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American Morning

Patient Dumping; Missing Boys; Kidnapped Journalist; Too Much To Bear?

Aired March 24, 2006 - 07:30   ET

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

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: So cute.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, they are so cute.

ROBERTS: Just can't get enough panda.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: But they're also expensive. What's a zoo to do? Pay the high price? Get the initial bump in attendance?

ROBERTS: Yes. You know, one of the highest prices for keeping pandas is the price of bringing in all that bamboo that they eat, because that's all they eat.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: We'll, yes.

ROBERTS: Bamboo shoots.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: We'll talk about that a little bit later this morning.

First, though, a look at the top stories. Carol's got that.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I do. Good morning to all of you.

There has been an explosion in eastern Paris. We're following these breaking developments for you now. It apparently happened at the National College of Chemistry. Rescue officials and police are telling us that there are a number of injuries. Not a lot of details just yet. Of course, we'll bring you any new details as soon as we get them in from Paris.

International pressure mounting on Afghanistan to free a man on trial for converting to Christianity. The case has sparked an outcry in the western world. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice phoned Afghan President Hamid Karzai to press for the man's release, but senior Muslim clerics say if Karzai frees the man, they will incite followers to "pull him to pieces."

A former nightclub bouncer pleading not guilty in the death of a New York City grad student. Darryl Littlejohn is facing first and second-degree murder charges. He's facing them in the rape and killing of Imette St. Guillen. She was last seen leaving the bar with Littlejohn the night she was killed. Investigators also say cell phone records, fibers and DNA tie him to the crime. New Orleans is set to hold city elections next month, but some 13,000 people have been displaced by Katrina and Rita, many of them blacks. The NAACP says if voters have to make costly trips to New Orleans, that will be the equivalent of a poll tax. The group wants a delay. Jesse Jackson is set to make the announcement in just about two hours. He'll do that in Washington.

And check this out. One of the biggest building implosions in history happened just minutes ago. This is an old plant in Kannapolis, North Carolina. It was a paint plant. Two buildings came down in the implosion. A total of more than a million square feet of floor -- that's amazing, isn't it. I love watching that. This makes way for a new billion dollar biotechnology complex. I just can't understand, John, why this is so fascinating to watch, but I just love to look at it.

ROBERTS: People love implosions.

COSTELLO: I know.

ROBERTS: Now, I mean, that wasn't the most spectacular one in terms of, you know, the elevation of the building. But certainly in terms of square footage, that was pretty big.

COSTELLO: Absolutely.

ROBERTS: Thanks, Carol. We'll see you soon.

COSTELLO: A serious problem is cropping up in one of Los Angeles' most dangerous areas. Police say that they're seeing recently released hospital patients simply being dumped along skid row. Many of the patients are old and homeless and some have no idea how they got there. CNN's Chris Lawrence takes a look this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): So many patients have been dumped on skid row. The rescue mission installed outdoor cameras to catch them. This videotape shows a cab making a u- turn then driving out of view. A few seconds later, Carol Reyes appears, disoriented and wandering about in her hospital gown.

Did you ask the cab to take you here?

CAROL REYES, DUMPED ON SKID ROW: No.

LAWRENCE: Then why did he bring you here?

REYES: I have no idea. If I knew, I'd tell you.

LAWRENCE: Carol has no idea who paid for the cab.

Was this one incident?

ANDY BALES, UNION RESCUE MISSION: No, this is the third incident since last Wednesday. LAWRENCE: Andy Bales runs the Union Rescue Mission. He shows us its logs, documenting dozens of incidents where patients were dump on skid row.

BALES: We've got an ambulance with the name of the hospital on the side.

LAWRENCE: The hospital that released Reyes says patients should be discharged with dignity.

DIANA BONTA, KAISER-PERMANENTE: I want to apologize to this patient. I want to sincerely apologize.

LAWRENCE: Kaiser-Permanente and other hospitals are working with the mission to more closely monitor discharge policies.

BALES: And make sure you call ahead. We know we have a bed. We know they're going to be welcomed and treated with dignity. Don't drop them off like baggage.

LAWRENCE: Were you angry?

REYES: Yes, and I still am.

LAWRENCE: Why?

REYES: I don't like what's happening.

LAWRENCE: The Los Angeles city attorney is using these logs from the rescue mission as part of an investigation into patient dumping. But he says it's a hard case to prosecute because a lot of the victims are confused or mentally unstable.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: Chris' report first aired in THE SITUATION ROOM, which you can catch Wednesdays at 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

And coming up in our 9:00 hour, we're going to be joined by Andy Bales of L.A.'s Union Rescue Mission. You just saw him in that story. As well as L.A. city councilwoman Jan Perry (ph), who's just completely outraged about this whole situation. Both of them are going to talk to us about the problem this morning.

Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Well, police today are saying they just do not have a clue as to what happened to those two boys in Milwaukee. It's been nearly six days since anyone says they've seen either 12-year-old Quadrevion Henning, known as Dre, or 11-year-old Purvis Parker. Anne Schwartz is a spokeswoman for the Milwaukee Police.

Nice to see you. Thanks for talking with us.

ANNE SCHWARTZ, MILWAUKEE POLICE: Thank you, Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Tell us the latest. What's the latest on this investigation? Where do you stand right now?

SCHWARTZ: You know, I wish I was coming on your program this morning to break big news and tell you that we had something, and, unfortunately, we just don't. This is as though these boys have vanished, Soledad. We don't know where they are and we have very few clues and we don't really have any hard evidence that any kind of a crime has been committed.

Today we're continuing to search. We're getting hundreds of tips on the tip line that everybody's been so kind to put up on their news program and we're going to follow up on those tips. We're going to see if we can, you know, follow up on any of the possible sightings.

But, you know, when you have a story like this, especially when it reaches the national level, you start to get people who are seeing them everywhere. People will saying, I saw them at the mall or I saw them here and we have to check out every single one of those reports. And that's what we're doing that today, we're following up on over a hundred leads.

We now have a $23,000 reward available, which I believe this morning has probably increased even more. And, you know, as if the incentive of finding these two little boys and bringing them home wasn't enough, we're hoping that maybe that added amount, that, you know, more than $20,000 may inspire someone who may not have come forward before to come forward now.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Well, you know, you're exactly right. Let's hope someone's not waiting for the money to increase if they have any kind of information. Have you ruled out the fact that these boys maybe ran away? Or do you think you're now looking at some kind of wrongdoing? I mean, what's your gut tell you? What are you going on right now?

SCHWARTZ: We haven't ruled anything out, Soledad. But I'll tell you that typically in the cases of runaways, and last year in the Milwaukee Police Department we took more than 4,600 reports of missing juveniles, and in the majority of those cases, those kids come back and those kids typically come back within the first 24 or maybe 48 hours.

In this case, and these kids have no history of running away, they have no history of discipline problems in school. They're good kids. The families say not a problem. So we just don't -- we don't know what may have happened to them. It may have -- you know, the possibility of a run-away is usually the first 24 to 48 hours. Six days, going into our sixth day, just is leaving us all with a bad feeling. We want to find these boys.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Why was there no Amber Alerted put out for these boys?

SCHWARTZ: Soledad, this case does not fit the criteria for the Amber Alert that's put forward by the Wisconsin Department of Justice. The boy fits one of the criteria, which is that they are under the age of 17. However, there is no evidence that the boys are in immediate danger of great bodily harm or of death and we have no description of an abductor vehicle or an abductor that we can put out. We can't tell people what they're looking for.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Family members, as we obviously can all imagine, are just distraught. Let's listen to a little bit of what Purvis' mom, who's name is Angela Virginia, had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA VIRGINIA, MOTHER: If you see something, if you know something, please check your homes. Let our boys come home. I miss my son so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: I know you've had opportunities to speak to her and other family members as well. Are they cooperating? Do you feel good about what you're getting from the family members assistance wise?

SCHWARTZ: The family has been extremely cooperative. They've been cooperative. These are, you know, these are good people. We had a case yesterday in the city of Milwaukee where we had a young man who was beaten at a bus stop and died and the father -- the grandfather of Quadrevion Henning pulled me aside yesterday and said, could you get me the name of that boy's father? I want to go and share with him. So while he's in the middle of all of this, this is still something he wants to do.

We have no evidence that the boys had any kind of conflict at home and we have no evidence whatsoever that either of the families are in any way involved in this. They have been very, very cooperative with us.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, brings us back to square one. It's a complete mystery.

SCHWARTZ: Yes.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Anne Schwartz is with the Milwaukee Police Department. Thank you for talking with us and updating us on what you know so far.

SCHWARTZ: Thank you, Soledad. And, you know, we really appreciate the media attention. That's what we need is the picture of those boys out there and we need somebody to call.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Well, it's the least we can do. Thanks for being with us.

John.

