Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Massachusetts Flooding; Little Boy 'Blue'

Aired May 19, 2006 - 06:31   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Here's what's happening this morning.
The United Nations says it is high time for the U.S. to shut down the Guantanamo holding pen for terror suspects. The U.N.'s Committee Against Torture also says the U.S. should stop using secret prisons.

In Florida, Lionel Tate back in prison, this time for 30 years. Tate was convicted of beating a 6-year-old playmate to death when he was 12. He's 19 now, going back to prison for robbing a pizza deliveryman.

Today is the last full day of campaigning. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and challenger Mitch Landrieu are in the contest. The two meet in a runoff election tomorrow.

Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.

Flooding in New England leading to some pretty extreme measures. The city of Lawrence, Massachusetts, which is about 25 miles north of Boston, is under curfew from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.

Let's get right to Lauren Przybyl. She's with our affiliate WHDH. She's in Lawrence this morning.

Hey, Lauren. Good morning to you. Explain the curfew to me.

LAUREN PRZYBYL, REPORTER, WHDH: Good morning.

This curfew was put in place because many areas here in Lawrence are still surrounded by water, and there's no electricity. So at night it is really dark out here. Thankfully, it is daylight and we can show you what it looks like.

This home here, these homes, they have been under water now for five days. They're dealing with water in their basements, and many of them on their first floor.

There is a food pantry also that is just down the street from where we're at that provides food for needy families. And they lost 17,000 pounds of food in this flood.

We talked about this curfew that's in effect. It goes from 9:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. for the next two nights here in Lawrence.

Now, last night, just 15 minutes after the curfew went into effect, there was a shooting. So this curfew, police are saying, is definitely needed.

The state right now is trying to assess all of the damage that has been done. And they are continuing to try to tally up the cost of the damage and what it will take to try to put many of these communities back together again. And you can see the water here that is just coming through the streets.

We are expecting rain once again today. But forecasters are telling us that it won't be enough to cause any more flooding in this area.

S. O'BRIEN: Reporter Lauren Przybyl of CNN affiliate WHDH.

Lauren, thanks a lot for the update.

A powerful line of storms hit central Kentucky, killing one person, injuring several others. Let's show you some of the damage now.

Parts of the town were leveled. One of the storms produced what they call a microburst, with 80-mile-an-hour winds. A microburst is a sudden, violent downdraft of air, kind of similar to a tornado.

Let's get right to the forecast. Rob Marciano in for Chad.

Am I right about that?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You are right about that.

S. O'BRIEN: Not so bad, huh? You better watch out, man.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MARCIANO: That's the latest from here. Back to you guys in New York.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Rob.

An elementary school dean in Chicago charged with making child pornography, using a 10-year-old student as a subject. The father of the boy says David Seck (ph) forced his son to pose semi-nude for the man at least 15 times. Seck (ph), the administrator, is out on bond now.

In Salt Lake City, a 3-year-old girl almost hit by a molotov cocktail. Police say three of the gasoline bombs were tossed at the girl's home, one went through the window, hit the couch where the girl was sleeping. Her hair was singed. She's otherwise OK. No arrests have been made.

An 11-foot alligator put up a bit of a fight before it was caught in a Florida canal. There had been at least three deadly alligator attacks in the state in a one-week span. The 400-pound gator was caught on a baited hook. Officials are hoping the one they caught is the one who attacked and killed a Tennessee woman. In Cape Canaveral, a big milestone for NASA, weather and widgets permitting, Shuttle Discovery will begin a slow journey to the launch pad at the noon hour. It's a three and a half mile trip at a blistering half a mile an hour. Discovery may be at the pad by dinnertime if all goes well. The next launch slated for July.

Song sung blue here. Neil Diamond upset over the disruption to his serene environment. He is suing his New York neighbor, the wife of the late fashion designer Oleg Cassini. He says her renovation is illegal and ruing his peaceful rooftop retreat.

Apparently going a little higher.

