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American Morning

Massive Earthquake Kills Thousands in Indonesia; Investigation Continues into Iraqi Civilian Deaths

Aired May 29, 2006 - 08:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Relief is on the way to 100,000 left homeless by that massive quake in Indonesia. Survivors there afraid to step inside buildings.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon.

Congress and members of the Pentagon are bracing for the worst about allegations of a massacre by Marines of civilians in Iraq. I'll tell you what the nation's top military officer had to say this morning.

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ed Henry at the White House.

Senator Frist has had a change of heart over that controversial raid of a congressman's office. Some Republicans are charging it's because Frist wants to live right here at the White House after 2008.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Bob Franken at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, where we will talk to people who try and bridge the gap between wars of the past and wars of the present.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And high gas prices doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your summer vacation. Still plenty of deals to be found. Our own personal Frommer's guide is ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Welcome everybody.

I'm Soledad O'Brien.

M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien.

We're glad you're with us this morning.

U.S. military doctors are on their way to Indonesia. They're just part of the massive relief effort in the wake of that devastating earthquake.

The quake was centered on the island of Java, near Mount Merapi, that active volcano that we have been watching.

CNN's Dan Rivers is there.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the chaotic aftermath of this earthquake, the local hospital is a living hell. Every single piece of floor is occupied by injured survivors waiting for treatment. Corridors and walkways choked with hundreds of patients, many of whom have not seen a doctor yet.

Some are now being evacuated to other Indonesian provinces, ferried past those who have been waiting for days.

"We were sleeping when the house collapsed and I managed to protect my wife from the falling debris," says 35-year-old Hatando (ph). He has a nasty leg fracture. There are no painkillers and he's been waiting out here for two days.

Thirty-five-year-old Juniken (ph) has just arrived with a broken hip. She's gently lifted onto a makeshift bed in a parking lot. The vehicles cleared out to make room for patients, each parking bay marked by an intravenous drip.

She's fed by her 14-year-old son. There aren't enough nurses for even the most basic care. She says the roof of her house collapsed on her and she's been too scared of aftershocks to come to hospital.

This hospital is at breaking point. There are only enough beds for 750 patients, but yet there are 1,700 people spilling out into walkways like this awaiting treatment. Five hundred people need urgent operations and there are critical shortages of basic drugs.

And what will happen if they don't get those supplies?

UNIDENTIFIED AID WORKER: Well, I think people will die. But I don't think any of us are expecting that. I mean, certainly there are many humanitarian aid organizations here on the ground and there's also a very strong response from -- from Indonesians.

RIVERS: Help is on the way.

But for those writhing in agony, enduring operations without anesthetics, it can't come soon enough.

Dan Rivers, CNN, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: you can help the relief effort. Donations can be made at several organizations. These are two of them. The Red Cross, of course, 800-RED-CROSS is the number, www.redcross.org is the place on the Web. UNICEF, 800-4-UNICEF and unicefusa.org is the place to find them on the Web.

Coming up in just a few moments, we're going to talk to one U.N. relief worker who's helping lead those efforts on the ground in Indonesia. We'll see how things are going there -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: It's been a grim start to Memorial Day in Baghdad. A U.S. Humvee ambushed earlier this morning. The military not confirming if any Americans have been hurt.

The attack just one of several bombings and shootings to tell you about today. At least 34 people have been killed, many of them Iraqi police officers.

And the attacks come as the U.S. Congress is set to launch an investigation into an incident in Haditha. A group of Marines suspected of killing 24 Iraqis, including women and children.

Congressman John Murtha says the fallout could have greater impact than the Abu Ghraib scandal.

Jamie McIntyre is at the Pentagon for us -- Jamie, good morning.

MCINTYRE: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, Pentagon officials are bracing for the worst, as sources here at the Pentagon tell CNN that the investigation into the allegation that U.S. Marines killed as many as 24 civilians in Iraq last November is wrapping up and that the evidence so far is "very incriminating."

That said, this morning on AMERICAN MORNING, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Peter Pace said that the investigations are still not final and he is not willing yet to come to a conclusion about what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENERAL PETER PACE, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: It's going to be a couple more weeks before those investigations are complete and we should not prejudge the outcome. But we should, in fact, as leaders, take and the responsibility to get out and talk to our troops and make sure that they understand that what 99.9 percent of them are doing, which is fighting with honor and courage, is exactly what we expect of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: That's a reference to General Michael Hagee, the Marine Corps commandant who went to Iraq to talk to Marines about core values in the wake of these allegations.

