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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
DeLay Drops Out; Inside the Storm; Damage Assessment; Tornado Facts; Inside the Insurgency; Carroll Homecoming; Drinking and Drowning; Sober Housing; National Napping Day
Aired April 03, 2006 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): Hi John, well, as you just said, CNN News is told that Tom DeLay will not seek reelection next year. And we are told now that he is likely to step down from his seat in May. So that's next month.
The Republican leader who, of course, is known -- or at least was known -- for his tight grip on the House has now become one of the poster children for corruption in Washington. He's calling friends and supporters tonight, made some calls just in the last, we are told, hour to say that he is going to leave Congress. He will formally hold a press conference to announce and explain his plans tomorrow morning.
Now, Tom DeLay, of course, is known as a fighter. And though he stepped down as majority leader in September under the cloud of his indictment and also just recently, we know more information coming out about some of his top aides and their close ties and their guilty pleas when it comes to Jack Abramoff.
Recently, though, just last month, John, he won a very hard- fought four-way Republican primary to keep his seat. That's why this does appear to be a bit of a surprise. But he also is a political realist. And we are told that is part of the reason why he is going to step down in May because he wants to try to make sure that his seat is held for a Republican, and that a Democrat doesn't take that seat.
He's actually apparently going to move to Virginia to give up his ability to run in the state of Texas, to try to make sure the Republican keeps his seat.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN CO-ANCHOR: All right. Hey, let's bring in White House Correspondent Ed Henry. He's in our Washington bureau and joins us from there now live.
Ed, you know the White House didn't stand in the way of Tom DeLay stepping down as leader. Do you detect the White House fingerprints on this idea that he's not only not going to run for reelection, but as Dana is reporting now, step down from his post as of May?
ED HENRY, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, John, as you indicate, that this is something the White House is not going to shed tears about. They certainly -- people at the White House, as well as the congressional leadership on Capitol Hill, both in the House and Senate, are going to be happy to see Tom DeLay leaving the state.
I just got off the phone with one of DeLay's top advisers. And it has to do with several things. And the reason why he's doing it now? First of all, the Democrats have been pillaring him, he's been the symbol, the whipping boy if you will, for the Democrats. And now the White House and the congressional leadership can be happy about the fact that DeLay will be off the stage, and the Republicans can now focus on trying to rehabilitate themselves on Iraq, maybe lobbying reform, some of the other issues, but not have the distraction of DeLay.
I spoke to this adviser to DeLay and said, but why not? As Dana pointed out, he could have stepped down from his congressional seat so many other times before. He just survived this tough Republican primary. And the adviser said he's just had enough. It's taken a big toll on his family.
What he was referring to is the twin scandals, basically, DeLay has been fighting. First of all, indicted twice down in Texas last year. That's what forced him out, as you know, as majority leader. But the second scandal, the Jack Abramoff scandal, that Dana also mentioned -- just last Friday, the basically plea deal signed by Tony Rudy, a former DeLay aide. That means there are now two former DeLay aides, Rudy and Mike Scanlon, who are cooperating with prosecutors. Along with Jack Abramoff, there could be others before this is all through. And the weight of both of these scandals is just too much for Tom DeLay -- John.
ROBERTS: Dana Bash, Tom DeLay said that he is stepping down, he's not going to run for reelection because he doesn't want this election to be a referendum about him, he wants it to be about the issues. Every election is a referendum about somebody. So, does it strike you that maybe something else is at work here besides politics?
BASH: Well, certainly, and I think Ed just put his finger on it. Politics is a big issue, and he told -- Tom DeLay told "TIME Magazine" that he is a realist and he can evaluate political situations. But the bottom line is, it's not just politics. There are major legal issues.
As I mentioned that Ed was just talking about. Not only his own in terms of his indictment in Texas, but more specifically, the fact that two of his former very close aides have pleaded guilty in charges of corruption in and around what has been going on with Jack Abramoff. And, you know, it's unclear if he will put two and two together when he formally makes this announcement tomorrow morning. But I don't think it's a big leap to say that it's not just a political situation. It is the legal situation that is swirling around him.
ROBERTS: And Ed Henry, the fact that he's going to literally clear the deck here in two months' time and jump off of the stage so that the Republicans can run somebody in his seat without the specter of Tom DeLay hanging around, I mean that seems to be an indication that this guy is about to become radioactive.
