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Weird Weather; Couple Gone AWOL
Aired January 06, 2007 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: An avalanche in the West. Shorts and flip flops in the Northeast. Tornadoes in the South. What to make of the wacky weather.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fifty percent of them wanted out because they were also lied to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: A couple gone AWOL. Is the military feeding new recruits a pack of lies?
Suspected serial killers, dozens dead, and a truth serum. It's a real live CSI.
And later, can you go on an entire year without shopping? We're going to tell you why more than 3,000 people are signing up to live without. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
So much has happened this evening. Really a lot going on. What do you say we get right to it? I'm Rick Sanchez.
And we begin with a massive avalanche seemingly out of nowhere. It thunders out of the mountains and crashes with full force into the people, who then end up stuck in their cars after being thrown off a highway.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA SACKETT, SURVIVED COLO. AVALANCHE: I just saw tons of wind. So honestly, it just looked like, you know, blowing snow. And all of a sudden it was there. And all the traffic stopped. And people went running out of their cars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: We're going to be all over this story. In fact, we're live at the scene. In a couple of minutes, we're going to be talking as well to some of the people who were actually there when it happened.
New security plans for Baghdad. The targets, all militia members, regardless of religion or politics. Iraq's prime minister has spelled it out today, saying the Iraqi military will now try and lead to push to stabilize the capitol. Of course, the U.S. forces will be there to help that.
What are the insurgents doing? As expected, another car bomb in Baghdad. This one targets an Iraqi police chief. He survived, but a civilian was killed and two other police officers were hurt. Also, 71 bodies were found dumped near a cemetery in Baghdad. Most of them showed signs of torture.
The Army is calling it an inexcusable mistake. Letters, nearly 300 of them, mass mailed to the families of dead or wounded officers, urging them to return to duty. The brass says they'll personally apologize to every family. It looks like it was a computer foul-up.
In recovery right now, Louis Farrakhan. The Nation of Islam leader underwent a 12 hour surgery. We're getting details only from his group's website. Nothing on the nature of the operation, by the way, but Farrakhan did have prostate cancer surgery back in 2000.
Hard to imagine what it must be like. One moment you're riding in your car through a mountain pass. Then without warning, bang, a wave of snow crashes into your car and sends you rolling down a mountain. And then, you're trapped. That's what happened to people driving on the Colorado, 60 miles west of Denver. The avalanche happened off of the Berthoud Pass on Highway 40.
And that is where reporter Ronda Scholting is standing by to bring us the very latest. What are they telling you now, Ronda?
RONDA SCHOLTING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rick, as you know, Highway 40 is the most direct route to Winter Park ski area. And if this avalanche had happened just two hours before, it would have caught dozens of cars filled with skiers and pushed them right off that mountain.
Berthoud Pass is a common area for avalanches, but this may have been the biggest one yet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCHOLTING (voice-over): A massive wall of snow cutting three paths down a mountain and giving motorists below a terrifying ride they'll never forget.
The avalanche buried parts of U.S. 40 with 15 feet of snow and knocked two cars hundreds of feet down a steep slope. At least six people inside all rescued. Some even managed to crawl out on their own.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were driving along and my passenger's like, hey, look, look. And then, we just got nailed by this big, old, puff of white.
SCHOLTING: No other cars are believed to be buried on the roadway, which drivers say is a deceptive path. Experts tell CNN the size of avalanche was unusual, even for the Rocky Mountains.
DALE ATKINS, AVALANCHE SAFETY EXPERT: This avalanche, just to reach the highway, it'll run almost 2,000 vertical feet just to get down to the roadway.
SCHOLTING: What sent the snow sliding? A string of heavy snowstorms over a short period of time backed by abnormally high winds. There's more snow in the forecast and more wind.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHOLTING: Crews have been working all afternoon and all night to clear Highway 40. We understand they are perhaps just minutes away from getting this road open.
But Rick, as you know, from being out here a few weeks ago at (INAUDIBLE) Pass, the conditions can change from being very nice to very nasty in just a few short seconds. In fact, we know right now there are whiteout conditions at the top of Berthoud Pass.
SANCHEZ: It's amazing that they were able to get to those people and rescue them. And for the most part, they were unharmed, right?
SCHOLTING: Yes, they were. And that is what's truly amazing, because avalanches are basically -- it's almost like wet cement. It comes sliding down the mountain.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
SCHOLTING: It is very heavy. And if it catches you, you really can't, you know, get out of it. It just pushes you right out of the way.
SANCHEZ: Right people there at the right time to take care of situation. Ronda Scholting, we thank you so much for bringing us up to date on that.
Still, though, a lot of unanswered questions, including one very big unknown. Were warnings posted anywhere that alerted drivers that an avalanche was likely?
