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American Morning

Search for Milwaukee Boys Now Criminal Investigation; Recordings of 911 Calls from 9/11 to be Shared with Families; Hasidic Reggae Artist Spreads Positive Message; "Blinging up Baby": High End Trends for Infants

Aired March 27, 2006 - 09:30   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: You're watching AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Central Park looking pretty nice this morning. Gosh, the sun is out. It's going to be a beautiful day.

MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Makes me want to be there. Absolutely.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it does. Not here but there. Outside.

M. O'BRIEN: There.

The search for two missing boys in Milwaukee has become now a criminal investigation. Twelve-year-old Quadrevion Henning and an 11- year-old Purvis Parker haven't been seen for more than a week. We get more now from Vince Vitrano of our affiliate WTMJ in Milwaukee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VINCE VITRANO, WTMJ CORRESPONDENT: Milwaukee police remain baffled that they don't have more information to pass along more than a week into their investigation. It's not for lack of trying. They've set up this command post a couple of blocks away from where the boys live, and they continue to man this post virtually 24 hours a day, calling this now a criminal investigation. But they don't have any hard evidence really to back that up.

Meanwhile, the families keeping constant vigil and today giving an emotional message to the boys if they're listening.

GARRY HENNING, QUADREVION HENNING'S GRANDFATHER: 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.

VITRANO: Milwaukee police also continue to believe that there's someone out in this community who has more information and still has not come forward. Police and the boys' families are begging that person or those people to come forward and do the right thing.

With WTMJ in Milwaukee, I'm Vince Vitrano.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Let's check some other headlines now. Carol Costello in the newsroom.

Good morning, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Miles.

Good morning to all of you.

Prisoners and guards clashing in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. The shootout lasting about two hours. You can see flames shooting out from the top floor of that building there. We just got these pictures in just a few moments ago, and you see the shots being fired across the screen. The riots sparked by some inmates trying to break out of jail. Riot police using firearms to put down the rebellion. Several people have been killed.

Jurors in Virginia likely to hear today from Zacarias Moussaoui. There has been some uncertainty about whether he would take the stand in his own defense, but sources now telling CNN that is likely. The case is expected to resume any moment now in Alexandria, Virginia.

And Durham, North Carolina, a loud protest aimed at some Duke lacrosse players after a woman accused some of them of sexual assault at a teen party. So far they've taken several DNA samples from some of the students. No charges filed.

Well, power is back on in parts of Austin after an electrical fire. There it is. You see the flames shooting 30 feet -- there they go -- out of that manhole. Firefighters say a crew drilled through the primary power line, and that caused other lines to overheat and explode. No word on when the power will be fully restored.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That is so good. That is Buck Owens. The country music pioneer died Saturday of heart failure. Owens may be better known to many of you as the long-time host of the show "Hee Haw". But he was just an awesome performer. Just hours before his death, he performed for the last time in a club he owned in Bakersfield, California. Buck Owens was 76 years old.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow.

COSTELLO: That's a look at the headlines this morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. He was a terrific performer, Carol. You're exactly right. Thanks.

After more than four years and a lengthy court battle, New York City is preparing to release recordings of 911 calls made from the World Trade Center on 9/11. As CNN's Chris Huntington tells us, some of the victims' families aren't happy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The terrifying sounds of 9/11 at Ground Zero will never be forgotten. Later this week a more personal and potentially more painful soundtrack is expected to be released: partial and in some cases complete recordings of 911 calls from more than 100 people trapped inside the Twin Towers.

Sally Regenhard, who lost her firefighter son Christian on 9/11, helped secure the release of the 911 recordings by joining other firefighters' families and "The New York Times" in winning a lawsuit against New York City last year.

SALLY REGENHARD, MOTHER OF 9/11 VICTIM: There is no reason to secret it and to hide the really truth about the valiant effort that people made to save their lives to get out of the buildings and to help other people.

However, you know, since shortly after 9/11, the Giuliani administration, the Port Authority and the governor of New York had a vested interest in suppressing the real, true facts about what happened in those buildings on 9/11.

HUNTINGTON: New York City officials tell CNN that of the more than 130 911 calls 28 callers have been positively identified, one of whom survived. For that caller and the families of the 27 who died, the city will turn over complete and unedited recordings of their 911 calls.

The public versions of the recordings will only have the dispatcher's half of the call. The callers' voices and all names, numbers and identifying information will be deleted.

On Friday the city sent letters to the surviving caller and the families of 24 of the victims, notifying them that the recordings would soon be available. To some the official six-page letter was a shock.