HENRY: Absolutely. I think you're absolutely right. I think not just radioactive, in that one congressional district. I think this is a lot more about the 434 other congressional districts all around the country. The fact that DeLay would have been the face of the GOP, literally, and would have had his face morphing into the faces of GOP candidates all around the country. The Republican strategists basically say, look, this guy is no longer the majority leader. But the fact he was sticking around still holding on to his seat, gave the Democrats the opening to still connect him, weigh down other Republican candidates.
Now, this doesn't mean the Democrats will give up. They're still certainly going to use Tom DeLay -- let's not forget, this guy is nicknamed, the hammer. He was the guy who kept such a tight grip on power. He's really been the symbol of Republican power for the last decade. Now Democrats hope to make him the symbol of excess, symbol of the so-called culture of corruption -- John.
ROBERTS: All right, Ed Henry, thanks for running in. We know it's late. Appreciate you being with us. And Dana Bash, good work on getting us the story tonight. Appreciate it -- Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Now to the storm system that is not quite through with the country yet. It's delaying air travel in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington. Tornado watches are up in Georgia and the Carolinas, too. Winter storm watches, in fact, in New England as well.
Now this is the same line of weather that's responsible for a lot worse than delayed flights. In fact, more than five dozen tornadoes hit eight states last night. At least 27 people have died -- 23 in a corner of Tennessee where even 40-year veterans of emergency management say they have never seen anything like this before.
Reporting for us tonight, CNN's Ed Lavandera.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The tornado touched down outside of Dyersburg in the western part of the state. Sheriff Jeff Holt was standing on an overpass, tracking the storm. He says in seconds, it grew to a half mile wide.
JEFF HOLT, SHERIFF, DYER COUNTY, TENNESSEE: I could see just the sheer size of it. You know, I knew it must be packing a pretty good punch behind it. When I got sight of the funnel cloud itself, you know, I knew this was not going to turn out good.
LAVANDERA: A few minutes later the storm was carving a 25-mile- long path across homes and open fields. Massive trees splintered like twigs, homes just disintegrated.
Bud Cude saw the funnel cloud. He grabbed his wife and grandchild and jumped into the bathroom for cover.
BUD CUDE: We were right there, between the commode and the vanity. Sounded like a freight train moving toward us. We came out that little bitty window back yonder, where we had to get out. That tallest thing standing. LAVANDERA: When Cude and his family emerged from the rubble, this was what was left of his home. In just a short distance away, he also discovered the storm had killed at least 20 of his prized Tennessee walking horses.
CUDE: Well, it was a nice young colt we was going to develop for somebody to pleasure ride with.
LAVANDERA: Sheriff Jeff Holt has spent 12 years working as sheriff here, but years of experience will never help him cope with what he saw in the debris Sunday night -- an 11-month-old baby boy killed by the storm.
KOLT: When you see an 11-month-old victim, those sights don't leave you easy.
LAVANDERA: Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dyer County, Tennessee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: CNN's Rob Marciano, also live on the scene for us tonight. He's joining us from Rutherford, Tennessee. And Rob, I know you've had an opportunity to really look around. What are you seeing? I mean, the debris behind you is incredible.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, what you see behind me is a familiar sight across all of Northwest Tennessee. Really, the power of Mother Nature is what strikes me today. And until you see these scenes up close in person, really the camera unfortunately doesn't do it justice.
The house behind me had a brick facade. This is not a flimsy mobile home. And there were people inside that home. There was a minister, his wife and his son. And they huddled in the center closet of their home while the outside was literally being torn apart by a tornado. They came out of that home unscathed.
And stories like that up and down the street where all these homes are damaged, but everybody got in the center of their home either, in a closet or in a bathroom, and they rode out the storm unscathed.
That is not the story, though, for all of Gibson County, where there have been fatalities -- 23 in all across parts of Northwestern Tennessee.
Sixty-four reports of tornadoes in total. That is a large outbreak for this time of year, but not unheard of. Back in 1978, around this time of year, we had over 140 tornadoes break out across much of the Midwest. So even though it's unusual, it is not unheard of.
The tornadoes that ripped through this area were strong. And they were anywhere from F2 to F3 on the Fujita scale. That's a scale of zero to five, five being the strongest. A Category 3 or an F3 tornado has winds of about 200 miles an hour, winds strong enough to do just that.
They were at times up to a half a mile wide and at times going as far as 18 miles in length, skipping across the state, from the very border along the Mississippi, and then right through Dyer and in through here in Gibson County.
So far this year, we have seen over 300 tornadoes. That is three times what we saw at this time last year and five times what we average. So not even in the heart of tornado season, Heidi and John, and we're off to a very, very quick start.