In mountains like this, there's a scale that rates the risk of potential avalanches. Green is low risk. Orange means considerable. Black means extreme danger.
Still don't know, though, what today's rating was for the area around Berthoud Pass.
Only someone who sees an avalanche up close and in person can grasp its brute power. And there was somebody like that today who also happened to have a camera on him. Talk about an i-report. Here's Pete Ferigan describing the pictures he took at the scene.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETE FERIGAN, PHOTOGRAPHER: Most of people there are people who just tried to help. There's only a few rescue people on the scene at first. They tried to gather information and kind of direct us in the right way. And then, once more, it was those guys who are trained to do that sort of thing, showed up. We started leaving to open up the area for the emergency vehicles to get in there and basically start looking and making sure that nobody was under those piles of snow.
SANCHEZ: So they're probing, so to speak. And how long did that process take?
FERIGAN: You know, we were there about 10 minutes while the trolling was going on. And you know, there's only so many shovels and there's emergency service that's coming. So as soon as we felt like we couldn't help any much more, we tried to help clear the area and just - and basically had made our way back to Denver.
SANCHEZ: There's another picture from a little further back. When -- while you were there, did they find anyone under that snow pack, under those 15 feet, as it's described? And by the way, this picture here is really valuable, I think, because this gives us and our viewers all over the country who are watching a real sense of just how steep or how deep that snow is, which we couldn't make out from the aerial views.
FERIGAN: Right, that's true. And actually, I feel like it almost doesn't give it justice, because this truck is in the foreground. I mean, actually, I was back far enough at a level over the top of it, the snow was just as high, if not higher, than that truck.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: If you happen to have a camera, you can just send us your i-report as well. Just send us your pictures or your video of breaking news, or just some cool stories you happen to see and you want to share with us. Go to cnn.com and click on i-report to find out how to become part of the most trusted name in news.
Predicting an avalanche is really tricky business. I've been in an area not far from where that avalanche took place today. Traveled with some experts who really know how to spot the hidden dangers of snow covered Rockies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): From a distance, Rocky Mountain Summit seemed to melt into the clouds. As we get closer, though, they reveal their danger. That cut is called Seven Sisters. See the seven parallel paths? Each one is a known avalanche zone, where skiers and mountaineers have been trapped or killed.
You're not going to be able to get out of way once that thing gets rolling?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no, no. You'll be dead. You'll be right in it.
SANCHEZ: Really? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Chances of surviving?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I couldn't say. Not very good.
SANCHEZ: Not good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
SANCHEZ: As we drive higher, we're met by a sudden ground blizzard. I expected it would be extreme, but this is unimaginable.
At 12,000 feet, we get out and walk. Maybe try and walk would be a better way of saying it. This is what it looks like up here. Winds whipping at almost hurricane force. Snow masses forming, that turn into slabs. In fact, that's what they're called, slab avalanches. And a third of all avalanche deaths occur in the Colorado Rockies.
As I struggled with these Alpine experts, it got me to thinking.
You can't see the top of that peak. Look straight up there. Because of this wind, you can't see it, but could that start an avalanche at any time?
MICHAEL ALKAITIS, AMERICAN MTN. GUIDES ASSN.: It's not tall enough...
SANCHEZ: I see.
ALKAITIS ...right now to start an avalanche. If it did slide, it would - it has no energy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: You can understand why I was asking the question.
What I learned, by the way, is that the slope has to be between 30 and 45 degrees for an avalanche to actually take place.
Remember, we were telling you about all those snow storms around Denver over the last couple of weeks? Well, meteorologist Bonnie Schneider is going to make the connection now for us between those snow storms we told you then, and the phenomenon that happened today.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's exactly right, Rick. It all came together, unfortunately. And right now, we even have light snow falling in the area with winds out of the west coming in at about 12 miles per hour. That's much calmer than what we saw earlier today, but we still have the blowing snow advisory for this region of the foothills of Colorado. This goes until 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.
So let's talk about those snowstorms. There were three of them, three of them in a matter of weeks. The first one brought two feet of snow December 20th. You'll remember that one. And the second one came in with 10 inches. Then we had 7.5 inches. And that was as early as yesterday. This is for the Berthoud Pass area in Colorado.
Now as we take a closer look at what happened today this morning, when the avalanche occurred around 10:30 a.m., the wind surge, these are the wind gusts recorded. And this is courtesy of avalanche.org. You can see that the gusts there recorded from the automated weather stations at the top of mountain. 28 miles per hour and then 44 miles an hour. So we did see a surge in the wind gusts that were happening.