ROBERTS: What a difficult case. The freeing of three hostages in Iraq has encouraged the family of Jill Carroll. She is the kidnaped freelance journalist. Her father says they take the latest development as "a good sign." A lot of people are pulling for her, including strangers. Here's AMERICAN MORNING's Dan Lothian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Jill Carroll's abduction has touched the heart of strangers. Some feeling compelled to put their thoughts in writing. "I see only good in Jill's lovely face," writes Keith Bramwell of Ontario, "and I hope that is what her captors see too."

The outpouring is chronicled and e-mails posted on the "Christian Science Monitor"'s Web site. That's the newspaper Carroll was freelancing for when she was snatched off the dangerous streets of Baghdad in January.

From the Arkansas mother of an Iraq veteran comes this. "My son returned from Iraq on December 22," writes Rebecca McCormick. "Since your abduction, Jill, we have been following your story and praying for your safety and swift release. Godspeed to you, honey."

Joe Williams, a war veteran from South Dakota writes, "as a soldier who served 13 months in Iraq, hearing that Mis. Carroll is being held captive has brought me emotionally right back there."

Others look up to offer inspiration. Kim Kambeck (ph) of Oregon. "I pray for you and think of you as a full moon rises. My hope is that you can see the moon and know how many of us on this planet are praying for your release and for your captors."

The e-mails come from across the country and around the world. Cambodia. Germany. Jordan. Switzerland. Sweden. And this from Omar Kareshi (ph) in Pakistan. "I am a Muslim, a Pakistani, and honestly my heart cries to see that some fellow Muslims have become so blind that they don't know who's their friend and who's their foe." She adds, "as Islam preaches, "killing one innocent human is like killing all humanity, and saving one is like saving all humanity" (Koran 5:32)."

The "Christian Science Monitor" says it's doing everything possible to win Carroll's safe release. Public service announcements produced by the Boston-based paper have run on television stations across Iraq. A widespread appeal in Arabic for her return. Everyone is working, hoping, and dreaming of a happy ending.

"I have a visual that always makes me smile during my prayer," writes Nancy Martin of Washington state. "It is of Jill sitting with a cat in her lap, home at last, reading through these many e-mails. Won't that be lovely?"

Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ROBERTS: The "Christian Science Monitor" says it has received about 2,300 letters and e-mails of support for Jill Carroll.

Let's check back on the weather now. Reynolds Wolf at the CNN Center in Atlanta with the latest weather update on what is proving to be a fairly chilly Friday morning.

Good morning to you, Reynolds.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROBERTS: Folks say that laughter is the best medicine. It might also be the cheapest. We're going to break down the cost of laughing in "Minding Your Business" this morning.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Pandas, on the other hand, not so cheap. And that actually, in all seriousness, could force the zoos to make pretty tough decisions. We'll tell you what they're dealing with.

And later, a Mississippi sheriff becomes a hero. It's likes playing Robin Hood. And now all those good deeds might cost him his job. We'll explain just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Ninety-five years old. My goodness.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Wow.

ROBERTS: He's almost as old as Fred Flintstone. He's almost prehistoric.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Almost as old as the guy who had his last day yesterday. We did the story on the hundred-year-old guy.

ROBERTS: Oh, yes, but he's still going strong, isn't he?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Yes. Uh-huh.

ROBERTS: Yes, absolutely.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Interesting.

ROBERTS: Someone once said that a smile costs nothing but gives much. Well, it turns out they might have been at least half right. Carrie Lee "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Good morning, Carrie Lee.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to both of you.

You know the markets are obsesses with inflation these days. Rising prices. Well, the cost of laughing isn't going up all that much. This according to a California humor consultant. He puts together a Consumer Laughing Index. The CLI. The Cost of Laughing Index, rather. He actually was an attorney and then he decided to do this instead.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: He made up that, OK.

LEE: Maybe it was more fun.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: The CLI.

LEE: I know. Anyway. OK.

So, anyway, according to this survey, and they look at everything from the cost of rubber chickens, the fee for writing a television sitcom, even the cost for a comedy club entrance and found last year that the cost of laughing went up just one tenth of 1 percent. That is the minuscule rise and that is the smallest in more than a decade. The reason it went up at all, well the cost of some comedy club admissions went up a bit. "Mad" magazine went up 49 cents an issue. He says it's basically an issue of supply and demand. He says, who needs to buy rubber chickens when the vice president is hunting pheasants?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oooh.

LEE: So we'll leave it at that.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, yes, we will.

LEE: Let's talk about ink cartridges quickly. Office Max starting today and Walgreens starting next week are going to install hundreds of refilling stations, trying to save customers some money. Don't worry, you're not going to get your hands dirty. They're going to do this for you. You bring your cartridge to these places and they refill the ink. You can save as much as 50 percent. Of course quality could be an issue potentially. But, you know, Hewlett-Packard makes 70 percent of its profit from supplies, so a big money saver potentially.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: If that works, that could be great.