BILL DOYLE, 9/11 VICTIMS ACTIVIST: I have one family member call me today, hysterical. She actually -- she opened it up in an elevator. And she couldn't believe it, because she never heard from her husband that morning. But apparently, he called 911.

HUNTINGTON: New York City officials tell CNN they meant to send out a preliminary e-mail, but because of a miscommunication, that notification never went out.

REGENHARD: Why wasn't this made known to the families in the last four and a half years? It's really very discouraging.

HUNTINGTON: A spokesperson for the New York City's Department of Law explained the timing: "There was a decision to not release the 911 call recordings until we knew the identities of as many callers as possible. That work was only completed earlier this month. We did not want to create false hope nor expectations." Chris Huntington, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: A note: the full transcripts and the full recordings go only to the family members, and they can decide if they wish to have those recordings made available to the general public.

Thirty-eight minutes past the hour, time for a check of the forecast. Chad's got that for us.

Hey, Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Even some rain coming into Phoenix. Here is a live shot from Phoenix, our affiliate there. A look at Camelback. The Phoenix shot there. Very nice. Forget the affiliate. What's the affiliate there guys? KNXV, our favorite affiliate there in Phoenix, Arizona. One of our affiliates. From Phoenix, Arizona.

M. O'BRIEN: Careful. Careful.

S. O'BRIEN: Carefully, favorite affiliate with the call letters KNXV.

M. O'BRIEN: Who is providing a live shot at this moment, our favorite affiliate.

MYERS: That's right. For the moment. I applied for a job there at the station, long, long ago.

M. O'BRIEN: Is there a station in this country you have not sent a resume tape to? I'm just curious.

MYERS: Vegas, because I knew I'd be in trouble if I went there.

S. O'BRIEN: Is it going to be a nice weekend? I know it's early. I know it's only Monday, but I really need to know that.

M. O'BRIEN: A nice weekend?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Nobody can predict that.

S. O'BRIEN: Chad can.

MYERS: Well, Thursday a big storm. Severe weather is here in the plains, and then Friday and then Saturday.

M. O'BRIEN: So you're hosed. Sorry.

MYERS: That's it. Not exactly perfect.

S. O'BRIEN: I am so sorry I asked.

M. O'BRIEN: Don't ask.

S. O'BRIEN: Forget it. Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: I'll fix it.

S. O'BRIEN: You going to?

M. O'BRIEN: OK.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, more and more people are paying some pretty serious bucks to turn their little kiddies into fashionistas. Those jeans there, hundreds of dollars. That shirt there, D&G, Dolce and Gabbana, a couple hundred bucks for that thing. Has baby bling gone a little too far? We're going to take a look at that.

M. O'BRIEN: Those parents there, rocks in their head.

Plus, we'll take a look and a listen at...

S. O'BRIEN: Matisyahu.

M. O'BRIEN: Matisyahu. Matisyahu. He's a walking, talking United Nations. He's a Hasidic Jew reggae artist from New York. And he's -- well, I mean, just that in and of itself is news. Isn't it? We'll talk about his mix of faith and music ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

S. O'BRIEN: You're listening to Matisyahu, a study, really, in contradictions. He's a white reggae rapper. He's also an Orthodox Jew. Anise Kwan (ph) sat down and talked to him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

ANISE KWAN (ph), CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Matisyahu is arguably the world's first Hasidic Jewish reggae artist and certainly the first to debut at No. 3 on the Billboard album charts with his new CD "Youth."

He's also the first musician with whom I was not allowed to shake hands.

MATISYAHU, REGGAE ARTIST: There's like a law in Judaism that says men are supposed to only touch their wives and they're not supposed to touch like other women, you know, even in like the typical American custom of shaking hands and stuff like that.

KWAN: Matisyahu used to be Matthew Miller, an LSD-loving teen from White Plains, New York. He found God, he says, renounced drugs, changed his name to its Hebrew counterpart and began beat-boxing at a youth center in Brooklyn's heavily Hasidic Crown Heights.

MATISYAHU: Everyone goes through a process where they mature and they decide, like, what their focus is and they find themselves, God willing, and find what's important to them. And you know, I'm still going through that process.

KWAN: Right now that process includes reggae, religion and rhyme, delivered in a combination of English, Yiddish, Hebrew and the Jamaican Patois.

MATISYAHU: Reggae music already had tons of quotes from the Bible and it's already like a music that's infused with faith and belief and positivity and hope.

KWAN: Recently the 26-year-old artist gave up stage diving, lest he accidentally make physical contact with a woman. He also turned down an impromptu duet with the rapper Eve.

MATISYAHU: I think she was probably dressed kind of sexy, and not that there's anything wrong with being sexy, but it's just not something that I'm trying to promote.

