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American Morning

Foley Investigation; Page's Family Speaks; Hazardous Inferno; Rice In N. Iraq; Split Over Iran Nukes; Rumsfeld's Warning; Workplace Conduct; Shuttle Atlantis Damaged

Aired October 06, 2006 - 07:00   ET

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


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And FEMA takes a trip looking for ways to avoid another Katrina-like disaster. Why did they go to the English countryside though? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.

The House Ethics Committee moving fast on its investigation into the Mark Foley scandal. They're going to subpoena dozens of lawmakers and aides in a probe of the former congressman's contacts with teenage pages. Congressional correspondent Andrea Koppel is live for us on Capitol Hill this morning.

Good morning, Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, in all, the House Ethics Committee approved about four dozen subpoenas, which the top Republican on the committee said would lead them wherever it needed to. The embattled House speaker, Dennis Hastert, also got a big boost of support from President Bush who, for the first time since the scandal broke, called the speaker to express his support. That vote of confidence followed a very public apology by Hastert, who, at the same time said he was deeply sorry, also made clear he has no intention of resigning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DENNIS HASTERT, (R) HOUSE SPEAKER: Could we have done it better? Could the page board have handled it better? In retrospect, probably, yes. But at that time, what we knew and what we acted upon was what we had.

Any time that a person has to, as a leader, be on the hot seat and be a detriment to the party, you know, there ought to be a change. I became speaker in a situation like that. I don't think that's the case. I said I haven't done anything wrong, obviously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Now Hastert also got some much-needed support from House and Republican leadership, including the Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, the Majority Leader John Boehner and the Majority Whip Roy Blunt, who all rallied to his side. Nevertheless, the speaker also intended to make a big announcement during his press conference yesterday that former FBI Director Louis Freeh would head up the investigation into this scandal. But according to a GOP aide didn't do so because Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, objected. Pelosi's office, Soledad, disputes that characterization.

Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Is there any sense when this investigation is going to wrap up? I mean are they pushing to wrap it up before the election? Are they pushing to push that rap up till after the election? Do we know?

KOPPEL: Well, what they're saying, and this is according to the Democratic head of the -- I should say the minority leader of the ethics committee who said that the investigation would be completed in weeks, not months. But considering that we're just about a month out from midterm elections and there are Republicans on the committee, the likelihood of it wrapping up in the next four weeks is probably not very high.

Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: We'll wait and see. Andrea Koppel for us this morning. Thanks, Andrea.

Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: The family of a former page who received e-mails from Congressman Mark Foley is speaking publicly for the first time about the scandal. CNN's Sean Callebs live now from Monroe, Louisiana, with more.

Hello, Sean.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles.

Indeed, the family breaking their silence late yesterday afternoon, giving me a five-paragraph statement. In it the family calls their son a hero who had the courage to question the intention of the e-mails that he received while serving as a page last summer from Congressman Foley. And listen to what the family had to say about the page program.

"Although our son bravely came forward with information regarding Congressman Foley, his experience as a House page was not marred by the kind of wrongdoing that appears to have occurred with respect to other House pages and Congressman Foley. In fact, we are pleased that he had the opportunity to serve as a page in the U.S. House of Representatives and if given the opportunity, he would serve as a page again."

Now a couple of things need clarification. This young man received e-mails, not the more lurid, explicit instant messages that Foley apparently sent from an AOL account. Also the family goes on to praise Congressman Alexander, who sponsored this page, saying that the family had asked the congressman to do what he could to protect the family's privacy throughout this matter.

It's been a difficult week for this family, Miles. We know who the family is, but we're going to respect their wishes, keep the name private. And they say this release is the only thing the family will have to say about this ongoing controversy.

