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American Morning
U.N. Security Council Uneasy with Iran's Nuclear Program; New Orleans Schools Get a Second Chance; Sextuplets Hoax in Missouri
Aired April 13, 2006 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: One couple asked for help with their newborn sextuplets. Instead, they deliver only lies, and there are no babies to show.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Tom Cruise takes another swipe at psychiatry. He says Scientology is helping to change medical opinions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We made a lot of mistakes. And not until we acknowledge that we made a lot of mistakes will we ever get this right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: There's a chance for a fresh start for schools in New Orleans. Those schools have a terrible reputation. They're hoping, though, to finally change that.
Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: I'm Miles O'Brien. We're glad you're with us.
Well, Iran apparently seeking to become a member of the nuclear club. Washington, several other Western nations, wanting to keep the club door closed. And the U.N. Security Council demanding Iran stop uranium enrichment.
CNN senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth, joining us live now from the U.N.
Richard, first of all, how unified is the Security Council on this one?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, they call themselves the "perm five," the permanent veto carrying members of the Security Council, members since the start of the U.N. more than 60 years ago. But this fab five is kind of like the Beatles were at the end. They're not exactly unified, especially Iran because they have different goals in mind. The Chinese, the Russians, they don't think now is the time for sanctions on Tehran, while the U.S., Britain and France think it may be time to get tougher.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SIR EMYR JONES PARRY, BRITISH AMB. TO U.N.: If there is no compliance, it will be our intention to take forward resolution within the council, which would make compulsory what is at the moment an urging by the council.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: The Security Council had given Iran 30 days in which to comply, suspend uranium enrichment, Miles. But as we know, the other day, Iran, in fact, joining the uranium enrichment club.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's a club that makes people a little bit nervous of them joining. Let's talk about China now. China sending an envoy to Iran. What do we make of that one?
ROTH: Couple of things. I think it shows that China is really getting concerned. China would like to always maintain world peace, unity among the big powers. And so the dispatching of an envoy to Tehran and to Moscow shows there's alarm bells there.
Also it indicates, again, that China wants to be a big world player on the stage, and to counter U.S. domination, it feels. So China will remain heavily involved. China is a key player. If the U.S. get China on board, maybe they can convince Russia to come along if further tougher measures are required against Iran.
M. O'BRIEN: And the Russians, for their part, they remain reluctant to tell the Iranians what to do, don't they?
ROTH: They think it's possibly a very disturbing development to threaten sanctions. It would hurt the Iranian people and also maybe explode the whole situation into a full-blown nuclear crisis.
M. O'BRIEN: Richard Roth, watching things for us at the United Nations. Thank you very much. Lots of other news this morning to tell you about.
(NEWSBREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: It is sort of hard to imagine that something good would come out of the destruction that was caused by Hurricane Katrina. But before Katrina, New Orleans public schools were rated among the very worst in the country, and now they have a chance to start over.
AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho went to a school that's now taking full advantage of that opportunity.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No detail is too small for Mary Laurie.
MARY LAURIE, PRINCIPAL, O. PERRY WALKER HIGH SCHOOL: You got to fix that uniform.
CHO: As principal of O. Perry Walker High School, she makes it her business to put children first. It is not lip service.
LAURIE: Good morning, baby. Good morning.
CHO: Every morning, Laurie is there greeting students, part of her formula for success.
LAURIE: That says to someone, I believe in you. And so it's little things that lead to big things.
CHO: Little things like pulling aside a troubled student...
LAURIE: You pass your test?
CHO: ... patrolling the hallways....
LAURIE: Come on, young people, you're late. Hurry up.
CHO: ... even picking up the trash. In those ways, Laurie has made Walker a turnaround story. Pre-Katrina, the school was emblematic of the city's failing education system, with only two certified math teachers, serious security issues, even a shooting there last year. Walker reopened in December as a charter school with new teachers and Laurie the new principal.
LAURIE: We made a lot of mistakes. And not until we acknowledge that made a lot of mistakes will we ever get this right. And chartering provides us with that opportunity.
CHO: Tulane University President Scott Cowan is chairman of the city's Bring New Orleans Back education committee.