There's also a law in Judaism that says men are only allowed to listen their wives sing. So no offense, Eve.

KWAN: For the record, Matisyahu is married with a 6-month-old son.

MATISYAHU: They come on the road with me sometimes and it's fun.

KWAN: And many think he's a shoo-in for a nomination as best new artist at the 2007 Grammys.

MATISYAHU: Life is a process, you know, and you make decisions and, like, the story unfolds, you know, and this is like the way this story is unfolding.

KWAN: Anise Kwan (ph), CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: I like him. I like that. I'm going to get that CD.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He seemed very sweet.

M. O'BRIEN: I wonder if he's on iTunes. I'll have to see if I can download stuff.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, you can. Because I have a friend who, after we ran a little clip of him last week during our show, went out and got it right away. He is on iTunes.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Carrie Lee, what else is going on in the world?

LEE: Well, let's talk about stocks. Let's start with the Dow, which was pretty much flat last week, up less than one point. Right now, well, we're losing a little bit of ground, down about six points.

A lot of people waiting for Fed chief Ben Bernanke to talk about the economy when he meets with the Federal Reserve. The first time he's at the helm tomorrow, so people waiting for that.

Let's talk about Rick's Cabaret, the gentlemen's club chain.

S. O'BRIEN: Gentlemen's club?

LEE: Trying to be politically correct here.

M. O'BRIEN: Sort of left field. I don't know anything about gentlemen's clubs.

S. O'BRIEN: That's technically what they call it.

LEE: It's a story, because the stock is publicly traded. Who knew, right? And shares are losing ground today.

Take a look at this. See at the end there, 3/06?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

LEE: You can see that nice pop.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, yes.

LEE: Well, that just may have been when the stock was roped into an artificial manipulation scam. Basically, a pump and dump scheme here. Shares of the company losing ground this morning, down anywhere from 4 to 2.5 percent after losing about 7 percent on Friday.

And indictment which was handed down by U.S. district court says that members of the Colombo and Luchese crime family manipulated a bunch of stocks, a lot of them penny stocks, but Rick's Cabaret, which trades on the NASDAQ, was one of them.

Actually threatened brokers in some cases, said you better talk up the stocks to your clients. They bought in ahead of time. And a lot of people getting stuck in the middle. According to the indictment, about 15 branch offices of brokerage firms in New York City were caught up in this.

M. O'BRIEN: Wow.

LEE: Interesting development.

S. O'BRIEN: They're not kidding when they say you better or else.

LEE: Yes. This is all part of a bigger case in Brooklyn. But kind of interesting. I wonder how they chose Rick's as a company to get involved with. As I said, the other stocks penny stocks. Maybe they were familiar with it and thought it would be a good one to focus in on.

M. O'BRIEN: Might get a headline or two.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Carrie.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Daryn Kagan is coming up next.

Hey, Daryn, good morning.

DARYN KAGAN, HOST, CNN LIVE TODAY: Good morning, Soledad. Hope you had a great weekend. We have a lot to get to at the top of the hour.

On to the battle: mass protests over the weekend but the immigration debate is in full swing. The president will take on the issue. That's going to be seen live here on CNN in just a few minutes. Do we need tougher immigration laws? And one way or another, what will the impact be on your life?

Also ahead, the 13th is up for sale. You might remember from your history class in high school, the 13th amendment. We'll be talking with the person handling the auction on this priceless document. Thirty-two words that freed 42 million -- four million people in the U.S.

S. O'BRIEN: So priceless but yet someone is going to pay something for it. Right?

KAGAN: There's going to be a price. Yes, there is.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Daryn.

KAGAN: And we'll talk about that.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you.

Straight ahead this morning how much money would you pay to put your toddler in designer clothes like that little tank top from D&G, Dolce and Gabbana? Or that little outfit right there? Hundreds of bucks is what you're going to have to pay. A look at that is up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right into the couch (ph) first with Kelly Wallace and then picking up daily stories. Coming away now, five, four, three, two. Roll away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Would you ever spend 900 bucks on a baby carriage?

M. O'BRIEN: No, no.

S. O'BRIEN: Would you ever spend 900 dollars?

M. O'BRIEN: No, no.

S. O'BRIEN: Nine hundred dollars. How about...

M. O'BRIEN: What is that GPS and rockets? I mean, what does it have?

S. O'BRIEN: No, it doesn't. How about a hundred bucks on a little teeny little pair of jeans? Some people would.

M. O'BRIEN: Cute, cute, cute but not that cute. It turns out more families are forking over big bucks for their babies, so much so the market of luxury baby products is booming.

Where is this happening, Kelly Wallace?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it's a whole new world. I was assigned to the story, I guess, as the resident mother-to-be on AMERICAN MORNING.

