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American Morning

Bush Leaves NATO Summit to Attend Meeting With Iraqi Prime Minister Today

Aired November 29, 2006 - 07:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: doubts about Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his ability to truly lead a unified government. The report says also -- or another report says, also -- that the Pentagon is considering moving troops out of the Al Anbar Province, sending them back to Baghdad, according to ABC News. The Iraq study group meets again today. They're trying to work out how many troops should stay in Iraq and how long they should stay there. Three reports for you this morning. Suzanne Malveaux is traveling with the president in Riga, Latvia, Ben Wedeman is in Amman, Jordan this morning, and Bob Franken is in Washington, D.C. Let's begin with Suzanne, who is traveling with the president.
Hey, Suzanne. Good morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING (on camera): The NATO summit is wrapping up here in Riga, Latvia, but all eyes on a once-classified memo, five page, that was leaked to "The New York Times", authenticated by senior administration officials, which reveals impressions about the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley had a meeting with Maliki in late October, wrote a memo, shared it with the president in November. Gives his impressions and indicates some serious doubts, questions over whether or not Maliki has the capabilities to control the sectarian violence in his country.

This memo highlights, saying that Maliki's intentions seem good when he talks with Americans and sensitive reporting suggests he's trying to stand up to the Shia hierarchy and force positive change. But the reality on the streets of Baghdad suggests Maliki is either ignorant of what's going on, misrepresenting his intentions. Or that his capabilities not yet sufficient to turn his good intentions into actions.

There are steps that Maliki could take, including bringing his political strategy with Muqtada al Sadr to closure, shaking up his cabinet and announcing plans to expand the Iraqi army.

Some steps the Bush administration could take, let Maliki take more credit for positive developments, continue to pressure Iran and Syria to end their interference in Iraq and also step up our efforts to get Saudi Arabia to take a leadership role. It also talks about the possibility of increase in American troop levels. Saying we might also need to fill the current four-brigade gap in Baghdad with coalition forces, if reliable Iraqi forces are not identified.

Now, senior administration officials, who do not like to talk publicly about Bush and al-Maliki's discussions, they say that the president remains confident in Maliki's intentions. It is the abilities, the capabilities of this government that have been called into question. Those are the kind of questions that are going to come up between the meeting between President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Riga, Latvia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: For his part, Maliki is already in Amman, Jordan, waiting for President Bush and that crucial summit on the Iraq war. CNN's Ben Wedeman is in the Jordanian capital as well -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Yes, Miles, some here are calling it a summit too little, too late. An American diplomatic effort that should have been launched three and a half years ago, just after the fall of the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Today, the Middle East is teetering on the brink of multiple crises. That was best described over the weekend, by Jordan's King Abdullah, who said that by early 2007 there could be three civil wars in the Middle East, in Iraq, Lebanon and in the Palestinian Territories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN (voice over): It would hardly seem like the best time to visit the region. President Bush's grand ambitions for the Middle East lie in disarray.

In Iraq, what was supposed to be a beacon of democracy has become a black hole of sectarian violence and anarchy. The administration still insists it's not civil war, though what Iraqi officials describe sounds almost as bad.

MUWAFFAQ AL-RUBAIE, IRAQI NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: This is a war between the extremists and the moderate, in the whole region, and that's why it's concentrating its effort in Iraq. If they lose, they lose in the whole region. If they win, God forbid, they will destruct the whole region again.

WEDEMAN: Perhaps glimpsing post-pull out reality, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is now rubbing shoulders with the leaders of Iran, who seem as determined as ever, threats of sanctions notwithstanding, to pursue a nuclear option, flushed with growing regional clout. In Lebanon, the U.S.-backed government is under siege.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And that government is being undermined, in my opinion, by extremist forces encouraged out of Syria and Iran. Why? Because a democracy will be a major defeat for those who articulate extremist points of view.

