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American Morning
Hurricane Season 2006; Ready Or Not; Blair in Baghdad; Saddam Hussein Trial; Early Release; Hurricane Tax Break
Aired May 22, 2006 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening this morning.
$90,000 in cold cash. The FBI agents revealing they found the money in Democratic Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson's freezer. They found the cash during a search of his D.C. home last August. They're investigating Jefferson on bribery charges.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is in Washington, expected to seek President Bush's backing for setting the boundaries for a Palestinian state.
And the disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba. An update on that one for you. An attorney for a man being held in the Netherlands says that man has been indicted on murder and manslaughter charges in connection with the case. We'll keep you posted on that.
Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.
Big story this morning, the official 2006 hurricane forecast going to come out just about four hours from now. We expect it to predict a more active season than usual. And, of course, we're already coming off the most active Atlantic hurricane season on record. There were 27 named storms back in 2005. It was also one of the most costly seasons. According to FEMA, Katrina alone had insurance claims totaling $23 billion. Reconstruction costs totaling $200 billion.
Let's get right to our severe weather expert Chad Myers.
Chad, what are you hearing the early word is?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, the early word was actually from Dr. Gray (ph) in Colorado State. He came up with some numbers, compared to what hurricane season usually is. Here are the names for this season. From Alberto to Beryl and Chris and Debby. And these all probably should sound pretty familiar. They repeat every six years. And the only one that was removed back in 2000 was Keith. That really hit like Belize and Honduras and it was replaced with Kirk. Let's hope we never get to Rafael, Sandy and Tony and William, like we got to Wilma last year.
Here are some of the other things to talk about for today. And when you're listening to the news conference at 11:00, Colorado State predicted 17 named storms, nine hurricanes and five intense hurricanes and those are the averages, 12, six and two. So above normal for sure.
And last year was way above normal, 27, 28 named storms. Five storms were retired last year. Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan and Wilma. Those names will never be used again. Replaced by Don, Katia, Rina, Sean and Whitney. Never before have we ever had to retire five names. Names are retired only if they have such a bad connotation, such a bad memory to anyone that actually renaming the storm the same name would make it very frightful experience.
We just got the numbers. We'll get them on for you at 11:00. We're going to take the news press conference live from the Hurricane Center.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Chad Myers, thank you very much.
There's a searing report out, meanwhile, this morning that concludes Hurricane Katrina was a political scandal as well as a natural disaster. The report coming from engineers at the University of California-Berkeley. It saying New Orleans was swamped and people died because politicians allowed cost concerns to undermine safety. It says 80 percent of the flooding could have been prevented had political leaders been less apathetic about that levee system.
These engineers say politics and a lack of money led the Army Corps of Engineers to build flood walls and levees on the cheap. Those steel sheets that anchor the levees were less than a third as deep as what is being built now and there was porous soil used in those levees, cheaper than clay that should have been used. The report is at odds with the Corps of Engineers explanation thus far that the levees failed because of un-anticipate design flaws.
Despite the lessons of Katrina, many people around the country are not prepared for a natural disaster in their own town. Here's Jeanne Meserve with a look at what officials in New York City are doing to try to kick start emergency preparedness.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARKADY FRIDMAN, RESIDENT: To be good health, be (INAUDIBLE) every day. January, February, March.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Arkady Fridman prepares before he plunging into the frigid waters of Brighton Beach. This is one of New York's most vulnerable neighborhoods if a hurricane strikes. But is Fridman preparing for that? No way.
FRIDMAN: Katrina, New Orleans and New York is big difference.
MESERVE: Fridman is from Russia, like many people in this neighborhood. So the city's commissioner of emergency management is using Russian-language radio to preach the gospel of hurricane preparedness. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So if we tell you to evacuate, you should evacuate.
MESERVE: Despite outreach efforts like this, despite $532 million worth of free media for preparedness messages, despite $1.9 billion hits on the federal government's ready campaign website, despite September 11th, despite Katrina, some surveys show two-thirds of Americans have done nothing to prepare for natural disasters or terrorism.
PEGGY CONLON, PRESIDENT AND CEO, AD COUNCIL: People put up a lot of emotional roadblocks. They will say, it's never going to happen to me. Or if something catastrophic happens, it's outside of my ability to prepare for everything.
MESERVE: Because first responders are likely to be overwhelmed in a catastrophe, officials say Americans must prepare to take care of themselves.
