Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Search for Soldiers; U.S.-European Summit; Calling out the Guard; World Refugee Day

Aired June 20, 2006 - 06:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. It's Tuesday, June 20. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Roberts in this week for Miles O'Brien.

Here's a look at what's happening on this Tuesday morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Events across the globe today marking United Nations World Refugee Day. The day is meant to send a message of hope to refugees. Worldwide, 15 million people have been uprooted from their homes because of war or famine or natural disaster.

At least five people are dead, dozens wounded, after a pair of bombings in Baghdad. Both attacks took place in crowded marketplaces in Basra. At least two people are dead after a suicide bomber attacked a senior citizens home.

ROBERTS: Japan says it is pulling its troops out of Iraq. The country's prime minister says Japanese troops have fulfilled their mission which was non-combat, mostly humanitarian.

Some Senate Democrats are expected to unveil their plans today for pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq. One plan, to start bringing troops home by year's end. The other, for all troops to be out of Iraq by July of 2007.

Just about an hour from now, President Bush heads to Vienna, Austria to meet with European Union leaders. Iran's nuclear ambitions are expected to top the agenda there.

S. O'BRIEN: It's raining now in Houston, again. And this morning, there's fears of more flooding. More than 10 inches fell across the area on Monday. Governor Rick Perry is going to visit Houston today.

In Arizona, opposite story, hot, dry, windy conditions making it hard to contain that huge wildfire outside of Sedona. The 1,500-acre fire has forced the evacuation of about 400 homes and businesses. Wildfires are also burning in Colorado, in New Mexico and in California.

Let's get right to Chad Myers.

ROBERTS: Talk about extremes.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Going to be another dry day out there guys.

S. O'BRIEN: I know. I was going to ask you, Chad, not looking good for them at all.

MYERS: Going to be another dry day out there in Arizona.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Back to you guys.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, thanks a lot, Chad.

Hey, a thousand U.S. and Iraqi troops are going house to house in that so-called Triangle of Death. They are searching for Army Privates Thomas Tucker and Kristian Menchaca. The two have been missing since Friday. They may have been captured by insurgents.

CNN's Arwa Damon is live for us in Baghdad this morning.

Arwa, good morning. What more do we know?

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, actually very little new information at this point from the U.S. military, other than the search is continuing for those two soldiers. The search is involving some 8,000 U.S. and Iraqi security forces.

The U.S. military using every means at their disposal to look for two of their own. That is to include divers, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, planes, and like you just mentioned, a massive sweep of that area.

And even this sweep has led to more combat since Friday. In a military statement yesterday made by the U.S. military here in Baghdad, at least 7 U.S. soldiers have been wounded, 3 suspected insurgents killed and another 34 detained.

But today, only information that we have so far from the U.S. military is that the search is ongoing. We are waiting for a press briefing later on today -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Arwa Damon in Baghdad today.

Thanks, Arwa.

Three American soldiers are now charged with murder in the shooting deaths of three Iraqi prisoners back in early May. The prisoners were killed north of Baghdad near Samarra. The soldiers from the Army's 101st Airborne Division originally said the Iraqis were trying to escape. They could face the death penalty if they are convicted. The men are also accused of threatening to kill a fellow soldier who witnessed the shootings.

ROBERTS: President Bush leaves the White House about an hour from now bound for Vienna, Austria. And he's going to attend a one- day summit with leaders of the European Union.

CNN's European political editor Robin Oakley is live this morning from Vienna.

Good morning, Robin. What's on the agenda there at the summit?

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR: Good morning, John.

Well plenty for them to agree about, really, at this summit. Relations between the European Union countries and the U.S. much improved over the last couple of years. As you mentioned earlier, Iran likely to top the bill. And of course on Iran, the U.S. and the E.U. are working very closely together these days on a diplomatic initiative.

Also, they both are taking a similar attitude to Hamas, the Hamas-led government and the Palestinian Authority. Both have concerns about a growing assertive Russia ahead of the G-8 meeting. And those are all issues, really, on which they see eye to eye.

And we also expect, I think, the Europeans to echo the U.S. warnings to North Korea about this possible international ballistic missile test -- John.

ROBERTS: So, Robin, perhaps a little more common ground this year than in years past in the leadership level. But what among rank and file Austrians, what kind of reception should President Bush expect when he gets there?

OAKLEY: Well, he'll certainly get the usual demonstrations from leftists, from those opposed to the war in Iraq. And of course there are plenty of issues, still, which will, to some extent, divide the leaders even, Guantanamo Bay.

The continued existence of the Guantanamo Bay camp much criticized by European peoples and by European leaders, even those like Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor; Tony Blair of Britain, Andesmo Asrasmas (ph) out of Denmark, all strong allies of the United States. They are all calling for Guantanamo Bay to be closed. Certainly expect demonstrations on that front.