M. O'BRIEN: Sean Callebs in Monroe, thank you very much.

Some new poll numbers out this morning offering plenty for the GOP to worry about in all of this. A "Time" survey finds that only 16 percent of Americans approve of the GOP's handling of the scandal. Two-thirds believe Republican leaders tried to cover it up. A quarter of those polled say the scandal makes them less likely to vote for a Republican candidate in November. Overall, 54 percent say they're more likely to vote for a Democrat in the midterm elections. And the poll shows Americans are split over whether Hastert should resign as House speaker over his handling of the Foley scandal.

Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: We continue to follow the developments coming to us out of North Carolina this morning. That out-of-control fire burning at a chemical plant near several petroleum storage tanks. It's threatening homes nearby. Overnight authorities told 16,000 people that they should evacuate their home. This happened on the east side of Apex, which is a suburb of Raleigh. A cloud of noxious gas hovering over the area. It's feared that winds will be shifting this morning and that could complicate things for firefighters and residents too. Let's get right to reporter Ann Forte of our affiliate News 14 Carolina. She's on the scene with the very latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANN FORTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Apex officials are calling this disaster the worst in town history. Now more than 10,000 people have been evacuated. Officials have asked half the town's population of 32,000 to evacuate.

This all started at about 10:00 last night at a plant called EQ. And that's a business that disposes of hazardous materials.

Now fire officials were called downtown at about 10:00 last night. There was a plume of smoke over downtown Apex. That plume of smoke turned out to be chlorine gas. A fire subsequently started.

Now that cloud of gas has expanded and move and that's why the evacuations are in order. Fire officials are waiting until this morning to really assess the fire and getting an idea of how they're going to treat it. They tell us they can't use water or foam retardant on the fire because that could cause some chemical spill-off which could be dangerous.

Now, again, about 16,000 people have been evacuated to shelters in the area. They're told to get out of here. They say it's very dangerous to breathe in this chemical. We have reports that 10 police officers have had to be decontaminated and treated for some respiratory ailments, as well as one firefighter. That's the latest from apex.

Ann Forte, from CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: What effect, in fact, will that wind have on the fire and the gas cloud. Let's get right to Rob Marciano at the CNN Center.

So, Rob, we've heard about the shifting winds that are likely this morning. What do you think?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the good news is right now the winds aren't that strong, but they were earlier out of the east and that's what prompted that evacuation of that neighborhood which is just to the west of the actual plant.

Here's Google earth. We're widened out here at about pretty much the entire state of North Carolina. We'll zoom in just a little bit and show you just to the south and west of Raleigh is where the town of Apex is. Where this particular facility is, is just to the south and east of Apex, which is up here.

Highway 55, which runs right around through here, we're told is going to be closed or spotty at best down to the south throughout the morning. And actually let's go in a little bit closer, if we could, Brian (ph), and maybe zoom into the actual plant itself. All right.

This is what we're told -- this building right here is what we're told is the building that's on fire. Just to the north of that are some -- what looks to be some fuel tanks that are probably one of the things that they're concerned about. So, obviously, an industrial area. And in any industrial area, especially one that works with environmental hazardous waste, you've got a serious situation on your hands and already a fire that they're struggling to put out or being told that they're actually burning itself out.

The other issue with this -- let's go over to the map and show you the radar -- is, from what the reporter told us, is that firefighters can't use water to put this fire out because it is a chemical fire. Well, we've got rain moving into the area. Here's the radar scope and you can see the batch of rain that's heading towards the I-95 area, towards Raleigh right now. It looks like a batch of heavy rain showers moving in that direction.

On top of the radar here, we also have the wind directions as they happen in through time. Winds right now coming out of the north, coming out of the north here. Here's where Apex is. Basically have a developing area of low pressure right through here and that's why the winds are shifting. The good news is, Soledad, is that right now the winds aren't that strong. So hopefully they'll be able to monitor the thing as we go blow by blow. Don't expect the winds to get that strong, but they will be shifting throughout of the morning.

