing is low. They do not want to be beaten by the Democrats on the national security issue and on the economic issue of outsourcing. So it is a remarkable political fight.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, and let's remember, the president's poll levels are very low. Everybody in the House of Representatives is up for reelection. And there is not very much support in the American public for this ports deal.

So there you have it. That's the equation right there. It's pretty simple when you put it -- lay it out there.

KING: It is simple, and yet it is so simple that that is what makes it so complicated. Can the president pull a rabbit out of a hat here? Can he broker some kind of compromise?

Can he actually back away from this and let someone else broker the compromise? Because it is clear every time the president gets involved in this, the White House gets involved in this, they are only exacerbating the tensions.

Remember, the president said he would veto any legislation to block this ports deal. That angered Republicans in Congress, because many just at that moment were trying to bring about an alternative. And people got mad that the president was so defiant in threatening them.

Just yesterday in New Orleans, the president blamed Congress, again saying Congress has shortchanged the Gulf Coast when it comes to Katrina money. The president is picking a fight with them. They are picking a fight with him.

When it comes to the ports controversy, Miles, there's a new alternative put on the table by Senator John Warner of Virginia. Some say if you look at it on paper it looks great, but again, the emotions in this debate are overwhelming.

There is clearly support in the House for saying no, no foreign company will run U.S. ports. That would set off a domino effect because many foreign companies do run U.S. ports. But the emotions in this debate right now are not on the president's side.

M. O'BRIEN: It sounds like a full-fledged donnybrook, John King.

Thank you ver much.

Be sure to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, it may have started as a prank, but setting nine church fires in Alabama no laughing matter. Three college students are now facing federal charges in connection with these fires.

CNN's Fredricka Whitfield joins us live from Birmingham.

Hey, Fredricka. Good morning to you.

Give us a little more insight on these college students.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the news is just starting to really sink in here. Look at the cover of "The Birmingham News," where the three students are featured prominently in connection to the church burnings.

Yet yesterday, in the Birmingham Southern College student newspaper out yesterday on the very day that these students were taken into court, two of the students are profiled because of their acting prowess, the many awards they have received, and that they will soon be in their first full length feature film, and the students talk about how they and others should expect bigger and better things upon graduation.

Well, now, sadly, Birmingham Southern College is focusing on trying to rebuild the churches the students burned, allegedly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice over): One month after the first of nine Alabama churches were intentionally set, a stunning break that seemed to unsettle even seasoned arson investigators.

JAMES CAVANAUGH, ATF: I certainly still feel hurt for all the churches. And they lost their historic buildings. And I think I'm a little bit sad for the families of these three young people we've arrested.

WHITFIELD: The suspects, three college students. On the campus of Birmingham Southern College, where two of the suspects attended, disappointment and dismay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Huge shock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just absolutely shocking.

MARK DEMPSEY, BIRMINGHAM SOUTHERN STUDENT: It's kind of appalling, but, you know, I guess you're innocent until proven guilty.

WHITFIELD: BSC sophomores Ben Moseley and Russell Debusk have been suspended and are banned from campus. Both are described as outgoing and talented.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were good in the theater department. They were both theater majors.

MOLLY BYNUM, BIRMINGHAM SOUTHERN STUDENT: Ben is a really great guy, he's a really interesting guy. He sometimes sits on the step playing the guitar. He has a lot of friends.

WHITFIELD: Investigators say Moseley and Debusk, along with 20- year-old Matthew Lee Cloyd, who attended the University of Alabama- Birmingham, allegedly set the fires as a joke. But things got out of hand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the complaint, you'll see they said that after they lit the first two fires in Bibb County, that it became too spontaneous.

WHITFIELD: So to throw investigators off track, officials say the arsonists set fires in the Birmingham area and then moved west. But authorities say they left a trail, literally. Sets of unique tracks made by special-order tires traced all the way to Cloyd's vehicle.

TROY KING, ALABAMA ATTORNEY GENERAL: I stand before you today very, very proud of the work that law enforcement across this state has done. What they have done is just good old-fashioned police work.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The students are expected back in court on Friday -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Fredricka Whitfield for us this morning.

Fred, thanks for the update -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Another day of horrible violence in Iraq. A child killed in a bombing, a woman working for a humanitarian group gunned down on the street.

CNN's Aneesh Raman live now from Baghdad with more -- Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, good morning.

At least 10 people were killed in three separate attacks in the capital just a few hours ago. A car bomb detonating in central Baghdad, just outside the capital's Yarmuk (ph) hospital. The intended target was an Iraqi police patrol.

The target was missed. Instead, at least two civilians were killed.