SCOTT COWAN, TULANE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT: You know, out of every disaster, there's always an opportunity. This happens to be one of the golden opportunities for New Orleans.
CHO: Hurricane Katrina forced every school in the city to close. Some will never reopen. To date, only 25 of the city's 117 public schools are up and running. Nearly half are now charter schools.
COWAN: And the principal really has a lot of control. And all we ask of that principal is, we're going to allow you to spend the dollars the way you see fit. We're going to allow you to even run that school the way you see fit. But we're going to hold you accountable for the learning and achievement of the students there.
CHO: Back at Walker on each mourning before the first bell rings, Laurie has a message...
LAURIE: Remember just how brilliant you are.
CHO: Then it's back to business.
LAURIE: Come on, let's go! Let's go! Let's go!
CHO: Students have two minutes to get to class. Those who don't get Saturday detention. Laurie is not afraid of discipline. LAURIE: Before the day is over, you hear me?
CHO: Seventeen-year-old senior Kendrick Lewis (ph) says the tough love approach is working.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very calm. It's a good learning environment.
CHO: Laurie says just being there, showing she cares...
LAURIE: We sure got the right numbers here?
CHO: ... is half the battle.
LAURIE: Putting children first. That is crucial. That is critical. And I believe that's what has allowed us to have such a great beginning. But it's only a beginning, but a good beginning.
CHO: Alina Cho, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: You got to love that tough love. You know, some of my favorite teachers over the years were the tough ones.
S. O'BRIEN: Right. The ones you didn't actually like at the time.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, the really nice ones. Yes, you know, really. She's the -- she's got the right mix. Let's check the weather now.
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Folks in Grain Valley, Missouri pretty angry this morning in the wake of a brazen hoax involving some sextuplets that don't exist. Sarah and Kris Everson now admit they cut the story of an instant big family from whole cloth in order to scam their neighbors. Joining us with more, the Grain Valley Police Chief Aaron Ambrose, and Helen Brown, a former coworker of Sarah Everson.
Chief, let's begin with you. How did you figure out that this wasn't in fact what it purported to be?
CHIEF AARON AMBROSE, GRAIN VALLEY, MISSOURI POLICE: Well, we were given a letter by the landlord where the Eversons live. Basically it was a letter stating -- they wrote it back in January. And in December they apparently had five babies.
Well, we kind of found that funny because March they also stated that they had six babies. So that was -- piqued our curiosity, and then we began investigations.
M. O'BRIEN: And what got people talking about it, the buzz came about when they ended up on the front page of the local newspaper, correct?
AMBROSE: Absolutely. And that's what alerted the landlord to us, recognized their photos.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. So when you got the call, it didn't take too long before this thing kind of all unraveled. That was just pulling a thread out of the seam there. How long was it before they admitted what they did?
AMBROSE: After they were -- after they came to the station on their own actually. Within an hour we had a confession out of them that there were no sextuplets. And the reason why they did that, the reason why they were saying is that there were sextuplets was all for monetary gain. They couldn't pay bills; they needed money.
M. O'BRIEN: How much did they get from neighbor's by saying they had this family?
AMBROSE: We are still looking into that. That's part of the ongoing investigation. So we're still gathering information from victims and getting those totals together.
M. O'BRIEN: Helen, you're a coworker of Sarah's. Were you suspicious?
HELEN BROWN, FMR. COWORKER OF SARAH EVERSON: Yes, she actually, you know, months prior to that, she came to work and showed us that she was pregnant. And I received a letter from her in January giving me a list of five babies that she already had. She just had them December 28th. And we were very skeptical at this point as to whether they existed. And when we seen the ad in the paper, front page in the "Independence Examiner," called the "Examiner" and said, she said she had them March 8th. I have a letter that says she has five on December 28th, and so that kind of added to his investigation.
M. O'BRIEN: So it sounds like you never really bought the story at all.
BROWN: No I never did.
M. O'BRIEN: Really? Now, did you see her pregnant. or was it this picture where she made herself to look to be pregnant?
BROWN: No, when she came to work on December 23rd, it looked like she was padded.
M. O'BRIEN: I see. And it looked like it was padding to you?
BROWN: Right. Correct.