GEORGE FORESMAN, UNDERSECRETARY FOR PREPAREDNESS: Until the citizens are ready, this nation is not going to be safe and secure.
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: Buckle up. Buckle up for safety. Always buckle up.
MESERVE: It took 20 years for the public to absorb the message to buckling seat belts. Twenty years is to long, officials say, to make preparedness the norm. The Ad Council has done extensive research, hoping to motivate people without scaring them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The farther we get away from 9/11, the less relevant a terrorism-focused message is.
MESERVE: Its latest public service spots target those most likely to respond. Parents.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If the phone doesn't work, how will I tell you I'm there?
MESERVE: Different images and themes are used to reach the Spanish speaking audience. But critics say that government preparedness campaigns give conflicting advice, are underfunded and are just not urgent enough.
DR. IRWIN REDLENER, NATIONAL CENTER FOR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS: People keep talking about this as, you know, wake-up calls of 9/11 and Katrina. They're really more like snooze alarms. You know, we get alerted and aroused and very intense for a little while and then we sort of drift back off.
MESERVE: This family is pulling together vital supplies, a show and tell for the ready website. Ultimately, officials say, each and every citizen must take responsibility to do things like this, to get ready or else.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Brighton Beach, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: So what are the steps you can take? Here are some steps recommended by the Department of Homeland Security.
Have an emergency family communications plan. Stockpile basic supplies, including three days of food and water.
Have a smaller go-kit, including vital documents and cash.
Be familiar with evacuation routes and shelters.
And know where to go to get emergency information.
Coming up in about 15 minutes, we'll show you how some people are stocking up for hurricane season tax free.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Some good advice.
Happening in America this morning.
Gritty details about the secret life of former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey. McGreevey, you'll recall, came out and said he was gay, resigned in 2004. In his new book McGreevey writes about pretending to be straight all the while meeting men for sex at highway rest stops.
And a scare for passengers on board a Continental flight in Florida. The plane's right main landing gear collapsed while the pilot was trying to land. He was able to land the aircraft safely, though, and nobody on board, 23 passengers, was injured.
Rash of crashes on a northern California interstate has injured at least 32 people. Three accidents occurring within an one-mile stretch of westbound I-80 in Placer (ph) County. Three tour buses were among the vehicles involved.
And with 2,800 pounds of dynamite, a Portland, Oregon, landmark -- oh, take a look at that. Boom, there it goes. That cloud is unbelievable, huh? It's a cooling tower at the Trojan (ph) Nuclear Power Plant. Trojan was shut down for safety reasons more than a dozen years ago. It's reportedly the largest cooling tower ever to be demolished in the U.S.
And in a New York court today, the "Son of Sam" is suing over the Son of Sam Law. David Berkowitz says his victims should get the profits from a book, his former lawyer is writing. Berkowitz, who was also known as the "Son of Sam," killed six people, wounded seven in shootings between 1976 and 1977. The Son of Sam Law prevents convicts from profiting by selling their story.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: British Prime Minister Tony Blair on a surprise visit to Baghdad today. He's the first world leader to meet with Iraq's newly formed government. Ryan Chilcote live now from Baghdad with more on the visit.
Ryan, what does the prime minister hope to accomplish with this trip?
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think Prime Minister Blair was looking to express his support for Iraq's new government. Remember, this is the first permanent government in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein. One that's going to serve for a full four- year term. He was obviously here, I think, as well, to reaffirm the UK's commitment to the security situation here on the ground.
One of the most interesting moments, though, really came at a joint press conference. Prime Minister Blair, Prime Minister Maliki receiving questions from journalists. A lot of people asking when Iraq's security forces might be able to take responsibility for their own security in the country. It was a question that Prime Minister Blair pretty much refused to be drawn on. He said that it really depended on conditions on the ground.
But Prime Minister Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, laid out a very specific timetable. At least one of the most specific we have heard yet. He said that he thought two regions in the south of the country, these are Shiite regions that are known for being relatively peaceful currently under the control of the British military, that the Iraqi security forces could take over those two regions by June. And he went on to say that he thought that by the end of the year, Iraq's security forces could take over throughout the country except for right here in Baghdad and in the west of the country in the very rest of Al Anbar province.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Boy, that certainly sounds like an aggressive timetable, particularly, Ryan, when you consider the violence we've been witnessing just in recent days. Tell us about that.