ROBERTS: Robin Oakley from what looks like a beautiful scene there in Vienna, Austria for us today.

Robin, thanks very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Governor of Louisiana is ordering National Guard troops back to New Orleans. A hundred troops, 60 state police officers are going to begin patrolling the streets today. Why the move?

Carol Costello has some details for us this morning.

Good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's pretty extraordinary stuff when all is said and done. It is an extraordinary move after a very bloody night. One hundred National Guard troops will move into New Orleans, along with those 60 state troopers.

The tipping point, a wave of violence that ended Saturday with five teenagers shot to death in their SUV. No motive for these killings. Killings in the city overall have accelerated since the beginning of April with 36 of this year's 53 murders taking place in the past 12 weeks. That is more than 50 people murdered this year and it's only June.

Council President Oliver Thomas says enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLIVER THOMAS, CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT: If we don't have wind knocking us down, we have people, murderers, shooting us down, and that is unacceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Those National Guard troops will be -- quote -- "locked and loaded" with the ability to use deadly force. They will patrol the flood-ravaged areas of New Orleans, freeing up officers to patrol the more populated areas.

This extraordinary move comes when the city's population is way down post Katrina. There are 220,000 residents who live there now and that is a generous figure. Their population has been cut, literally, in half. And 1,375 police officers. The force, by the way, is only down about 400 officers. Residents say other measures need to take place, too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZONTHIA DAVENPORT, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: You could do something about crime, but you have to have something for people to do. You know they have these 16, 17 year olds outside late at night. They're supposed to be inside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: They are thinking about imposing this curfew. But all of this comes at a time when, you know, they want people to come back to New Orleans and enjoy the tourist areas. But when people hear about stuff like this, they pause.

S. O'BRIEN: It's a little bit of a tough sell at that point. But, I mean, she makes a good point, now it's summer. But also, even during the school year it was hard for some of those kids to come back in in the middle of the school year. So they are kind of just out and about.

COSTELLO: Literally there is still not much to do there, because not much in some neighborhoods is up and running.

S. O'BRIEN: Right, right, right. Carol, great, thanks.

We're going to talk this morning to New Orleans Police Superintendent Warren Riley coming up later in our program this morning -- John.

ROBERTS: Happening in America early this Tuesday morning.

Documents seized from the homes of Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold will be made public. But Colorado officials will not release video and audio tapes made by the teens, calling the tapes deeply disturbing. Harris and Klebold killed 13 people and themselves back in April of 1999.

A Virginia man accused of holding his two teenage sisters hostage at knife point is under arrest today. Norfolk Police persuaded the 19-year-old man to drop his weapon and surrender. The girls were not harmed.

An investigation in Wooster, Massachusetts to determine why a dump truck ended up in the back of a house. It looks like the driver may have lost control of the truck while coming down a hill. It crashed into a Jeep before hitting the house, sparking a two-alarm fire.

A Connecticut judge will decide the fate of Lewis the cat today. Lewis' owner faces a reckless endangerment charge because the cat keeps attacking the neighbors. Ruth Cisero could have avoided the charge if she had agreed to have Lewis put down, but she refused. Now an animal sanctuary out in Utah has offered to take Lewis free of charge. Wild animals and Lewis the cat.

And hockey's ultimate prize, the Stanley Cup, has a new home on tobacco row. The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Edmonton Oilers three to one on Monday in the seventh and deciding game of the Stanley Cup finals. It is the first professional sports title for the state of North Carolina.

Does anybody watch hockey anymore?

S. O'BRIEN: So cold.

ROBERTS: Hey, I grew up in the land of hockey, you know.

S. O'BRIEN: I wasn't going to say it, but some guys on this very crew will kill you for those words.

ROBERTS: Yes, I've got a pretty wicked cross-check, so I'll take them out.

S. O'BRIEN: Our special coverage of World Refugee Day continues today. Up next, we're going to take you to Uganda where a rebel army kidnaps children and forces them to fight. Terrible stories of siblings snatched, never seen again.

ROBERTS: And we'll also go live to a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank where thousands survive in cramped, poverty stricken conditions.

S. O'BRIEN: Then CNN's Nic Robertson is embedded with troops in Ramadi. He's going to tell us about civilians who are trying to escape the fighting in Iraq.

And Carrie Lee has some business headlines for us.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Soledad and John.

First, a shareholder lawsuit, a disappointing IPO and now some new legal troubles for a telecom. We'll have that story coming up, as well as a market check on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Happening this morning.

Liberian President Charles Taylor has left Sierra Leone headed for trial in the Netherlands. He'll face charges of war crimes at The Hague.

