Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Military Officials Think Missing Soldiers Alive; Katrina Documentary; Immigration Debate
Aired May 19, 2007 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez.
We want to get you right now to the very latest information that we've been pulling out of Iraq.
First, U.S. military officials are saying they have good reason to believe that at least two of the three missing American soldiers are still alive -- even a possibility of a third, by the way -- a week after attackers kidnapped them outside Baghdad.
U.S. military commanders are saying that they have been talking to informants and detainees who insist that they have not heard any information about the soldiers being killed.
No news could be good news, obviously. But it's even further than that, because of what the U.S. commanders are saying.
The U.S. commanders are saying that if the men had been killed, these informants definitely would have heard about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. COL. MICHAEL INFANTI, U.S. ARMY: I believe they're alive. I haven't seen anything that would tell me they're not. I haven't seen anything that really would tell me they are.
But our experiences over here are, when the bad guys come up with something, they put it out right away. They have not. It's been going on seven -- a little over seven days now. So, I'm going with the fact that they're still alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Also, this development. U.S. military officials are saying that several military items, including pieces of an American military uniform, have been found at the site of the ambush and are being tested as we speak.
And the commander of the U.S. forces in Iraq is telling the "Army Times" that he knows who snatched the soldiers last week.
General David Petraeus is calling the suspect an affiliate of al Qaeda, a big player, whom U.S. troops have tangled with in the past. Those are all direct quotes, by the way. CNN's Arwa Damon is embedded with U.S. troops searching for these missing soldiers, as you've seen her reports throughout the week, and she has been.
Her report now from just outside Yusufiyah, Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT, YUSUFIYAH, IRAQ: It's day eight for the search for the missing soldiers. We're southwest of Yusufiyah in these fields and farmlands with Charlie Company of the 123 Stryker Battalion.
They have finished up their mission and are now heading back. The mission was to clear that small farming village over there, based on intelligence that there could be enemy activity, perhaps clues that would lead them to the kidnapped soldiers.
Now, they are forced to move through these fields and farmlands, because the roads around here are inlaid with roadside bombs.
It is incredibly hot. The men are very tired. In fact, within a few minutes of leaving the base, everyone was sweating through their uniforms, sweating through their boots.
Now, the Stryker battalion was brought down here from Baghdad to help out the soldiers of the 2nd Brigade 10th Mountain Division -- all of this part of the Army's effort to recover, no matter what, its missing men.
Arwa Damon, CNN, near Yusufiyah, Iraq.
(END VIDEO)
SANCHEZ: By the way, military officials are saying that five more American soldiers have been killed in the attacks in and outside of Baghdad over the last 24 hours. Now, that brings the total U.S. death toll since Friday to eight. At least one of the soldiers may have been killed while taking part in that massive search for three missing comrades.
Sergeant Anthony Schober, one of the four U.S. soldiers killed in last week's ambush south of Baghdad -- an attack so brutal, it took military officials nearly a week to confirm Schober's identity.
The news of his death has now shattered the lives of the loved ones he has left behind.
For more on this, here is CNN's Josh Levs.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, ATLANTA (voice-over): Their anguish was palpable.
EDWARD SCHOBER, FATHER OF SGT. ANTHONY SCHOBER: I met Anthony for the first time when he was two years old, when I was dating his mom. The first thing he did when I met him is, he wrapped his arms around my neck and called me dad.
I married his mom, and then I adopted him at the age of five. He's legally my son.
LEVS: Sergeant Anthony Schober was 23 years old, on his fourth tour of duty in Iraq. He was among four soldiers killed in ambush that left three others missing.
At a news conference in Carson City, Nevada, Ed Schober described how his son decided to join the military after the 9/11 attacks.
SCHOBER: When he came home from basic training and advanced training, I noticed a huge difference in him. He truly changed from a boy to a man.
LEVS: Anthony Schober was the oldest of three kids. His younger sisters looked up to him. One of them was at the news conference, but couldn't speak.
SCHOBER: He was her hero. And she thought Anthony was invincible.
LEVS: Rebecca was consoled by her stepmother. More than 3,400 U.S. troops have died in the Iraq war. Anthony's uncle, Rob Schober, thought of them and those risking their lives every day.
ROBERT SCHOBER, UNCLE OF ANTHONY SCHOBER: We are proud of our nation, proud of the young men and women that serve our nation.
LEVS: One soldier's sacrifice, one family's loss, but a nation mourns.
Josh Levs, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEO)
SANCHEZ: By the way, Tony Blair is on his last trip to Iraq as Britain's prime minister. He is showing Iraq's leaders that the British government will continue to support them, even after he leaves office.