M. O'BRIEN: Let's look at this. We have a list -- I'm sorry, go ahead, finish.
BROWN: And for her to be pregnant a week overdue with five babies it was very obvious to us that it didn't exist. M. O'BRIEN: I got you. All right. Let me go through the list. It shows you how intricate this whole scam was. They actually had names, weights, sizes, Ezekeil Michael, four pounds, Jackson Nathaniel, on it goes. Incredibly intricate.
Helen, do you question her sanity?
BROWN: Absolutely.
M. O'BRIEN: Really? What do you think is going on there?
BROWN: Absolutely. I actually, because of the history that we had with her at work, of the lies she told daily, weekly, you know, a year of it, and then after -- I knew then she needed help. But after this, she really does need help.
M. O'BRIEN: Final thought, chief? as you just heard, sounds like she's a woman who's crying out for help in some respects, but this is serious business. It's essentially the same as stealing money from people. What sorts of...
AMBROSE: Absolutely, that's what it is.
M. O'BRIEN: What sorts of charges and penalties might they face?
AMBROSE: Well, we're looking at stealing here, stealing by deceit. They gave fraudulent information to people for their gain, for monetary gain. So we're look at stealing by deceit here, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much for your time. And keep us posted on how it goes there. What a story. Chief Ambrose, Helen Brown in Kansas City this morning -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: What a crazy story, and all that work to make up names and weights and...
(CROSSTALK)
M. O'BRIEN: What a tangled web.
SERWER: An unstable person, I think.
S. O'BRIEN: That's what her coworker seemed to be hinting at.
(MARKET REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up in "House Call," more and more women choosing to schedule the birth of their child. Just put it in the palm pilot, induce me this day. Or perhaps a C-section as well. How safe is that, though, for mom and baby?
S. O'BRIEN: And Tom Cruise is no fan of psychiatry. He's on his soapbox once again, and what he's saying now is angering some doctors. We'll have that story coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) S. O'BRIEN: It might be Tom Cruise's latest mission impossible, taking on the world of psychiatry. The actor once again unleashing an attack on depression medications.
CNN's Chris Lawrence has a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Church of Scientology released this promotional video last year to celebrate the opening up its psychiatric museum, a building dedicated to exposing what members call an industry of death.
In the latest issue of "G.Q.," Scientologist Tom Cruise supports natural treatments that include vitamins. He criticizes doctors who prescribe drugs to people with mental or emotional problems, quote, "Certainly children should never, ever, ever be on these drugs, because they don't want to be on them. They don't have a choice."
Cruise says the Church of Scientology's campaign is paying off, quote, "It is not just me. Look at the FDA, look at the black-box warnings."
Some psychiatrists say efforts by the church and others help convinced federal officials to tag many medications.
DR. MARC GRAFF, PSYCHIATRIST: Warning labels have scared people off. There are less prescriptions written for certain kinds of medications than there were just a year or two ago.
LAWRENCE: Dr. Marc Graff says the best example is anti- depressants for teenagers.
GRAFF: If you have people frightened even to come into the office and get a comprehensive evaluation, you have done people a disservice. I think the FDA heavy-handed black-box warning warnings is really not accomplishing much but frightening people.
LAWRENCE: Psychiatrists say all the criticism is demonizing drugs that help people.
GRAFF: I take medication for cardiac problems. And people don't say, oh, my God, you're on a medication for cardiac problems. And people say, oh, I'm glad you're getting treatment. I think that should be the attitude toward psychiatric illness, too.
LAWRENCE (on camera): In the magazine, Cruise says you can get the same results without using psychiatric drugs. Cruise says he's personally helped people get off drugs using Scientology programs.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Chris' report first aired in "THE SITUATION ROOM," which you can catch weekdays at 4:00 and at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time right here on CNN.
M. O'BRIEN: In a moment, top stories, including the defense gets its turn in the Zacarias Moussaoui trial.
Michael Brown will not be taking that job with St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana.
Dangerous mudslides causing major problems in California.
A defense lawyer in the Duke investigation says there could be indictments in that alleged rape case next week.
And a controversial behavior treatment for teens. It involves shocking them into good behavior.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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