A couple of points here. One is, under questioning from CNN's Miles O'Brien this morning, General Pace said he didn't know about what happened -- the allegations, even -- until February of this year, even though the incident happened in November of last year. The indications are that there was a cover-up. The question is how high did it go?

It appears that the initial statements given by the Marines at the time were -- were not accurate about what happened. And there's two investigations. One is going to look at who knew that those statements were incorrect. And the other one looks at exactly what happened when these Marines allegedly went on a rampage and killed as many as 24 civilians -- Soledad. S. O'BRIEN: I know the investigation is not complete, meaning that we don't know all the details yet.

But what's alleged here? What are the Marines, how many of them, and what are they alleged to have done?

MCINTYRE: There's a small group of Marines, about eight or nine, who were on patrol. A roadside bomb went off, killed one of their own. And then they went out looking for the bombers. And the question is did -- in that house-to-house search, did they essentially kill innocent Iraqis without sufficient provocation?

One difference here, by the way, between the Abu Ghraib scandal, in which critics said that might have been brought about by policies that came from the Pentagon, this one clearly involves violations of the law of war that all soldiers should know.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, brutal details.

All right, well, the investigation obviously continues. And it looks like it's going to wrap up soon.

Thanks for the update.

We sure appreciate it -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: A new twist in that constitutional struggle between lawmakers and law enforcers.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist changing his tune, saying now it was OK for the FBI to search Congressman William Jefferson's Capitol Hill office. Jefferson, you'll recall, is under investigation for bribery.

CNN White House correspondent Ed Henry joining us for more on this and the political implications of it all -- Ed, good morning.

HENRY: Good morning, Miles.

You're right, some big news there from Senator Frist.

As you remember, he had raised some sharp questions about this raid last week, about the balance of power, checks and balances. But he now says that he believes the raid on Congressman Jefferson was OK and that the congressman, accused of taking bribes, is not above the law.

Senior House Republicans insist they're not excusing the conduct of Congressman Jefferson, but they say they're standing up for an important principle here.

Take a listen to Senator Frist and House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: There is no individual in the House or Senate that can be or should stand above the law. It's a matter of how the law enforcement is carried out and I think it was appropriate, as I see it today.

REP. JAMES SENSENBRENNER (R-WI) JUDICIARY CHAIRMAN: I don't think that it would be right for a House committee to issue a subpoena to the president's office and send the Capitol police rummaging through files, taking everything and then deciding what wasn't relevant by themselves and returning it to the president. And that's what the Capitol -- what the FBI did in Congressman Jefferson's office two weeks ago. Separation of powers and checks and balances is very important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now, CNN has confirmed that three top Bush officials, including the attorney general, threatened to resign if the president buckled and returned these seized documents back to congressional Republican leaders.

The president diffused that somewhat, you'll remember, but ordering this 45-day cooling off period to try to let everybody calm down a little bit -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Ed, let's talk about how this fits into widely circulated -- well, it'/s probably more than rumors that Senator Frist would like to occupy the building behind you there.

There is -- of course, everything in Washington is viewed through a political prism and there is the allegation that he's sort of setting the stage here for a run-for office.

Are you hearing much of that?

HENRY: Absolutely. Yesterday, I talked to some senior Republicans who are frustrated. And they feel that Senator Frist, early last week, was standing beside House Speaker Dennis Hastert and other senior Republicans and saying they had a problem with this raid, that there were constitutional concerns.

And they now wonder whether he's thinking about a presidential bid and that he's flip-flopped a bit, in part, because he's looking at the idea that some people are now saying wait a second, why are you defending a congressman, Congressman Jefferson, who apparently had some $90,000 in bribes, allegedly, in his freezer?

That looks bad and they think that maybe Frist is doing it for political reasons.

His office insists no, what he's really looking at is the fact that it's time to really getting to the bottom of the Jefferson case and no time for stalling m Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Ed Henry at the White House.