Mr. Blair met in Baghdad today with Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki. Later, he traveled to Basra. That's where many British troops are based.
Mr. Blair says that he has no regrets about the decision to topple Saddam Hussein, despite the war's unpopularity in Britain and the potential damage that it has done to his legacy.
A war czar -- will that really help the military campaign in Iraq and Afghanistan? CNN correspondents are going to be weighing in during a compelling "This Week and More." You can catch it tonight at 7, or tomorrow, right here, at 1 Eastern, as well. A Canadian military pilot has been killed on a practice run for an air show in Montana. The Canadian Forces Snowbirds perform high- speed, low-altitude maneuvers. Captain Shawn McCaughey's plane was flying upside-down about 300 feet off the ground when it crashed yesterday.
Attention ferret owners. Unfortunately, you're not immune to the pet food recalls. It's Chenango Valley Pet Foods. Is that right? Chenango Valley Pet Foods has added its ferret food and seven more products for dogs and cats to the nationwide list.
The company says these latest items could have been cross- contaminated by previously recalled products. So there you have another one.
Got horse sense? Then bet on Street Sense at today's Preakness Stakes. The Kentucky Derby winner is considered a favorite. But this is a shorter race, and he's got to get by the hard-charging Hard Spun, Curlin and also Circular Quay.
The gun goes off, by the way, at 6:15 Eastern. We'll have coverage for you.
Up next in the NEWSROOM, Senator John McCain dropping the F bomb, and it's all about immigration. Why? We'll explain.
And here's one of the talkers of the week. A mother on trial for lying to try and get her children to what she calls a better school district. Her lawyer is going to be joining us live.
And then a slick-looking documentary that looks at the fate of students after the Katrina devastation. We're going to get this and the person who produced it. He's only 21 years old, by the way -- has no media experience. Kind of amazing.
You'll hear more right here. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We welcome you back to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Battered by some bruising fights, as you've all witnessed, between both Republicans and Democrats against the president, the president may finally have something that he is, well, celebrating.
Mr. Bush used his radio address today to praise senators of both parties for at least coming up with an immigration reform package. It's a compromise proposal that was announced Thursday.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Here's how the bill works. First, it will require that strong border security and enforcement benchmarks are met before other elements of the legislation are implemented. These benchmarks include completing our plan to double the number of Border Patrol agents, improving border infrastructure and maintaining enough beds in our detention facilities, so that all those apprehended at the border can be held and returned to their home countries.
We will also improve work site enforcement by implementing an effective system to verify worker eligibility using tamper-resistant identification cards, and by imposing stiffer penalties on companies that knowingly violate the law.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: By the way, Senate debate on the proposal begins Monday in the House. It's expected to face strong opposition from Republicans.
However, the immigration debate has already brought out some strong words in Washington. You might say the debate unofficially has already begun -- one of the strongest from Arizona senator and Republican presidential candidate, John McCain.
He launched the so-called F bomb at a fellow GOP senator this week during an exchange over this new immigration bill and a conversation that they're supposed to have on it this week.
As our Gary Nurenberg reports, tempers were flaring on both sides of this issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT, WASHINGTON (voice-over): Talk about understatement.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN, R-TEXAS: I've never seen a more emotional, a more sensitive, a more politically charged issue than the issue of immigration reform.
NURENBERG: No kidding. He was speaking within hours Thursday of a blowup between border state senators John Cornyn of Texas and John McCain of Arizona, after Cornyn objected to details of the new bill.
Sources familiar with the meeting quote McCain saying "f you" after Cornyn complained McCain had been paying insufficient attention to immigration because of his presidential campaign.
No comment from Cornyn. The McCain campaign confirms there was a "heated exchange."
MORGAN FELCHNER, CAMPAIGNS AND ELECTIONS MAGAZINE: His temper flaring on this issue really doesn't help him in the presidential election with voters.
NURENBERG: McCain is co-sponsoring the immigration bill, which Republican critics have described as providing amnesty to immigrants who are in the country illegally. McCain concedes the legislation is a compromise.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, R-ARIZONA, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm sure that there are certain provisions that each of us would not agree with. But this is what the legislative process is all about.
NURENBERG: McCain's high-profile endorsement of the bill could hurt him with Republican primary voters according to the editor of Campaigns and Elections Magazine, Morgan Felchner.
FELCHNER: There's a lot of the other presidential candidates who disagree with him. And a lot of Republican voters on the ground also disagree with him.
He's creating this problem within the party for himself, where he could be focusing on things that are good for him, things that people do agree with him on.
NURENBERG: The visuals alone -- McCain lining up with liberal Democrats like Dianne Feinstein and Edward Kennedy, may make some primary voters question McCain's conservative credentials, making his endorsement of the bill riskier still.
Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO)
SANCHEZ: By the way, tonight at 10 Eastern, we're going to be devoting a large segment of our newscast to the immigration issue. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez is going to be among our guests.
And we're also going to be going out on the streets. In fact, I talked to several undocumented workers who are in the United States. I know many people call them illegal immigrants.
We talked to them about whether or not they are going to buy into this new legislation, if it passes. Interesting conversation, and you can see it right here at 10 p.m. Eastern.
Up next, wildfires and the weather. The fate of one often depends on the other. Right Jacqui?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST, CNN WEATHER CENTER: Absolutely. And today, a real problem with the weather and those fires. The winds are gusting beyond 20 miles per hour. Are there improvements in the forecast? We'll let you know, coming up.
SANCHEZ: All right. Also, later, the mother who was facing prison time for lying to get her children in a different school district. We're going to speak live with her attorney about one of the most talked about stories of our day. You're going to be watching this right here on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: This is the battle of percentages, in the battle against the wildfires that have been burning in several states now. In northern Arizona, nearly 700 firefighters are getting the upper hand on a wildfire burning near national forest land. They say they have it about 60 percent contained.
That's not bad. Right?
Well, in New Jersey, rain has now helped firefighters battling the wildfire that's charred 27 square miles in the southern part of the state. That blaze is said to be 90 percent contained. That's much better.
And then firefighters are reporting progress, as well, trying to battle that wildfire we've been telling you about for about a month now along the Georgia-Florida border. That blaze is now said to be 80 percent contained.
So, we're obviously making some progress, folks. That's a good thing.
Let's go over to Jacqui Jeras.
I bet you the rain had something to do with that.
JERAS: Yes, a little bit of rain in many of those areas helped. Of course, the New Jersey one, most especially, as pretty much the entire state kind of got soaked today.
Across parts of Florida, though, the rain came in Thursday and into Friday morning. We've been dry since then. The cold front dropped on through.
And now, unfortunately, today, it's a critical fire area, because the relative humidity is very low. It's an extremely dry air mass and very dry for this time of the year. Kind of unusual actually.
And the winds have been gusting out of the northeast about 20 miles per hour. So, that includes the Bugaboo fire here, 80 percent contained now, though. That's some good news.
And I've got some more good news for you. We've got a new statement in, and this came in from NOAA on Thursday. So in case you missed it here on CNN, I thought this was really important information I wanted to bring along to you.
They issue season drought outlooks, and this is an update starting May 17th and goes through the month of August. And this hatched area across the Southeast, which includes those fire areas right now, they are expecting to see improvement here in the coming months. So, that's good news here.
Also up in the Arrowhead of Minnesota, we've got the Gunflint Trail fire that's been going on there. Improvement expected here, but the Southwest will see some improvement across Arizona, but persistent or possibly even a worsening drought across parts of California on into much of Nevada here and on into Utah.
So, it's good to know that at least some of those areas are starting to see some improvement.
SANCHEZ: It's a real Bugaboo in Florida, isn't it.
JERAS: Yes, Bugaboo fire. Nice joke.
SANCHEZ: I love that, though. Hey, how did it get the name, Bugaboo? Do you know? Does anybody know?
JERAS: You know, they told me, and I can't think of it off the top of my head.
It started on an island, and I think maybe the island is named that.
SANCHEZ: Is it?
JERAS: Perhaps.
SANCHEZ: I don't know.
JERAS: I'll check. I'll let you.
SANCHEZ: You and I have covered a lot of fires together over the last couple of years, but, boy, I don't think I've ever heard one with such a strange name.
JERAS: You know, there's a new one. I'm trying to think of what it's called. It was something like the What's-Its-Name fire. Seriously.
SANCHEZ: The What's-Its-Name fire.
JERAS: Yes, it started in Florida today.
SANCHEZ: That's what we're going to call this show.
Thanks, Jacqui.
In our "Tech Effect" segment today, hurricane gadgets, inventories. And some innovators are also showing off their goods at the hurricane conference in Fort Lauderdale. The number of items available has skyrocketed since Hurricane Katrina.
So, we sent our John Zarrella to look into some of these mind- boggling gizmos.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT, FORT LAUDERDALE (voice-over): Long lines for food and water and gasoline. The aftermath of a hurricane can be, at best, miserable.
Now, there are hundreds of products from prepackaged hurricane survival kits to hurricane armor. An alternative to shutters or plywood, the fabric will stop more than just a water bottle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It stops wind and rain up to 176 miles an hour.
ZARRELLA: In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and Wilma, inventors and entrepreneurs discovered there's a growing market for products designed to get you and your family through the storm.