WEDEMAN: Across the region, hopes for a blossoming of democracy have been dashed as almost every experiment in political liberalization, in Egypt, in Iraq, in the Palestinian Territories, have empowered or emboldened Islamic hard liners.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN: And Miles, for President Bush, the only real bright spot in the region, if you can even call it that, is between the Israelis and Palestinians, who, since Sunday, have been holding to a shaky cease-fire. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to go to the West Bank, hold intensive talks with Palestinian leaders to try to make sure that cease-fire holds, and possibly to arrange a meeting between the Palestinian president and the Israeli prime minister -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Ben Wedeman in Amman, thank you.

Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Some big changes could be coming to troops on the ground in Iraq. The Pentagon is reportedly considering a plan to pull 30,000 soldiers and Marines out of the volatile Al Anbar Province, and they would be redeployed to Baghdad. That comes to us according to ABC News. The Pentagon suggests that the Anbar Province is too violent. That victory there would be too difficult to achieve. It's largely controlled by Al Qaeda in Iraq and than 1,000 U.S. troops have been killed there.

Here at home in Washington, D.C., the blue ribbon panel studying strategy in Iraq is meeting again today, facing it's own set of challenges before they finally come up with their final recommendations. AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken is in Washington, D.C. for us this morning.

Hey, Bob. Good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Good morning, Soledad.

There's a problem for this group. There are very high expectations, but concerns among some that the final recommendations will range between obvious and fig leaf. In any case, there are really some difficult choices that have to be made, policies that probably will end upcoming up with recommendations, which are the least worst choices.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice over): The badly deteriorating situation in Iraq and the high-profile stature of the study group's members give President Bush very little choice but to take their recommendations very seriously.

BUSH: We'll continue to be flexible and make the changes necessary to succeed.

FRANKEN: Leaked proposals under consideration from the group, recommending the United States directly seek help from Iran and Syria, no longer seem that farfetched. Coincidence or not, President Bush is in the Middle East meeting this week with the likes of Iraq's prime minister and the King of Jordan. And with an emboldened international community, and a new Democratic majority in Congress, the pressure is on.

NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER-ELECT: It's one of the four parts we wrote to the president about, to engage the other countries in the region diplomatically because clearly militarily, the military has done all that it can do.

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: I have been quite clear that the two countries have a role to play, and we should make them.

FRANKEN: The administration's higher ups are suddenly very visibly engaging leaders in the region. So far, the president has left it to Iraqi officials themselves to deal with Iran and Syria. But those direct dealings will certainly come up in the Amman, Jordan meeting. But as tough as the diplomatic decisions are likely to be, the really sticky ones will be over how to extricate the U.S. troops from Iraq, when, how and whether.

BUSH: There's one thing I'm not going to do. I'm not going to pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: That is exactly what the Iraq study group is studying, how to complete the mission. And, more importantly, how to finesse what the complete mission means -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken is in Washington, D.C, for us this morning. Thank you, Bob.

Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Those controversial CIA flights to capture and question top terror suspects in Europe were apparently not a closely held secret; 11 European countries knew what the CIA was up to. ABC and BBC news reporting the CIA conducted about 1200 secret flights in Europe.

A draft report to the European parliament, lists flights in Germany, the U.K., Portugal, Spain and Italy. The report contends some European governments were fully aware of the so-called rendition flights, even though they're against European law. President Bush has acknowledged the CIA held terror suspects in secret prisons.

Happening this morning, Pope Benedict celebrated mass in the Turkish city of Ephesus, believed to be the last home of the Virgin Mary. Later, the pope will meet in Istanbul with the leader of the Orthodox Christian Church. This is day two of a trip meant to help ease tensions between Muslims and the Catholic Church.

The head of U.S. forces in South Korea says North Korea is building nuclear weapons for political blackmail. U.S. General B.B. Vale (ph), made the remarks as the U.S. and North Korean officials meet in China. They hope to restart six-nation talks aimed at getting Pyongyang to drop its atomic weapons program.

Back in this country, cars and clean air on the agenda at the Supreme Court. Justices will hear a case that could require the government to regulate carbon dioxide from cars. Carbon dioxide linked to global warming. Several states are suing to make that happen. They say it's required by the Clean Air Act. The law calls carbon dioxide a public health threat.