Now as we go to Google Earth now, I want to show you with those winds coming in from the West and from the Northwest, coming up the mountain, that plus the heavy snow pack is likely what caused this slab that Rick was talking about earlier. And then, what happens is as this breaks apart and the starting zone of an avalanche zone, you can see on the leeward side of the mountain, the snow gets deposited here, which is called the run-off zone. And this is where the actual avalanche occurred here in the Berthoud Pass area, right through here. And that's where the snow piles up.
So it's really a combination of factors, Rick, as you look at the amount of heavy snow, the strong winds, and really, that happening along with some snow melt as well. So unfortunately, all those factors came together this morning.
SANCHEZ: You're so good at making those explanations. We thank you, Bonnie.
SCHNEIDER: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Tonight, some military families are complaining about an incredibly or at least seemingly insensitive letter that they've received. It's being called a monumental mistake recruiting letter sent to dead or even maimed soldiers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody that we trained with over at our recruiting office, we were all told to lie about health problems.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: One couple who signed up to serve now hiding out. We're going to tell you why they're doing that.
And then later, friends who refused to shop until they drop. Why they do it and how you can possibly join them.
By the way, we'd like to get your help in selecting the news tonight. You can help us choose it. Is there a particular story that you want to hear more about? E-mail us at weekends@cnn.com. Or send us your video or your webcam suggestion at cnn.com/exchange and we'll get you the answers. In fact, we'll do it within this hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Here's what you've been clicking on most over at cnn.com. Most popular, pictures, videos, police sound bites all from the avalanche disaster scene in Colorado. People have been going to that constantly. And by the way, we're going to be updating the images constantly.
Also, busted in Atlanta. Are these two women high end hookers or real estate agents? They're out on bail, while the lawyers try and duke this one out. One of the women is a former Penthouse centerfold.
And Lady Victoria has been keeping this secret, a bra that can stop a bullet. This one saved a woman's life in Florida. Read her uplifting story. Couldn't help our serves. And see our ample archive of CNN video and photos as well any time day or night at cnn.com.
Also, hot off the press, the American Dialect Society picked up Plutoed, that's right, Plutoed as 2006 word of the year. It means to get dismissed, demoted just like the former planet did. Our team didn't hear the word very much last year, at least some of the people we talked to around here.
So it made us wonder, what's your word of the year? You got one? Give us a call at 1-800-807-2620. That's 1-800-807-2620. We want to know. And we'll air some of your responses later this hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rick Sanchez. You saw some of those numbers there, recruiting numbers. So now to a case of military recruiting gone oh, so wrong. It's, in fact, embarrassing.
Army leaders are saying tonight it makes them "sick", their word, after dead or even maimed soldiers received a letter encouraging them to reenlist. Here's CNN's Gary Nurenberg.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Years of fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq have left the Army in need of experienced officers.
GINA CAVALLARO, REPORTER, ARMY TIMES: They might need them for any number of positions in the Army, including filling these advisory teams that they're sending over to Iraq and Afghanistan to train those security forces over there. So it doesn't surprise me that they were looking for people who might want to come out of retirement.
NURENBERG: So the day after Christmas, the Army began sending letters to more than 5,000 former officers, urging them to return. On the list, 75 officers who have been killed and 200 who have within wounded. Gina Cavallaro is covering the story for the independent newspaper and website "Army Times".
CAVALLARO: The Army's very upset about this. They know they made a huge mistake. It's embarrassing for them. And they're going to do as much damage control as they can.
NURENBERG: Expressing frustration and disappointment, the Army issued a formal apology Saturday. Its vice chief of staff, General Richard Cody saying "Every Army leader is just sick that this happened."
The Army says a soldier sent the letters using a master list from which the names of the dead and wounded had not been removed. General Cody said, "This is an inexcusable mistake. Five years into this war, the Army can do better than this and we will."
Army casualty assistance teams are contacting families this weekend to personally apologize.
(on camera): In addition to those casualty assistance teams reaching out to families this weekend, the Army says senior leaders also plan to write them personally with apologies. The Army also says that that database problem has now been corrected.
Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: We want to do more with this story, so we reach out to a military expert who says somebody should be fired. Winslow Wheeler is with the Center for Defense Information. His take on this seeming fiasco? Lack of accountability.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WINSLOW WHEELER, CENTER FOR DEFENSE INFORMATION: What this is really all about is the Defense Department is not unique to the Army. Their incompetent financial management. It's incredible but it's true that the entire Defense Department doesn't know what it does with its own money, can't keep straight pay records. It's such a shambles that not only do they flunk audits, their books are in such bad shape, they cannot even be audited.
And this is...
SANCHEZ: Well, you know, the obvious question. Where is the accountability? I mean, could you imagine if your son our daughter has died in Iraq, and you get a letter from the military telling you that they want them back in?