MIKE PHILLIPS, SAGE PRODUCTS: To give you an idea of how much solution is in this product here, if you take this thing it's got ...
ZARRELLA: Wow. If you don't have water, these cleansing cloths are a bath in a package -- eight for $1.38. There's even a shampoo in a bag.
If you've got water, well, how do you store it? How about this, a water bob, or this, an aqua pod kit?
You no longer have to worry about filling your tub, only to watch it slowly drain away.
PHILLIPS: Once you lay it down flat inside of your bathtub, you take the fill sock, which attaches to your front nozzle right here, and then slides over your faucet of your bathtub.
ZARRELLA: Now, what about food? Heater meals, chef five minutes.
That's hot.
Or meals in a box.
BRUCE BOORE, FOOD SERVICES, INC.: This is a three-meal kit -- breakfast, lunch and dinner.
ZARRELLA: They work by using a chemical reaction to create heat.
There's a lot of high-end stuff, too, from communications equipment to portable water purification trucks to this.
Now, this vehicle is called the Rook. The manufacturer says they named it the Rook, because in the game of chess, the closer you get to the end game, the more valuable the rook becomes.
During a hurricane event, a vehicle like this would be used for search and rescue. With tracks instead of wheels, it's designed to bulldoze its way through debris.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But we can also deliver personnel, food, rescue people from the ceilings, roofs, wherever.
ZARRELLA: And soon, Millennium Cell hopes to market a tiny fuel cell like this to power cell phones and televisions, or a camera, so I can turn the table on the camera man.
And there is, Jerry Simonson. Wave, Jerry.
John Zarrella, CNN, Fort Lauderdale.
(END VIDEO)
SANCHEZ: Well done, Jerry -- and John.
And while we're talking about hurricanes, coming up later, storm victims who say that their story has gone unheard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The main thing is, we've tried to make sure people stay uplifted and know that like people are aware of what's going on and people are going to be there to help, you know. This is going to be an issue for years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Interestingly enough, this is a documentary by students and about students. And the producer -- with no training, by the way, who put it together -- she's going to join us live in just a little bit.
Also, a mother arrested, thrown in jail, put on trial, allegedly facing -- for allegedly lying to get her kids into what she deems a better school district. The verdict next when her attorney joins us, right here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We welcome you back, as promised. How far will some people go to get the best possible education for their kids?
Well, too far, according to one Georgia school district, which tried to do something about this.
So, Friday, a jury in Cobb County found Jeanine Echols not guilty. She was tried, though, in court on 16 felony charges. The rap? Allegedly lying about where she lived in order to get her three kids into the Marietta, Georgia, school district.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANINE ECHOLS, DEFENDANT: I was arrested. And I sat in jail for over five hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: If convicted, Echols would have faced up to 80 -- 80, eight zero -- years in prison.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRADY MOORE, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: But ladies and gentlemen, a lie is a lie. And our law says, when you lie to the government, you've committed a crime. Our law says, when you're lying on something it says to (ph) know (ph), you've committed a crime.
I'm sorry to be the one having to stand here and tell you that. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: This is nuts, isn't it?
Vic Reynolds is her attorney. He's good enough to join us now. Mr. Reynolds, thanks for being with us.
VIC REYNOLDS, ATTORNEY FOR JEANINE ECHOLS: Thank you for having me, Rick.
SANCHEZ: They say what? Let me read here. They say that she listed three different Marietta addresses over the years where -- and enrolling her kids in school.
So, she was, to a certain extent, making a mockery of the system. She was lying. She was filing false documents, right?
REYNOLDS: She had initially puts some reports down and statements about living at addresses with relatives, advised the school board of that. The relatives actually went in with her when she filled out the forms.
For eight or nine years, no problems whatsoever.
SANCHEZ: So, I mean, look. She's not the first.
REYNOLDS: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: I mean, forever and eternity have been doing this, and not only here in Georgia, but all over. And the idea is, I want my kids to go to that school, or, you know what, they're closer to the babysitter, or they're closer to a relative.
What was her reason for doing this?
REYNOLDS: Travel. She and her husband both travel frequently out of town, wanted the kids to be able to get on the bus, ride to grandma's, get off at grandma's, stay for the night.
SANCHEZ: So, the grandmother lived closer to the school she wanted her in.
REYNOLDS: Lived in the Marietta city district, yes.
SANCHEZ: So, she put her grandmother's address instead of her own address.
REYNOLDS: That's correct.
SANCHEZ: And she lied.
She lied. You can say it. She lied.
Counselor, she lied.
REYNOLDS: I feel like I'm being cross-examined now, Rick. SANCHEZ: Well, she did, though. I mean, let's be honest about this, right?