Meantime, earlier today, in the western part of the capital, a predominantly Sunni neighborhood, a roadside bomb detonating there as an Iraqi army convoy passed by. Again, that target missed. Instead, civilians bearing the brunt of casualties. At least six civilians killed in that incident. One of them a child, and some seven others wounded -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Aneesh, tell us about this odd story about this Iraqi security firm, the apparent abduction of some workers there. It's kind of a strange one.

RAMAN: It is. Iraq's interior ministry is essentially baffled about what took place yesterday when 25 gunmen dressed as Iraqi police commandos, stormed a private Iraqi security firm in the capital, and they abducted up to 50 of the employees.

Now, Iraq's Interior Ministry has denied they were involved. But police who were actually on the scene didn't respond because they thought it was a legitimate operation given that everyone was wearing the uniforms of Iraqi police commandos. Ad there are some here suggesting that the Iraq Interior Ministry might have been involved because the firm employed a number of Sunnis, at least one that we know of that worked under Saddam Hussein's r regime.

So a huge number of questions that Iraq's government confronts. The Interior Ministry, Miles, has launched an investigation.

M. O'BRIEN: Aneesh Raman in Baghdad.

Thank you very much.

Let's get to Carol Costello in the newsroom now.

Carol, good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Miles.

Good morning to all of you.

President Bush signing the renewal of the Patriot Act today. Sixteen provisions of the anti-terror law were set to expire tomorrow. A compromise has been reached curbing some powers of law enforcement. But critics say civil liberties are still being stepped on.

The president now back in the White House after a visit to the Gulf Coast.

New Jersey police trying to find a 13-year-old girl. Their only clue so far, text messages sent from the girl's cell phone. Natasha Brownie (ph) was last seen on Monday. Her disappearance might be a hoax.

Brownie's (ph) mom says she doesn't care if the girl is lying. She just wants her to come home.

Prosecutors grilling Andrew Fastow in the Enron trial. He's set to be back on the stand later this hour. Part of Wednesday's testimony focused on founder Ken Lay. Fastow says Lay knew the company was falling apart back in 2001 but he lied to reporters, saying it's probably in the best shape it's ever been.

People outside of Wichita, Kansas, starting to clean up from a passive prairie fire. Officials say they now have it pretty much under control.

About 100 homes had to be evacuated. More than 10,000 acres were destroyed. A state of emergency has been declared.

And look, Ma, no hands. British police say they couldn't believe their eyes when they spotted a woman putting on her makeup while -- while driving. The car is moving in traffic on one of the most dangerous roads in Britain.

She appears to be steering with her knees. Actually, it captured her on a traffic camera, and they decided to fine her, even though they were really looking for speeders -- Soledad.

She was fined $340.

S. O'BRIEN: If you think about it -- $340? That's it?

COSTELLO: Her excuse...

S. O'BRIEN: Yes?

COSTELLO: She was late for a date.

S. O'BRIEN: Well. Oh, well, then of course. Come on.

The truth is, she is quite a good driver with her knees, if you they about it, really.

COSTELLO: Oh, that's so scary.

M. O'BRIEN: I think it's a good demonstration if...

COSTELLO: Oh, don't even say that.

S. O'BRIEN: No.

M. O'BRIEN: I guess you can't make that up, so to speak.

M. O'BRIEN: No.

Thank you, Carol.

M. O'BRIEN: Sorry.

S. O'BRIEN: Forecast now. Let's get to Chad at the CNN Center.

Hey, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It looked like she was driving on the wrong side of the road.

(LAUGHTER)

M. O'BRIEN: And that, too.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, between the two of you, enough already.

MYERS: Sorry. That was really bad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad. Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Chad.

When in doubt, kill the messenger. That's what I always say. We'll tell you why the defense secretary is targeting the media.

S. O'BRIEN: Also, some teenagers are blaming an SAT snafu for dashing their college dreams. We'll tell you exactly what happened.

M. O'BRIEN: And in "AM Pop," actress Kristin Davis will join us live in the studio. She has a furry new co-star. There he is.

The dog -- the dog did steal the picture. There's no question about it. I mean, she's good. And Tim Allen's good. But the dog, it's all about the dog.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: In New Orleans in the Lower Ninth Ward, more than six months after Hurricane Katrina, the goal now is to search for bodies which may be hidden underneath the rubble of that wrecked part of the city. But it hasn't been so simple. Some teams with specially-trained cadaver dogs are on site, but they're having some snafus with housing. And that may mean some of those teams will be headed out of town before they have the opportunity to do the job that they set out to do.