COLLINS: Boy, it's discouraging, to say the least. And you bring us some really good questions about kind of, you know, what you should do and how you stay safe when these things come your way. So we're going to get to that here in just a moment.
Rob Marciano, thank you so much.
Joining us on the phone now, Kurt Pickering of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.
And Kurt, I know you were able to take an aerial tour today of the three hardest hit areas. How widespread exactly is the destruction?
KURT PICKERING, TENNESSEE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT (on the phone): Well, it's a very long footprint -- 25 miles is quite a ways for a tornado to stay on the ground. And it's wide.
The devastation was -- you know, I mean, I've seen this before, and it hits you again every time -- the way a tornado will destroy a home, just smithereen it, and right next door is a home that's barely scathed. Or you'll see a home with a roof partially ripped off, like right there. And yet, you know, right around the corner you'll see a roof that just has some shingles sucked off of the roof. It's funny how tornadoes do this stuff, but they are devastating animals.
COLLINS: Kurt, it's almost like an explosion. I mean, you look at these pictures now, and it almost looks like these houses have just sort of exploded into nothing.
PICKERING: You know, I always try to avoid the phrase "war zone," because it's such a cliche, but that's exactly what a tornado destruction really looks like. That's exactly what it looks like. You're absolutely right.
The silver lining here, though, Mr. Marciano's report, there's a silver lining. You know, we heard of people who knew what to do and went to the center of their homes and survived because of it. That's very good news.
And the bad news is, this is, as far as I've been able to find, the biggest one-day loss of life to a single weather event in at least 50 years, probably in modern history in Tennessee.
COLLINS: What do you think your biggest challenge is right now, Kurt? I mean, again, as we look at these pictures, it's hard to know where to start. But you did say that you have seen a little bit of this before so I'm hoping that you can give us an idea about where you'll begin in the morning.
PICKERING: Well, the situation right now is to shelter the folks that are homeless. That will, most of the time, be done by family and friends. The Red Cross will step in and help anyone else who needs it. Same way with food.
The rebuilding process really begins with -- well, I guess the first step is, are these people insured? And if they are, then they can talk with their agent. If not, that's where the government gets really involved.
Governor Bredesen has already asked for a federal disaster declaration for the two hardest hit counties of Dyer and Gibson.
COLLINS: Good.
PICKERING: And if that happens, the money will be a boom to getting things back to some semblance of normalcy.
COLLINS: All right, well, Kurt Pickering of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, thank you for your information tonight. We also want to get a better idea now of how tornadoes happen, when they happen, and what, in fact, you should do if you are facing one. Potentially lifesaving advice for you.
So, joining us now, Richard Okulski. He's a meteorologist and warning coordinator for the National Weather Service in Memphis.
Richard, you know, it seems very early for just a large outbreak of tornadoes like this. I'm hearing from our meteorologist, Rob Marciano, five times the average. Is there actually a season that tornadoes hit?
RICHARD OKULSKI, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE: There is a peak season from March to June. But in this part of the United States, it can happen any time of the year.
COLLINS: So then, how do we -- are you hearing me? Okay.
OKULSKI: Yes, I hear you.
COLLINS: Pardon me. We're having a few audio issues here, so I just want to make sure you can hear me all right. So then what do you do if you, you know, you can't really characterize a good time for it -- how do you prepare as a person who, you know, is used to these tornadoes coming to your area? We hear so many myths about what to do in the face of a tornado.
OKULSKI: Well, I'm a recent -- I moved from the Washington, D.C., area to Memphis in December. And what I provided for my family was an action plan. We have an interior bathroom at our home. We go into a room -- what I would say just for anybody, is to go into an interior room without any windows to -- preferably on the ground level, to protect yourself from a tornado that's in your area.
COLLINS: And then we also hear a little bit about tracking windows and maybe getting into a bathtub because of, you know what a bathtub is made of. It's pretty tough, obviously. Do we do any of that?
OKULSKI: I wouldn't worry about the windows. The tornado will take care of that. But as far as the bathtub, yes, I would recommend it. I was on a damage survey a month ago in Arkansas. And a gentleman survived a tornado that came close to his home by getting into a bathtub. He had glass shards that he had to be hospitalized for, but he did survive in his bathtub.
COLLINS: Wow. You know, as we look at these storm conditions outside, you know, I grew up in the Midwest myself. I remember the air getting green, very calm. We always hear about the sound of a train going through.