REYNOLDS: I think probably it could be interpreted that way, yes.
SANCHEZ: OK. Now, let's talk about the reality.
Eighty years? Eighty years? That's crazy.
REYNOLDS: Sixteen felony counts, each of which carried a one-to- five sentence.
SANCHEZ: There are people committing murders in this country, who don't get 80 years, who don't get 20 years.
This woman, for basically doing something which some would call stupid, some would certainly call this -- I would call it dishonest. But 80 years is an awful lot.
How do they explain that? What did they say to you, these prosecutors, these over-zealous prosecutors, if you don't mind my saying so?
REYNOLDS: Well, I don't believe -- and thank God it didn't -- but if Jeanine had been convicted, I'm confident that they would not have stood in front of a judge and asked for 80 years.
But I don't know what they would have asked for. But certainly, jail time was certainly available.
SANCHEZ: But you've been working this case. What is your sense of why they were reaching so far?
REYNOLDS: I think the school board went to them. I think the school board approached the D.A.'s office and said, we believe we have a problem.
I don't know why they picked this case.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
REYNOLDS: But they picked this case and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) ...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: OK. But that's what I'm getting at. Is this a problem? And it is a big problem in the school? A lot of people are doing this and they were looking for an example, they wanted to set an example with her, with Jeanine?
REYNOLDS: I think in the end when Jeanine refused to resolve the case in the manner the school board wanted to, or wanted to resolve it in, that they decided, all right, you're the one and we're going to try it.
SANCHEZ: So they decided to punish her for not playing their game?
REYNOLDS: And she went to trial.
SANCHEZ: She went through hell with this, didn't she?
REYNOLDS: Over two years.
SANCHEZ: She's a good lady, I mean, other than the fact that she may have messed up doing some of these things?
REYNOLDS: Great lady, great kids, super kids, honor students, top of the class, great family, just everything you would want in kids.
SANCHEZ: That's unbelievable. Vic Reynolds, thanks so much for coming on.
REYNOLDS: My pleasure. And thank you for having me.
SANCHEZ: It was a good conversation.
REYNOLDS: Thank you so much.
SANCHEZ: We wish her the best. I mean, you know, people can make mistakes in life still.
Up next, another chapter in the adventures of the (INAUDIBLE) whale. The Coast Guard uses every plan that they can think of to try and send these incredible creatures back out to sea. The latest on those efforts is coming up.
Also, a student victimized by Hurricane Katrina teaches us all a lesson about determination. You're looking at a documentary that she paid for, she produced it, she wrote it, had no training, just took it upon herself to do this. And boy, she does. And she's going to be here like Mr. Vic here was moments ago, talking to us about it. Stay with us.
This now, though. What, if any, connection is there between the growing number of obese kids and working moms? Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more on "Fit Nation."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Working 9:00 to 5:00 was a movie and a mantra in the 1980s as American women entered the workforce en masse. That's about the same time American kids started packing on the pounds.
TERRY MASON, CHICAGO PUBLIC HEALTH COMM.: We saw that started the happen. You could track childhood obesity, there was a direct correlation.
GUPTA: So, did working women lead to chubbier children? Sixteen percent of children 6 and older are overweight. That's triple the number from 1980. LEW FULLER, OBESITY SOCIETY: We don't have the traditional approach of a woman being at home, cooking dinner, taking care of the kids, getting the kids outside, getting the kids exercise.
GUPTA: Families now eat out an average of four times a week, a big jump from 30 years ago.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Being a working mom, I do find myself taking my children out to McDonald's and fast food a lot because when I get back after the commute, I'm too tired to fix those meals.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that blaming women for childhood obesity is absolutely ridiculous.
GUPTA: Others say obesity may be caused by a variety of factors.
KATHRYN THOMAS, ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION: At its very simplest, our kids are taking in a lot more calories than they're burning off. But there are a lot of reasons for that. It is not just because they're not eating as many dinners at home.
GUPTA: Regardless of cause, there are steps to help kids stay leaner.
THOMAS: We need to get physical education back into schools. We need to get the junk food out of schools. We need to make communities safer for kids to walk and bike and play. It is harder to do that than it is to say, mom and dad, you're not doing the right thing. I think mom and dad are doing the best they can.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We welcome you back to CNN NEWSROOM. It is about 35 minutes past the hour. Here is what is happening right now. Keeping the faith, U.S. military officials say at least they believe that two, maybe all three soldiers snatched in Iraq a week ago might still be alive. And they add that they're not going to stop searching for this trio.