North Korea lashes out at the United States. It says the U.S. wants to militarize space, threatening human kind. The tough talk comes as the U.S. warns North Korea not to test the long-range missile that could reach parts of the United States.

And more rain in the forecast today for Houston, as if they needed it. Yesterday, storms dumped more than 10 inches on the area, causing severe flash flooding in some areas.

We are beginning a full day of coverage today devoted to the world refugee crisis. CNN is going to take you to many of the places where millions of people are struggling to survive right now on this the day that the United Nations has declared World Refugee Day.

Jeff Koinange is in northern Uganda where a rebel movement, known as the Lords Resistance Army, is targeting children for unspeakable acts of brutality. Here is his report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's nighttime in Gulu in northern Uganda and the dusty roads leading into the town are busy with the patter of tiny feet rushing as if to beat the darkness. They are running from small villages, far and wide, running from a man they've never seen, but they are running from real terrors in the night.

His name is Joseph Kony and he leads a violent rebel group, the Lords of Resistance Army," or LRA, which claims to base its principles on the 10 Commandments. The LRA has forced more than two million civilians to flee their homes. And now, after 20 years on the run, Kony recently came out of hiding for the first time, claiming he wants to talk peace with the Ugandan government.

JOSEPH KONY, LORDS RESISTANCE ARMY: I want peace. KOINANGE: But until that happens, these children will continue to run.

(on camera): They wait for the sun to go down. And every night, under the cover of darkness, these children, ages between 5 and 16 years old, make the long commute from their villages to the comfort of the big towns. In fact, locals here have coined a phrase for them, they call them the "night commuters."

(voice-over): Poor, frightened and hungry, all with one daily goal in mind, just to make it through another night. They know and will soon hear of the sadistic horrors that await them if they are kidnapped.

They arrive at one of several shelters in Gulu, exhausted but exhilarated. This one is appropriately named Noah's Ark. And like the biblical sanctuary, they enter in twos, escaping what they call the madness outside.

I asked the children how many of them know of someone who has been abducted. Almost every hand is raised. I asked them how many have family members who have been abducted. Just as many hands are raised.

JACKLYN AKELLO, "NIGHT COMMUTER": The rebels come and kill people.

INNOCENT OUMA, "NIGHT COMMUTER": They arrest people and they kill and they destroy our homes.

KOINANGE: Despite the monotony of coming here every night for the past three years, the children know this is the only place they can become kids again, if only for a few hours. But the center is both ill-equipped and underfunded. The only comfort the children get is a canvas roof, a cold, hard floor and if they are lucky, a blanket. But all they are looking for, it seems, is a place to lie down without having to worry about becoming the next group of child slaves.

And in the morning, they are up early, ready to take the long walk back home to their villages. No breakfast, no shower, no change of clothes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: That's Jeff Koinange reporting today from northern Uganda.

And a little bit later on this hour, we're going to be speaking with Mia Farrow. She is a UNICEF goodwill ambassador. She just returned from her second visit to the Darfur region of Sudan. We'll check in with her on what the situation is like there.

Time now, though, for a check on the weather forecast. Chad Myers live at the CNN Center with the latest.

What's in store for southern Texas today, -- Chad? MYERS: More rain for Houston, although it's not the convective rain that they had yesterday. For awhile, Houston had six inches of rain, especially southeast of the city, six inches of rain in two hours. It just, it didn't handled it. And the sewers couldn't handle it and the road just came up and so did all of the bayous. All of the water tries to get into these bayous and then eventually run into Galveston Bay, but it just couldn't go fast enough.

We're still seeing some showers in Houston this morning, but most of them now are moving up again across the I-10 and eventually north of Houston. So a couple showers, sure. The ground is saturated, but not enough rain right now at least to make more flooding.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Back to you guys.

ROBERTS: All right. If it's not global warming, it's at least Arizona warming.

MYERS: Yes.

ROBERTS: Chad, thanks very much.

MYERS: All right.

ROBERTS: One airline is making the boarding process faster and easier. We're going to tell you how they're doing it.

Then why a belt buckle caused a major scare at this airport. It might make you think twice the next time you pack for a trip.

Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Some of the most popular stories on CNN.com right now.

Japan could begin pulling troops out of Iraq as early as today. The Japanese prime minister says their humanitarian mission is now accomplished.

Louisiana National Guard troops are heading to New Orleans. Rising violence in the city is to blame. At least five people were killed over the weekend there.

And Americans know who they won't vote for in 2008. A new CNN poll, 47 percent say they're definitely not going to vote for Senator Hillary Clinton. John Kerry, Al Gore also had equally high negative numbers.

ROBERTS: Leaving the door open for Barack Obama.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, it's kind of early on at 47 percent.

ROBERTS: I want a horse race.

S. O'BRIEN: I hope you get one,...

ROBERTS: Yes, thanks.