WHEELER: Yes.
SANCHEZ: What that says is we didn't even know they died.
WHEELER: It's a system that's out of control. That's been the case for decades. Every year, Congress has problems.
SANCHEZ: Well, how do you fix it?
WHEELER: By accountability, like you said. By firing people who don't -- can't keep the records straight.
(END VIDEOTAPE) SANCHEZ: There's another story we're following for you tonight, military wise. You've heard the expression "your mama wears Army boots"? Right? Well, used to be, what, fighting words when were kids? Well, there's a need - no need for a comeback, I should say, if your mama really does wear Army boots.
This is Cynthia Morgan, 41-years old, mother of three sons, taking the oath after enlisting. If she's sent to Iraq, it won't be the first time. She spent a year there as a civilian driver for Halliburton. Wrote a book about it, in fact. Soon to be Private Morgan will train to be a military journalist. And she's going to join us live, by the way, next Saturday night before heading off for boot camp.
We're hearing President Bush is going to call for not a decrease, but an increase in troops. And that he may make this announcement possibly within days.
Could be as many as 20,000 to 40,000 more soldiers in Iraq. Military recruiters have their work cut out for them on this.
But if you're one of those that's being recruited, here's some facts that we dug up for you because you need to know. According to military.com, there are no guaranteed assignments. And there's no guarantee that you may not be shipped out to Iraq or anywhere else for that matter.
This is advice that may be too little too late for a couple from New York state. They're now AWOL. Here's what they may have missed. It's straight out of the military recruiting contract, that everyone who enlists must sign laws and regulations, "can change without notice," it says. It doesn't matter what your contract states. They can still change them.
But the couple, asking to remain anonymous, say they were told they would never serve overseas and that they could stay together. In fact, that's not all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best part is we've got paperwork from the recruiter saying that we attended classes at FLCC to...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, they forged letters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, to encourage our delayed entry program into the Army. I mean, this is paperwork with letterhead from the FLCC signed by -- I don't know if it's a head or - it's signed by somebody over at FLCC saying that we are involved in classes. I mean, they went through this big spiel about coming up with all of this magical paperwork to get us into the Army. I just don't understand why they can't find something to get us out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Here's what else we found out. We found out that the Army may now be investigating the particular recruiter in their case.
Now to South Carolina and these three words. Fit to fight. That farewell message spoken loud and clear, as 1800 members of the Army National Guard prepare for a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
For the next two months, they're going to train in Mississippi and Kansas. After that, they're going to be based just outside Kabul. We're told this is the largest single unit deployment in the history of the South Carolina National Guard.
How's the weather where you are, by the way? Might be hard to believe it's winter, right? Some places it really doesn't seem - like this. Take a look at these pictures. Bill Nye, the science guy, is going to join us. And he's going to try to explain. And is that not a fancy looking bow tie?
Also, don't forget tonight's last call. What's your word of the year? Give us a call, we'd really leak to know. It's 1-800-807-2620.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Crazy weather all over. What's really going on? Let's go around the nation. Winter in the Rockies. It's supposed to be snowy, right, but this? On and off blizzard conditions. And now an avalanche?
Down south, a downright hot winter with muggy conditions spawning storms and tornadoes. Check this out. Cars in South Carolina tossed around like toys. And then look at this, cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C. Is it April yet? And in New York City, no shirt, no problem. Walkers, joggers, families having fun. Just another spring like Saturday in the park.
And the flat out west, dry, gusty conditions, wind and fire advisories are in effect for Southern California.
So questions you may be asking yourself, dry in the West and warm in the East, and in the South, by the way. What's the deal?
Our Bonnie Schneider has some answers on some of the updates. May even be some records out there, huh, Bonnie?
SCHNEIDER: Oh, Rick, there were so many records. And they're really unbelievable when you look at these numbers.
All into the 70s for a good portion of Northeast. In Laguardia Airport, the record was actually achieved for the high of 72 actually at 6:00 a.m. this morning. So going up from there.
Now in the meantime, as you mentioned, there's quite the contrast. We have blowing snow across Colorado. And it's still snowing with windy weather in the forecast straight through tomorrow.
Now you may have heard of the phenomenon known as el Nino. We're going to take a closer look at that now. It has to do with warm water in the Pacific. And the reason it's called el Nino is Peruvian fisherman noticed this phenomenon right around Christmastime. And that's how it got its name.
This warm water all the way across this part of the world actually can affect the weather around the world. Take a closer look. Here's our jet stream. We have the southern branch and the northern branch. Those are winds in the upper levels of the atmosphere that bring along the weather right along with it of the storm system.