Joining us now from Baton Rouge is Louisiana medical examiner Dr. Louis Cataldie, who's been on our program many times.

Dr. Cataldie, good to have you back with us.

DR. LOUIS CATALDIE, LOUISIANA STATE MEDICAL EXAMINER: Good morning. Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: First of all, let's talk about this team in particular from Maine. I believe there are three dogs and three dog handlers. They had some snafu at their hotel room, as we just reported with Sean Callebs down in New Orleans. It seems to be just a classic case of confusion over who was paying for the room, who was securing the room.

Have you been able to rectify this thing at all?

CATALDIE: I visited with folks at the state this morning. And Dr. Cerise, the secretary of -- our secretary of health, has indicated that we will do whatever we need to do to maintain those rooms and keep those guys here. I can tell you they are a tremendous asset to us. I do not want to lose these guys.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. When last we checked, they were going to leave in about an hour's time. Have you had a chance to talk to them and assure them of this?

CATALDIE: I got a message to them hopefully just before I came on to this show. But I've got to follow up on that.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Let's hope -- we'll be quick with you so you can get to them before they -- before they start motoring toward Maine.

Let's talk about the big picture here. There is still a big job here as it relates to searching for bodies. A lot of people would wonder why -- you know, here we are six months-plus. Why is it taking until this moment? I know you've had some funding issues, but why has it taken until this moment for this to happen?

CATALDIE: Yes, I have had some funding issues, but, of course, at this point in time we are moving forward. And we don't want this mission to stall or stop.

If you have been to those debris piles, you can see that there's a tremendous job ahead that's going to require removal of many houses, to look under these houses, to look under their foundations. And it's going to be a very lengthy process, at best right now, given right now we're anticipating at least 90 more days in order to clear that area.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, I would think longer than that, don't you, given the amount of time it takes just to get through one house?

CATALDIE: Hopefully it won't take longer than that because, as you know, hurricane season is upon us.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh boy.

CATALDIE: And the last thing we need is, god forbid, another hurricane to come through that area.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, my gosh. I don't even want to think about that.

Let's talk about the numbers for just a moment. How many people are still considered missing? How many people do you presume to be trapped -- excuse me -- their bodies underneath that wreckage of what was neighborhoods of the Lower Ninth Ward?

CATALDIE: We're still at the family assistance center searching for 1,700 people, albeit 400 of those people have insufficient data. So we feel that we have right now 1,300 people we're searching for. But truly missing -- and I just left a meeting to confirm this -- we have about 300 to 400 people who we feel we should be able to find but we've not been able to find.

So we have to assume that they are truly missing. I will not venture a guess as to how many folks are trapped under debris and deceased in the Ninth Ward. You know, the mission would go forward if there was one person trapped there.

M. O'BRIEN: Dr. Cataldie, this is -- those are big numbers. And that represents a lot of families and a lot of heartache and a lot of tragedy. A lot of unresolved answers. You know, that trite term, "closure," whatever you want to say. And it's taken so long to get to this point.

What do you say to these families?

CATALDIE: Number one, I'm as frustrated as everyone else is. There is no way I can understand the amount of pain or experience the amount of pain they are going through. I can just tell you that I have worked nonstop since this thing began, and I'm going to continue to work to get some resolution for these people.

M. O'BRIEN: This is an expensive proposition doing what you're doing right now. And obviously, you don't have a lot of funding for this kind of thing.

CATALDIE: I believe the cost of this -- this mission is about $400,000. That's correct. And it is -- my understanding is that is FEMA-funded. So we're appreciate of that.

M. O'BRIEN: And the funding delay was on the federal or state level?

CATALDIE: I don't know. You know, I'm not the money man. And I don't know -- things go back and forth. The bottom line is, you know, we have the funding now and we're moving forward. I can't afford to fragment my troops. We've got to move forward.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. And you can't afford to waste another minute. You want those folks from Maine to stay in New Orleans. Why don't you get off the air and get on the phone.

CATALDIE: I appreciate that. Thank you, sir.

M. O'BRIEN: Dr. Cataldie, thank you for your time.

CATALDIE: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Dr. Louis Cataldie.

Always a pleasure having you with us -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: God, what a big task he has, certainly, isn't it?

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, we've got a new lead to tell you about in the brutal killing of a New York City graduate student. It took police to the apartment of a bouncer who has quite a murky pass. We're going to tell you about that this morning.

Also, the former governor of Texas, Ann Richards, has been diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus. We'll talk about some of the risk factors ahead.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: In this morning's "House Call," former Texas governor Ann Richards has cancer of the esophagus. She says it's a very treatable design.