Also this, what is unclear is if the latest round of the U.S. casualties is related to the search. In other words, the earlier ones, the military is saying that eight American troops have been killed since Friday. The latest death happened this morning, it was south of Baghdad. The IED killed one soldier and wounded three others from our understanding.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is making what probably is his last official visit as a statesman to Iraq. The very place that many in the British press says has ruined his administration. Mr. Blair meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki before visiting British troops stationed in Basra. Mr. Blair is expected to leave 10 Downing Street next month. Two humpback whales are lost in California and they just can't seem to be able to get back on track. Wildlife experts are using a variety of tactics to try and lure these leviathans back out to sea. Let's get the latest now. This is from Kara Finnstrom.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there will be a big change in tactics now for wildlife experts. Instead of the gentle coaxing that they were doing using those sounds from humpback whales to try and lure them back into the ocean, they have now said Tuesday is the day that they will begin aggressive herding.
And by that, what they'll do is on boats they'll have loud pipes banging and they'll use that sound to try and drive these two whales towards the ocean. They'll follow the whales in a boat with these pipes on board. They'll also line the channel with boats that also have these pipes banging, and they'll try to block off all the tributaries.
The whales of course could actually swim under these boats, so it is not the boats themselves that are keeping the whales from going off into these tributaries, it is actually the sound of those pipes banging.
Now once the whales do start on this journey, wildlife experts tell us this is the most dangerous part of getting them back to the ocean.
ROD MCINNES, NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE: We want to keep them out of the tributaries, not only because we want to keep them on the straight route through San Francisco -- to San Francisco Bay and beyond, but there are shallows and we don't want to get them stranded.
FINNSTROM: So this is really go to be kind of tricky. They could go under the tributaries if that's what they decided to do?
MCINNES: Yes. That's why I say that where they are right now, we have got some time to think and to plan. And when we start moving, it is -- we would be putting -- they are going to be put at risk.
LT. GOV. JOHN GARAMENDI (D), CALIFORNIA: Most of the expense is going to be directly associated with human beings wanting to see the whale. And so that's crowd control, that's traffic. And it also people on the river in their boats that are in a position to harm or harass an endangered species. So it is really the human element that creates most of the cost.
FINNSTROM: Between today and Tuesday when that herding will begin, the wildlife experts will be giving these whales a break and they are hoping that just perhaps they may head out to the ocean on their own.
Kara Finnstrom reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE) SANCHEZ: All right. Thank you, Kara. Eighteen years ago they were believed to be the 18th set of quintuplets born in the United States. They have come a long way, babies, from the crowded maternity ward. They have also traded those baby clothes for caps and gowns now, pomp and circumstance times five for one family. That's coming up in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We're doing this "Heroes" thing now and we're having a good time with it. We're really finding some special people all over the country.
Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Imagine if you were just starting grade school and somebody made this promise. Graduate from high school and I'll pay for college. Well, in Oakland, California, a woman named Oral Lee Brown made that pledge. How she her keep her promise is what makes her today's CNN "Hero."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ORAL LEE BROWN, CNN HERO: These are our kids. We should at least take them to a position in their life that they can lead their way. And they can't do it without an education.
An education can get you everything you want. You can go wherever you want to go. It's the way out of the ghettos, bottom line.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Good morning, Ms. Oral Brown.
YOLANDA PEEK, FMR. SCHOOL PRINCIPAL: She says, give me your first-graders who are really struggling and who are most needy. I want to adopt the class. And I want to follow the class until they graduate from high school.
And she says that she was going to pay their college tuitions.
BROWN: How many are going to college?
At the time, I was making I think $45,000, $46,000 a year. So I committed $10,000 to the kids.
I grew up in Mississippi. I lived off of $2 a day. That's what we got, $2 a day for picking cotton.
And so I really feel that I was blessed from God. And so I cannot pay him back, but these kids are his kids. These kids are -- some of them are poor like I was.
LAQUITA WHITE, FMR. STUDENT: When you have that mentor like Ms. Brown, a very strong person, you can't go wrong, because she's on you constantly every day. What are you doing? How are you doing?
BROWN: The world doubted us. I was told that, lady, you cannot do it. And I would say, you know what? These kids are just like any other kid. The only thing that they don't have, the love and they don't have the support.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They called me yesterday and told me I was accepted.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good news.
BROWN: You're looking at doctors and lawyers and one president of the United States.
When you give a kid an education and they get it up here, nobody or nothing can take it away.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: If you would like to make a contribution to the Oral Lee Brown Foundation or nominate somebody like her, all the details are at cnn.com/hero. What a great story, huh?
Well, coming up, here's another one, a "where are they now" story that you won't want to miss. Remember this picture 18 years ago? This is one of the early sets of quintuplets born in America. Share in their monumental day later in the NEWSROOM.