Is it too late by that time if you hear that train sort of sound? Is it too late?
OKULSKI: No. I would still try to get into an interior room or into a bathtub. Or if you have a basement, get to the basement. That's nature's warning sign that you just have a few minutes to seek shelter.
COLLINS: Hmm. All right. Well, Richard Okulski, we certainly appreciate your information tonight as well. Thanks so much.
OKULSKI: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Some terrifying warning sign.
COLLINS: No kidding, I know. I've heard it. I know.
ROBERTS: I can imagine what that's like.
Ahead on 360, a reporter goes inside the insurgency in Iraq to see how close to civil war the country really is. What he found might surprise you.
COLLINS: Also, former hostage Jill Carroll comes home to her family after defying the odds. But who is responsible for her release? We'll look into that.
ROBERTS: Plus, a problem "Hiding in Plain Sight," our alcohol series continues. Tonight we head to college campuses where drinking too often turns deadly. Coming up next on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN GRAPHIC)
Iraq War Casualties
U.S. Military Total: 2,342 Iraqi Civilian Total: 33,821 TO 37,943
(END GRAPHIC)
ROBERTS: Today those Iraq War casualty numbers climbed higher. The Pentagon reported that nine U.S. troops were killed in Iraq. They died in insurgent attacks in Anbar Province.
Also, this is the aftermath of a car bomb in Baghdad, one of two in this city today that killed at least 10 people and wounded dozens more.
The violence follows the surprise visit to Iraq by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She was there to apply some diplomatic pressure, urging the Iraqi leaders to stop fighting and create a unified government.
There's been a lot of talk lately about civil war in Iraq. But how do insurgents feel about it? That's what Michael Ware went to find out. The "TIME Magazine" Baghdad bureau chief spent time inside the insurgency. He was with both the Sunni and Shiite militias.
Michael Ware joins us now from Baghdad to talk about his trip behind enemy lines.
And Michael, we heard Former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi say a couple of weeks back, that the country was in the throes of a civil war. Obviously there might have been a political component to what he had to say. How are the insurgents actually feeling about it? Do they believe that they're in the throes of a civil war?
MICHAEL WARE, "TIME MAGAZINE" CORRESPONDENT: Well this is the strange thing, John. No, the insurgence and the Shiite militia commanders that I spoke to -- and I went to as many as I possibly could, say no, we are not yet in a civil war. They all admit that there are death squads roaming unchecked through the capitol, Baghdad, and beyond. They say that there is a high level of sectarian violence. Sunni killing Shia and Shia killing Sunni, yet they say this does not make a civil war.
And what the bulk of the insurgency and the bulk of the militias are saying is, we don't want civil war. It's not in their interests at this point.
And indeed, we're seeing ongoing cooperation between the Sunni and the Shia against what they say is the main focus. The main game is the common enemy, and that is the American military.
ROBERTS: Well, when they say it's not in our interests at this point to be involved in a civil war, it sounds like it's definitely something that they're thinking about.
WARE: Well, absolutely, John. I mean, all of these men, I said to them, well, if a civil war erupts, what will you do? Each one of them swore that we will be on the frontlines. So I've been speaking to the trigger pullers who will be manning the barricades, should a civil war erupt.
Yet one of the other interesting things about this is the assessment from these men matches precisely the assessment of U.S. military intelligence here in Iraq.
U.S. military intelligence believes it's the extremists on both ends who are trying to drag the middle ground into this conflict. And that was reflected by these insurgent and militia commanders.
ROBERTS: You know, Michael, a lot of this sounds like a real game of semantics. They say that they're not in a civil war, they don't want a civil war. But as you said, there are these death squads roaming around unchecked. There were certainly an awful lot of insurgent attacks, not only against U.S. forces, but against Sunnis and Shiites. I mean, is there not some sort of low level civil war going on right now?
WARE: Well, personally, John, yes, I believe there is. It's my opinion that there's been an undeclared or low-boil civil war here for well over a year.
Now, there was one insurgent commander who agreed with that view. He said that with the level of deaths, it's clear that there is a pattern that is emerging of an eradication of Iraqi Sunnis.
Now, that may be extreme. Yet nonetheless, U.S. military officials do confirm that there are as many as 25 bodies showing up every morning in Baghdad alone. Former Prime Minister Allawi, America's chief political ally in this country, says there's as many as 50 or 60 showing up a day.
So the questions about what makes a civil war, how many people need to die, and for what reason? What these insurgent commanders are saying, however, I think, is that, well, that is not at the moment our principal focus. And we have not yet taken to the front lines along the sectarian divide, but we do have the death squads out there clearing things up and probing.
