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American Morning

Deadly Building Collapse in Missouri; Troop Withdrawal Plan

Aired June 27, 2006 - 08:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: One person is dead, nine others rescued in that deadly building collapse in Missouri.
How were dozens of others, though, able to escape the crumbling building?

We'll take a look this morning.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Amnesty in Iraq -- the doors of Abu Ghraib Prison swing open. Hundreds of prisoners walk free.

Could that really help bring peace to the country? And could it mean U.S. troops could come home sooner?

The president playing it close to the vest amid reports the Pentagon has a pullout plan.

S. O'BRIEN: Rain, rain, go away. Ah, but it's not to be. More rain, in fact, could be headed to the already waterlogged East Coast. We're going to take a look at the forecast this morning.

And super model Naomi Campbell heads to court today over her alleged assault with her BlackBerry. Her legal troubles might just be starting. We'll take a look at all of that ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning.

Welcome everybody.

I'm Soledad O'Brien.

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

Thanks for being with us.

A fatal finish to that rescue effort at a collapsed building in Missouri. One person is dead in the collapse of a building in Clinton. That's about 80 miles southeast of Kansas City.

Now, rescuers did free nine who were trapped in the rubble.

It all began last night as 50 or so gathered for an Elks Club meeting. A 100-year-old building. It buckled and gave way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LT. SONNY LYNCH, CLINTON POLICE DEPARTMENT: We don't have a cause for why it happened at this point and I'm sure that they're not totally sure about what happened either. There have been reports that they heard some -- a kind of a crackling or a crumbling sound within the building and then it just -- it just collapsed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard a rumbling and the walls kind of swelled out a little bit. And then all of a sudden the top of the building just collapsed in and you could hear glass shattering and the rocks. And as soon as it happened, a cloud of smoke covered all of the buildings and you couldn't see anything. But you could hear people yelling and screaming and hitting on stuff inside, wanting help. And there just wasn't too much you could, you know, do, because, you know, cars were smashed and it was everywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Live pictures now, aerials from one of our affiliates there in Kansas City, giving you the scene there. Clearly the roof came through. But we talked to one witness on the phone a little while ago who seemed to think that one of the walls buckled first. But obviously that will be sorted out later.

The man killed in the collapse, the president of that Elks Lodge Chapter, had just gone up to the top floor -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: To what degree are politics playing a role in the decision about troop withdrawals? The White House is confirming that there is a withdrawal plan but also insisting that it all depends on conditions on the ground.

Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House for us this morning -- good morning, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, as you know, Iraq is really the number one issue when it comes to American voters. Democrats, Republicans and the White House all very much aware of that fact. And the hot debate issue now, of course, is when are those American forces, U.S. troops, going to come home?

Now, Democrats are absolutely fusing because last week it wasn't one but two bills that the Republicans rejected, bills that they proposed for a timetable for U.S. troops to come home. Republicans painted them as kind of guilty of this cut and run-strategy.

But since then, Democrats are arguing that their plan very much like the Pentagon's plan that has come to light. And they are now saying that it's the Republicans who are out of step.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: Do they believe that what General Casey is suggesting is defeatist? Do they believe that General Casey is unpatriotic? do they have a plan now of their own, the Republican majority? Or do they still want to stay the course?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And Democrats are charging that they believe it's politically motivated, the Pentagon's call to perhaps withdraw as many as 10,000 U.S. troops by the end of this year, as early as just a couple of months before the mid-term elections. They say it's politically motivated. We heard from President Bush yesterday, absolutely refuting that charge, saying look, they are not going to put a deadline on this. They are simply going to look at the conditions on the ground to make those determinations -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Do you think, or is it believed, that General Casey's plan is aggressive enough or enough troops are being brought out fast enough to change the voters' view of the success in Iraq, the war in Iraq?

MALVEAUX: Well, it's interesting because political analysts say look, you know, you could pullout 10,000 troops by the end of the year and it still may not make much difference in improving the administration's standing on this. They say what really matters here is what happens in Iraq on the ground, how many bombings, how many kidnappings and beheadings that you see. They really need good news out of Iraq.

S. O'BRIEN: They sure do.

All right, Suzanne Malveaux for us this morning at the White House.

Suzanne, thanks -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: A controversial prisoner release plan is underway in Iraq today. It happened at the notorious Abu Ghraib Prison. About 450 prisoners set free, as you can see there.

The question is will this amnesty lead to peace in Iraq or will it simply mean more terrorists on the streets?

joining us now from Baghdad is our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, who was there as those prisoners walked out -- first of all, Nic, do we know who was set free today?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A variety of people. I talked to some of the prisoners. One told me he'd been incarcerated for two months. Another young man said he had been inside for eight months for, he said, just having a mobile phone that had a camera in it. I said, well, what were you doing with it when you were arrested? Oh, he said, I was just outside my house.