Joining us this morning to talk about the disease is Dr. Harvey Pass. He's a thoracic oncologist at NYU Medical Center.

It's nice to see you. Thanks for coming in to talk to us.

DR. HARVEY PASS, THORACIC ONCOLOGIST: Good morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Sad news, and she says it is treatable. Is that correct? I mean, tell me a little bit about this cancer. You don't hear about it a lot.

PASS: Well, it's one of those that you don't hear a lot about because there's about 15,000 in the United States per year. And we usually think of it associated with people who are drinkers or smokers.

That's changing. I mean, we're seeing a different type of carcinoma of the esophagus. And with only 15,000, you don't hear much about it. But actually, it's the third most common cancer of the GI tract.

Treatable? Absolutely, it's treatable.

S. O'BRIEN: So that's good news. I mean, when she says it's treatable, the prognosis for the former governor is good?

PASS: Prognosis is good.

S. O'BRIEN: I mean, generally speaking, obviously. You're not treating her.

PASS: Depending upon her stage. I mean, in the patients who have early stage esophageal cancer, you can combine multimodality treatment with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy. And we have promising results.

S. O'BRIEN: Multimodality is doctor speak for you attack it on a lot of fronts, right?

PASS: Yes. That means putting them all together. But you've got to treat it aggressively. And I'm sure that's what she is going to get.

S. O'BRIEN: Why -- we know she is 72 years old, a former smoker. A former -- I guess recovering alcoholic, which I guess is all these red flags. As a doctor, you would say, you know, this makes her really a candidate for it.

Why the link between alcohol and this kind of cancer?

PASS: We don't really know, but we think that the alcohol may have some effect to increase susceptibility to carcinogens, things that cause cancer, on the lining of the swallowing tube. So...

S. O'BRIEN: So, is it environmental or is it biological? You know, is it just, well, if you're in a bar a lot, you're smoking a lot? Or is it the alcohol physically changes your body that makes you more susceptible?

PASS: It's a combination. Obviously, you have to have some inciting agent. But if you have something that makes that inciting agent work better, then you've got a problem.

S. O'BRIEN: In addition, there are risk factors, other risk factors that we should run through. Drinking alcohol, we mentioned -- poor hygiene, bad nutrition, stomach reflux. Explain the other ones. Stomach reflux, what is that about?

PASS: Well, heartburn. If you have heartburn and you have it on a chronic basis, you've got to be worried that the heartburn, the reflux, which means the acid in your stomach comes up in the esophagus, bathes those cells, can change those cells. And with time, can actually have a tumor develop that's a different type that's called adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. That's what we're seeing more now than the other type.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow. So it's less about the drinking and more about sort of high stress.

PASS: Exactly.

S. O'BRIEN: Because that's -- reflux is often related to high stress.

PASS: Exactly, in a different profile of patients.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow. That's interesting.

Symptoms I want to go through, because I know people watch segments like this and say, oh, my god, you know, this sounds like what I might have -- weight loss, fatigue, chest and back pain, and then bleeding. You know, in a way, kind of vague, like we talked about yesterday in the lung cancer symptoms. You know, weight loss, fatigue, those are very vague symptoms.

PASS: Very vague, but the key thing is that if you notice that you have any difficulty swallowing. I mean, it takes a while for the esophagus to actually get blocked. But if you have some difficulty swallowing or pain on swallowing, that's something that needs to be investigated.

S. O'BRIEN: OK. Now, let's say you notice that. Does that mean it's too late?

I mean, we talked, again, about that in lung cancer -- and you're an expert in that, obviously -- where by the time you notice the symptoms, honestly, you are probably out of luck. I mean, the numbers are bad. In esophageal cancer, is it the same thing?

PASS: Conventional wisdom says you have to worry more if you do have symptoms. But nobody should ever come away with the idea that just because they have symptoms that they shouldn't be treated or treated aggressively if they can tolerate it. They need to be treated and they need to be treated with hope that they could possibly have benefit from that treatment.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, boy, I certainly hope that that's what Ann Richards is going for. I know she is going to certainly get some of the best treatment she can possibly get.

PASS: Absolutely.

S. O'BRIEN: She's waiting to be admitted to the hospital.

Dr. Harvey Pass, nice to see you. Thank you for talking with us.

PASS: Thanks, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: From NYU Medical Center -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Soledad. Coming up, no love lost between the defense secretary and the media. That's not a news flash. But the war of words is escalating.

And later, Kelly Wallace will introduce us to a kid who says he couldn't get into his top college all because the folks who administered that SAT, well, they flunked.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Let's turn to Wall Street now, where the opening bell will be ringing in just a few moments. There it is.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

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