ROBERTS: Yes, well certainly, Michael Ware, if there was some form of ethnic cleansing going on, even at the lowest levels, I mean, that would be an indication that something bad is definitely going on there.
Thanks very much for joining us. We appreciate you being with us, as always. Michael Ware, from Baghdad "TIME Magazine" bureau chief there -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Former hostage Jill Carroll was welcomed home today -- a happy ending after three months in captivity. But why exactly was she freed? Coming up, the very latest on that.
ROBERTS: And a night of drinking leads to tragedy for two college students. They end up drowning. It's a story that's more common than you might think, when 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, everyone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: After three months in captivity, Journalist Jill Carroll is back home. And today she went back to the office. Carroll was freelancing for the "Christian Science Monitor," when she was taken hostage in January. During her captivity, the newspaper made her a staff reporter.
CNN's Allan Chernoff has more on today's joyful reunion.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The joyful family reunion, videotaped by Jill Carroll's dad, Jim.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, everyone.
CHERNOFF: Monday, a celebration of freedom in the newsroom of the "Christian Science Monitor." Former hostage Jill Carroll thanked her colleagues for working to get her released.
JILL CARROLL, FREELANCE JOURNALIST: I just want to say how much -- I'm overwhelmed by how wonderful the paper has been, to my family and to everyone.
CHERNOFF: The "Christian Science Monitor," which put Freelancer Jill Carroll on its fulltime staff after her kidnapping, lobbied governments around the globe to gain her release.
Though it's not clear what did the trick, "Monitor" editors say high-level U.S. officials, including FBI Director Robert Mueller, were involved, as were foreign governments. Even Arabic groups like Hamas, and Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, no friends of the U.S., pushed for release of the American journalist.
The kidnappers' demand for the U.S. to release all female Iraqi prisoners was not met. But Arabic Diplomacy Expert Richard Schultz, believes it was pressure from within the Iraqi government that finally freed Carroll.
RICHARD SCHULTZ, ARABIC DIPLOMACY EXPERT: You have people who were elected for the new parliament who were Sunnis who have connections to the insurgency. Well, their connections to the insurgency can be avenues for trying to get someone like her released.
CHERNOFF: Carroll has told the "Monitor" the kidnappers thought she was Jewish. She convinced them she's Christian by repeating the Lord's Prayer and telling them stories from the New Testament. Still, she says, they tried to convert her to Islam.
(On camera): She also told the "Monitor" during her 82 days of captivity, she was moved a few times, was isolated in a dark room where she couldn't see outside, and only once was permitted to watch television and read a newspaper. To exercise, she walked around her room, which she said was eight paces wide, and she did squats. And to avoid boredom, she sang.
(Voice-over): After just a few days of freedom the "Christian Science Monitor" says Jill is not ready to speak to the general media.
JACK LEVIN, PROFESSOR, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: It is an extremely important thing for someone who's been tortured for 82 days, psychologically perhaps, but tortured, nonetheless, to get that kind of private time with her family and her friends, to restore her psyche. It has been profoundly injured. And now this is a way to give her the time to heal.
CHERNOFF (on camera): And to relive it so quickly afterwards could be traumatic again.
LEVIN: It's very possible that holding a press conference, which would be a good thing to do in terms of public relations, would actually be a horrible thing because it requires that she actually relive the terrible times that she had for those 82 days.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Jill Carroll needs time to move forward and time to enjoy her newly-found freedom.
Allan Chernoff, CNN, Boston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: In another twist to this story, or the back story, actually, Jill Carroll worked at the "Wall Street Journal" when Daniel Pearl was captured and killed in Pakistan. Jill's father said that Pearl was often on her mind while she was a prisoner.
COLLINS: I bet he was.
Ahead on 360, drinking and drowning. It's not a game. It's a deadly mistake, happening on college campuses nationwide. Good kids dying after one bad night. Who's responsible for that?
ROBERTS: And a new approach to the battle against alcohol at some schools -- Sober housing reserved for students in recovery. Both reports tonight, part of our special series on alcohol and alcoholism, "Hiding in Plain Sight." When 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Tonight we continue our special series, the problems associated with alcohol, "Hiding in Plain Sight."
In the Midwest where lakes and rivers make up a large part of the landscape, college students are drinking, getting drunk, then stumbling into the night and drowning.