CHILCOTE: Yes, another violent day here in Iraq. At least 13 Iraqis killed throughout the country. One of the most lethal attacks right here in Baghdad. A car bomb going off in a very crowded marketplace. That car bomb killing at least three, wounding 10. Just a continuation of the violence that we have seen really skyrocketing here since the beginning of the year.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Let's check in on the Saddam Hussein trial for just a moment. As usual, sparks flying in one way, shape or form. In this case, it was one of his defense attorneys. Tell us what happened.
CHILCOTE: Sure. You're right, it was one of the defense attorneys. She was ejected from the court by the judge. The irony here, perhaps, is that she had just been readmitted to serve Saddam Hussein in the trial by the judge. Just been allowed back into the courtroom after getting ejected back in April for a very similar outburst.
The judge, when he let her back into the courtroom today, said, remember, you have to behave yourself in this courtroom. She started yelling at the judge, throwing her robe at him. That's when he said, you're dismissed and she was escorted out of the courtroom.
Saddam then spoke up, getting out of the chair, saying -- tried to defend her. The judge told Saddam to sit down. That he's a defendant. That's when we heard Saddam say, as he has said many times before, that he still considers himself to be the president of Iraq.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: This is the same attorney who showed those Abu Ghraib torture pictures? Is that -- back in April?
CHILCOTE: That's right. She showed those pictures of Abu Ghraib, the prisoners in Abu Ghraib. And she said, addressing Saddam Hussein in the courtroom, look what they're doing to your country.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Ryan Chilcote in Baghdad for us. Thank you very much.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, an early release program that lets so many inmates out early that even some of the convicts say, oh, that's just a slap on the wrist.
M. O'BRIEN: Also ahead, oil prices go up and down but gas prices don't always seem to follow suit. We're going to try to figure out how this all works. We'll ask one of the leading executives of a big oil company about all this and we'll ask him if they're gouging us.
S. O'BRIEN: And then later this morning, you know co-(INAUDIBLE) means? When you let your baby shares your bed with you. Well, a well-known expert, Dr. Ferber (ph), seems to be changing his tune.
M. O'BRIEN: Hmm.
S. O'BRIEN: Some controversial advice.
Also this morning, John Zarrella live for us in Miami.
Hey, John, good morning.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
It's awfully hard to believe hurricane season just around the corner. Time to stock up. Batteries, flashlights, gas cans. I'll have that story coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) S. O'BRIEN: The nation's prison population is on the rise. In fact, it's the biggest increase in nearly 10 years. The latest numbers show the prisons and jails added more than a thousand new inmates every week between the summer of 2004 and the summer of 2005. The total population behind bars now is nearly 2.2 million.
So, if you do the math, one out of every 136 U.S. residents is behind bars. Biggest increases are local jails where inmates usually wait to be transferred off to other facilities. Many jails, like one of the one in Los Angeles, are at a breaking point. CNN's Kareen Wynter has our story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): It's Friday afternoon in Los Angeles, California. And at the county jail, it's time to hit the streets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's up, chief?
WYNTER: Inmates like Rudy Shane (ph) count on getting an early ticket out.
RUDY SHANE: The judges, you know, they should give us more time. They should be more harder on us.
WYNTER: Shane was sentenced to one week for a drug parole violation and he still got out early.
You described it as a slap on the wrist.
SHANE: IT is a slap on the wrist because time ain't nothing to us in there. And it's easy for us in there, you know. We're already thinking criminal thoughts once we get out. I mean I've seen people come back in for murder after a couple of hours.
WYNTER: L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca says his jails have become meaningless in stopping crime. Too many criminals, not enough cells.
SHERIFF LEE BACA, L.A. COUNTY: We have a criminal justice system that is severely broken.
WYNTER: The county's early release program for low level offenders began nearly 20 years ago, a stop gap measure to ease overcrowded. But today, roughly 40,000 of the county's inmates released early each year. That's 10 percent of the jail population. The remaining 90 percent are state prison transfers and those awaiting trial.
BACA: I've been basically handcuffs from doing the things that I know are the most important and that is to keep people in jail.
WYNTER: The sheriff says the crunch began in 2002 when a multimillion dollar budget deficit forced jail closures. Jamming existing facilities beyond capacity wasn't an option. A federal court ruling in 1988 stopped the common practice of allowing inmates in sleep in hallways, on floors, wherever they could find room.
BACA: If there were no court order, I would have everybody in the jail serving full sentences.
