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American Morning
Paying The Price; Military Misconduct?; Devilish Day?
Aired June 06, 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: Plans to blow up landmark buildings in Canada expected in court in Toronto today. They'll be formally charged in the alleged terror plot. Police say more arrests could still be made in the case.
And Duke University's mens lacrosse team will takes the field again next season. They'll have to abide by a strict code of conduct drawn up by the players themselves. This past season canceled, of course, after three players were accused of raping an exotic dancer at a party.
Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.
Let's get right to the weather this morning. Rob is in for Chad. Chad is on vacation.
Hey, Rob, good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Chad always takes great -- actually, I've got to be honest, I have no idea where he is but I'm sure he's enjoying his time off.
(WEATHER REPORT)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: How's Florida looking for the weekend? Just curious.
MARCIANO: Not to shabby. Just a chance of seeing a sea breeze thunderstorm. But all in all, temperatures right around 90 degrees. Not a bad time of year. It will be hurricane free. So that's always good.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, good, good and good. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: You heading?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Yes, bringing my girls.
MARCIANO: All right. Have fun.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: I'll checking in with you closer to Friday just to make sure. Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right. See ya. SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Time to check the CNN gas gauge this morning. If you're filling up today, a gallon of unleaded regular is going to cost, on average, about $2.87. That's down four cents from last month when we paid $2.91 a gallon. Paying a lot more, though, than we were at this time last year when a gallon cost $2.10.
We begin part two now of our week long series on AMERICAN MORNING, "Paying the Price in the Heartland." We're spending the week taking a look at how the rising cost of fuel is affecting folk who live in Iowa. Today, suburban commuters feeling the pinch. AMERICAN MORNING's Dan Lothian joins us live from Des Moines.
Hey, Dan, good morning.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Well, we are at the bus transportation mall where, as you can see behind me, the buses are starting to pull in here. The city of Des Moines has really been working hard to save energy by pushing public transportation. Bus ridership is up. Even van pools are up by about 25 percent this year. But public transportation doesn't work for everyone. Like the family we met who spends a lot of time on 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 Firebaughs says that since they have been making their adjustments, they've been able to save about $150 and they hope they can increase those savings.
Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Dan Lothian for us this morning. Dan, thanks.
Tomorrow Dan's going to take to the open road, traveling from Des Moines to a truck stop in eastern Iowa. He's going to introduce us to an independent trucker who's struggling to keep his business afloat now that fuel prices are soaring. We'll see how he's doing just in the past year and how business conditions have changed dramatically for all truckers. "Paying the Price in the Heartland" continues tomorrow right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN: I like Dan's music. He brought an orchestra with him out there. It's nice. It's good stuff.
Ahead, they say it is the new copper. You may start noticing light poles and guardrails and bleachers mysteriously disappearing from roads and fields. And have you noticed the date today? 6-6-06. The so-called sign of the devil. Some fear it could mean the end of the world. We don't think that's going to happen, but we're going to delve into all of this for you ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: CNN is now learning that the death of an Iraqi civilian could have been premeditated murder at the hands of U.S. troops. That incident in Hamdaniya follows the Haditha case where 24 civilians were killed. Now, in reaction to these killings, soldiers will be given core warrior values training. American troops in Iraq, of course, face the constant threat of roadside bombs and many see their comrades killed or maimed. Major General William Caldwell is with the Multi-National Force-Iraq. He joins us from the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
Nice to see you, sir. Thank you very much for talking with us.
MAJ GEN WILLIAM CALDWELL, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ: I'm glad to be here, Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Thank you.
The allegations are essentially this -- that U.S. troops may have picked an individual, sort of randomly, to kill -- drag that individual out of his home, killed him and then staged, set up, a shovel to make it look as if this person, this civilian, was digging a hole to plant a roadside bomb. There are some people who would say, at this point, aren't soldiers who stand potentially accused of premeditated murder, as it looks is going to happen here, aren't they way beyond core values warrior training?