S. O'BRIEN: That's a story in New York.

M. O'BRIEN: It's a New York tale, isn't it? Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it is.

A 7-year-old boy from Afghanistan is getting a new lease on life. He's had heart surgery here in the U.S.

Carrie Lee now has his story. She's live in our newsroom with more.

Hey, Carrie. Good morning again.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Soledad. Good morning to you.

That's right, doctors at Children's National Medical Center in Washington are keeping a close eye on Mohammed Omar as he recovers from surgery to repair a potentially fatal heart defect. It's been more than a year now since his father first turned to the U.S. military for help in saving his little boy "Blue".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEE (voice over): His name is Mohammed, but he's affectionately nicknamed "Blue". That was the color of his lips, fingers and toes when a U.S. Army surgeon found him last year in a remote village in Afghanistan.

MAJ. SLOANE GUY, ARRANGED "BLUE'S" OPERATION: I think, you know, all the doctors and nurses in the hospital there really -- really loved the little kid.

LEE: But 7-year-old Mohammed Omar was sick, very sick. He literally had a whole in his heart, a congenital heart defect restricting the flow of oxygen, stunting his growth, and causing his skin to turn blue. Without surgery, he would die.

Earlier this week, after a year of bureaucratic wrangling, Mohammed flew to the United States aboard a U.S. military plane for a life-saving, life-changing operation. As doctors took special care in prepping Mohammed, they offered words of encouragement to their young patient.

DR. GERARD MARTIN, PEDIATRIC HEART SPECIALIST: "And if everything goes well, you'll go home and run just as fast as your brother and other kids in the village." And he's a big smile from ear to ear and a thumbs up.

LEE: Finally, the big day. They wheeled Mohammed into the operating room at Children's National Medical Center in Washington. The operation, a success.

Mohammed's father was grateful and relieved.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's taken his son to a lot of places, but there was no hope for him. And except these people, they brought him here and gave him hope.

LEE: Doctors say the surgery could not have come at a more critical time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I doubt that he would survive the next year. So I'm glad we got him here when we did.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEE: Doctors expect Mohammed will return to Afghanistan in about two months with a healthy heart. And perhaps a new nickname. The boy's surgery, by the way, was paid for by the Larry King Cardiac Foundation. So, Soledad, a very heartening end to this story.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely, Carrie. Its so nice when people at all levels there step in and really help out somebody who really needs it.

LEE: Right.

S. O'BRIEN: Carrie, thanks.

M. O'BRIEN: Atta boy, Larry. That's our Larry.

Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, we're going to talk about Cannes, because we can. OK. I've used that twice. I'm going to have to retire that.

And we're going to talk about something else besides that disappointing "Da Vinci Code" thing, like how about some other movies that are getting a little bit of buzz. There's one about Tiananmen Square I want to ask about. It's called "Summer palace".

You heard about that one? It's supposed to be good.

S. O'BRIEN: Good. We'll want to hear that. Might want to see it.

Also, if you're into great wine, we've got a very hot tip for you. It's a newest blend that experts say everybody can't wait to stock up on. And then this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh, this is my worst nightmare. Somebody has broken into my apartment, and I'm absolutely paralyzed and I can't move.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: We were talking about this yesterday.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, this is real.

M. O'BRIEN: She's not -- this is not a real-life scenario, but rather a frightening sleep disorder that we're talking about, sleep paralysis. Soledad has had this happen.

S. O'BRIEN: It's scary.

M. O'BRIEN: I've never heard of it before. We're going to delve into this. Sanjay Gupta -- it's been a fascinating series on sleep.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news on this Friday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Time now to hopscotch the globe. A quick look at stories our international reporters are working on.

We begin with a water shortage in India.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello. I'm Satinder Bindra in New Delhi.

Thousands line up for new water every morning. Many homes here don't get pipe drinking water. So they have to be supplied by government-run tankers. Other residents actually buy water from tankers operated by entrepreneurs.

With such an acute shortage, officials are now appealing to everyone to take shorter showers and not to wash their cars. Anything to try and conserve water.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAIME FLORCRUZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is Jaime Florcruz in Beijing, the capital city of China.