The subtropical jet actually is enhanced by the el Nino picking off that warm moisture. And that's why we've been seeing so many windy conditions across a good portion of California and into Colorado. The story weather, wet weather along much of the Gulf Coast. And you'll also notice, the coldest air of the season, the weather we typically see this time of year into New York City and Philadelphia, that's been bottled up into Canada along our polar jet that's kind of kept it well up towards that region.
Now this el Nino phenomenon is in the forecast for the next few months. So we should still see this warm conditions that we've been seeing a good portion of the Northeast persist straight through then. Rick?
SANCHEZ: There's Bonnie, who always gives great explanations. And there's somebody else we thought of when we were thinking about looking for answers about today's developments. Like this avalanche.
Bill Nye, the science guy. You know him, of course, from his programs on PBS and the Science Channel. He's good enough to join us now with his famous bowtie and all.
The science of avalanches, let's start there. Take it away.
BILL NYE, THE SCIENCE GUY: Thank you, Rick. I wore this bowtie because it represents to me interlocking snowflakes. Love that.
So it snows. Seven days ago. Six and a half days ago.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
NYE: And then you get a glaze on top. The sun comes out and the top surface will get that crust. Now you were there a couple weeks ago.
SANCHEZ: That's right.
NYE: And it's crusty sometimes, right? Your foot will punch through that hard layer?
SANCHEZ: And not only that, but it makes this whomping type of sound, I recall.
NYE: A what kind of sound?
SANCHEZ: A whomping sound. Almost like...
NYE: A whomping, right.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
NYE: Of course, a whomping sound.
So anyway, you get this glaze on top of the snow. And then you get another snowfall and maybe another after that. And not too much force can start to it roll and start it sliding downhill. And the whole thing slides, just like a sheet of glass.
Now looking at these pictures, you're looking at least 10,000 tons of snow.
SANCHEZ: Imagine if you're in its way.
NYE: Ten thousand tons of snow.
SANCHEZ: Imagine if you were in its way.
NYE: I know. Well, suppose you're in a sport utility vehicle that might weigh one ton. I mean, if you were to encounter a linebacker that weighed 10,000 times what you do, I mean, he'd move you around, right?
SANCHEZ: But it's normal, right? I mean, this has been happening for years. I mean, the snow has to go somewhere. We're the ones who put the roads in the way to kind of interrupt it, right?
NYE: Yes, oh yes. And so, there's a lot of well, debate, perhaps is the word. A lot of mulling that goes on in the highway department about how to handle avalanches.
Where I used to live in Washington state, there was a snow shed, there was a concrete roof over the highway that was just for avalanches to flow over the road.
But they decided after a while that that thing was more trouble than it was worth because the snow plows would suddenly hit this big dry stretch and grind up the concrete.
So if you're not going to build a snow shed, then you have to provide funds for continual maintenance or vigilance on a road. And things are going to go wrong.
I'm just very pleased, we're all pleased I guess, that no one really got seriously hurt.
SANCHEZ: $60,000 question here, not just there, but it seems like there are a lot of strange phenomenon going on weather wise all over the country.
For example, here in Atlanta. Unbelievable People out in shorts. I saw people coming to work here today in flip-flops. What's going on?
NYE: Well it is el Nino. And that means the little one as she said earlier that's around Christmastime, the baby would arrive. Jesus would arrive. So the little one. SANCHEZ: Right.
NYE: But I think it's more than that. I mean, I'm shooting from the hip.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
NYE: Not really. I mean, the world's getting warmer. This is going to be almost certainly the warmest year on record. So when you have an el Nino, and you have global climate change, it is quite reasonable to me that things will be just even that much warmer.
SANCHEZ: So you firmly put yourself in the global warming camp?
NYE: Oh, yes, yes. I mean, with all due respect, there's very few peer reviewed scientists who don't. But in this country, in the United States, we have this very unusual situation. We have a couple of senior politicians who for some reason don't accept mainstream scientific views. And they're vocal. And I predict, that this to0, if I may, blow over.
SANCHEZ: Go ahead. We got 10 seconds. Finish it up.
NYE: Ten seconds. Well, you can worry about this but it's also going to be economic opportunities for somebody. As the world gets warmer, things are going to change. And there are going to be people that take advantage of this.
SANCHEZ: Let's do this. Let's have you back and let's talk about this.
NYE: Let's do that.
SANCHEZ: Good to see you. Not only a scientist, by Bill Nye, the science guy with us.
NYE: Drive safely, everyone.
SANCHEZ: Thank you, sir.