Now that they're out of the north, it looks like to the south of this facility it's less populated. So that may very well be good news. I'm not on the scene. I can't really comment to much on that. But from what Google maps tell us, it looks like more populated areas to the west, which is what they were concerned about this morning.

Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. Well, you'll continue to watch how that wind is moving this morning and also the rainfall that you're expecting.

Thanks, Rob. Appreciate it.

Another fire we want to bring you an update on this morning. We've got a little more details on this fire that is burning in downtown Memphis. Apparently there are three buildings now on fire. Take a look at this.

The fire has spread to a furniture warehouse, which apparently is about to collapse. It started at the First United Methodist Church, which is a church that was built back in 1826. The oldest institution, apparently, in Memphis. And now that fire has spread in two other buildings, including that warehouse, which is on the verge of collapse.

A little bit tighter picture of just how bad this fire is. And if we see a wider shot, too, you can see it really lighting up the night sky or the early morning sky in Memphis, Tennessee. So we're going to continue to monitor what's happening there. And, of course, look into the questions of (INAUDIBLE).

M. O'BRIEN: Thousands of protesters in more than 200 cities nationwide voicing their frustration with a laundry list of Bush administration policies yesterday. It was billed as a National Day of Protest on everything from global warming to the war in Iraq. In New York yesterday, the street surrounding the United Nations clogged. In front of the White House, protesters held up yellow police tape for a three-block stretch. They called the Bush administration policies criminal.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice still in Iraq trying to put out yet another fire, this time in the north in the Kurdish region where there is a strong push for autonomy. This after she met with leaders of the Iraqi government in Baghdad trying to push along their efforts to try and stabilize the country. CNN's Arwa Damon joining us from Baghdad with more.

Arwa.

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

That's right. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is now wrapping up her visit to the Kurdish north of Iraq. She is in Arbil meeting with Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani up there.

Now Kurdistan has been pushing for autonomy behind the scenes for quite some time now. They are very different. The area up there is very different than the rest of the country. It is very developed. It is oil rich. It does not have the level of violence that we see throughout Iraq.

But there are a number of sticking points. For example, divvying up the revenue that is going to come from the oil. There is also the sticking point there of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. Now the area around Kirkuk is home to about 60 percent of Iraq's natural oil and gas reserves. Iraq, of course, wants Kirkuk for itself. Everyone lays claim to that city and the Kurds want it to be part of Kurdistan.

Now she arrived in Baghdad yesterday, meeting with senior politicians here to include Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. The purpose of her visit is to show U.S. support for the Iraqi government. However, she has adopted a harder stance with the Iraqi government than we have seen, at least in public, in the past. Saying that now is not the time for debate, not the time for political inaction and that the level of violence seen across this country now has become intolerable.

Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Arwa, it seems to me the Kurds are in a little bit of a spot. On the one hand, they're grateful to the U.S. for toppling Saddam Hussein. On the other hand, they've had longstanding desire to be autonomous, to have their own nation of Kurdistan. How do they reconcile those two factors?

DAMON: Well, that's really it, Miles. As you just said, they are in a very tough position. And reconciling those two factors really what's going to be a determination for the future of this country and for the future of Kurdistan.

Publicly we do hear a lot of Kurdish leaders saying that they want to be a part of greater Iraq. But behind the scenes, it really is no secret that they do want their own state. And that is why, as we were just speaking about the area of Kirkuk, is so crucial and what is going to happen with Kirkuk.

Whether it ends up being a part of Kurdistan or a part of greater Iraq itself is really going to be a sticking point. There is going to be a referendum there in 2007 where the people of Kirkuk are meant to vote on whether or not they're going to be a part of Kurdistan or a part of the rest of Iraq.

Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Arwa Damon in Baghdad, thank you very much.

Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Diplomats from six nations, the U.S. included, are set to meet in London in about five hours from now. They're going to be discussing whether sanctions should be imposed on Iran over its nuclear program. Let's get right to CNN's European political editor, Robin Oakley. He's in London for us.