Now, in two years' time, Beijing will host the 2008 Olympics. And for sure, the Chinese would want to host a memorable and stunning Olympics. Chinese organizers are getting high marks for doing a find job in constructing Olympic venues, but they're not doing as well in dealing with the terrible traffic and smog.

To clean up the air, they Chinese are moving out polluting factories, like the Shogun steel plant way out of the city. They're also improving the subway system and the public transport system to alleviate traffic congestion.

The question is, will two years be long enough to really deal with its problems?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Mallika Kapur in London, the city currently playing host to the International Wine and Spirits Fair. Here the buzz is all about Bordeaux 2005.

Experts who have sampled it say it's one of the best vintages ever. What makes it so special? Producers say it's the almost perfect growing condition. The Bordeaux region in France last year had just the right amount of rain and sunshine to produce small, flavorful grapes.

Now, you can't buy the bottles of wine in stores just yet. The best vintages are still aging in barrels in France. But there's already a long waiting list for it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: The glitz and glam that is Cannes continued last night with the premiere of a film from a Cannes favorite. The veteran British director Ken Loach brought his film "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" to the famed Palais theater last night.

Now, this is the eighth time that Loach has actually been nominated for the coveted Palme d'Or prize. He's never actually won that award, though. Maybe this year is his year.

Now, two films coming to Cannes this weekend which are competing against Loach. The first, "Volver," from another Cannes favorite, Pedro Almodovar. It stars Penelope Cruz and it's already a huge hit in Spain.

Also, the movie "Fast Food Nation" based on the best-seller by Eric Schlosser. It explores the dark side of the American meal.

Now, the Cannes Film Festival, which is considered a launching pad for many films, will run through May 28th.

Reporting from the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, I'm Brooke Anderson.

(END VIDEOTAPE) M. O'BRIEN: Ah, tough assignment, Brooke.

For more on those and any of our top stories, we invite you to head to CNN.com -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, we're going to take a look at what could be a huge medical breakthrough, a vaccine that could help prevent one of the deadliest forms of cancer.

First, though, our series, "Sleeping in America". Dr. Sanjay Gupta tells us about a pretty scary sleep disorder. You're awake and you feel paralyzed.

More on that and much more ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: All this week Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been exploring the world of sleep and dreams. In the final part of his series, Sanjay takes a look at sleep paralysis. It's a frightening disorder and one that's more common than you might think.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to find an intruder standing in your bedroom. You try to react, you try to scream, but your body is literally paralyzed. All you can do is watch. In fear.

That's what Shelley Carson experienced night after night for three months when she was in her 20s. She was on a new assignment as a flight attendant, flying all-nighters across the country, sleeping at odd hours of the day and of the night.

SHELLEY CARSON, EXPERIENCED SLEEP PARALYSIS: It was about 4:00 in the morning, and I saw a man standing in the frame of my door, looking in at me. He was back-lit from the light in the hall, so I couldn't really see his face.

GUPTA: As vivid as the intruder's presence felt, it was actually a hallucination.

CARSON: This is my worst nightmare, somebody has broken into my apartment and I'm absolutely paralyzed and I can't move.

GUPTA: The hallucinations were a rare symptom of sleep paralysis, a common disorder in which the mind is partly awake while the body is still caught in REM sleep. The body remains immobile, except for the eyes, which are actually wide open. About 30 percent of us have at least one episode of sleep paralysis in our lifetimes.

RICHARD MCNALLY, PSYCHOLOGIST, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: The person is wide awake, they can see their room, but they're still paralyzed and they notice that they're still paralyzed.

GUPTA: Scary and disorienting, especially for the five percent of sleep paralysis sufferers who had extremely vivid hallucinations. The most common vision, an ominous presence in the room.

Harvard researcher Dr. Richard McNally says these hallucinations might explain paranormal phenomenon, described across different cultures and throughout history.

MCNALLY: In 18th century Europe, it was the Incubine (ph), the Succubine. These are agents of the devil. In 17th century New England, in Salem, sometimes these were the spectral images of witches. It's ghosts throughout history.