Would you have a meltdown if you couldn't buy a pair of shoes, a new pair of shoes? A electronic gadget, a new piece of furniture, for example. And you couldn't do this all year long? Think about it. Let's and a year without buying anything new. A group of friends went on a year-long shopping sabbatical. They plan to do it again. Their story, in the next 30 minutes.
Also, no longer used in most criminal cases. And it sounds like something out of a movie, but truth serum is actually being used now. And it's all too real.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eighteen-year-old Hussein Rilib (ph) lives in a state of helplessness and shocked at how unbearable life has become. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Up next, living in Iraq, living in fear in Iraq is what it's really about. Many people worry their lives will never come back to normal, no matter who does what.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We welcome you back. Five years of fighting and of course, that's certain to change in just a matter of days. President Bush unveils his new strategy for the war. Today in his weekly address, he covered a lot of ground, but none of it about Iraq.
Democrats, however, had plenty to say about Iraq. Here is CNN's Elaine Quijano.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With Democrats now in control of Congress, President Bush in his weekly radio address stressed cooperation on domestic issues, but he steered clear of Iraq.
GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT: I'm confident that we can find common ground in our efforts to serve our fellow citizens and to move our country forward.
QUIJANO: Saturday morning the president huddled with top members of his national security team. Among those spotted at the White House, the outgoing director of national intelligence, John Negroponte, defense secretary Robert Hates, and secretary of state Condoleezza Rice. Though a National Security Council spokesman described the meeting as part of regular and ongoing discussions, it came just days before the president is expected to unveil his new Iraq policy.
It also came amid new political pressure from Democratic leaders in Congress. For the second day in a row, Senate majority leader Harry Reid launched a pre-emptive strike, arguing against the most talked about option the president is considering, a temporary surge of thousands of U.S. forces.
SEN. HARRY REID, (D) NV: Based on the advice of current and former military leaders we believe this tactic would be a serious mistake. These military professionals say there is no purely military solution in Iraq, there's only a political solution in Iraq.
QUIJANO: White House press secretary Tony Snow acknowledged the Democrats' opposition to a surge but he also challenged Democrats to offer other ideas.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Not only do we want to hear what they want to say but if they have alternative plans and views we're interested in hearing that as well.
QUIJANO (on camera): As for a time frame on an Iraq announcement that's expected to come in a prime time presidential address to the nation Wednesday or Thursday. Elaine Quijano, CNN, the White House. (END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Talking change in Washington, talking tough in Baghdad. Iraq's prime minister laid out a plan today. It's aimed at breaking the back of a violent insurgency there. Two prongs, really.
First, all outlaws, all militants, anyone carrying a gun in Baghdad, they're going to be arrested or shot, period, no matter their politics or agenda or their religion. That's the statement.
Second, any Iraqi soldier refusing orders will be punished. Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki says he has 20,000 troops dedicated to this task, and allows for American help if and when he needs it.
Plans are one thing, results are quite another. The true test of the prime minister's strategy comes when the shooting, the bombings, the kidnappings and the killings actually stop. It's hard to fine someone with an optimistic outlook at this point in Baghdad. Here's CNN's Arwa Damon.
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ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Working in the family business, this humble fish stand, Sa'eed al-Khafaji have watched Iraq's tormented history unfold on Baghdad's streets for nearly half a century. But he still finds hope that one day, things will change for the better, that after the violence, there will be a better life.
"For the sake of change, we have to put up with this," he says. "The wounds from the past days are deep ones."
A rare perspective. Other Iraqis are more skeptical, believing the country's wounds won't be healed by increasing the number of U.S. troops or by the current Iraqi government's new plan, which hasn't been fully explained.
18-year old Hussain Ghaleb lives in a state of helplessness and shock at how unbearable life has become.
"I feel afraid", he says. "I force myself to come to work, but what if a car drives by and shoots me? Two cleaners from our group were killed on this bridge."
Forced to leave school to support his family, every day he swallows his fear for about $60 a month. It's barely enough to live on.
He wants the Americans out, wants his government to take control, but doesn't really have faith that they're up to the task of making his simple dreams come true.
"We want jobs," he says. "We want a future. We want to grow give up get married and have children."
Through his grimy windshield, cab driver Disalah (ph) keeps a sharp eye on every vehicle that passes. He, like many Iraqis, spends his days on edge and lives on a common saying. "In Shalah." "God willing." He puts his life in God's hands each time he ventures out.
"Increasing U.S. troop levels will only make things worse," he said. "Iraq needs to be controlled by Iraqis."
(on camera): Iraqis have heard both American and their own government's plans to stop the violence before. While few are hopeful, most won't be convinced until they feel like it's safe enough to go to work, safe enough to just go out.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.
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SANCHEZ: Remember, we asked you earlier to choose the news? Well, Debbie Goodridge writes, she wants an update on Ken Barnes.
