Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

CSI: High School; Paying the Price in the Heartland; The 666 Phenomenon

Aired June 06, 2006 - 09:30   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Opening bell just rang on Wall Street. You're looking at pictures live of the big board. The Dow opens at 11,048, down almost 200 points, ouch, at yesterday's close.
Good morning and welcome to the last half hour of AMERICAN MORNING. I say that with such joy when we're kind of near the finish line.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: With joy, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: I'm Soledad O'Brien.

M. O'BRIEN: It's the Clubhouse Tournin (ph) of AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.

Some high school kids on a field trip in Florida got a lot more than they bargained for yesterday. The seniors were studding chemistry, the chemistry specifically of CSI, the, you know, crime scene investigation, the wildly popular show. And I think there are 63 spin-offs right now. The teacher cooked up an excursion, replete with a fake crime scene, a scene in a park, a skeleton for a body and some evidence. But they found a little more than they bargained for. As we said, there was there an actual deceased person there.

Joining me from Miami is the teacher, Sue Messenger and a rather surprised student, John Rozental. Good to have you both with us this morning.

John, you were among those who discovered the body, we're sad to report, of a homeless person. Apparently it was natural causes. But just tell us what you saw without getting too graphic, I guess. Tell us what you saw.

JOSH ROZENTAL, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: Well, first, we were just examining the crime scene, and I was just going around the perimeter and looking for any small piece of evidence that we could use to help with the murder of our fake skeleton. And I walked over to the air conditioner unit that was off in the corner of the crime scene and I saw a hand attached to a fence and it was gripping the fence pretty hard.

And I thought it was fake. I just thought it was like a really good wax hand or something. So I got the rest of our group and we got the camera. And my friend Billy Spitzer (ph) came over and he didn't think it was fake, so he touched it and he turned very pale very fast. M. O'BRIEN: Wow! So suddenly what you thought was, your teacher throwing, you know, some kind of curveball at you there, a clue or whatever, turned into something very real and changed the tone of the day instantly.

ROZENTAL: Exactly. We -- for the first ten minutes we didn't know whether or not it was fake or real. We were thinking perhaps Miss Messenger was playing a joke on us. And after a while, it just kind of dawned on us after the police showed up that it wasn't a joke anymore.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Sue. When you heard about this, what were your thoughts? This is not the nightmare scenario most teachers think about on field trips. Usually it's, you know, a kid gone missing or something. This was a lot more than you thought might happen.

SUE MESSENGER, CRIMONOLOGY TEACHER: Yes. Absolutely. Actually, the students came over and got me. The crime scenes were very far- flung, you know, over a wide area, so by the time I came over there, there were a number of students. Actually, to be honest with you, the students really thought it was kind of a maverick. They actually -- and they've never seen a dead body, so to them, it did appear to be a fake body. So -- but when I went over, knowing what I know about rigor mortis and post-mortem lividity, it was apparent to me that actually this was a deceased individual. And...

M. O'BRIEN: So they thought, even as you said, you know, this is something serious, they thought that that was all part of the ruse and they were supposed to continue investigating?

MESSENGER: Well, actually, I think, honestly -- a lot of kids wouldn't admit it, but it was pretty shocking. And I think it would have been a lot easier for them to deal with psychologically that it really was not real. And that's what I really believe. So the biggest thing is I wanted them to move off, though, and we didn't really know what happened and I didn't want -- I knew there was going to be an investigation and I just wanted them to back off and for us to not disturb anything.

Mostly, I wanted to get across to my students, though, that this was a person. Especially with what's happening to the homeless people. You know, I teach at a fantastic -- one of the top schools in the country and it's not only academics and athletics, but the values that we transmit. And in our mission statement, they say every single person has dignity. It's on every wall of the school. So mostly for the students, what I was trying to get across immediately was, no matter what happened -- you know, a lot of the law enforcement told us it was a homeless person.

I just wanted to make sure that the students understood that this is a horrible thing to happen. I mean, that's overriding thing with me that I'm thinking about is, what a horrible way to die on a piece of concrete, just, you know?

M. O'BRIEN: Josh, this is a learning experience. Not quite the learning experience you expected. But in many respects, you take away, I'm sure, some lessons. And I'm curious what those are. And also does your interest of this in the field, is it heightened or lessened as a result of what happened?

ROZENTAL: It was exciting finding what I found, but it was -- I've never seen a dead body before, so at first we were just in denial because we just thought it was fake. But then after we found out it was real, it was disturbing. Just finding a dead body in a fake crime scene.

M. O'BRIEN: So would you want to pursue this as a career?

ROZENTAL: I'm not sure yet. I still have other options and other things that I'm interested in.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Well, best to you and everybody and if you need some help don't be bashful about getting it, because that is something that can haunt you.

ROZENTAL: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Student John Rozental and teacher Sue Messenger, thank you both for joining us today.

ROZENTAL: Thank you.

MESSENGER: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Up next, we're going to take you where the rubber meets the road, where the high price of gas means that families are suddenly counting every mile they're driving. A typical family, paying the price in the heartland.