CALDWELL: Well, I tell you, Soledad, in that particular case, you're talking about, it is under investigation and, of course, as you know, because of that I can't talk about any of the specifics of it, but we're taking that very seriously because there is the loss of an innocent Iraqi life there. But as far as the core values training goes, if I can just tell you, what that is, that is a retrain of the core values that every young man/woman has had from the day they entered the military, reinforced before they came over here and going into retraining here in theater is an awareness for all of them that we take very seriously things like duty, courage, loyalty, commitment, honor that are the hallmarks of what we are in our profession.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: From what I've seen, it seems to be also explaining and showing to some troops what they might be experiencing in Iraq. And I would imagine there are many people, troops, who are seeing combat for the second and third and fourth tour where actually maybe the issue is that they've seen too much, not that they're walking into it unaware of what they're going to find.
CALDWELL: Well, I think any time, no matter how many times you may have been in a combat situation, it is always good to go back to your core values and take a look again those again and reemphasize who we are as a profession, all of us that serve in uniform. And that's what we're doing in this case. The vignettes that we've put into this training are different scenarios that you may not have ever been faced with no matter how many times you've been here. And they're there to facilitate discussion.
We have one vignette where we talk about an IED that's hit your convoy. You've lost one of your best friend, a couple of your friends are wounded and you look up in a window and you see somebody there with a telephone in their hand that may have set that off and all of a sudden somebody yells, shoot the guy with the phone. The question is, do you or don't you? And then you look around and there's women and children in the area. And so we've put them in these scenarios to force them, as a group, to collectively think before they're ever in that situation what they might do.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: The Army general, Howard Prince, who is retired, has said this. He said, "repeated deployments have a cumulative effect on people's ability to maintain moral judgment, tactical standards." Sort of like, after a certain amount of time, people in theater lose their moral compass no matter, maybe, how many times you run them through a scenario about, do you shoot the guy with a cell phone and you have a group discussion about it. Does he have a valid point?
CALDWELL: I don't think so. You know, no matter how many times you go into a combat situation, you have got to stay with your core values. You cannot allow yourself to lower yourself to where the enemy, who has no values at all and indiscriminately kills civilians -- in fact, they use that as their technique. We will never allow yourselves to reach that level.
And I know like just yesterday I was visiting with an unit down in southeast Baghdad. The organization of about 1,500, 2,500 young men and women has a psychiatrist assigned to it who's constantly evaluating and talking to the young men and women to make sure they're OK and interact with them and allow them to have the opportunity to talk.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: In Hamdaniya and also in Haditha, the complaints that followed the alleged massacres, or killings, did not originate with anybody within the military, they originated with Iraqi civilian who then pressed their case and sometimes for many months. Wouldn't core values cover not just for the soldiers who were maybe directly involved in the incident, but for soldiers who had to come in and photograph and soldiers who were sort of tangentially involved? Wouldn't core values cover you also have to report things that you see that are improper?
CALDWELL: Absolutely, Soledad. And that's extremely important. And that's one of the point that we are re-emphasizing in our training. That if you ever see anything that you think is improper, immoral or unjust, you have an obligation as a military member to report that up your chain of command and ensure that somebody looks at it from an unbiased position.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Major General William Caldwell is in Baghdad this morning. Major General, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.
CALDWELL: Well, thank you, Soledad. Appreciate it.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN: Up next, Andy "Minding Your Business."
Hello, Andy.
ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.
Metal thieves are coming and they'll steal almost anything.
Plus, we'll meet a species of turtle that's blocking a $8 billion natural gas project. Believe that one.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Endangered, right?
SERWER: A little bit.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Yes, thought so.
MILES O'BRIEN: It's a Snail Dogger (ph) part something.
SERWER: Exactly.
MILES O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you, Andy. We'll have that in a minute.
Andy has that and also Alina Cho is coming up with something ominous this morning.
Hello, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.
Ominous is right. We've all heard about 666, but on this date, 6/6/06, what do those numbers really mean? I'll have the surprising answer when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MILES O'BRIEN: Have you checked your calendar this morning? That's right, it is June 6th, 2006. So what, you say? Well, shorten that up a little bit, 6/6/06. Take the 0 out. I mean you really have to work at it to get to the 666, the mark of the beast. As a matter of fact, I woke up this morning, can you see my wrist there? Can you get that shot, Gary (ph). I don't know what happened, but there it was on my wrist. How did that happen? What does it really mean?
Alina Cho, what does it mean?
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You are not evil. A little devilish, maybe, Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN: Devilish indeed.
CHO: But not evil. Never you.
MILES O'BRIEN: Yes.