Good morning, Robin. ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, Condoleezza Rice is a pretty busy lady because she'll be coming on from Iraq to join her counterparts from France, Germany, the U.K., Russia and China at this meeting really to settle what is going to be the next step on Iran's nuclear program and its defiance of the U.N.'s demand that by August the 31st it should have given up enriching uranium.

They've tried the carrot, these counties, with Iran. They offered Iran incentives, including an atomic water reactor and help with agricultural machinery, help to get into the World Trade Organization. That didn't seem to tempt the Iranians to give up their program.

Now the question is, will they employ the stick? And, if so, how big will that stick be? And there's going to be considerable difficulty over that because while the U.S. and the U.K. clearly want to go now for sanctions, some of the other Europeans, France and Germany perhaps, still inclined to carry on on the diplomatic trail and Russia and China have been pretty well opposed all along to the idea of going down the route of sanctions.

Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Robin Oakley for us this morning in London. Thank you, Robin.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld issuing a warning over North Korea's plans to test their nuclear device. He says, in fact, if that test goes through, it would signal a failure by the international community. CNN's Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon for us.

Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.

Well, over in North Korea, the leader, Kim Jong-il now today apparently rallying hundreds of his top military commanders in Pyongyang amidst this growing world speculation that North Korea is about to conduct its first nuclear test. The world community, of course, reacting still with growing diplomatic pressure. You see some of these new pictures just emerging in the last couple of hours from North Korea of that military rally.

The world really reacting, trying to put the pressure on North Korea not to conduct this test. As you say, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld making extended remarks to the news media here yesterday about his view about what a test would mean.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I don't think I need to be in the speculation business. The intelligence community is gathering what information they're able to gather. At some point we'll know if it is words or actually a test. And it will speak for itself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: But this speaking for itself, the secretary went on to say, his major concern, of course, is North Korea might sell that nuclear technology around the world. So what is the intelligence community doing to try and figure out what North Korea is up to? There's some very interesting spy planes and assets that are being moved into that region now.

There's this one plane we want to -- I think we have a picture of it. We want to show everybody. You're going to hear not very much about it. It's called the WC-135. This is -- the nickname is the Constant Phoenix. This is the only military aircraft in inventory right now that conducts air sampling missions. That basically goes out there and sniffs for any signs of radioactive material in the air. The U.S. intelligence community moving everything it's got that it can move out there to try and figure out what North Korea's up to.

S. O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Thank you, Barbara.

Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come in the program, the volatile mix of sex and power in the workplace. It exploded in the Mark Foley scandal and it could happen to you. We'll have some advice for you ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: We've seen how Congress is handling the Mark Foley e-mail scandal, but are there any lessons to be learned for what happens in a typical office? AMERICAN MORNING's Dan Lothian took a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): It can happen in the tall towers of corporate America, or in a small business just off main street. Someone in a position of power, like Representative Mark Foley, caught in a steamy scandal involving a lower level staffer. And colleagues in the know are hesitant to address the problem or expose it.

DEBORAH KOLB, SIMMONS SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT: Often people who may be important to the organization in lots of ways, maybe they're rainmakers, they really have an important account, they get a pass. We know that those kinds of things happen. It's often because of great performers, you don't want to lose them.

LOTHIAN: Deborah Kolb, a professor at the Simmons School of Management in Boston, says to make matters worse, sometimes news of a problem doesn't get to the very top because executives in the corner office are insulated.

KOLB: Sometimes that leader can be sending a message that says, I've often heard this, "no news is good news." LOTHIAN: The victim of the inappropriate behavior often lacks power and is afraid to speak up.

KOLB: They feel when they raise those issues there are going to be negative consequences. And, guess what, there are negative consequences. People miss out on promotions. They find themselves stuck.

LOTHIAN: This happens even though most companies have policies that spell out workplace conduct -- what will and will not be tolerated. But experts say what's on paper isn't always what's practiced.