WYNTER: What started as a temporary fix became a troubled tactic. Put some offenders back on the streets early to free up space.
ROCKY DELDADEO (ph), L.A. CITY ATTORNEY: It makes our job hard to try to keep the streets safe.
WYNTER: L.A. City Attorney Rocky Deldadeo fears shaving sentences will boost crime.
So these inmates are figuring out a way to beat the system?
DELDADEO: Yes. For some of them, as I've said, it's the cost of doing business.
WYNTER: Daryl Derek (ph) was a homeless man living in the alleys of Los Angeles. He was murdered in 2004 by an inmate who was released early. Derek's mother, Gladys, says she often wonders about the murderer.
GLADYS DEREK (ph), DARYL DEREK'S MOTHER: If they had kept him in for his time, he wouldn't have been out there killing. Daryl would still be alive.
WYNTER: It's Rudy Shane's third release from jail. He can't wait to get home to his three-year-old daughter Briana (ph). But if he has to come back, he says, it's easy time.
Kareen Wynter, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: That's really shocking, I think, at least.
The U.S. dominates the world when it comes to putting people behind bars with easily the highest rate of inmates. Russia comes in a very distant second.
M. O'BRIEN: Up next, Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business."
ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning you guys.
Some big, bold moves by Toyota in China and here in the United States.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Andy.
Also ahead on the program, the age old debate over how to get a crying baby to fall asleep. The doctor behind some controversial advice may be changing his tune. Should the youngster be sort of -- the family bed?
S. O'BRIEN: Cry it out.
M. O'BRIEN: Cry it out, yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Cry it out was one and the family bed was the other. Both controversial. And now some new advice. We'll share it with you.
M. O'BRIEN: Stay tuned, parents.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly feels as if -- well this is an incredibly strong gust of wind now that we're experiencing, as you can see. And this is the backside of the hurricane. Of Hurricane Andrew. A tremendously powerful storm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, you remember Hurricane Andrew. And of course you remember our intrepid hurricane correspondent John Zarrella out there for all of them. And, of course, Andrew, Jorge and, of course, Katrina, he was there. Today John is in Miami where I don't know what the forecast is today but I'm sure it's better than that. People are stocking up on hurricane supplies there tax free, we are told.
Good morning, John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
I remember covering the 1900 Galveston hurricane, but I was just an intern then, I think, when I covered my first. But this is tax free days here in Florida. It started yesterday. Goes until June 1st. And they've done this in the past. And what the idea here is to give folks an opportunity, save a little money and to stock up now.
Some of the things that you can get, of course, what we always know that people need, gas cans for the generators. I went through a lot of these the eight days we were without power at my house during Hurricane Wilma. You've got to have batteries and flashlights. All these items you can get tax free. And of course, the infamous blue tarps. All kinds of items here.
Last year, Floridians saved $10 million purchasing these items. This year, they expect folks to save here in Florida $41 million. And that's because the state of Florida has added generators and storm shutters to the list of items that you can get here tax free. So they are encouraging people, Miles, now's the time to do it, get out, stock up, don't procrastinate.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: How are the supplies? They got plenty of stuff?
ZARRELLA: They are loaded, Miles. Take a look over here real quick. Look at all these generators they've got lined up here. Just one of the many racks and racks of hurricane supplies that they have here.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, don't forget to stock up for yourself, John Zarrella, and the crew there, of course.
ZARRELLA: I will do it. We'll do it.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, thanks. Thanks very much.
And we have Andy Serwer here.
I didn't know John Zarrella was there for the 1900 storm. He is -- he looks good. He looks good, doesn't he.
ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's everywhere. He's the storm king.
M. O'BRIEN: He is, yes.
SERWER: Some news coming out of Japan want to tell you about. A news agency there reporting that Toyota is set to open up its eighth manufacturing facility here in the United States. Of course, sales are surging for the Japanese auto giant. They already have facilities in California, Kentucky, Indiana and Texas. They're talking about in the south, maybe Texas. Honda, of course, said they're opening a plant last week.
GM, meanwhile, thriving in China. But Toyota is fast on its heels. And, in fact, they're going to be rolling out the first Camry in China this week. Now listen to this, GM has 11 percent market share in China. Toyota, only 3.5. But watch this space because you know Toyota's going to be cranking that up.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes. Yes. No question about that.
All right, Andy, thanks.
SERWER: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING begins right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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