Thank you -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Today, of course, is a day that we are remembering the nation's fallen heroes. And across the country, Americans are paying tribute to the troops.

AMERICAN MORNING'S Bob Franken live at the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. -- the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial -- Bob, good morning to you.

FRANKEN: Good morning.

And as we know, the war that was officially over 31 years ago still has its raw wounds, even as we've moved ahead now and there is all the controversy over the war in Iraq.

So we came here today to talk to people who have fought in earlier U.S. wars, to talk about their comparisons to the situation now with the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan.

Among them, Tom Tabor, who is a veteran of the Vietnam War.

And you've been coming here since 1984.

TOM TABOR, VIETNAM VET: Yes, sir.

FRANKEN: Let me just ask your thoughts about what you see as similarities and differences in the two wars.

TABOR: Well, obviously, in Vietnam, it was a jungle war, for the most part, and where in Iraq and Afghanistan it's more or less a patrol out front, try to find the enemy.

FRANKEN: Well, what about the response by the American people? What do you see?

TABOR: Of course -- well, when I was there, it wasn't popular. Of course, the war isn't popular now, for the most part. But in Vietnam, we -- we didn't have much support, in my opinion. And it was just an unpopular war. And although Iraq and Afghanistan have been somewhat favored, it's turning sour as the losses mount.

FRANKEN: And we also have people from an earlier war.

We have here a couple, Claude and Rita Newman of Virginia, of Pulaski, Virginia.

You fought in both World War II, Claude, and the Korean War.

When you look at what's going on today, how do you compare the experiences for this country?

CLAUDE NEWMAN, VETERAN: I'm -- it's hard to say. That, like he says, it's a jungle over there, hot and sweaty. And we in Korea, cold, mountains we had to hide behind. And there's just not much comparison to what they've got now. They -- you drive down the road and all at once you're happy, you're thinking about home or something, and all at once you blow up. And it's -- it seems funny, you know?

FRANKEN: But you make the good point that all of you have made here, and one that's almost inescapable, and that is whatever the war, whatever the cause, whatever its merits, the war brings sadness and tragedy, sadness that we still see here at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as people remember the names who were lost 31 years ago and much longer -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken for us this morning.

Bob, thank you -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Parts of the Southwest in flames this morning. Thousands of acres destroyed in Colorado and New Mexico. Some houses being evacuated near Prescott National Forest in Arizona. Dry, windy conditions offering some big challenges to firefighters today there -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, the showdown over that FBI raid on a congressman's office.

Was the search constitutional? We're going to take a closer look this morning.

Allan Chernoff for us, as well, this morning.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Allan Chernoff aboard the USS Intrepid. And we'll tell you how they're celebrating the day, as Fleet Week 2006 in New York wraps up.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, I thought for a minute he might be a bolter there. He made it.

And with Memorial Day already here, is it too late to plan your vacation?

S. O'BRIEN: No.

M. O'BRIEN: Actually, I have this theory -- it's better to wait until the very last minute, because there's a lot of good deals.

S. O'BRIEN: I -- not necessarily.

M. O'BRIEN: oh, come on.

No?

S. O'BRIEN: But it's not to late, either.

M. O'BRIEN: No?

It's a bad -- back with more in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: In Indonesia, the death toll from that big earthquake over the weekend now stands at more than 5,000. Relief and relief workers are pouring in, even as rescue operations continue. But it is a chaotic scene trying to coordinate all of this.

joining us on the phone right now from Yogyakarta is Barry Came the with United Nations World Food Program.

Mr. Came, what's the biggest need right now?

BARRY CAME, U.N. WORLD FOOD PROGRAM: The biggest need right now is shelter, medical supplies and we're probably getting into a bit of a food crunch right now. I mean the situation is that these people, basically their houses fell down and there's tens of thousands of them without homes. And they're kind of camped in the rubble of their own homes rather than in, you know, refugee camps or internal displaced people type facilities.

And they're salvaging what they can from the rubble and living under plastic. And it's raining right here at the moment and it rains almost every night. So shelter is -- shelter is a big problem.

M. O'BRIEN: Give us a sense of -- you say food is the crisis.

Is it for lack of supplies or just lack of the logistics to get the supplies where they're needed?