Investigators in Missouri poised to rule out arson as a cause of that deadly fire at a group home in Anderson. Ten people were killed. Investigators say there are no suspects or persons of interest in the case. Three dozen mentally ill patients, most of them elderly, lived in the home.

In New Mexico, new security concerns at the Los Alamos Nuclear Weapons Lab. A government ordered review call security seriously flawed there. The review was ordered after police found classified at a former lab worker's home.

And Snoop, in the dog house again. Police in California arrested Calvin Broddess (ph), AKA, Snoop Dogg, last night after he performed on "The Jay Leno Show". Police say they seized a handgun and some illegal drugs. Bond was set at $60,000.

S. O'BRIEN: Snow, ice and dangerously cold weather across the Rockies to tell you about this morning. Driving was treacherous. And the roads really turning deadly in Colorado. Let's go right to CNN's Rob Marciano; he's in Breckenridge, Colorado, where it's good for people who want to be outdoors, but not for drivers, certainly.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: The pictures were startling, caught on tape, a teenaged boy in a juvenile boot camp. Now his death there is a criminal case. We'll have the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Top stories we're following for you, President Bush leaving for Jordan within the hour to meet with Iraq's prime minister. And Cuban leader Fidel Castro says he's too sick to attend celebrations this week, marking his 80th birthday.

About a quarter past the hour, now. Let's get a quick check of the weather. Chad Myers is here once again, with that.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Fallout now from the death of that 14-year-old boy who died at a juvenile boot camp in Florida. Seven guards and a nurse are now facing charges in the death that was caught on tape. Susan Candiotti has our story this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING (voice over): The video was stunning. Martin Anderson getting poked and kneed and ultimately suffocated at juvenile delinquent boot camp, all while a nurse stood by; 11 months and two autopsies later, a special prosecutor called it manslaughter.

MARK OBER, PROSECUTOR: This conduct, cannot, and will not be tolerated in our society and none of us are above the law.

CANDIOTTI: It was the news Martin Anderson's parents said they had hoped for.

GINA JONES, ANDERSON'S MOTHER: Today is a good day for me. I'm finally getting justice for my baby.

CANDIOTTI: Seven guards and the nurse are now charged with aggravated manslaughter and face up to 30 years in prison if found guilty.

BENJAMIN CRUMP, PARENTS ATTORNEY: You wanted one of them to say, guys, stop. This is enough. This isn't right.

CANDIOTTI: But one guard's defense attorney has said his client and the others thought the boy was faking at first, that they used approved techniques, and acted in good faith.

WAYLON GRAAM, HELMS DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The nurse is giving them guidance. They followed her advice. And they did not set out to harm this young man. There was no gross and flagrant negligence.

CANDIOTTI: The teenager's first autopsy indicated no one was at fault. It said the 14-year-old died of natural causes with sickle cell complications. But after a public outcry, Florida Governor Jeb Bush appointed a special prosecutor, who had the boy's body exhumed and re-examined. A second autopsy said Anderson was, quote, "suffocated due to actions of the guards", end quote, when smelling salts were forced up his nose.

At trial, it may be a battle of the coroners, whose autopsy to believe, and whether anyone is criminally to blame for Martin Anderson's death. Susan Candiotti, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: We're staying on top of today's top story. Also ahead, show me some new money. How a court ruling could affect the look and, more importantly, the feel of your money. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. Take a look at this. Do you recognize this face? Do you know who this is?

ALI VELSHI, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: This is the face -- the transplant woman. S. O'BRIEN: Yes, the woman who is famous for this very face. It's a current photo of Isabelle Dwinwair (ph). She got the world's first partial face transplant. She got the lips and the nose and the chin all transplanted.

VELSHI: Wow.

S. O'BRIEN: Remember, she was mauled by a dog. The picture on the left is before her surgery, obviously. She says she's doing great. She can actually feel her face. And she says when she looks in the mirror, what she sees is herself. She doesn't see, you know, somebody else's body parts on her face.

On Monday it was the one-year anniversary of her very controversial face transplant. She's 39 years old; goes in for weekly checkups and is said to be doing just fine.

VELSHI: That is excellent.