Consultant Natalie Camper is often called in to educate employees after inappropriate behavior gets way out of hand.

NATALIE CAMPER, CAMPER GROUP: And it keeps happening because many people never read the policies and procedures, for one thing. And it keeps happening because we live in a sexually saturated society.

LOTHIAN: And, she says, some employees don't check their personal baggage at the front door.

CAMPER: When you walk in the door, that level of freedom is gone. The workplace is simply not a social club.

LOTHIAN: But when someone steps over the line, what should be done?

KOLB: People need to know what the policy is and there need to be consequences.

LOTHIAN: As for the victim.

KOLB: Is there a trusted person, somebody they trust who's a little bit higher up in the hierarchy, who also has the ear of the person who's -- they being (ph) the problem. And an ally can talk to that person.

LOTHIAN: Ultimately, leaving the desk or office for a trip to human resources may be the best recourse, potentially saving everyone involved and the company a lot of grief.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: NASA space shuttle managers are looking over a ding inside the space shuttle Atlantis after last mission, which just landed a couple of weeks ago. Take a look at this image which first was posted on the Web site, nasaspaceflight.com. I'll just tell you where we are -- big picture here. This is a piece of the radiator. This is the inside of the cargo bay door on the space shuttle Atlantis. We're going to zoom in here to this spot. Right in here. Now take a look at this. That is a tenth of an inch in diameter. It is a ding. It kind of looks like a bullet hole, doesn't it?

The engineers believe that it's caused by some sort of micro meteoroid or debris which struck the space shuttle while it was in orbit. Now this is on the inside of the shuttle's payload doors. So there was no threat to the heat shield. As a matter of fact, if there were some damage like that, no doubt NASA would have seen it because of those comprehensive inspections they do during the mission.

Take a look at the space shuttle Atlantis as it arrived back home. It came back home safe and sound. The debris shield in tact. A series of inspections conducted all throughout the mission.

And then if you'll recall, at the latter part of the mission, there were some odd things which seemed to separate. Remember this? These little pieces that seemed to separate from the space shuttle. Never really came up with a firm determination of what they were, but that has really nothing to do with what we're talking about here today -- that there is this little bullet hole kind of type of hole inside the payload bay doors.

These are on the radiators. Made of aluminum. About a quarter inch thick. And NASA now trying to determine exactly what caused it. There will be some sort of residue there which might give them a hint as to whether it's a piece of space junk or something that mother nature sent along whizzing in there.

Still ahead, those troubles at Hewlett-Packard. Is that boardroom spying scandal just the tip of the iceberg. Stay with AMERICAN MORNING for more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: A not so good day for Goodyear. Andy Serwer is here.

Hello.

ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.

Twelve thousand union employees went on strike yesterday at Goodyear Tire and Rubber across the United States and Canada. United Steel Workers, which represents these employees, saying the company is asking for too much in its contract negotiations. Goodyear says it will operate two nonunion facilities, one in Laughton, Oklahoma, and one in Ontario, and also asked salaried employees to work at facilities that are closed down.

Goodyear is the number three tire maker in the world after number one Bridgestone and number two Michelin. It's 108 years old, based in Akron. There are a couple plants that could be closed down, ultimately. One in Gatson, Alabama, and one in Tyler, Texas. And, you know, this is painful stuff. And you can see there are some angry people there on that picket line and no surprise. M. O'BRIEN: We'll be watching that one.

SERWER: Indeed.

Hewlett-Packard, the story that keeps on going every day here. Former HP board chair Patty Dunn was in court yesterday. You can see here. I want to correct something I said earlier, by the way. Someone asked her for her autograph. She declined to give her autograph, which is probably good. She also declined comment. This is her in front of the Santa Clara County Courthouse. She then went to the sheriff's office where she was fingerprinted, photographed and booked, then released. She will arraigned on November 7th.