ROBERTS: It's like handing somebody a crack pipe and saying, here, we'll give you this, now you've got to pay for this.

LEE: Right. Give away the printer and then, oh, yes, the cartridges can cost upward of $200.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: A fortune, yes.

ROBERTS: Yes, exactly.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: All right, Carrie, thank you.

Ahead this morning, more trouble with the S.A.T. There are even more mistakes to report to you with the students' scores than we all thought originally. So what's being done to fix the problem? We're going to ask The College Board, the group that administers the test.

Coming up next, pandas are popular but they come at a price. We'll look at why some of the nations zoos may one day have to send those little furry friends packing. That's ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: You love pandas but do we love them enough? We couldn't get enough of the baby Tai Shan, remember, at the National Zoo, and all four of the U.S. zoos with panda have 24-hour panda cams. But it seems that there aren't enough people going to see the pandas in person to justify what is a very large price tag. CNN's Senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth joins us this morning.

Good morning.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

I'm sure you've heard the old joke, how much does it cost to feed an elephant at a zoo? Well, it's not really the most expensive animal there. The most cost really, five times as much to host a giant panda.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROTH, (voice over): Attendance at Washington's National Zoo skyrocketed when Tai Shan, a panda cub, was born last July. Only the fourth such birth on U.S. soil.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This was actually my first trip to see them, so I'm very excited.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I came down to see the panda because, you know, you don't see them at home and you don't see them everywhere.

ROTH: But that panda popularity comes with a price. American zoos can end up paying China $600,000 after any panda birth. And contractually, the zoos pay a million dollars each year to showcase a panda pair. And now zoos in Washington, Atlanta, Memphis and San Diego say they can no longer bear the cost.

DENNIS KELLY, CEO, ATLANTA ZOO: Our concern is those lease payments or those conservation payments at a million dollars a year aren't sustainable indefinitely in the future.

ROTH: The cause of the panda problem, a misjudgment. After the initial pandemonium, visitor curiosity declined. The four American zoos are locked into 10-year contracts. Negotiations are underway with China to get a better deal.

Pandas, an endangered species, are quite valuable to image conscience China. The government is using pandas as a way of international cuddling -- I mean diplomacy. Even amid trade sanctions and human rights contentions between the U.S. and China, an American diplomat toured a panda research center in China earlier this year. China is offering rival Taiwan a panda pair is an effort to warm relations for a possible unification. But American zoos are simply seeing red about the bottom line with China.

MARY TANNER, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, WASHINGTON ZOO: It is possible we would send them back at some point. Certainly we are only now committed to have them for 10 years. So we either have to negotiate something new or send them back.

ROTH: If the giant pandas are sent home, zoo visitors may have to make due with the red panda, also known as the lesser panda, from the same region but sharing a love of eating bamboo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a big part of the zoo and it's a big part of why people come here. I mean, I think for them to go back to Chain would be a travesty.

ROTH: That might happen, though, if the panda price isn't right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROTH: And news this week from the Atlanta Zoo. Giant panda Lun Lun is in heat and they will try and mate her with Yang Yang. So maybe we'll get the fifth U.S. birth since 1990.

Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: What other things are they working on to try to get revenue for longer out of their pandas?

ROTH: Well, they're in negotiations with China. The zoos here say Thailand and Australia have lower deals, cheaper deals with China and they're saying, what about us. And they've tried to promote the pandas more. I don't know how you can ever get tired of pandas, though.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: I know. But I could see that people all go, run to see them and then they sort of it drops off (INAUDIBLE).

ROTH: Panda deficit syndrome, maybe?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Exactly. And that sounds like the official title for it. Richard Roth, nice to see you. Thanks.

John.

ROBERTS: Hard to think people could actually get used to looking at pandas.

Our top stories ahead.

Authorities investigate a massive fire on board of cruise ship.

Police question the wife of a pastor found shot to death.

No leads in the case of those two missing boys in Milwaukee this morning.

Three hostages freed in Iraq could go home today.

And a different kind of crash test. One that could save countless lives. We'll show it to you. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Welcome, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

ROBERTS: And I'm John Roberts, in for Miles O'Brien.

It's Friday. And as Martha says, that's a good thing.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Woo-hoo.

Our top story this morning, we're talking about those fatal accidents. Two in two days involving people on cruise ships. We'll take a closer look this morning about what you need to know on your travel safety.

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