Another man detained for a year-and-a-half. He said -- he showed me his charge sheet. It accused him of making car bombs and it said he had been picked up with explosive residue on his hands. He said he was innocent. The government -- the national security adviser, who was on hand to oversee these people being released, said that nothing had committed crimes such as killing U.S. troops. Killing Iraqis, killing Iraqi civilians. He said that they were ready to go free -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Let me ask you about this, Nic.

Since the effort here on a government that is largely controlled by Shiites is to try to stem the concerns of the Sunni population, feeling disenfranchised, thus fueling the insurgency, do you know if the vast majority of those released were Sunni?

ROBERTSON: Those that I talked to were. One man was from the town of Fallujah, which is a Sunni town. He told me that he believed he had been arrested just because he was from Fallujah and he believed that because he thought that the government was against Sunnis. And he believed that he would get arrested again just because he was from Fallujah.

They all thought that all of the people being detained, and by this they really meant the Sunnis still being detained, should be released, they said, because most of them were innocent. And that was the only way, they said, to bring about national reconciliation, not just releasing 450 today, 2,500 over the month, but all those prisoners, they said, remained behind -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: And just to be clear here, this -- with this fledgling government in control now, or trying to take control, did the U.S. military have any sort of say so, one way or another? Did it any way weigh in as to who should be released?

ROBERTSON: It certainly appears to have done, at least through diplomatic channels. The U.S. ambassador, Zalman Khalilzad, has said that he had objected to an overall amnesty that would allow anyone guilty perhaps of killing U.S. soldiers, killing Iraqi security forces, being let free.

He said that he would veto and had vetoed the proposition that Baathists who oppose the current government and al Qaeda insurgency, opposed any of those being released but recognized that perhaps those nationalist fighters who believe that they think that they're fighting an occupation force when they target the U.S. troops here, he recognized that there was a possibility people like that could be included.

But, again, not anyone that had been involved in killing. Only those willing to put down their weapons and support the new government -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: And I know it's early, but if you could just quickly give us a sense, is there any indication as to whether this reconciliation plan, in its early stages, is doing any good?

ROBERTSON: Certainly the government is not talking about insurgents laying down their weapons. What they are saying is that through their intermediaries that they are getting positive indications. Not quite clear exactly what that means, but the government reading so far, in the short-term that it's happened, some positive indications -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson, thank you very much, joining us from Baghdad -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Happening in America this morning, the SWAT team was called in to end a possible hostage stand-off in Austin, Texas. At least one person was taken into custody. Officials say the stand-off was part of an investigation targeting a group that had been smuggling illegal immigrants. It turned out to be a hoax, but a threatening message in the hold of a cargo ship shut down a southern California port yesterday. A dock worker discovered the writing, which said: "nitro plus glycerin -- my gift for G.W. Bush and his Jewish gang." The FBI found no nitroglycerine or any other threat. The port was reopened after several hours.

Emergency crews in southern Idaho testing just how quickly they'd be able to respond to a potential bioterrorism attack. HAZMAT teams washed down shoppers as part of the full scale drill. Later this week, they're going to test how quickly they can get extra medical supplies from a national stockpile.

Police in Central Florida looking for a burglar who might have some bruised knees. Take a look at this videotape, surveillance video showing the suspect crashing through the store's roof. He then puts the mask on and takes $1,000 from the counter. Anybody who's got any information is asked to call the police. The store has been robbed four times and because he entered this way, it seems like he didn't trigger the alarm.

Rush Limbaugh held at a Palm Beach international airport for over three hours on Monday because authorities found a bottle of Viagra in his possession. He didn't have a prescription. Limbaugh's attorney said the pills belonged to his client, but they weren't labeled that way for privacy purposes. Limbaugh reached a plea deal with Florida prosecutors back in April on charges of doctor shopping for prescription painkillers.

Super model Naomi Campbell is due in a Manhattan court today on charges of assaulting her former housekeeper with her cell phone. If she's convicted, Campbell could face up to seven years in prison.

Meanwhile, another maid filed suit yesterday, claiming that the super model had assaulted her, too. This latest charge is now the fifth time that the super model has been accused of assaulting an employee. That's quite a bit.

M. O'BRIEN: I should say.

Cleanup crews are still pumping water out of Washington, D.C. this morning. Flooding crippled the city yesterday, as you see there. Roads and rails underwater. People couldn't get to work. Most government offices will be open today, so you'd better be getting to work. Except if you work at the National Archives. It will remain closed.

The rain drenched much of the Northeast. Take a look at these pictures from Albany, New York. There are now rivers in place of roads. Hundreds of basements are flooded. We're not hearing about any evacuations, but as you can see, low spots there. You know, as Chad says all the time, don't drive through that.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you don't know...