CAME: Yes, basically the shops and the markets are closed and those shops and markets that are open are depleted. So -- so WFP thinks that there's a transition period that has to be -- has to be implemented here.

What we're -- what we're going to do is fill some gaps that -- or help the Indonesian government fill some gaps and set up a general food distribution for two months. We think we need to feed about 80,000 people in that first month and then 50,000 people in the second month and then that should get them over -- bridge the gap.

M. O'BRIEN: Tell us about, as I understand it, that rumbling volcano we've been talking about, Mount Merapi, while a lot of people are concerned about what happens next with it, it did offer a little bit of a silver lining here, in that there were some relief workers positioned there?

CAME: Yes, I mean if there is an up side to this whole tragedy, that's it, in that relief workers were here, emergency supplies were here, all geared up for when Mount -- when or if Mount Merapi blows its stack. Something else happened. So that was the kind of silver lining.

The other one has been that while a lot of houses collapsed, the basic infrastructure didn't. I mean the roads are still good. The bridges didn't fall down. So you can get around this place.

M. O'BRIEN: Barry Came, who is with the U.N. World Food Program, joining us from Yogyakarta.

Thanks for being with us. I know you're very busy and have many pressing needs.

CAME: OK.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Coming up this...

CAME: Thanks for having us.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, finishing his report this morning.

Coming up, everybody complains about high gas prices, but are alternative fuels like ethanol really the answer?

Andy Serwer is going to take a look. He minds your business just ahead.

And Memorial Day is here, but you still have time to find great deals on your summer vacations for the whole family. We've got tips from the folks at Frommer's travel guides.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Gas prices could cause more than a few planned vacations to be downsized this summer. There are still plenty of great family vacation values out there, though.

And that's where Pauline Frommer comes in.

She's with Frommer's travel guides and joins us this morning.

Nice to see you.

PAULINE FROMMER, FROMMER'S TRAVEL GUIDES: Good to see you.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about what families can do. I mean, I grew up in the big family and it's very expensive to go to Europe. It's very hard to take the kids...

FROMMER: Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: ... you know, somewhere.

But there are a lot of really good options for people who don't want to spend a lot of money.

FROMMER: Well, there are great options within the United States. And the best are our national parks. Most are free. About 147 charge fees. Of those, they're only $15 or $20 to get your car in, everyone in the car, for an entire week. Some of the good ways to do it is try to go when the national parks are less crowded. That's the last two weeks in August...

S. O'BRIEN: Right, because it ruins the whole thing...

FROMMER: ... because many kids...

S. O'BRIEN: ... if you're -- if there's 500 zillion people with you.

FROMMER: If it's more like a city than a park, you don't want to be there.

S. O'BRIEN: It's like I could have stayed in Manhattan for this.

FROMMER: Yes. And the last two weeks in August are quiet. Also, go to the less touristed national parks...

S. O'BRIEN: Like which ones?

FROMMER: The national parks in Alaska. You want to go there before global warming totally transforms the landscape there. Voyager's National Park in Minnesota doesn't get nearly as much tourists as it should. Redwood in California...

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, that's a beautiful park.

FROMMER: ... is beautiful...

S. O'BRIEN: ... oh, that's a great one.

FROMMER: ... and lightly touristed. Isle Royal in Michigan.

S. O'BRIEN: If you're doing the national parks thing with your family, does that mean that you're camping?

FROMMER: You're camping. And you should get your campgrounds online at nps.gov, which is the National Park Service site. They have a wonderful site. You can reserve in advance, but don't be scared if you can't find a campground. They set aside 20 percent of the campgrounds for latecomers.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, for people who just show up?

FROMMER: Yes. And, also, if you're going to book a lodge within the national parks, there are hotels there, too. Always book through the National Park Service, not through an outside service, because they add fees. And there's no reason to pay them.

S. O'BRIEN: And sometimes they -- they're not what they advertise, too. I've made that mistake.

Let's move on and talk a little bit about family car trips.

FROMMER: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: if you want to take your kids, especially youngish kids, up on a -- because, you know, I think a trip where they can learn a little something about this nation...

FROMMER: Yes?

S. O'BRIEN: ... what's the best place to go, would you say?

FROMMER: I love colonial Williamsburg.