M. O'BRIEN: And they asked for her autograph. She complied. That was important.

SERWER: I think she did have to sign on the dotted line.

M. O'BRIEN: A little thing saying I'm going to come back to court.

SERWER: Absolutely.

S. O'BRIEN: And you think about it, I mean, this woman, she's got stage four ovarian cancer now. I mean she's a melanoma cancer survivor. She's a breast cancer survivor. That is -- you know, that is a tough disease.

SERWER: At some point she is going to have a real story to tell, don't you think.

M. O'BRIEN: I think so.

SERWER: It's a very tough time.

M. O'BRIEN: What's next?

SERWER: We're going to be talking about a variety of records that were set on Wall Street yesterday. So good news all around there.

M. O'BRIEN: We like that.

All right.

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, take a look at the Foley scandal. The e-mail messages are alarming, of course. But the big question is, were any laws actually broken? We'll take a look.

And FEMA, believe it or not, is turning to old England for a better disaster plan. We'll tell you why just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

M. O'BRIEN: And Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.

President Bush is standing by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, reaching out to the speaker yesterday with a call of support after Hastert held that news conference defending his handling of the Mark Foley congressional page scandal.

Elaine Quijano in the White House briefing room this morning.

Good morning, Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles.

Well, that's right, for the first time since the Foley scandal developed, President Bush reached out and called House Speaker Dennis Hastert. It was a short conversation, lasting only a few minutes, according to White House Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino, but it was a conversation that was long enough certainly for the president to express his support for Hastert.

The president also on the heels of Hastert's statement yesterday saying that the buck stopped with him. The president thanked Hastert for taking responsibility. Now, the president's call comes just a couple of days after the president came out and said he appreciated Speaker Hastert's call for an investigation in the wake of the Foley scandal, and of course just about a month away from congressional midterm elections. This is a White House trying to quell concerns over Republican leadership. The Bush administration very much would like to focus attention elsewhere, and we're going to see that today, Miles. Later this morning, the president is going to head to a FedEx facility to talk about up the economy -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Elaine Quijano at the White House, thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, the search for potential victims is one focus of the Mark Foley investigation. Another is to see if any laws were broken.

Justice correspondent Kelli Arena has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The e-mails and instant messages sent by former Congressman Mark Foley may be disgusting, but not necessarily illegal.

MARK RASCH, FORMER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PROSECUTOR: You know, as a general rule, we prosecute these kind of cases when there's real danger to the child. Mere speech probably doesn't rise to that level.

ARENA: Government sources say prosecutors are looking at the evidence, but still have not launched a full criminal investigation.

ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Let us get the facts, before we make, you know, an announcement about -- about possible crimes. That would be great.

ARENA: The law is by no means clear.

First, it's not a federal crime to have sexually explicit conversations with children over the Internet. That's because the Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that it's free speech, protected by the Constitution.

To prove a crime, investigators would need more than just talk. They would have to uncover evidence that Foley actually tried to get a minor to meet him for sex.

RASCH: You have to engage in some kind of an affirmative act towards meeting him, buying a plane ticket, arranging a place to meet, something like that. And it has to be explicit.

ARENA: According to government sources, at least one former congressional page alleges Foley discussed the possibility of getting together to engage in a sexual act. We do not know whether he has the documentation to back up that claim.

But, as shocking as that sounds, even that isn't a legal slam- dunk. The age of consent in D.C. is 16, and all of the pages in question were at least that old. If any of the pages were not in D.C. at the time of the e-mail exchanges, then state laws may apply. And, in some places, the age of consent is higher. Investigators continue to interview former pages and others who knew Foley, including his former chief of staff, Kirk Fordham.

TIMOTHY HEAPHY, ATTORNEY FOR KIRK FORDHAM: He will continue to be completely forthcoming. But because there's an ongoing investigation, he can't comment any farther.

ARENA: And discussions continue regarding access to Foley's computer and other files in his Capitol Hill office.