CHO: That's right. You know, many people 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 fearing Armageddon. Others are using it to market movies and a select few are even rearranging their lives to avoid the curse.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
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. 666 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 websites. 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: Usually proven wrong.
MILES O'BRIEN: Usually proven -- no, always proven wrong, actually.
CHO: Well, fingers crossed, but so far, so good. Some are having a bit of fun with all of this 666 nonsense. In New York there's at least one 666 themed party tonight. A Manhattan bar is offering burger and fries for $6.66. And in Hell, Michigan, about 60 miles west of Detroit, the mayor is planning . . .
MILES O'BRIEN: Sixty-six miles undoubtedly.
CHO: About 60.
MILES O'BRIEN: No, no, 66.6 miles.
CHO: The mayor's planning a big party, live music and all that stuff. They're even selling 666 t-shirts and mugs. So, anyways, some people are having a little bit of fun with all this.
MILES O'BRIEN: Which they do all the time there.
CHO: That's right. And you've dug up a little fact, didn't you, Miles?
MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, there is a phobia. There's a phobia for everything.
CHO: Phobia.
MILES O'BRIEN: Do you want to try? Do you want to take a stab it?
CHO: Phobia -- fear of numbers 666 is called -- and you found this. I'm going to give you the props. Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia. It took me a couple of minutes.
MILES O'BRIEN: What's the fear of long phobia's names?
CHO: That's right.
MILES O'BRIEN: Here's the thing. There are people actually betting that the world may end.
CHO: Well, you saw that.
MILES O'BRIEN: If you bet that the world ends and you wins, where's the -- I mean there's not much of a payoff.
CHO: Well, let me start with the other -- the opposite. You bet that the world will survive, you can put $500 down the world will survive and it does, you get half a penny. Now, if you bet $100 that the world will end and it does, you get a cool $10 million. But the odds maker, Miles, says that it might be a little tough to collect the money.
MILES O'BRIEN: Tough to collect them that way. All right, Alina Cho, thank you very much.
Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Where are you putting your money, Andy?
SERWER: In metals. Commodities right now, as a matter of fact.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: What do you got coming up this morning?
SERWER: Well, we're going to be talking about metal thieves, actually, Soledad, right about now. We told you yesterday about those copper thieves. It turns out they're stealing everything from urns at cemeteries to waterspouts off of churches.
Aluminum also the subject of thievery. That metal's at an 18- year high. A $4,000 set of bleachers, aluminum bleachers, from Lorraine Ohio, stolen. Police said they're stealing guardrails, they're stealing light poles. And these are some bleachers here. How much are those worth? Who knows? I mean just tons of money. The police are setting up stings at scrap metal yards as well to sort of pick these people up who are stealing metal everywhere.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: You think you'd notice the bleacher being dragged off.
SERWER: They're gone. Yes, some guy like with a rope. It would be kind of problematic.
Let's talk a little bit about this turtle down in Australia. This is an interesting story. Remember the snail darter, that three- inch fish that blocked a construction of a dam in Tennessee for years and years and years. It was ultimately built. Well, guess what, now comes the flat backed turtle. This turtle is being the cause of a regulator denying the building of a $8 billion natural gas facility off the an island off of Australia. And so this is a battle that's going to go on and on.
But this has got to be the most famous Australian sea turtle since Crush from "Finding Nemo." Remember him? Dude, dude, I don't like that natural gas plant. I mean, it's amazing the power these little . . .
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Dude, I can muck up this project.
SERWER: Yes, right, it's amazing the power of these little creatures sometimes, isn't it?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Right. Andy, thank you.
SERWER: Thanks, Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: A look at the day's top stories are just ahead right after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. There are suggestions this morning that the killing of an Iraqi man in Hamdaniya might have been premeditated murder. I'll have that.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jeanne Meserve in Toronto where we may learn more about the alleged Canadian terror plot when some of the suspects appear in court this morning. I'll have more on that.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: And this little baby right there now safe and sound. She's back with her mom just a day after being kidnapped by a fake nurse. We're going to talk live with the baby's relieved mom in just a couple of minutes.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Bob Franken at the White House where the president is about to leave to an area just north of the border with Mexico to talk about dealing with those who come in from the south.
MILES O'BRIEN: And the Senate debates same-sex marriage. But for some people far away from Washington, it's about more than political football, of course. That story is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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