M. O'BRIEN: She has a new dog, too.

S. O'BRIEN: Is that true?

M. O'BRIEN: Yeah, yeah. She has a new dog.

Anyway, let's talk about money shall we? That's an amazing story. It really just kind of takes you back.

S. O'BRIEN: Isn't it amazing. She looks great.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the face of money.

VELSHI: Yeah.

M. O'BRIEN: Ali Velshi is here. We were talking about this. We can't think of any other country that has every bill, whatever the denomination, the same size.

VELSHI: Every bill is the same. It's the same size. In recent years they've started to change color. Same size, same texture, on every bill in the United States. I think that out of 180 countries that issue paper money that's what you get.

M. O'BRIEN: Let me see these.

VELSHI: Keep an eye on that.

(LAUGHTER)

M. O'BRIEN: Let me put that away.

VELSHI: Now a judge has ruled that America has 10 days -- the Treasury has 10 days to come up with a way -- a plan to make distinguishable to hearing about visually impaired people, for the blind. Now, there are a couple of examples we've got, here, first of all. In Canada, the bills are different colors, which doesn't really matter if you're visually impaired, but they've got ridges and bumps on them so you can differentiate the different bills. You can sort of see them. You won't see them by looking at the bills, but those are the ways that visually impaired people can differentiate between a $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100. And then the $2 and the $1 are coins. So that has helped visually impaired people.

M. O'BRIEN: So, it's like Braille.

VELSHI: It's like a Braille sort of thing. In Europe, of course, and in many other countries, it's different sizes.

The U.S. now has been ordered to come up with a plan in 10 days. We don't know whether they'll appeal or they'll actually have a plan. I've got to think that someone at the Treasury has been thinking about this. Some one must have a plan that for some reason hasn't been implemented until now.

But there are 3 million people who would have trouble in the United States identifying money.

S. O'BRIEN: It's a huge problem. I live right around the corner from a home for the blind. You see people in all the restaurants, trying to figure out what's in their wallets. Because, of course, as you say it's impossible to tell.

VELSHI: If you have a good plan -- what a lot of people do is they have somebody else identify the money for them, and they'll folding it in different ways. So, $5s are folded a certain way.

M. O'BRIEN: Somebody you trust, obviously.

VELSHI: Right, yeah.

M. O'BRIEN: I would think this would make it harder for counterfeiters.

VELSHI: You would think any variance. And that's what the U.S. has been doing. It has concentrated so much in the last few years on making it hard to counterfeit. They've changed colors and imprints on the bills. They're clearly in the process of doing that. Hopefully they can just implement the changes necessary to make visually impaired people use their money differently.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. What you have next, Ali?

VELSHI: I'm going to talk about McDonald's patenting a way they make their sandwiches to protect them from counterfeiters, I suppose.

M. O'BRIEN: Counterfeit sandwiches? All right. Thank you, Ali.

S. O'BRIEN: What?

VELSHI: They've got a whole system about it now. S. O'BRIEN: All right. We'll wait for that. Thank you, Ali.

VELSHI: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, you know, it's not going to fit under a tree, but Santa may have a little something special for you this holiday season -- like a house. Wouldn't that be nice? We're going to have a little real estate reality check straight ahead for you.

Take a look at this, kids playing video games. What happens to this kid's brain while he's playing those games? Doctor Sanjay Gupta will pay a "House Call" to us. Coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Power summit: President Bush leaves this hour to meet with Iraq's prime minister with doubts surfacing about the prime minister's ability to secure peace.

M. O'BRIEN: A wintry blitz: A deadly mix of snow and ice across the West. Dramatically colder air moving East.

S. O'BRIEN: A rebound for real estate, and even better news if you're in the market to buy. We have some new numbers for you straight ahead.

M. O'BRIEN: And some new science on video game violence. A look inside your child's brain, coming up on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning to you, Wednesday, November 29th. I'm Miles O'Brien.

S. O'BRIEN: And I'm Soledad O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.

Let's begin with the very latest developments out of Iraq. Here's what's new this morning.