(on camera): But even that isn't straightforward. Now that Foley is no longer a member of Congress, one of the issues is who owns that computer and who can give consent for a search.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Has the federal government learned the hard lessons of Hurricane Katrina? emergency workers insist they have, but you'll be surprised where they have gone looking for answers.

Paula Newton explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dudley lies in the heart of a place they call black country. But it was the White House that put it on the map. This is where U.S. federal authorities came looking for answers as they try to figure out how the response to Katrina went so wrong.

But why here? We took a road trip to Dudley, and found a quiet English town where nothing much has happened for centuries. OK, the town's castle surrendered during the civil war and burned down in 1750.

(on camera): Even so, Dudley's known war and rebellion in its past, but not a lot of disasters.

You can't help but ask yourself, just exactly what do U.S. authorities hope to learn here in Dudley?

(voice-over): The man who runs the town picks up the story.

We're looking for some examples of good practice actually in terms of evacuation and handling of bodies after Hurricane Katrina.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want an ambulance?

NEWTON: Talk about word of mouth. Turns out a Secret Service officer knew someone who worked for Dudley's Funeral Services, and they were part of the plan for disasters here. Apparently Dudley has one of the best plans forgetting every branch of government and private agencies on the same plan.

IAN SKIDMORE, DUDLEY COUNCIL: The U.K. have, of course, dealt with terrorism for a lot longer than the United States have. We have the IRA and various extremist groups, animal rights as well, throughout the years.

NEWTON: True enough. The (INAUDIBLE) here in Dudley. Still, we found two U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA employees, engrossed at a local emergency planning seminar, poring over the plan.

DON CARTER, FEMA: I don't know that it's ridiculous. It's, from our standpoint, it's another area that we can expand to see where we can improve. You know, things went wrong with Katrina; things went right.

NEWTON: FEMA now knows one of the things that went wrong was coordination between all those local, state and federal agencies. The lesson learned...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All disasters are local. It is fundamental to how we respond is to work from the bottom up. That's the whole concept of unity of command, with federal, state and local authorities working towards unity of effort and purpose to sustain life, to save life.

NEWTON: That's what they do right here in Dudley, on paper at least. It's never actually been tested in a real disaster.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely not. No, in fact, we pray like hell that there never is one. I don't want to have to use these disciplines, but, of course, you have to be ready just in case. NEWTON: The U.S. hardly has that luxury. Still, FEMA flew Dudley's chief bureaucrat to Washington to hear all about the town's plan, and flew FEMA people to Dudley to hear more, proving it will search far and wide and in places no one would expect to help manage the next Katrina.

Paula Newton, CNN, Dudley, England.

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S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, a new program is now giving Darfur's displaced children an outlet to deal with their fear and their grief. Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look at the lost boys of Sudan. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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S. O'BRIEN: We've been taking a look all week at the desperate situation that faces millions of refugees in Africa. They fled the fighting in Darfur, but they're own personal battles are far from over.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta has a look this morning at a program that's aimed at easing some of the burden.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): They are young boys and they are lost. They dream at night, but they dream of guns firing, homes burning, people dying. They are the newest generation of lost boys from Sudan.

Their dreams are too painful to talk about, so for the time being, they draw horrible drawings.

Did you lose anybody in your own family? Were any of these people family members?

Unlike most of the children I've met, this 12-year-old doesn't smile or make eye contact. We don't show his face. He is still terrified that he will be harmed or killed. He is now an orphan.

JENNIFER MELTON, SOCIAL WORKER: I came here knowing that that was their experience, so it is always shocking to see, even though you know that that's what happened. When you ask somebody to draw something at their home, that that's their immediate memory, that it's not, you know, a dog or their best friend or their school, that that is their immediate memory. And it is shocking and it's disturbing, but we have to allow a way for them to express it.