S. O'BRIEN: Pregnant lady.

WALLACE: But I'll you this was a little shocking to me. But it is, it's big business, because according to "Business 2.0" magazine, sales of high end baby products grew 20 percent last year. That's like five times faster than the total infant and preschool goods industry. So you can see it's a booming business. What's the reason? Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: Was there always this much choice?

PILAR GUZMAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "COOKIE": No, absolutely not.

WALLACE: This is a new phenomenon?

GUZMAN: This is a new phenomenon.

WALLACE (voice-over): Call it "blinging up babies." Luxury products and more of them than ever before for the littlest ones.

GUZMAN: Beautiful little dress.

WALLACE (on camera): Beautiful for $455.

GUZMAN: It's expensive.

WALLACE (voice-over): We went shopping at Barney's, one of New York's most exclusive stores, with Pilar Guzman, editor-in-chief of "Cookie," a new high end baby magazine which focuses on lifestyle.

(on camera) What do you say to people when they say $500 almost for a dress you can only wear for a little bit of time?

GUZMAN: You know, it's certainly not for everyone, and it's -- you know, luxury is really kind of a state of mind. WALLACE (voice-over): 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 and Gabbana dresses, just like Mom might wear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The new 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 or on what your child is wearing.

WALLACE: But Guzman, who has a 2-year-old and is expecting her second child in June, says it's all about 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 (on camera): Where are we going as a society? Are we going -- is it going to get more over the top? What do you think? What are you hearing from your...

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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Man.

S. O'BRIEN: Crazy.

WALLACE: Well, the boom shows no signs of fading. You know, Pilar Guzman, who we talked to, she says every day she's hearing about another new designer who's entering the high end baby products market.

So we brought in -- I like this.

M. O'BRIEN: This is great for your household, don't you think?

WALLACE: A little -- this is a mini Miles and a mini Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: My boys wouldn't wear that.

WALLACE: All right. Look at this fabulous Hickey Freeman jacket, shirt, tie. How much?

S. O'BRIEN: Miles? M. O'BRIEN: The whole ensemble.

WALLACE: The whole ensemble.

M. O'BRIEN: Two hundred and fifty dollars.

WALLACE: Soledad?

S. O'BRIEN: Four fifty.

WALLACE: Soledad, ding, ding, ding. Very close: $470.

S. O'BRIEN: My boys would look really cute.

M. O'BRIEN: Wow. Wow, $470 and they wear it for ten minutes. Ten Minutes it fits them.

WALLACE: All right. All right. A little cute denim jeans. Paper Denim.

S. O'BRIEN: Paper Denim? That's 150 bucks.

WALLACE: Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm going to say -- let's see, "Price is Right", $151.

WALLACE: OK.

S. O'BRIEN: Cheater.

WALLACE: I have to look at my list. I think it's $106 or $110.

M. O'BRIEN: We both went over. We both went over. We went over. "Price is Right".

WALLACE: Yes, I have that. All right. All right. Final one.

Cashmere, beautiful cashmere, Ralph Lauren. We should say, these were loaned to us by Barney's.

M. O'BRIEN: Wow.

WALLACE: This Ralph Lauren cashmere...

(CROSSTALK)

M. O'BRIEN: That's the real deal.

S. O'BRIEN: That's nice.

M. O'BRIEN: Are we supposed to guess it? Cashmere?

WALLACE: Cashmere.

M. O'BRIEN: Four hundred bucks. S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I'm going to guess about the same.

WALLACE: Over. Bargain, $275.

M. O'BRIEN: Over. I love that. I love that. You think I'll fit in it.

WALLACE: And then Miles, you really wanted to know. Why don't you just hold onto that?

M. O'BRIEN: This is the baby carrier.

WALLACE: A Gucci baby carrier.

M. O'BRIEN: A Gucci baby carrier, which carries the vomit so well. This is the one that's in the $700 range, right? We saw this.

WALLACE: Yes, $685.

M. O'BRIEN: Six hundred and eighty-five bucks.

S. O'BRIEN: And your little baby, are -- is this going to be this kind of D&G baby or a Hickey Freeman baby. Hello, baby. Which are you? Kelly doesn't know yet.

WALLACE: I don't think so.

S. O'BRIEN: It will be a big surprise for all of us.

WALLACE: Exactly. I think hand-me-downs from my nephews and my niece are going to be the way to go. We'll do all right.

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

WALLACE: Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: Short break. We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: We're out of time. Let's get right to Daryn Kagan. She's going to take you through next couple of hours.

M. O'BRIEN: Hey, Daryn.

S. O'BRIEN: Hey, Daryn.

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