With one family's heartache, here's CNN's Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What was supposed to be an early night for Patrick Kycia, turned out to be his last night.
The Minnesota State University sophomore had a test the next morning, but made a quick stop at a fraternity party. Kycia never made it home. For some mysterious reason, he ended up dead in the Red River.
(On camera): What did it feel like when you were told that they had found him in the river?
ROSE FOLEY, PATRICK KYCIA'S MOM: It felt like somebody punched me in the chest. I remember sitting down on the ground because we were searching the riverbanks with a group of people, and just -- just being numb.
KAYE (voice-over): No signs of foul play, no trauma to the body. So how and why, Rose Foley wonders, did her son die?
FOLEY: You feel for the parents, and you think, oh, it must be awful to go through. But you don't -- you don't realize how truly torturous it is to go through. You don't really think it could happen to you. Not my son. Not my kids, you know, it's always somebody else's kids that it happens to.
KAYE (on camera): Sometime after midnight, investigators say Kycia left the party and started to make his way home. He only had about six blocks to go. But after three blocks, investigators say he turned in here up this driveway, then stopped. A homeowner found his wallet back there and evidence he had vomited.
(Voice-over): But it appears Kycia kept going. About 4:00 a.m., a janitor spotted an intoxicated student matching Kycia's description, pulling on the doors of this building.
Sometime after that, Kycia called his roommate.
RICKY SAYARATH, PATRICK KYCIA'S ROOMMATE: Hung up, you know, called him back right away, no answer. We all tried again. No answer. KAYE: Then it appears he left campus, crossed a busy highway and two railroad tracks, before reaching the river. Remember, he had been just six blocks from home when he started out, but ended up two miles away.
(On camera): How do you explain to yourself that your son, just three blocks from home, somehow ended up two miles from home in the other direction in the Red River?
JULIAN KYCIA, PATRICK KYCIA'S DAD: I don't explain it because I -- I wish I had answers. I wish I had what was going through his head, what was going on, you know, at that party.
KAYE (voice-over): Their son would be missing four days before the mystery was over. But early on, they came across a stunning surprise. At the party, their son had been drinking heavily. At 6'3", 220 pounds, it took a lot to get Kycia drunk.
FOLEY: I mean, we were going A plus B equals D. We know he went to a frat party. We know he drank. We know he ended up in the river. We don't know the middle part. And to me, there's got to be a middle part.
KAYE: Witnesses from the party told police Kycia was doing shots and drinking from a whiskey bottle. He was drunk and dazed. For days, search teams roamed the area.
FOLEY: It was clearly the most difficult four days I've ever spent in my life. And you don't want to think about what might have happened. But the whole time you're trying not to think about it, you're looking in dumpsters and you're searching riverbanks.
SHANNON MONROE, SERGEANT, MOORHEAD POLICE: You see that little bit of stump or whatever sticking up?
KAYE: Yes.
MONROE: It'd be right in that area there, where his footprints were at.
KAYE: So he would have entered there at those trees?
MONROE: He entered right there.
KAYE: Moorhead Police Sergeant Shannon Monroe remembers the break in the Kycia case. This New Balance sneaker, Kycia's sneaker, was spotted floating on the Red River. His body wasn't far away. Julian Kycia ID'd his son.
KYCIA: It's not a really nice scene in a body bag. You felt like you wanted to almost crawl right next to him and hug him, lay down next to him for the last time.
KAYE: Deaths like Patrick Kycia's are not officially tracked. But they are not uncommon. College campuses coast to coast report similar deaths.
In Minnesota and western Wisconsin alone, at least a dozen college students in the last decade have drowned after walking away from a party or a bar.
St. Cloud State Junior Scot Radel, pulled from the Mississippi River. Michael Noll, from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, discovered in this ice covered lake. University of Minnesota Senior Christopher Jenkins, recovered from the Mississippi River, still dressed in the Halloween costume he disappeared in. And St. Johns University Student Josh Guimond, whose body still hasn't been found three years later.
Why are college kids disappearing and dying in this part of the country?
LISA JACK, PSYCHOLOGIST: There is water everywhere. Land of 10,000 lakes.
KAYE: While most alcohol related deaths of college students occur in car crashes, Teen Alcohol Expert Lisa Jack says the landscape in this part of the country offers an added danger.
Also, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more binge drinking takes place in the Upper Midwest than in any other part of the country.
Combine binging with college campuses and open water, and the result can be deadly.
JACK: You may think in your impaired judgment that you can walk across the water, and in fact, you can't because it's not ice.
