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American Morning
Search for Missing Boys Continues; The Muslim Madonna; Blinging Up Baby
Aired March 27, 2006 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The haunting last words of the September 11th victims caught on tape. Partial transcripts and recordings of 911 calls made from the world trade center will be released today to family members. It will be up to the relatives to decide whether to make those tapes public.
In Virginia, jurors could find today if Zacarias Moussaoui will take the stand. That's him arriving at the courthouse just moments ago in that speeding SUV. Moussaoui the only person on trial in the United States in connection with the September 11th attacks. The defense is set to begin its case this morning.
Seattle police are talking to the brother of a man suspected of shooting eight people at a party, six of them killed, two hurt. Police still searching for a motive. Police identified 28-year-old Aaron Kyle Huff as the shooter. He killed himself at the scene.
IN Durham, North Carolina, a loud protest aimed at some Duke la crosse players after a woman accused them of sexual assault at a team party. So far they've taken several DNA samples from some of the students. No charges have been filed.
And Barry Bonds may be taking some more time off. The San Francisco Giant's slugger is now out with an inflamed left elbow. That goes along with his bad right knee. Bonds could sit out the rest of spring training, but, if all goes well, he will be rested for the team's first game on April 3rd. And as you know, that book on Barry Bonds came out just last Thursday.
Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: He's dealing with a lot, that guy.
COSTELLO: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Carol, thanks.
Well, police in Milwaukee say the search for two missing boys is now a criminal investigation. Twelve-year-old Quadrevion Henning, and 11-year-old Purvis Parker were last seen on March 19th. They were going to play basketball at a park. Joining us this morning from Milwaukee is Quadrevion's father, Quentin Henning, and his grandfather, Garry Henning.
Gentlemen, thank you for talking with us. We certainly appreciate it. GARRY HENNING, GRANDFATHER OF MISSING BOY: Thank you.
QUENTIN HENNING, FATHER OF MISSING BOY: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: A criminal investigation is what we're hearing from the authorities. Have they told you why they're changing this investigation to now be a criminal investigation?
GARRY HENNING: No, they haven't. They just said basically there's some more information and they deemed it necessary to move it up to a criminal investigation.
S. O'BRIEN: They've sort of left it at that. Both boys are described as quiet, as well-mannered. Can you imagine any scenario where they would of just run away?
GARRY HENNING: By no stretch of the imagination. Run away where? Run away how? Run away to whom? This is their family right here. They love their family. We love them. They had a good life and, by the way, Dre, the fishing trip is still on. Purvis, when you come back, you can step on all my flowers that you want to.
S. O'BRIEN: Describe these boys for me. We've heard just raves about their school work and how well-mannered they are. Tell me a little bit more about them.
GARRY HENNING: Well, Dre is -- he's 12. He's a kid. But he's quite polite. We taught him that. And he's studious. And he's laid back. Not too much can rattle Dre. He's kind of like his dad. Not too much can rattle him.
And, Purvis, we adopted him. He came around playing with our boys and we just kind of took to him like he took to us.
S. O'BRIEN: Police say . . .
GARRY HENNING: Very mannerable.
S. O'BRIEN: Police say that they don't think or there's no evidence that the boys have left Milwaukee. Does that -- do you consider that to be good news? I mean there's so little to hold on to.
GARRY HENNING: Very good news. Very good news. Very good news. That means it's more closer and less time for them to come back to us.
S. O'BRIEN: The police are also saying something that I think is curious, which is that there are people who are not coming forward with information. When you hear something like that, what does it make you think?
GARRY HENNING: Well, I guess in an investigation, there's a lot of people who don't want to get in the business -- in other people's business. But with prayers and hope and vigilance that will melt their hearts and make them come forward if they have any information.
S. O'BRIEN: That has got to be so brutally frustrating as a parent.
GARRY HENNING: Oh, very much so. I would imagine it's just as hard for the police when there's no leads that they can really sink their teeth into.
S. O'BRIEN: You set up a Web site, which I know that you've had a little bit of assistance to do this. Tell me about that Web site.
GARRY HENNING: Well, like you said, there was assistance. And I'm not a Web site person, so they came and did a lot of it and asked us questions and set it up for us. And we appreciate that.
S. O'BRIEN: It's henningparker.com is the URL, we want to tell everybody.
What other kinds of help do you need? What do you want people who are watching this to be able to do for you?