First this, though.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was actually here for the hurricane. I was one of the 400 students that was stuck on campus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: This is a documentary with students who say no one is listening to their lessons learned from Katrina. So they went out and told the story themselves. It was produced by this young lady you're looking at right here, a young woman who was herself a student and she decided to go out and put this documentary together. Her name is Yasmin Gabriel. She's joining us live in the NEWSROOM next.
You hanging in there, Yasmin? A little nervous? All right. Let's do it. We'll be right back with Jasmine and a whole lot more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: You've seen some of the stories of tragedy and heartache and perseverance that have been plentiful when it comes to Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf Coast throughout our coverage. You remember some of these? Boy, I certainly do. I was there, like so many of our crew members were. We have seen thousands of storm victims run from the ravaged homes in search of new lives elsewhere.
But with all the headlines, one woman says there is a story that has been missing in all of this. Can I get a shot of her? Here is Yasmin, she's with us here now in the studio. And she's standing by because she did something special. And she went out and took a camera are and prepared a documentary. No training, folks. She never had any formal education on this but she went out and did it. And we have got a story now that details how she put it together. And then on the back side, we're going to talk to her.
Here is CNN's T.J. Holmes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was actually here for the hurricane. I was one of the 400 students that was stuck on campus.
We were woken up Saturday morning before the hurricane hit. We were told to get out of New Orleans, get out, but if not, we will evacuate.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): This is a scene from an independently produced documentary about Gulf Coast students left with no classrooms after Hurricane Katrina nearly washed away the entire school year.
YASMIN GABRIEL, PRODUCER, "PICKING UP THE PIECES": I was really frustrated with the media and the images I saw after Katrina. No one looked like me, no one sounded like me, no one even had my story to tell.
HOLMES: It is called "Picking Up the Pieces: College Life After Hurricane Katrina," produced by this woman, then 21-year-old graduate student Yasmin Gabriel.
GABRIEL: And so after I threw a shoe at the TV, I said, well, let me stop throwing shoes at the TV and let me do something myself.
HOLMES: For Gabriel, that something meant taking $4,000 of her student loan money, buying a professional video camera and learning how to produce a documentary. But first came some encouragement from a hometown New Orleans mentor, now Atlanta police chief, Richard Pennington.
CHIEF RICHARD PENNINGTON, ATLANTA POLICE: We heard practically everyone else's story. We heard the government's response. We heard many citizens' response. But I don't think any of us heard students really talk about that they went through, what they experienced.
GABRIEL: And then you saw young people talking about the fact that they lost everything. But what about your laptop? What about the fact that you were going to go to pharmacy school and now you're in engineering school? That's a major shift. Paradigm shift in your education.
HOLMES: The college student left school for a while just to complete the project. She's the writer, producer, director and chief photographer.
GABRIEL: My name is Yasmin Gabriel, as a few of you might know. I'm a Spelman graduate of 2004. HOLMES: Gabriel now tours colleges with her documentary, encouraging students to be more proactive with their lives. Campus response, she says, like this night at Spelman College in Atlanta, has been positive.
KATERRIE KELLY, KATRINA SURVIVOR: It was so hard. No one really understood exactly what was going on.
HOLMES: Katerrie Kelly was a New Orleans high school student when Katrina hit.
KELLY: We had no transcripts when it was time to even apply here to Spelman College. And it is just so sad that people just think that it was, OK, something that happened two years ago and it is over.
And it is really not over because it is an ongoing event. That's something that happened in my life and it is something that traumatically changed my life.
HOLMES: Kelly says watching the documentary brought her to tears. Gabriel hopes to get students to channel those emotions into doing something to make a real difference in their lives.
GABRIEL: We have people that are homeless that you pass by every day. People that haven't had anything to eat. Let's be proactive in grassroots efforts on real issues.
HOLMES: It is a message that seems to resonate from the rubble of Katrina.
MEGAN HUBBARD, SPELMAN STUDENT: Knowing that I've been through something that others have not, so it kind of makes me very motivated to take as much action as possible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many things, just try to make sure people stay uplifted and know, that, like, people are aware of what is going on and people are going to be there to help. This is going to be an issue for years.
HOLMES: T.J. Holmes, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: That's fabulous. And there is Yasmin Gabriel, good enough to join us now.
You're tough. You're tough. You are.
GABRIEL: Thank you, Rick.
SANCHEZ: I mean, first, you survived the storm. And then you decide, I'm going to do something about it. And you did this -- who is backing you, nobody, right?
GABRIEL: No one. It's just myself. Well, I have some of my friends in the community who have really helped me, but not any major stakeholder in America. So...