M. O'BRIEN: Don't try. Don't try. You do not know how deep it goes.

MYERS: Right. Even though you drove on that road a hundred times, you don't know whether the water had run-over that road and washed that road away. And all of a sudden you're doing it...

M. O'BRIEN: There might not be a road there at all.

MYERS: Right. It might not even exist, exactly.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. That would be bad.

MYERS: Exactly.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, a military success story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GEN. ROBERT VAN ANTWERP, U.S. ARMY: We hit a home run-here. We -- we hit something that a young person says I am willing to give you more time in service if you'll give me that. And I think that's a win-win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Alina Cho reports on what the Army is doing to keep its best and brightest from leaving.

M. O'BRIEN: Also, a huge health problem in New Orleans -- depression. We'll meet one woman who is trying to cope with Katrina's aftermath.

S. O'BRIEN: And then later, lawmakers face off over the flag. A look at why a constitutional ban on flag burning may be closer than ever to reality.

Those stories all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

We're back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: The Army needs a few good men and women to re-up for another tour of duty. Apparently the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are thinning the ranks of some of the best and brightest in uniform. Now the Pentagon is trying to plug a brain drain.

AMERICAN MORNING'S Alina Cho is here with more on the plan to reverse the trend -- good morning, Alina.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

You know, a brain drain is right. It's quite an enticing offer. And if you think about it, the Army and all branches of the military, for that matter, had no problems recruiting just after September 11.

well, that was nearly five years ago. Times have changed. We're still at war. The Army is restructuring. More officers are leaving and that's created a big problem. But it's one the Army is facing head-on.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... step forward and move down that hall.

CHO (voice-over): The first day at West Point is, in a word, brutal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not standing one foot behind my lines. You're not standing six inches behind my lines and that's it. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) right up to my line.

CHO: The training is grueling, but these new cadets, like Michael Darden from Boise, Idaho, are eager to serve.

MICHAEL DARDEN, WEST POINT NEW CADET: I'd like to be a career soldier like my dad.

CHO: The problem is many serve the minimum requirement then return to civilian ranks. That's exactly what the Army is trying to change. More than a third of West Point's class of 2000 left after five years, including Mike Keilty, who says he loved the Army but wanted a change of pace.

MICHAEL KEILTY, WEST POINT GRADUATE: I just wanted to pursue a law career and maybe a political career some day.

CHO: Keilty served in Iraq and Kuwait. He left a captain, exactly the kind of soldier the Army is now trying to keep, especially now, at a time of war.

This year, it came up with some new incentives -- sign on for three more years of service and the Army will pay for graduate school or give officers their pick of home base or branch of service, like aviation. It's working. More than a third of all graduating officers, including 40 percent of West Point grads, have signed up.

VAN ANTWERP: We hit a home run-here. We -- we hit something that a young person says I am willing to give you more time in service if you'll give me that. And I think that's a win-win.

CHO: Lieutenant General Robert Van Antwerp is in charge of recruiting for the Army. He graduated from West Point in 1972. This summer, he'll mark 34 years of service.

Still, he realizes not everyone wants to spend their life in the Army.

VAN ANTWERP: I have classmates today that are running America's businesses.

CHO: He hopes the new incentives will keep these cadets in the Army just a little bit longer.

THOMAS MCSHEA, WEST POINT NEW CADET: I would probably take it. It makes sense.

CHO: For now...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is your left. Go to your right.

CHO: The officers in training just want to make it through the day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to have a long, long summer. Do you understand me, new cadets?

UNIDENTIFIED CADETS: Yes, sir.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

CHO: Now, to be clear, the Army needs 7,800 new officers by next year. That's an ambitious goal, but it's one they hope to meet with these new incentives. And, Miles, every single West Point plebe -- those are the freshmen -- the plebes that we spoke to said that they would take advantage of this offer.

But as you mentioned earlier...

M. O'BRIEN: Many years lie ahead.

CHO: That's right. Four long years.

M. O'BRIEN: A lot of difficult time.

Let's talk, though, specifically about why they're leaving and what other opportunities are they seeking at this point?

CHO: Well, opportunities in the private sector. And there are some lucrative ones. Remember, West Point grads are the elite of the Army. And they get a lot of lucrative offers in the private sector and some of them decide to take them.

You know, obviously there are some concerns over the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan. They don't want to be deployed or redeployed to those regions.

But having said that, the Army is confident that these new incentives -- especially the grad school incentive -- will encourage these people to stay in a little bit longer.

M. O'BRIEN: A win-win, as he said.

CHO: That's right.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Alina Cho, thank you very much.

CHO: Sure.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, we'll have the latest on that building collapse in Missouri. Authorities are now saying one person was killed and all the survivors have been pulled from the rubble.