GUPTA: A study by McNally's team also found that people claiming to have been abducted by aliens probably experienced sleep paralysis instead.

Sleep paralysis does not have direct negative effects on the body, but extreme cases can interfere with sleep and can be treated with certain antidepressants.

Being able to put a name to her episodes helped Shelley manage her fear.

CARSON: If it were to happen to me tomorrow, I probably wouldn't be afraid of it at all. I might even look at it as an adventure.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Be sure to catch Sanjay's one-hour special, "Sleep," on Sunday night, 10:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

M. O'BRIEN: But I'll be sleeping. I guess I'll have to...

S. O'BRIEN: Stay up for that one.

M. O'BRIEN: I'll stay up for that one.

S. O'BRIEN: It's really worth it, yes.

Andy's "Minding Your Business".

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE": Good morning, you guys. Some business news coming up.

A new slew of executives possibly caught cheating their way to millions of dollars of stock options.

Plus, Ken Lay's automatic signature machine device defense. You're not going to believe this one. Stay tuned -- coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Executives who may not be acting honestly. It's a shocker here this morning.

M. O'BRIEN: Shock. There's gambling in this facility.

S. O'BRIEN: What?

SERWER: Right. Well, this is another chapter.

S. O'BRIEN: More executives ripping people off?

SERWER: And -- yes, this is...

S. O'BRIEN: Shocking.

SERWER: You know, actually, this all sort of stems out of or is linked to or is sort of like that United HealthCare story that we told you about over the past couple of weeks. It has to do with improperly dating stock options. And let me just explain.

You want to have stock options priced low because it gives you an option to buy stock at a low point, and then it goes up and you make a lot of money. Federal prosecutors have begun investigating at least five companies over possible stock option fraud.

"The Wall Street Journal" is reporting companies such as Caremark, SafeNet, Affiliated Computer, Vitesse, and United HealthCare, which we talked about previously. These companies are not necessarily household names, but they are big companies.

Caremark a big pharmaceutical company you might know of. And United Health we've already talked about.

A couple of others, Brooks Automation and Converse, in the crosshairs as well for other transgressions. And unlike an Enron, where it might be difficult to prove what's going on here, if there's a piece of paper that says "March 31st," cross it out, you know, "March 10th," the jury's going to understand that completely. And so these people, if they're guilty of these kind of transgressions, they're going to get nailed.

M. O'BRIEN: So do you think there's that kind of evidence? Is that...

SERWER: We don't know yet. But the investigators are going after it.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: Now, let's go down to Houston and talk about Ken Lay. We talked about his other trial involving bank fraud. That's under way, it should wrap up over the next couple of days.

An interesting little twist here. His lawyers acknowledge that some of the documents he used to get the $75 million bank loans were signed by an automatic signature machine and that Mr. Lay didn't really understand or know or wasn't really aware of the documents being signed S. O'BRIEN: At issue is he took out three loans from three different banks, right?

SERWER: Right.

S. O'BRIEN: And didn't tell the other banks that he had other loans. So it was fraudulent.

SERWER: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: That's a lot of signatures.

SERWER: And he used the money to borrow -- to buy stock.

S. O'BRIEN: That is a lot of signatures.

SERWER: And it's just -- the judge was sort of, you know, at a loss here and saying, is this proper? And his lawyer saying, well, it might not be completely proper, but it's not criminal. It doesn't look really good for Mr. Lay.

M. O'BRIEN: So he had a signing machine and he just left the switch on borrow?

SERWER: Yes. That's essentially right. I mean, it's just -- it's just amazing.

S. O'BRIEN: The other argument is he paid it back. So...

SERWER: Yes. Well, but it doesn't look good.

S. O'BRIEN: It might not work.

SERWER: Right.

S. O'BRIEN: Right. Andy, thank you.

SERWER: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: See you in a bit, Andy. Thank you.

Time for a check of the forecast now. Here's Rob with that.

Hey, Rob.

MARCIANO: Hi, Miles.

(WEATHER REPORT)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com