So here it is. Here's what we know. To refresh your memory, Ken Barnes is a California person, a guy, who tried to take his 44 foot yacht around the world by himself. Well, he got as far as southern Atlantic, off the coast of Chile. That's where a storm whipped up - snapped off his mast and sent him adrift.
To the rescue, the Chilean navy. But it took three days to actually find him. Last we heard, he's back on terra firma, hopes to be back home with his relieved family by Monday. Debbie, there you go. Thanks for writing in and asking.
Also, it's a chemical that many spouses would love to have bottled. Truth serum. Indian police hope it works, but is it just a false hope?
Also, what would your life be like if you didn't find a single new item, we're talking all year long, nothing new, except for the basics, of course. Could you survive? We're going to talk live to a group of friends who spent the last year not consuming.
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SANCHEZ: Two men in India, suspected in an unbelievably gruesome crime, are being given a truth serum. That's right, truth serum. Does it even work and is it ethical? It's what we wanted to know. So here now from the northern province in India is Joshua Levs.
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JOSHUA LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The two men are being questioned about their alleged role in strangulation, and dismemberment, and possible sexual assault of at least 17 people, mostly children. Skeletal remains found in bags around a suburban New Delhi home.
The two suspects were brought to a lab, where their interrogation includes a truth serum, a drug like sodium pentathol. Physicians say much of the world no longer uses this technique for interrogation. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...to a level the person goes to a stage of that neither is unconscious nor is conscious.
LEVS: Critics of the government's handling of this case include Sonya Ghandi, head of the ruling congress party.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Law and order is absolutely missing out here.
LEVS: The police superintendent for the area told CNN's Seth Stone it's complicated.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The culprit has not come out on his own....that's why we are adopting the scientific method of narcoanalysis.
LEVS: Doctors say there's a reason most countries don't use truth serum for interrogation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because they considered that it's not reliable, number one. Secondly, as I told you, that presence of medical man is necessary. And by ethics, a medical man cannot be part of confession.
LEVS: The tests are not admissible in court, but authorities say they could help move the investigation in the right direction and help find answers.
Joshua Levs, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Cigarettes, coffee, chips, little things that you buy just to get through the day somehow or music, CDs, DVDS, small stuff to try and brighten your day. Could you go without them? I mean, the new stuff. Thousands of people are. And you're going to meet them next.
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SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez in the newsroom. Lots of you may be feeling buyer's remorse right about now after your holiday shopping sprees. Trust me, I know. I have four kids. Been there recently.
But one group of friends are not feeling that way. They're kind of guilt free. That's because they made a pledge to go on a shopping sabbatical throughout all of 2006. No new nothing nothing, except of course, for you know, the food and toiletries that they truly need.
They join us now to explain why they did this. But first, before we go to the them, let's do this. Let's take a quick look now at how much Americans spend each year. That's all of us.
Here, this is from the Labor Department, by the way. The average American spends about $9500 a year on rent or mortgage, $7,000 a year on food, $2200 a year on clothing and on jewelry.
So what's it like to not buy any of those things for an entire year? Here's John Perry, Sarah Pelmas. They know. They're joining us now from San Francisco. People are wondering why you did this.
JOHN PERRY, THE COMPACT FOUNDER: Well, it actually all started over dinner with a small group of friends. We were really talking about the limits of recycling and our concerns around the fact that recycling sometimes takes as much energy to do as it would save.
And we also started talking about reuse and reduction. And we decided to challenge ourselves to see if we could actually go a full year without buying anything new, except the bare necessities.
SANCHEZ: So the point is you bought things, but you only bought things reused or recycled, right?
PERRY: Yes. Our first line of defense was to borrow, then to barter, and then ultimately to buy second hand if we needed to.
SANCHEZ: Sarah, some people would say you're just cheap.
SARAH PELMAS, THE COMPACT FOUNDER: Yes. Well, you know, it's a nice side effect that you save a tremendous amount of money.
SANCHEZ: I imagine. How much did you - I bet you got some of that money you were able to invest now, or something, right?
PELMAS: Yes. Well, we were able to donate a lot more to charities that we really like. And some of us managed to pull ourselves out of some of our consumer debt, which was really exciting.
SANCHEZ: Let me ask you a question. In the middle of this thing, did you ever have moments when you were wishing you weren't doing this?
PELMAS: Maybe -- maybe once or twice. Mostly because I really, really needed a new pair of sunglasses.
SANCHEZ: And you had - so - and what did you do? Where did you go get the sunglasses?
PELMAS: I wore these horrible, scratched up, rotten, beat up, taped up sunglasses for the rest of year. And now I'm going to go get some sunglasses.