We're going to hear from one of the people rescued just ahead this morning.

Then later, this was to be expected, really, depression hitting New Orleans and hard. We're going to meet one woman who's trying to cope with one of the city's biggest health problems after Hurricane Katrina.

Those stories are ahead.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: It's hard to believe it's now been nearly a year since Katrina. And the City of New Orleans still has so much to do before it will be back on its feet. And we're not just talking about rebuilding homes and businesses and levees. We're talking about emotional devastation, as well.

CNN's Gary Tuchman with more on the lingering psychological issues for the survivors of the storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lifelong New Orleans resident Gina Barbe divides her life into two parts -- before Katrina.

GINA BARBE, HURRICANE KATRINA SURVIVOR: I was real happy. I was always laughing. I was excited about my life.

TUCHMAN: ... and after Katrina.

(on camera): Was there a time where you seriously considered suicide?

BARBE: I just, I thought, I asked god to -- I've asked god to just take me because I didn't want to be here anymore. Yes, definitely.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Gina lost her job as New Orleans's tour planner after the hurricane and hasn't been able to get another one. She lost friends in the hurricane and some to suicide after the storm. But there is much more to her depression. BARBE: It's definitely not the same city. It's a very, I would say, lonely, quiet. It actually reeks to me -- it reeks a lot of death.

TUCHMAN: On the Gulf Coast, many people talk of increased depression and suicide since the rampage of Katrina. It's not just anecdotal.

(on camera): Could you have ever envisioned something like this?

DR. JEFFREY ROUSE, NEW ORLEANS CORONER'S OFFICE: No. One can never envision apocalypse coming to one's hometown.

Yes, exactly.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Dr. Jeffrey Rouse is a psychiatrist for the New Orleans Coroner's Office. He says before Katrina, the suicide rate here was nine per 100,000 people.

ROUSE: In the months after the storm up until the end of 2005, by using the most conservative methodology we can come up with to come up with that rate, the rate was about 26 per 100,000 per year, on an annualized figure. So roughly triple.

TUCHMAN: And that means this man's job is incredibly important.

SGT. BEN GLAUDI, NEW ORLEANS POLICE CRISIS UNIT: The last 10 months have been quite different.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Has 6512 gone in service?

TUCHMAN: Twenty-four years ago, police Sergeant Ben Glaudi started a unit that responded to severely depressed New Orleans citizens. His crisis unit is now seeing a dramatically increased rate of people who need to be protect from themselves.

GLAUDI: They're hopeless. They're helpless. They have fear because of the uncertainty of what may be going on with them.

TUCHMAN: Gina Barbe is fearful and she acknowledges often hopeless and helpless.

BARBE: The thing that makes me really happy is when I get out and I go running. And I feel good and that's because I'm running. And running makes you feel like you're running away from everything.

TUCHMAN (on camera): It's very symbolic.

BARBE: It is symbolic. Very symbolic, yes.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): But she realizes she now needs more help, like so many others in this very changed city.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEO TAPE) M. O'BRIEN: Gary's report first aired on "ANDERSON COOPER 360."

Anderson has a look now at what's coming up on his program tonight -- Anderson.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, Congress spending half a billion dollars of your money to build a visitors center at the Capitol, all so you can visit Congress and see how they're spending your money.

Welcome to Washington -- Miles.

We're keeping them honest, tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern on "360" -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Anderson.

Still to come on the program...

S. O'BRIEN: We're going to hear from a survivor of that deadly building collapse in Missouri. He's going to tell us what he saw and when it happened.

Also, new fires starting up out West, threatening homes, forcing evacuations. We'll tell you where that is just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Good morning.

Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.

I'm Miles O'Brien.

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

We've got a look at some of the stories making news this morning.

Let's get right to Alina Cho.

She's in for Carol Costello with some headlines -- hey, Alina, good morning.

CHO: Hey, there, good morning, Soledad.

And good morning to you.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Pakistan this morning. CNN confirming just moments ago that Secretary Rice arrived in Islamabad. She is expected to discuss the war on terror with Pakistani officials.

Hundreds of prisoners from Iraq's Abu Ghraib Prison are free this morning. The Iraqi prime minister released some 450 people. None of them were convicted. The release is part of a national reconciliation program. Officials eventually plan to free a quarter of a million prisoners, but only ones who did not take part in any terror-related activities.

Israeli troops are on standby at the Gaza border amid feverish negotiations to free a kidnapped Israeli soldier. Hamas's military wing has claimed responsibility for the abduction, but officials with the Hamas government say they know nothing about the soldier.

The U.S. Senate is closer than ever to passing a constitutional amendment banning flag desecration. The Senate is set to resume debate this morning and could vote tomorrow.

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