President Bush is meeting with Iraq's prime minister today, talking about the prime minister's plan to get Iraq under control. The president leaves the NATO summit in Latvia in the next few minutes for that meeting, which is taking place in Jordan.

A newly revealed memo shows the White House has some doubts, big doubts, about Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his ability to lead a truly unified government. Report says the Pentagon is considering moving troops out of the Al Anbar Province, sending them back into Baghdad, that's according to ABC News.

And the Iraq study group meets again today. They're trying to work out just how many troops should be in Iraq and how long those troops should stay there.

The meeting in Jordan is expected to begin about six hours from now. We've got some new videotape to show you. You're looking at Prime Minister al-Maliki, just arriving in Amman, Jordan. He's going to go into the meeting under the threat, as you recall, of the Shiite leader Muqtada al Sadr, who has said that he will pull his support for al- Maliki's leadership if, in fact, this meeting goes forward. CNN's Arwa Damon live for us in Baghdad this morning.

Arwa, good morning.

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Good morning, Soledad.

And that threat, which we originally heard last week was reiterated yesterday by the head of Muqtada Al Sadr's political, Hassan Chunka (ph), lock basically saying that if the prime minister goes ahead with this meeting with U.S. President Bush, the political block will suspend its activities in the government. Now this puts the prime minister in an incredibly tricky and delicate situation, especially right now. There is so much at stake. On one hand, though, he does owe his job, his position as prime minister to the support of Muqtada Al-Sadr's political block. On the other hand, he cannot afford to alienate the United States.

Now, at the same time, this threat had been dismissed by Iraq's national security adviser, saying that it was merely Muqtada Al-Sadr's political block trying to flex its muscle, but it does have implications for the prime minister and it odes put him in a very tricky spot -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: So, Arwa Damon, is there a concern that in fact -- was there any second-guessing of this, that they wouldn't have this meeting, because outwardly it looks like there wasn't? Internally do we know that there was?

DAMON: Well, Soledad, we repeatedly tried to contact the Iraqi government, tried to contact the prime minister's office to get some sort of comment or reaction to this threat, which they have not given us. In fact, they have stayed very well away from commenting on this, again, underscoring just how sensitive everything is. In fact, over the last few days, the Iraqi government, politicians have not really been speaking to the media. There has been a consensus decision that has been taken to put forward a unified face and decrease contact with the media, especially at this time when everything is just so crucial -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Interesting. Arwa Damon for us this morning. Thanks, Arwa.

(NEWSBREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Pope Benedict XVI is in the second day of his fence- mending visit to Turkey. The pope celebrating mass this morning in Ephesus, one of the holiest Christian sanctuaries in Turkey. He's already scored big points with the government of turkey, saying that that country should be included in the European union.

CNN's Vatican analyst John Allen is traveling with the pope. He joins us this morning from Ephesus.

Nice to see you, John, as always. Thanks for being with us.

JOHN ALLEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. S. O'BRIEN: How big of a deal -- right off of the bat the pope makes news with a very conciliatory move about the European Union. How significant, how important is this step coming when it does?

ALLEN: Well, I mean, I wouldn't overemphasize it. I don't think it's like the European parliament has been sitting around waiting to know what Benedict XVI's position on Turkey would be before they made their own.

But certainly it's important, I think, on two levels. One, for the Turks themselves, this is extraordinarily important news because you'll recall that prior to his election as pope, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had very strongly opposed the idea of admitting Turkey to the European Union, worrying that it would further muddy the Christian roots of Europe.

And so from the point of view of Turkey's hope for this visit, obviously yesterday's news was enormously significant. I think it's also important in terms of Benedict's larger effort to mend fences with the Islamic community around the world, because I think one of the reasons that some Muslims had reacted negatively to this pope was the impression that he wanted to keep Europe as a Christians-only club, and in some sense promote the idea of a clash of civilizations between Islam and the West. And obviously his statement yesterday that he welcomes Turkey's move toward Europe dissipates some of that concern.

So I think from the point of view of his objectives, what he wanted to do, which has healed the relationship with Islam after his very controversial remarks in September, effectively linking Islam and violence. This statement yesterday about Turkey in the E.U. was enormously consequential.