GARRY HENNING: The pictures of both boys, to burn them in their minds, burn them in their vision and to keep constantly looking. We need people to take the flyers out and, most of all, to keep praying about this, to talk to the neighbors about it. If this doesn't come to an end soon, don't forget, don't forget these boys. Don't forget the other missing children. Just burn it in their minds and in their hearts where they will not be forgotten because we're not going to let Purvis and Dre, we're not going to let them be forgotten.
S. O'BRIEN: Have you been satisfied with the way the police have been handling this case?
GARRY HENNING: Very much so. They were here in the initial beginning. I made the call. They were here and they're still here. They brought in resources and the FBI and the dogs and so forth. We're, speaking for my family, and I'm sure for Purvis' family, we are very, very happy with what the police have been doing.
S. O'BRIEN: They have just scoured the area. I mean, you all have just turned over every single stone. What do you think has happened to these boys? Where do you think they are?
GARRY HENNING: Lord have mercy. I wish we knew. I wish we knew.
S. O'BRIEN: Gosh, this is such a tough, tough case. I want to thank you for talking with us, both of you gentlemen this morning. I know it's a very tough time. Garry Henning and Quentin Henning. We appreciate that. It's just brutal for you and our hearts go out to you. Thanks for being with us.
GARRY HENNING: And thank you very much.
QUENTIN HENNING: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: After growing international pressure, an Afghan court has decided to dismiss the case against a man who converted from Islam to Christianity. A judge said the prosecution did not have enough evidence. We're hearing the man could be released today. The U.S. and western countries had been pressing Afghanistan against the use of Islamic law.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: Mr. Rahman should not face these charges. There should be a resolution in this case. But this is also a young democracy and we have to recognize that, unlike the Taliban, it actually has a constitution to which one can appeal about the universal declaration of human rights.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: In the meantime, some 1,000 people in Afghanistan are protesting the court's dismissal. They've been chanting "death to America" and "death to George Bush."
The last of three hostages freed by special forces made it home today. Harmeet Sooden is back in New Zealand now. Canadian James Loney arrived in Toronto Sunday. He spoke about his four months held captive. He thanked the special forces who freed him last Thursday in Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES LONEY, FREED CANADIAN HOSTAGE: During my captivity, I sometimes entertained myself by imaging this day. Sometimes I despaired of ever seeing it. Always I ached for it. And so here we are. For 118 days, I disappeared into a black hole and somehow, by God's grace, I was spit out again. It was a terrifying, profound, powerful, transformative and excruciatingly boring experience.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: The British member of that Christian group is home as well. But the American, Tom Fox, was found dead just two weeks before that rescue mission.
Two Americans and a British hostage in Nigeria are also free this morning. These are the last to be released of nine oil workers taken by militants more than five weeks ago. But the militants also made new threats about attacking oil facilities.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Thirty-eight minutes past the hour. Let's check the weather again with Chad.
Good morning to you, Chad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, how much money would you pay to put your little toddler in some designer clothes? We're going to take a look at some (INAUDIBLE).
M. O'BRIEN: Limitless amounts just to make them look cute. Thousands.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, D&G, Dolce & Gabbana. That's going to run you some bucks. These prices are unbelievable and parents are paying them. We'll show you.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The British press calls her the Muslim Madonna, but there are others who have their own name for her and they would like to see her harmed. I'm David Mattingly. I'll have that story coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Her provocative music videos have drawn comparisons to another artist famous for pushing the limits. We're talking about Madonna. But as CNN's David Mattingly tells us, in this case, the singer's popularity has brought death threats.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): She shakes, she sizzles and she shows enough skin to stop a channel surfer cold.
It's not hard to see why the British press labels her the Muslim Madonna. Deeyah, she's called, is a 20 something Norwegian pop star who dances to her own gritty hip-hop beat and now claims to be paying a very disturbing price.
DEEYAH, NORWEGIAN POP STAR: When people cross the line of intimidating you or your family or people that are close to you, that's what's not acceptable.
MATTINGLY: Born with the name Dipeka (ph) and singing publicly since she was a child, the artist who would one day become Deeyah was born to immigrant parents and grew up in a Sunni Muslim family. Her father is from Pakistan, her mother from Afghanistan. And she says her choice of career did not play well to more conservative members of Norway's Muslim community.
DEEYAH: One of the creepiest and scariest thing that I've been told to my face was how this person would like to cut my stomach so that another whore like me is not born. And that the same should of happened to my mom.
MATTINGLY: Fearful that going to the authorities might create an even bigger backlash against her and her family, Deeyah says she stayed quiet. And as she continued to perform and record, she says the insults became worse. And not just in Norway.