SANCHEZ: No finances?
GABRIEL: No. No finances.
SANCHEZ: Nobody gave you equipment.
GABRIEL: No.
SANCHEZ: Nobody gave you a class on how to do this?
GABRIEL: No, no. I just decided to do something. I knew that they weren't telling my story. And I was watching on the news and I said, gosh, no one is talking about the college student who lost her laptop, who was once in medical school, who was once in graduate school, who was on their path to doing something great and now they're stopping because of Katrina and it wasn't their fault. So I said, let me tell the story that I knew best, the story of the college student.
SANCHEZ: What story did you tell? I mean, aside from the fact that they are college students, what is one thing that galvanizes them?
GABRIEL: Well, it is really important to let other college students around America know that you need to have renter's insurance if you live off campus. Make sure you have your birth certificate somewhere else in case of an emergency. So it is more like a lesson that I learned post-Katrina that I want to share with others around the nation.
SANCHEZ: So I mean, it is information. I mean, you're acting like a news reporter. You're out there getting information and sharing it with people. It's not just people crying and people sad.
GABRIEL: Not at all. And it is actually very upbeat. It's called "Picking Up the Pieces" because we really don't deal with what happened when Katrina hit. CNN has done a great job of showing the world of what happened to New Orleans. But it's what happened afterwards and what that young lady who was in college who defaulted on her student loans because her grace period was only three months long.
SANCHEZ: You know, as I'm looking at you, I'm thinking there has got to be a lot of people out there who are watching this interview and are thinking, man, I wish I had that kind of gumption. No, really. I mean, there is...
GABRIEL: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: You know, it is so easy nowadays to get into the "woe is me" attitude and say I can't do it, I'm just -- I'm going to sit on the couch and watch "The Daily Show." You know, you went through the worst situation a human being could go through and then got yourself off your bootstraps and did something. What was it? What makes you different than a lot of other people to do that? GABRIEL: Well, I was talking to my FEMA inspector when he was looking through my house, and he is like, gosh, he was like, you sound like you are an adult. I said, well, sir, I'm only 21 years old. He said, wow, I'm impressed. Because he said, you don't sound like the typical New Orleanian.
He said, I challenge you to do something. And I called him two months later, I said, well, I have my camera and I have got some footage. And he is like, whoa, I didn't know you were going to do that much.
And so you know, my mom has been really supportive of me and I have some great friends who I went to school with at Spelman and Morehouse.
SANCHEZ: That's great. Hey mom, if you're out there...
GABRIEL: Hey mom!
SANCHEZ: ... you can put it together. She's doing a great job. What is your Web site, by the way?
GABRIEL: I have a MySpace page, it's not really a Web site, it is called "Upgrade America." And it is just this, you know, letting you guys know what we're going to do post-Katrina. I want to do something really big for the anniversary but I need America's help.
SANCHEZ: Great. And if you want to help, it is myspace.com/upgradeneworleans. Yasmin, you're wonderful. So glad you came by.
GABRIEL: Thank you, Rick, for having me. Thank you very much.
SANCHEZ: God bless you, see you later. Take care.
Up next, the fastest 18 years ever for one Florida mother.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like having the kids around.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would get quiet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It would be too quiet for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: From diapers to diplomas, quintuplets are babies no more. It seems like they were just born yesterday, huh? But it has been 18 years since they made the headlines, where are they now? Have you seen those stories? We got one. Stay with. We are coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We welcome you back. The high fives we're a-flying today at a high school graduation in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and for darn good reason. Among the graduates, a set of quintuplets. No, the Martino siblings aren't little baby Einsteins. This picture is 18 years old. But they did create quite a stir when they were born back in 1989 before fertility drugs made multiple births a lot more common.
And today most would say it is no big deal. It was back then. As their high school graduation approached, here is CNN's T.J. Holmes again, who talked to them and their very tired mother about typical family issues that for them are, well, compounded five times.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some of them say I have favoritism, but if I do, I don't see it. And -- but I don't know. It's tough. It's tough because some of them you can't get close to and some you can. So some of them show you a little more attention than the rest.
HOLMES: All right. Kids, you all tell me last thing, which one of you all are the favorite among -- favorite to your mom?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Derek.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Derek's one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know what they are talking about. Not me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even when we're together, we still have individuality.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, that's true.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We kind of live our separate lives even though we're all together anyway.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: For the future, one of the quintuplets plans to attend college, four are considering it. And the fifth is headed straight into the workforce. Unbelievable story. Expect live updates all night long. Before I do that, join me again in the NEWSROOM at 10:00 Eastern -- did that make sense? Either way. First though, "LOU DOBBS THIS WEEK" starts right now.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