S. O'BRIEN: In a lot of ways it's been an unusual trip. You don't have, as you often have with the pope, the throngs of loving admirers who are waving to the pope as the pope-mobile goes through the crowds. You have a guy who is traveling with lots of security in an armored vehicle. With all that security, do you think he is the right person, the right messenger to try to heal that rift, bring both sides together? .

ALLEN: Well, you know, I would say evaluating it based on the first 48 hours, I think it's rather remarkable the extent to which he's been able to do that. Now bear in mind that both sides in this trip, that is the Vatican and the Turks, both have powerful incentives for wanting this trip to go well. Benedict wants to convince the Muslim world that he's a friend. The Turks want to show the world that they are a modern sophisticated country, ready to take its place in the European Union.

So I think both parties have taken extraordinary measures to try to put a positive gloss on things. You know, you're right, the security presence has been intense. It's also the case that Joseph Ratzinger is not the, you know, media-savvy, charismatic person that his predecessor, John Paul II, was. But on the hand, he has repeatedly here hit all the right notes. He has missed no opportunity to talk about his esteem for Muslims, his desire for peace, and for reconciliation and for dialogue.

And based on my conversations with Turks in the street here, that seems to be going over relatively well.

S. O'BRIEN: So far, so good, and we're only on the second day. John Allen joining us this morning. He's with the pope in Espeseus. Thanks for being with us, John.

ALLEN: You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: Plus, if you're looking for a place to call home, well now may be a good time. It's a buyer's market. We'll take a look this morning the changing real estate market.

And they may be violent, but are they dangerous? A new study gets the facts on violent video games and your kids. All when AMERICAN MORNING returns in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: The housing bubble may have burst, but it may not be all bad news for sellers. Home sales rebounded last month, but sellers clearly have gotten real about prices, and buyers are biting.

AMERICAN MORNING's Dan Lothian live in Waban, Massachusetts with more.

Hello, Dan.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

Well, this property has been on the market for about five months. It's a five-bedroom house. The asking price, about $1.6 million. Overall, though, that real estate arrow in the state of Massachusetts has been pointing down, in terms of sales and the median price. But in other parts of the country, there's just a little bit of good news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Dennis and Anne Ogan (ph) recently bought a home in the uptown section of New Orleans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we got a pretty good deal. And from what I'm seeing now, I'm even happier with the deal that we got on the house.

LOTHIAN: They moved from Colorado after more than 12 years, something they had planned to do before Katrina.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just wanted to be closer to family. We wanted to be closer to our parents and back with our friends.

LOTHIAN: They Ogans paid more than they wanted to, but less than the asking price, and they negotiated some extra repairs. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's pretty much a motivation of the seller. If they're really motivated to sell, then you can have more negotiation.

LOTHIAN: Like New Orleans, a half dozen other cities, from Albany to Houston, are showing signs of life, helping an overall shaky real estate market.

After seven straight months of declines, the National Association of Realtors says existing home sales in October edged up by a half a percent. The reason?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Buyers now are getting off the sidelines, they're coming back into the marketplace because sellers are more flexible.

LOTHIAN: In other words, they're lowering prices. Anne Ogan says nearby homes that had been idling on the market are suddenly being snapped up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would lead me to believe that there's a lot more negotiations going on.

LOTHIAN: And that's where the bad news come in if you're a seller. The median home price dropped last month to $221,000, down 3.5 percent from a year ago. Experts say prices in some markets will go lower before they rebound.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are going to see expansion, but certainly we're going to need a little more price correction for that to happen.

LOTHIAN: For people unwilling to drop their asking price any lower, it's a waiting game. Massachusetts resident Robert Burnham (ph) says his life is on hold.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many people my age, they can't get out of their home to retire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: Experts say that they really want to take a good look at the numbers over the next one to two months to get a good sense of which direction the market will be going next -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Dan, who knows, maybe that house just got sold by being on TV. I don't know.

S. O'BRIEN: Take us inside, Dan.

M. O'BRIEN: Give us a tour next time.

LOTHIAN: OK, let's go for a tour.