And how's this for a headline? "The End of the World." Today is 6/6 and fear of those numbers isn't as unusual as you might think. That's ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Ding, ding, ding, that's the sign. We're checking the CNN Gas Gauge this morning. If you're filling up today, a gallon of unleaded regular will cost on average about $2.87. That's down 4 cents from last month when we paid $2.91 a gallon. Paying a lot more now, though, than this time last year when a gallon cost $2.10. Part two of our week-long series Paying the Price in the heartland. We're spending the week, taking a look at how the rising cost of fuel is affecting folks who are living in Iowa. Today, how commuters are feeling the pinch.

AMERICAN MORNING's Dan Lothian is live in Des Moines.

Hey, Dan, good morning.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. I am in a transportation mall in downtown Des Moines where the buses have been pulling in, dropping off passengers, loading passengers. The city really has been trying to focus on energy conservation by pushing public transportation. In fact, bus ridership has increased. The van pools have spiked by about 25 percent so far this year. But this has not really worked well for everyone. Still, there are a lot of rural commuters who are getting behind the wheel of their cars and hitting the road.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN (voice over): It's a beautiful drive through rural Iowa. Farms, wide open fields and a real bear that's become a big local attraction. But for commuter Kim Firebaugh, every mile along this scenic route is getting more expensive.

KIM FIREBAUGH, RURAL COMMUTER: You know, I've go to my job and everything. And it's like one morning I'll leave and it's a certain price and I come home at night and it's increased another dime.

LOTHIAN: The high price of gas is also pinching her husband Stewart's wallet.

STEWART FIREBAUGH, RURAL COMMUTER: Yes, it has. It has. I mean I guess you don't notice it. But, I mean, we know we're cutting back.

LOTHIAN: The Firebaugh's live here in Panora, population about 1,200, but they work in the Des Moines area. This is the road most travel. For Kim and her Grand Am, it's a 90-mile road trip for a job at the farm bureau. For Stewart and his Caviler, it's 70 miles round trip to the plumbing company he works for. We drove along with both of them on part of their long and expensive commutes.

KIM FIREBAUGH: I think our gas bills have doubled for the month what it used to be compared to the last six months and a year ago.

LOTHIAN: How much has it cost the Firebaughs each month?

KIM FIREBAUGH: $720.

LOTHIAN: $720.

That's the total on the family's gas card, which they use not only for their cars, but to fill up 16-year-old daughter Ashley's Sunfire.

ASHLEY FIREBAUGH, DAUGHTER: Which I went to the orthodontist today.

LOTHIAN: How many miles was that?

ASHLEY FIREBAUGH: About 30 miles.

LOTHIAN: They recently paid off her car and were looking forward to the extra cash each month. Not anymore.

KIM FIREBAUGH: We don't see that extra money because it's going basically to pay for the gas and everything.

LOTHIAN: So this family of four has made some changes.

STEWART FIREBAUGH: I park my truck I guess was the biggest thing.

LOTHIAN: Oh, yes, this is what Stewart Firebaugh used to drive to work, a 12-mile per gallon pickup, before he down sized several weeks ago to the cavalier.

The big hog has to stay . . .

STEWART FIREBAUGH: Yes.

LOTHIAN: Has to spend more time at home, huh?

STEWART FIREBAUGH: Yes.

LOTHIAN: They've also cut spending and pay more attention to where their money is going. Gas may not be as expensive out here as it is in some big cities across the country, but every cent counts when everything is so far away and moving is not an option.

KIM FIREBAUGH: The kids being in school, you know, they don't want to move out of their school district. I grew up out here. This is my hometown. I've lived here all of my life. It's something I've got to live with and everything I guess.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: The Firebaugh's say that ever since they started making their adjustments they've been able to save about $150 in fuel costs. and they're hopeful that those increases will continue down the road -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Dan Lothian for us this morning in Des Moines. Thanks, Dan.

Tomorrow, Dan's going to introduce us to an independent trucker in eastern Iowa who's struggling to keep his business afloat now that fuel prices are soaring. We're going to see how business conditions have changed dramatically for truckers in just at last year alone.

Our week-long series, "Paying the Price in the Heartland" continues tomorrow right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

Breaker, breaker 1-9, "CNN LIVE TODAY is up next. Betty Nguyen in for Daryn Kagan.

Hey, Betty, how are you?

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, 10-4, good buddy.

Ahead here on "LIVE TODAY," it is a hot button issue that we're going to be talking about, and it's got people fighting mad.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You, you, you, you and you, you are a disgrace to the city, the state and the nation!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: OK, the city council says they've got to go. The Supreme Court agrees, but a couple of holdouts say, you can't take our homes.

Plus, talk about a happy ending. This Texas family is celebrating for good reason. Here's why. This baby girl, the one you see right there in that picture, has finally been reunited with her family after being snatched from her mother. We've got that story at the top of the hour. I know Soledad spoke with the family earlier.

How relieved are they today?