KAYE: When Patrick Kycia's body was recovered, his blood-alcohol measured .17, more than twice the legal limit. Until then, his family thought at most their son had an occasional drink.
FOLEY: It took about six to eight weeks probably before the drowning nightmares stopped, where I felt like I was drowning, almost every night, wake up gagging.
KAYE: The lingering questions make the pain unbearable.
FOLEY: Just if I could have one more hug from him. That would be -- that would be wonderful.
KAYE: Just one more hug.
FOLEY: It does happen. It happens to good kids, really good kids. And it only takes one bad night.
KAYE: A hug and another chance to teach her son that teenagers are not invincible.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Moorhead, Minnesota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: On some other college campuses, though, along with the frat houses, there's sober housing, reserved for students who have quit drinking.
Coming up, a student shares how it's helping her. Part of our special series on the problems with alcohol, "Hiding in Plain Sight."
ROBERTS: Plus, feeling tired because of the switch to Daylight Saving Time? See how some workers battled back, thanks to National Napping Day, when 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: On college campuses nationwide, fraternity and sorority houses are known for wild drinking parties. But at some schools, you might be surprised to know there are also sober houses helping students stay away from the bottle.
Again, here's CNN's Randi Kaye, as we continue our special series on the problems with alcohol, "Hiding in Plain Sight."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: It's a typical weekend for Niki Angst and her friends at the University of Minnesota.
NIKI ANGST, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA SENIOR: My friends and I usually go out, the most, five times a week. But at least three -- three to five.
KAYE: Before heading out to the bard, they get together to drink at a friend's.
ANGST: I think personally that drinking revolves around sex.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a lot of drinking.
ANGST: And in college you have your own place to go to. I don't know, it's just a lot easier to be yourself.
KAYE: This way of thinking has some experts worried. Recent studies suggest about 40 percent of all college students have taken part in binge drinking.
The temptation to do so is everywhere on campus. Two for one specials, penny beer, power hours.
JACK: Have you heard of the power drinking that's going on? You turn 21 years old, and in that power hour, if you can have 21 shots, you're cool. You are the coolest guy on campus.
KAYE: But not everyone thinks it's cool. Samantha Wiegand turned 21 without a drop of alcohol.
SAMANTHA WIEGAND, COLLEGE STUDENT, RECOVERING ALCOHOLIC: And I would cry myself to sleep every night. I felt so bad and so guilty for all of the things that I was doing to get high.
KAYE: Samantha says she started drinking when she was in junior high.
(On camera): Who first introduced you to alcohol?
WIEGAND: Nobody, really. It was just, I think, me and my cousins all got together and decided to have a beer. You know, it was as basic as that.
KAYE (voice-over): Samantha drank to fit in. WIEGAND: I always had a hard time socially with people when I was younger. I found that drugs and alcohol and everything pushed me in the social path that I needed.
KAYE (on camera): How bad did it get and how quickly?
WIEGAND: It got bad pretty bad pretty quickly.
KAYE: From alcohol, Samantha says she moved on to speed, marijuana, mushrooms and meth.
WIEGAND: I would wake up in the morning, and if I wasn't high or drunk, that was something I would be needing to do because I would just need to function during the day. I had no self-control whatsoever. If I got angry -- I do remember one time in school I got angry over something. I slammed my head into a locker and repeatedly kept doing it.
KAYE (voice-over): Blacking out and waking up in strangers' homes were common occurrences.
So was there a low point for you where you finally said, I got to clean up?
WIEGAND: Yes. I would come home every night and I'd look at myself in the mirror and be like I'm not going to do this tomorrow. I'm not going to get drunk tomorrow.
KAYE: Eventually, Samantha's mother intervened. She entered a drug and alcohol treatment program.
WIEGAND: One of my counselors looked at me, and he said, you're going to die. If you don't quit, you're going to die. And it was true. It was like maybe, you know, it would have taken a few more years to die physically, but mentally, I was -- and emotionally, I was dead.
KAYE: By 16, Samantha says she was clean and sober, but worried going to college would land her right back in trouble.
(On camera): How concerned were you about coming to a college and falling right back into it and getting mixed up with kids in college who drink?
WIEGAND: I was terrified that I would get back involved with that stuff and just kind of say screw it to everything I had worked so hard for.
KAYE (voice-over): Then Samantha learned about an unusual program at Augsburg College in Minneapolis.