S. O'BRIEN: Really?

FROMMER: It's recently gotten a $220 million upgrade, so there now are spas and health clubs there. But the way they...

S. O'BRIEN: Wait a minute. They didn't have that in colonial Williamsburg.

FROMMER: I know. You wouldn't think they do. But it's very comfortable. The hotels are lovely. And they present history in a really sophisticated manner, warts and all. They talk about slavery and the fact that many of the founding fathers were slave owners. They go into the various disagreements that shaped our country. It's a fascinating look at history, educational. If your kids get too much history, you have Busch Gardens nearby. And this summer, they're allowing families who book four nights or more to get in free...

S. O'BRIEN: Oh.

FROMMER: ... to all of the colonial Williamsburg attractions, which is a huge money saver.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's great. That's great.

Let's talk about amusement parks, because I think a lot of people do that during the summers. And they can be so much fun-and so expensive.

FROMMER: They can be so expensive...

S. O'BRIEN: It is so expensive to go to these parks.

FROMMER: Oh, maddening sometimes.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes.

FROMMER: So look -- crunch the numbers before you go and pay the daily fee. Sometimes it's cheaper to get an annual pass, believe it or not. It can pay off in two or three visits. Also, try and break up your day and make sure you get those timed passes that many parks now have that allow you to cut the lines. You simply go and you sign up at one of the most popular rides and then you come back at a timed time, because time is money at the amusement park.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes, no question about that.

FROMMER: If you're waiting in line, what the heck is the point in going?

S. O'BRIEN: The food is always so expensive, and usually really bad. FROMMER: The food...

S. O'BRIEN: I mean there's some exceptions, but usually it's bad.

FROMMER: Disney has good food, but for the most part, yes, food is bad at amusement parks, so pack your own lunch.

S. O'BRIEN: I guess you have to keep in mind the age of your kid, too. I mean my children love Sesame Place because it's got water and it's sort of an easy way to do a full day.

FROMMER: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: But there are some amusement parks that I've been to, what a mistake.

FROMMER: Oh, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: I mean after two hours, they're just a mess.

FROMMER: Oh, absolutely. I took my then 2 and 5-year-olds to Disneyland.

S. O'BRIEN: Two? Oh.

FROMMER: And they were just overwhelmed. Disney is trying to do more for toddlers, but I think there's no point in taking any toddler or baby to an amusement park. They're just going to be -- it's just too much sensory stimulation.

S. O'BRIEN: What effect are you seeing of gas prices, the higher gas prices now?

FROMMER: We're not seeing much effect...

S. O'BRIEN: Really?

FROMMER: ... in terms of how many people are traveling. Memorial Day travel went up 1 percent, in terms of the number of people traveling. I think it comes down to people want a vacation and they may not be thinking logically about it.

S. O'BRIEN: I hear you, sister. Me, too.

FROMMER: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Pauline Frommer, nice to see you.

Thank you very much.

FROMMER: Good to see you.

S. O'BRIEN: Pauline, of course, from Frommer's travel guides -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, the political showdown over documents seized from a congressman's office.

Was the FBI search unconstitutional?

Plus, we'll take you live to New York City's Fleet Week celebrations and get a peek at the big ships in town for Memorial Day.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning.

Welcome everybody.

I'm Soledad O'Brien.

M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien.

And we hope you're having a good Memorial Day.

it's early, we know, but I'm sure you have a good day ahead.

Lots of good weather all across the nation.

We've got some news to cover.

Carol Costello has the day off. She's enjoying the day off and the holiday.

Gerri Willis in the newsroom -- good morning, Gerri.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, Miles.

The U.S. military base in Kabul, Afghanistan on lockdown after massive rioting. Angry protesters throwing rocks and overturning police cars, some shouting, "Death To America!" rioters ransacking buildings, setting some on fire. It's being described as one of the most violent days there since the Taliban fell. The riots apparently started when a U.S. military truck lost its brakes and crashed, killing at least one person.

And the Senate Armed Services Committee plans to investigate charges that U.S. Marines were involved in a massacre in Iraq. It happened last November in the Iraqi city of Haditha. Two dozen Iraqis, including women and children, were killed. This videotape was released by an Iraqi human rights group. Congressman John Murtha says the fallout could have a greater impact than the Abu Ghraib scandal.

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