GUPTA: You see, with physical trauma, it is easier. A bandage, a stitch, some medications. With emotional trauma, it's not always clear what will help the healing.

Does this work? MELTON: Yes. I think absolutely. It works differently for different children. Some children, you know, they need to verbalize what they went through more. Other children don't necessarily know how they might not have the words to describe what they experienced. So art, drawing, it's just, it's another way that they can express it and get it out and share it with their friends and share it with their parents, whoever, because you know, families, friends, they don't always know how to start talking about it. So there needs to be something to help it.

GUPTA: One key to healing -- expressing the hurt. Color on paper. After three years, this is perhaps the first time their emotions have been addressed. It feels like it might be too late. The pain is so deep.

(On camera): There is also a lot of power behind some of those images as well. Take a look at these images. You hear chanting. We lost our parents and families because of one genocide, killing and burning. They talk a lot about these pictures that they are drawing. This is the passion behind it.

MELTON: They appreciate the opportunity to express it. They haven't had anyone to ask them directly. They experienced it all together. And amongst them, you know, they have their resources, but they haven't had an outsider come in and say, tell me what happened. Tell me how we can help.

GUPTA: Does it help you feel better to draw?

He says it doesn't relieve all of the pain. I can't imagine it would. But the lost boys are finally being found. And delicately, image by image, the torn psyche of a generation is being repaired.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Cuckoo (ph), Chad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Now Sanjay is reporting with Anderson Cooper all this week from Africa. Here's Anderson with a look at what they've got tonight -- Anderson.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Miles, tonight on "360," from Africa, millions dead, millions homeless, millions living on the brink. A special edition of "360: Africa's Misery, the World's Shame." That's tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern -- Miles.

Up next on the program, Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business."

Hello, Andy.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Hello, Miles.

The most expensive stock in the land smashes through a new record, and those cats did come to Wall Street, and we have the pictures to show you, coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

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M. O'BRIEN: As they say, the pen is mightier than the sword and a picture is worth a thousand words. So if you do the math on that, Mike Luckovich is a man with a thousand swords, or sort of. His new book is entitled "Four More Wars!"

Mike Luckovich is the editorial cartoonist at the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution." He joins us from his immaculate office there in Atlanta. And you're there much earlier than normal. Thank you for doing that. He normally strolls in around noon, right?

MIKE LUCKOVICH, "ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION": What did you say, Miles? Say that again, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Don't you stroll in normally around noon time.

LUCKOVICH: Yes, you know, I do, but my editor has cracked down on me now and makes me get in early. I used to get in around 2:00 and, you know, things have changed.

M. O'BRIEN: You work a solid 30 minutes a day trying to get that thing out. All right, so the book is great. We're going to talk about it later. But as we always do, because whenever we have you on, we make you work a little bit.

LUCKOVICH: Oh, I know that. I know that. I know that.

M. O'BRIEN: So we thought maybe if you had something in mind -- what you want to draw?

LUCKOVICH: You know, I was thinking maybe -- I have no idea what it's going to be at this point, but I was thinking maybe I could draw you and Soledad in some fashion.

M. O'BRIEN: In some fashion.

LUCKOVICH: In some fashion.

M. O'BRIEN: Here we are. Do you need a picture?

LUCKOVICH: You know, I'm going to go to my friend Google and look it up, and I will report back, and I think I can get you.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, make sure you use a good picture.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, maybe we can send him something.

S. O'BRIEN: We'll get our people on that.

LUCKOVICH: They'll be fabulous. They'll be fabulous, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: I feel better already. Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, we'll check in, in a little bit. Get to work there. Mike Luckovich at "The Atlanta Journal Constitution," in his office there, and we'll have him start drawing and we'll talk about four more wars a bit later.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

S. O'BRIEN: Also we'll take a look at our top stories, including this toxic chemical fire that's still burning out of control near Raleigh. Thousands of people trying to escape from the danger have been evacuated. We'll update you on what's happening there.

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