Deeyah took her years of anger and broke her silence with a video called "What Will It Be?" Her raciest video yet, it is laden with provocative lyrics and imagery promoting free speech for Muslim women and it shows one woman shedding her traditional burqa to reveal Deeyah in a swimsuit. London's Asian music channel B4U pulled Deeyah's videos due to undisclosed complaints. Deeyah's official Web site and other fans sites saw these venomous threats. London authorities are investigating, but a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain say Deeyah's claims are no more than a publicity stunt.
INAYAT BUNGLAWALA, MUSLIM COUNCIL OF BRITAIN: If anyone of minimal talent can try and launch their careers with the back of demonizing an entire community, I think that's a rather worrying development.
MATTINGLY: But her stand has resonated with her Muslim fans.
ADIL RAY, BBC RADIO HOST: I think a lot of us living in the west as British agents or British Muslims can really relate to that and learn to respect that. I think that's what she's done very uniquely. And I think the hope is that there will be more and more people like her.
DEEYAH: This has always been the most comfortable setup ever.
MATTINGLY: Hoping to find some peace, Deeyah, for now, has retreated to the studio and is putting together a new album in the U.S. She's eager to catch the ear of a new audience where she can express herself without feeling threatened.
David Mattingly, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: Deeyah is not a practicing Muslim. She says the fundamentalist backlash has forced her to keep a safe distance from her fans as well. David Mattingly's report first aired on "Paula Zahn Now," which you can catch week nights, 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
S. O'BRIEN: Business news now. A big meeting for the new head of the Federal Reserve.
Good morning.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ben Bernanke talking to Wall Street tomorrow and this is his first meeting as head of the Federal Reserve. We're talking about Bernanke. And a lot of people expecting another rate hike. It would be the 15th since June of 2004. And what this means for people, well, if you're a spender, it means that you're going to probably be paying more in your credit card payments, perhaps higher mortgage payments. If you're a saver, though, well that's good news because money market accounts and other accounts, the interest rates go up there as well.
The question is, what are we going to see after tomorrow? Another quarter point rate hike widely expected. But beyond that, you know, inflation is pretty much under control. Interest rates still pretty low. And we are seeing economic growth. So some people thinking we might see rate hikes into the summer. That's going to be the big question. But right now futures looking flat to slightly higher ahead of that meeting tomorrow.
M. O'BRIEN: Are you still emotional about Alan Greenspan?
S. O'BRIEN: You will never . . .
LEE: (INAUDIBLE) working on that book. Well, now that I learned he's getting, well, how much of an advance? $10 million I think?
S. O'BRIEN: And so it was all about the money for you?
LEE: No, no, no, no, no.
All right. Something's happening in the airline space as well. Now you know lawyers make a lot of money on these big corporate cases, of course.
M. O'BRIEN: I've heard that.
LEE: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: I've heard that.
LEE: Sometimes I think maybe we're in the wrong profession, right? Well, Delta and Northwest Airlines, the consultants and lawyers, are asking the bankruptcy court judge in both of these cases to approve $59 million in fees and expenses just for three and a half to four and a half months work. Not too bad. Here's the break down.
M. O'BRIEN: Man.
LEE: Most of the money coming from Delta. Of course, they have teams of people working on these cases. But consider the workers.
S. O'BRIEN: That's a lot of billable hours.
M. O'BRIEN: That sure is.
LEE: Yes, that exactly is and that's the way this business works, you know it. But think about Delta's case, right? They're asking 6,000 pilots for $325 million in labor concessions. More labor concessions. Well, one lawyer alone, a head lawyer, but still, one lawyer alone working on the Northwest case has billed $565,000. That's for one person. More than these concessions altogether for Delta.
M. O'BRIEN: So he never sleeps, obviously. I mean he's on the phone all the time. That's amazing.
LEE: Yes, or you would think anyway. And the people are looking at this saying that if these airlines come out of bankruptcy, Northwest by year end, Delta summer of 2007, as expected, the total bill here could top $276 million in legal bills.
M. O'BRIEN: Just the legal bill?
LEE: In legal fees, exactly.
M. O'BRIEN: Wow. S. O'BRIEN: That's crazy.
M. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Carrie.
S. O'BRIEN: Big numbers. All right, Carrie, thank you.
LEE: OK.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning -- have you guys -- would you ever spend a lot of money on a little toddler outfit? Would ever buy something a gift that's like a top of the line Dolce & Gabbana little . . .
M. O'BRIEN: No. No. No, because they wear it for about 10 minutes.
LEE: No, because they outgrow it immediately.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, there are a lot of people who disagree with both of you.
LEE: (INAUDIBLE) me, I wouldn't spend it, but, no.