M. O'BRIEN: Ooh, really. A story that, you know, you like to say all's well that ends well, but it's a traumatic thing. It's going to be a hard thing for everybody to get over.

Thank you very much, Betty. We'll see you a little later.

Up next, Andy, "Minding Your Business."

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Miles, a dirty little secret for you. Tony Soprano doesn't watch real football; he watches Canadian football, and we're going to get into that coming up next.

(CROSSTALK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Have you checked the calendar this morning? Look at the date. Look closely at the date. It's June 6, 2006, or 666, the so-called mark of the beast or Satan's area code. But what does that actually mean? AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho has been investigating for us.

Hey, Alina, good morning.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. We have been investigating.

Most of us know that 666 comes from the Bible, but it was never meant to be taken literally. Having said that, 666 is right up there with 13 if you're ranking unlucky numbers. Today's date isn't helping matters. Some are fearing armaggedon. Others are using it to market movies. And a select few are even rearranging their lives to avoid the curse.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not wrong!

CHO (voice over): Look no further than the most recent satanic thriller "The Omen."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He bears a birthmark. A sequence of 6s.

CHO: The remake of the 1976 horror flick about a couple raising the son of Satan is not so coincidentally opening nationwide today. The sixth day of the sixth month 2006. But where does 666 come from? The answer, says Father James Martin, is the Bible.

REV JAMES MARTIN, "AMERICA" MAGAZINE: It comes from the book of Revelation which is a book of prophesy. It's written in highly symbolic language. And in Hebrew, some of the letters stand for numbers. So 666 was kind of a coded message to stand for Nero.

CHO: Nero was a Roman emperor who persecuted Christians doing the work of the devil. Six-six-six was a way to characterize him. A nickname or code. Though it was never meant to be taken literally, 666 has become synonymous with Satan, all things evil. Take the late president Ronald Wilson Reagan, six letters in each name, by the way. Reagan changed the address of his California home from 666 to 668. Wedding chapels are, for the most part, empty today and so are some hospitals. New mother Carrie McFarland of Dallas was induced on Sunday so her son, Sam, wouldn't have a birth date of 6/6/06.

CARRIE MCFARLAND, NEW MOTHER: We weren't completely concerned that the child was going to come out with horns if he came out on Tuesday, but we were excited the find out that we were going to be able to get him before 6/6/06.

CHO: Her first child was born on January 1st. Friends teased her about missing the deadline for her tax deduction. Husband Larry McFarland says this round of ribbing would be worse.

LARRY MCFARLAND, NEW FATHER: When your friends are over for dinner, whatever, and he starts having a tantrum say, yes, see, there's the 666 kid.

CHO: There is a certain obsession with 666. A Google search turned up 119 million Web sites. Many warning the apocalypse is coming today. The odds online just a one in 100,000 chance the world will end.

Lee Moorhead, a psychic and expert in numerology, has received calls from concerned citizens.

LEE MOORHEAD, NUMEROLOGIST: I talk to them about it and say, please don't worry, it's hype. It's hype. Just like Y2K was hype.

CHO: Father James Martin agrees. Fears of Armageddon, he says, have been around for ages.

MARTIN: There have been people that have been waiting for the end of the world since the second century. And they're usually proven wrong. And I hope the world doesn't end on June 6th. I have kind of a busy day planned. So, but, you never know.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHO: Don't we all? Fourteen hours left but fingers crossed. So far so good. Some are having a bit of fun with all of this. In New York, there's at least one 666-themed party tonight. A Manhattan bar is offering burgers and fries for, Soledad, $6.66.

S. O'BRIEN: Which is a bargain.

CHO: Right. A bargain in New York. Anywhere, really. And in Hell, Michigan, about -- plus or minus 66 miles west of Detroit, the mayor is planning a big celebration, live music, a costume contest. They will even be selling special 666 t-shirts and mugs.

S. O'BRIEN: For $6.66, apparently, I read.

CHO: Probably, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: You know, it's interesting. Because people have been, in all seriousness, betting on whether or not the world's going to end today.

CHO: That's right.

S. O'BRIEN: I mean, Like the priest said, it's like, I got a busy day today. Today is a bad day.

CHO: That's right. I got a couple of meetings. Can't -- maybe tomorrow, but not today.

Yes, they are. They're betting online. You know, if you place a $500 bet that the world will survive and it does -- and it looks good so far -- you're going to get yourself a half a penny. But if you bet a hundred dollars that the world will end and it does -- and remember, there's still, you know, 14 hours....

S. O'BRIEN: Still time.

CHO: There's still a little time left. You'll get $10 million...

S. O'BRIEN: Wow.

CHO: But...

S. O'BRIEN: On the upside, you clean up. On the downside, you can't collect. The world's ending.

CHO: That's right.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, bummer.

CHO: Anyway.

S. O'BRIEN: That's just odd. Alina, thanks. CHO: Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles?

M. O'BRIEN: They a conundrum for you. A conundrum only the devil would come up with.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

M. O'BRIEN: Back with more in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: We are out of time. That's it for AMERICAN MORNING.

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