SANCHEZ: So what other things did you go out and get? And where did you them? How did you find things?
PERRY: Well, it's actually so much easier than you think it would be. These days, you can find almost anything you need second hand, either through thrift stores or on craigslist. There are sites like free cycle, where people are actually giving things that they don't need any longer to other people who do. So there's this kind of automatic altruism that's going on on the Net.
There are lots of sources.
SANCHEZ: But you know, we're such a I want it now society. I mean, most of us, I need it. Oh, let me go over to Target. Let me go over to Wal-mart. Let me go over to, you know, whatever your favorite store that has everything is. And what you guys did takes a little planning, takes a little work, doesn't it?
PELMAS: It does. It takes time. And if you really feel like you want something, you're going to have to hunt for it. And sometimes it takes weeks.
We waited for a garden hose for -- I think almost a month it took us to get a garden hose, but we did get one used. And so, it does take time.
But one of the things that's incredibly nice about it is that if you feel sort of frustrated with something, or you're not quite happy with how things are going in your life, your first instinct is not to go shopping anymore.
SANCHEZ: Right.
PELMAS: And that is the instinct for a lot of people.
SANCHEZ: But you know, there's also this. And we live in a consumerism society. We live in a capitalist society. Some people would wonder what your motivations are. What are you, Bolsheviks?
PERRY: No, I think we're...
SANCHEZ: By the way, that cheap Bolsheviks?
PERRY: No, I think we're more like white collar hippies.
PELMAS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: No really, seriously, what are you trying to say? What do you want people to take away from this interview, for instance?
PERRY: It's really about sustainability and keeping stuff that we don't need out of the landfill. That's what I tell my five-year old about why we don't go to stores, because we don't need all these things.
SANCHEZ: Well, you know, that's interesting you said that. On Christmas -- I mentioned a little while ago, I have four kids. On Christmas morning, it took us about four hours to undo all of plastic from all of my kids' toys.
PERRY: Right.
SANCHEZ: And about three seconds or four seconds for them to play with it them.
PERRY: Right.
SANCHEZ: This stuff is really hard to get into it. And it's got a lot of plastic.
PERRY: Right.
SANCHEZ: Is that what you're trying to get rid of?
PERRY: Absolutely.
PELMAS: Yes, absolutely.
PERRY: That's the bottom line. You know, a lot of the things that people have reported about this frugality, saving money, decluttering your home, all of that's great. And all of that comes along in the wake of this, but it really started with concerns about sustainability, the environment, and disposable consumer culture, and what it's doing the globe.
PELMAS: Yes, where things are coming from, and how they're manufactured, and how they get to us.
PERRY: Right.
SANCHEZ: Is there a way you can do that without doing this? Wait, a minute, so is this a boycott?
PERRY: It's not a boycott. It was a challenge among a group of friends. We are a group of type A personalities that like to hang out with each other and compete around a lot of different things. And we just wanted to see if we could do it.
And we haven't been here to tell anybody that they should follow us or do this in the extreme way that we've done it all. A lot of it can be done just by slowing down and thinking about what you need versus what you want, or what you've been spurred to believe that you want.
SANCHEZ: Well, you know, I get it. But why not just reach out to these companies and say, look, stop with the over packaging already. You're wasting a lot of stuff. And you're making it miserable for parents like Rick Sanchez and his wife Suzanne every time they get stuff for their kids.
PERRY: Well, I actually - I have stopped by the manager's office at Trader Joes out here to complain about the four Fuji apples wrapped in a piece of plastic.
SANCHEZ: To which he replied?
PERRY: We've heard that a lot. And we're taking it into consideration. And we're working on it.
SANCHEZ: There you go. There you go. Everyone has a right to try and make some change, and you guys are going that. And we certainly, John, Sara, appreciate you coming on and sharing this with us.
PERRY: Thanks for having us. PELMAS: Nice to talk to you.
SANCHEZ: Great development. That's wonderful.
A check of the hour's headlines is after the break. But first, your responses to our last call question. Remember, we told you, what your word of year because the new word this year is plutoed, as in to be plutoed because of the planet. Here's what you had to say.
CALLER: My word of the year is love, as in love they neighbor as you would love thyself. My name is Orlando. I'm calling for Pasadena.
CALLER: My word for the year is Iraqnophobia. That is the irrational and perceived fear we're stuck in Iraq forever.
CALLER: Hi, my name is (INAUDIBLE). I live in (INAUDIBLE), Alberta. And my word for this is asnap (ph).
CALLER: My word of the year is perspectify, as in to put into perspective. Perspecify is much quicker and it does the trick.
CALLER: My word is whatever. Abe Gross from Rochester, New York.
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