S. O'BRIEN: On yourself.
Look at some of these price tags. More and more parents are actually paying huge bucks to turn their kids into little fashionistas. Has the baby bling trend gone to far? We're going to take a look for ourselves. Look at that.
M. O'BRIEN: It is cute, but, geez, the price tag.
S. O'BRIEN: I bet that's like $100 tank top. That's ahead. We'll take a look.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Do you shop for your children at discount stores or dress them in hand me downs? Well then you're going to be astonished at what the other half is spending on baby stuff. AMERICAN MORNING's Kelly Wallace has our story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Was there always this much choice?
PILAR GUZMAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "COOKIE": No. Absolutely not.
WALLACE: No. This is a new phenomenon?
GUZMAN: This is a new phenomenon.
WALLACE: Call it blinking up baby. Luxury products and more of them than ever before for the littlest ones.
GUZMAN: Beautiful little dress.
WALLACE: Beautiful for $455.
GUZMAN: It's expensive.
WALLACE: We went shopping at Barneys, one of New York's most exclusive stores with Pilar Guzman, editor-in-chief in "Cookie," a new high-end baby magazine which focuses on life style.
What do you say to people when they say, but $500 almost for a dress that you can only wear for a little bit of time?
GUZMAN: Yes, you know, it's certainly not for everyone and it's, you know, luxury is really kind of a state of mind.
WALLACE: Luxury for babies is also big business. Fueled by more couples who are starting families later in life when they have more disposable income. So they're buying $450 diaper bags and $215 Dolce & Gabbana dresses just like mom might wear.
GUZMAN: The mini me phenomenon is, you know, I dress a certain way, my kid is sort of an extension of me and I want my kid to dress the way I dress.
WALLACE: But has it all gone too far? Elise Mac Adam, mother of 13-month-old Felix, writes the blog Indiemom. She says she's heard from plenty of moms who say this is over the top.
ELISE MAC ADAM, INDIEMOM BLOG: To me, I think what it sort of drags up are those horrible feelings of middle school where all of a sudden you're being judged on what you wear and what your child is wearing.
WALLACE: But Guzman, who has a two-year-old and is expecting her second child in June, says it's all about what doing what works for your lifestyle. For her, that means mixing high and low, shopping for Henry at Target, while also buying cashmere sweaters worth about $200.
GUZMAN: Nobody wants to raise a spoiled brat and all of that. But at the same time, it's all about what you like and what reflects your life and your taste and your state of mind.
WALLACE: Where are we going as a society, Felix? Are we going -- is it going to get even more over the top? What do you think? What are you hearing from you . . .
MAC ADAM: How much more over the top can it get? I mean, that's the thing. I just don't know how much, you know, further it can go.
WALLACE: Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: All right. So what do you do with . . .
S. O'BRIEN: That's crazy. M. O'BRIEN: It's nuts. What about your girls? Do you spend $500, $600 for a top?
S. O'BRIEN: Old Navy.
M. O'BRIEN: Old Navy.
S. O'BRIEN: Old Navy is and the stuff lasts forever and we do hand-me-downs. I should have . . .
M. O'BRIEN: What would you do without Target, you know?
S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Kohls with the, you know, cheap.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, I mean . . .
S. O'BRIEN: That's crazy. I would never -- so never spend $200 for a pair of jeans that are this big ever. If they could fit me, maybe we could talk about that.
M. O'BRIEN: The little Jimmy Chew baby shoes.
S. O'BRIEN: That's not -- oh my God. For mommy, yes, baby, no.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. More power to them. It would be interesting to see what those kids are like when they grow up.
S. O'BRIEN: It's crazy.
M. O'BRIEN: Top stories are ahead.
A developing story out of Iraq. A suicide bomber kills at least 30 outside a police recruitment center.
We could learn today whether Zacarias Moussaoui will testify in his sentencing trial.
A Senate committee tackles immigration reform.
A woman accused of killing her preacher husband appears in court today.
And the case of those missing Milwaukee boys. It's now a criminal investigation. We'll have the latest for you on the search.
All that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.
S. O'BRIEN: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.
The border battle heats up and heads to Washington today as lawmakers begin debate on the future of immigration in America. M. O'BRIEN: A story breaking while you were sleeping in Iraq. Iraqi army recruits targeted by insurgents. At least 30 are dead. Several others injured. We're live with the latest from Baghdad.
S. O'BRIEN: The defense makes its case this week in the death penalty trial of Zacarias Moussaoui. The al Qaeda conspirator threatens to take the stand. We've got a live report just ahead.
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