M. O'BRIEN: Dan, it's nice place.

Dan Lothian in Waban, Massachusetts. (WEATHER REPORT)

(NEWSBREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Put down the video game controller, pay a little attention now. Do violent video games really cause violent behavior? Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to have the final word on that maybe straight ahead. And two all-beef patties special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. Very good. Don't try to copy it, though.

McDonald's is looking for a McPatent. I've got the details when AMERICAN MORNING returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Parents, listen up. The question is, are video games dangerous? Over the years we've seen all kinds of conflicting, inconclusive studies on this. And now America's radiologist are weighing.

Senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. This is the final word, right?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I don't know about that, but this is a pretty interesting one, certainly looking at the brain and what's happening to the brain in people who are playing violent video games. This is an amazing industry, Miles, a $13 billion a year industry, so a lot of people paying attention to that. It rivals Hollywood. They're actually Finding for the first time that there are changes that take place in the brain, actually putting a damper on that part of the brain that controls inhibitions, and sort of firing up that part of the brain that controls conflict responses.

A sort of fascinating thing, what they did, Miles, they actually created these functional MRI scans and actually looked at student who had been gaming for half an hour on violent video games, versus people who have been gaming for about a half an hour on nonviolent games.

Take a look here. I'm going to explain this to you, teen brains on video games. On the left, nonviolent games. You can several different areas of the brain lighting up, in the frontal lobe and other areas of the brain. On the right side, though, you see that, just one bright spot lighting up. That's an area of the brain called the imigdula (ph).

And I brought my brain model here, and I brought my brain model here, because want to show you something, Miles, exactly what's happening. If you take a look, in this part of the brain, first of all, you're looking at the brain. I'm taking you inside the brain. Here is where the imigdula is located. That's sort of responsible for the emotions, your sort of conflict response. That is really bright on people who play violent video games. This area of the brain, called the frontal lobe, you see almost no activity there. That's the part of the brain that's responsible for focus, concentration. You're not seeing any benefit there from gaming in that part of the brain.

So what we've shown here for some time, though, is there is a link between violent video games, violent movies and violent behavior. The American Academy of Pediatrics has weighed in on that.

But what you're seeing for the first time is actual scientific evidence as to why that might be, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Wait a minute, wait a minute. I guess it's no surprise to me that in the midst of playing Halo 2 or whatever, that that part of the brain that would be the conflict part of the brain would be active. Does that mean after they turn off the game, those kids are more likely to go out and use that part of the brain in the real world?

GUPTA: Well, that's what's hard to say. There's a couple limitations to this study. One is that they only played for 30 minutes, and most people who are real gamers actually play for 30 or 40 hours to get through various levels, you know, over a period of a week or so.

So it's hard say, hard to extrapolate how long those brain changes actually take place. But the behavior part that has been shown before in about 1,000 different studies from the American Academy of Pediatrics, showing that violent behavior could exist long after the fact.

M. O'BRIEN: OK, so how do you know, though, if your kid is less or more susceptible to this, and is it possible that it could help them sort of vent frustrations, might actually be constructive in a way?

GUPTA: Well, it's interesting, and there have been some studies looking at the possible beneficial effects of gaming with regards to behavior, concentration, focus.

But you know, try to figure out if your kid is going to be someone who is going to be more susceptible to this, can be difficult. How sensitive is your child to other things? Do they have a certain emotional maturity? So do you have a 13-year-old that acts 11 or do they act 15. And could you possibly watch the game together with your child and state objections?

What I found most fascinating overall, Miles, is that for a young child, a child who's had no significant life experiences, these games, because they're so realistic, can provide almost a parallel reality. It's remarkable how many actually people look at the games and extrapolate that to their real lives.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Speaking of reality, take a look at these pictures, I want to share these with you. This is the real world scene to get the Playstation. Anyway we can put an MRI on these people's heads to see what they're up to.

GUPTA: Sounds like they've already been gaming for too long, Miles, as far as I can tell.

M. O'BRIEN: I should say.

Sanjay Gupta, always a pleasure. Thank you very much.

GUPTA: Thank you.

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