S. O'BRIEN: ... but it's kind of early I think for that.

ROBERTS: Coming up to 23 minutes after the hour, tough day for telecoms. Verizon hits Vonage with a lawsuit.

Carrie Lee here with this morning's newest business headlines.

S. O'BRIEN: Poor Vonage.

LEE: Thank you.

And you know this is just the latest lawsuit for Vonage, which is of course an Internet telephony company. Vonage went public recently. And what's happening now, Verizon is filing a lawsuit accusing Vonage of using technology that was developed in Verizon's labs. And Vonage is now vowing to vigorously defend itself against these suits, saying its services are in fact built on technology and it's either developed initially or licensed from third parties.

Now Verizon is also facing some shareholder lawsuits. What's happened is Vonage went public recently, shares sunk. They are down now about 50 percent to their IPO level. You can see the chart here. Shareholders, a lot of them were customers, were given the opportunity to buy shares. And as you can imagine, based on that chart, they're not very happy. So Vonage fighting some legal troubles on several fronts.

Separately, Northwest Airlines sort of going back to the future when it comes to seating. They are letting people board planes in a more random fashion now. Kind of first come, first serve. Be first in line. Now people with disabilities, young children, can first get on the plane. But still, Northwest says that this new system cuts boarding time by 5 to 10 minutes.

S. O'BRIEN: Wait, how?

LEE: I don't really understand how this...

ROBERTS: No assigned seating?

LEE: Assigned seating but it's not necessarily the back of the plane first. Whoever gets in line first.

ROBERTS: Yes, that's the way it used to be.

LEE: I don't really get how this works, because if you're sitting in an aisle seat and then somebody comes in with the window, then you have to get up.

S. O'BRIEN: I think it's going to slow things down. Right. LEE: Exactly. But they say it cuts it down, so this is what they've been doing in recent weeks. So people who have flown on Northwest have gone through this.

S. O'BRIEN: Maybe people move more rapidly when they know they've got all that carry-on now and they've got to. Right, they're basically fighting over space.

ROBERTS: Go figure. I mean, yes.

LEE: I think people are so slow to board planes anyway. It's like that.

ROBERTS: I think it's sort of this week's idea and they'll do something different next week.

LEE: We'll see.

Quick check on stocks. It is looking like a mixed start on Wall Street this Tuesday morning. We'll get a look at housing starts, building permits and housing data.

Take a look at the action yesterday, the Dow down over 70 points. Part of the reason, home builders sentiment now at a decade low. Rising interest rates, the prospect of even more rising interest rates making homes a little less affordable.

ROBERTS: We've got to get those homebuilders back in a sentimental mood.

LEE: Well in New York anyway, there's a ton of building going on, but buying the homes a different story maybe.

ROBERTS: Thanks, -- Carrie.

LEE: OK.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Carrie, thanks.

A look at the top stories straight ahead this morning. The search intensifying now for two missing soldiers in Iraq. We're going to hear from the families who are waiting and praying for their safe return.

Then, another crisis in Iraq, nearly two million refugees and civilians displaced by war and sectarian violence. We're going to take a closer look at that issue ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Same-sex marriage has long been the subject of intense political debate in this country, but attitudes abroad are different. Could they be a cultural model for America?

Our Miles O'Brien now with the latest installment of "Welcome to the Future." (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY: It's not until you find the right person that your realize, OK, this is how it's supposed to be.

Nick (ph) and I have been together for eight years. We bought a house together. We became a normal married couple, in my mind. We're going to do everything married couples do, whether it's banned or not. So it really comes down to legal and financial aspects of it, and a civil union, obviously, would be wonderful. If that's a baby step that I get to see in my lifetime in the south, that's great.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Nick and Gary live in Georgia where the law does not allow for gay marriages or civil unions. In the U.S., only seven states and the District of Columbia recognize any sort of same-sex unions. But overseas, it is a different story.

(voice-over): Lee Badgett, Research Director at the Williams Institute, a sexual orientation think tank, studies gay marriage outside the U.S.

LEE BADGETT, RESEARCH DIRECTOR, WILLIAMS INSTITUTE: Now we're starting to see the more conservative countries, Germany, France, Spain, let same-sex couples marry, Italy, Ireland. I mean countries that are very tied to the Catholic Church are considering this. The change has been very rapid in the last five years.

M. O'BRIEN: Badgett says same-sex unions abroad have limited affects on society. Birth rates and marriage statistics remain unchanged. But in the U.S., there is still strong opposition to the idea of same-sex marriage.

BADGETT: The public opinion polls still show that the people are reluctant to endorse full marriage rights. They are much more likely to say, yes, you know we think gay couples should have civil unions or marriage. The process of change is hard to predict, but I do think that there will be a tipping point where things will start changing very rapidly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)