Augsburg is one of a handful of schools in the U.S. that offers sober housing and support for students in recovery. Fifty-three students are currently part of the step-up program. They live in housing reserved for students in recovery. The students must be sober six months to get in, then meet with counselors and attend support groups weekly. They also sign an agreement they'll live drug and alcohol free. Step-up's director boasts a success rate of 83 percent.
WIEGAND: It's very liberating almost to have somebody who understands what you're going through when you do have urges.
KAYE: According to the government, approximately 430,000 teenagers go into rehab each year. Lisa Jack says sober houses make sense.
JACK: How can you take kids and say, here, we want you to stop drinking. We want you to stop doing drugs and we want you to get an education. Here, we're going to put you right back into the same environment where you got the drugs to begin with. We would never do that with an adult and yet we expect these kids, who are still going through all the physiological issues to somehow be able to cope with that? It's crazy.
KAYE: Samantha wishes more kids her age would quit drinking. So much so she plans to open her own treatment center.
Do you like who you are today?
WIEGAND: I love who I am today and I probably wouldn't be here if I was still using.
KAYE: Wisdom from a student who's received an education too many fellow students never will.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Coming up, napping on company time. Sound too good to be true? We'll talk about the boss that says it's one of the best things that he's done for his business. I like this guy.
But right now, Erica Hill, with the eyes open from "HEADLINE NEWS" joining us now...
ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wide open. I hope our bosses are listing to the napping, Heidi...
COLLINS: I do too. I think they are.
HILL: OK, good. All right, on to your business headlines.
Two big American automakers saw a dip in sales last month, as customers turned to Japanese brands. General Motors' sales dropped nearly 15 percent, Ford's were down 4.5 percent. DaimlerChrysler was the only U.S. brand to increase its sales, up 2 percent. Meantime, Japanese automaker Toyota posted its best ever sales during the same period.
Baseball fans, you're going to be asked to dig a little deeper into those pockets this season. A recent survey shows the average ticket price is up nearly 5.5 percent. The average price, now, for a major league game, $22.21. No beer or hot dogs included. And getting the latest Hollywood DVDs could become a little easier. Most of the big studios have completed a deal which would allow computer downloads on the same day the DVDs go on sale. But here's the catch. You won't be able to burn those movies to a disc to watch on a regular DVD player. You could, though -- they will be able to make backups so they could play on the computer. The downloads are expected to cost between $20 and $30 a pop, Heidi. New way to get your movies.
COLLINS: All right, so do you get the DVD or the really expensive baseball ticket? I'm not sure.
COLLINS: Yes, good question. Go baseball.
COLLINS: Yes, I think so, too.
Erica, thank you.
And now a correction. In a story about kitchen germs that aired on 360 last week, viewers were advised to allow food to cool before putting it into the refrigerator. In fact, that is the wrong thing to do. Food allowed to cool before refrigeration runs a greatly increased risk of bacterial contamination. In fact, the USDA and other food safety experts recommend refrigerating food as rapidly as possible. CNN regrets the error.
ROBERTS: You didn't make that mistake?
COLLINS: I did not, but you know, I'm a team player.
ROBERTS: No, you wouldn't have made that mistake.
COLLINS: I'm a team refrigerator.
ROBERTS: Good. Well, good advice to impart.
COLLINS: Yes.
ROBERTS: Imagine a job where daydreaming is all part of the work.
COLLINS: We're going to show you the company where employees take naps at the office, to the delight of their boss, 360, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Thanks to Daylight Saving Time, we all lost an hour of sleep over the weekend. Today, we had the chance to make it up. You probably didn't know it, but this, yes, this, was National Nap Day. Sounds funny, but experts say a few extra Z's can make a world of difference, even if it means sleeping at work.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS (voice-over): Like any working parent with young kids, Tim Regan does a double shift. He's sleep-deprived Daddy at home, but the employee who must stay alert on the job. To cope? Tim flips the light and heads for the couch and sacks out -- at the office.
RIM REGAN, YARDE METALS: When you have an opportunity to just recharge your batteries for even 20 minutes, it's absolutely much better than having to try to make it through the day like a zombie.
COLLINS: Tim and his colleagues aren't slackers, snoozing behind the boss's back. Yarde Metals, a privately owned distributor of aluminum and steel products wants its employees to nap.
TRACY YARDE SMITH, PRESIDENT, YARDE METALS: You know, we're not napping on the job. We're napping at the job.
LINDA EISENSTEIN, YARDE METALS: Out of the way, going to the nap room.
COLLINS: Yarde Metals has a designated nap room.
EISENSTEIN: Oh, great.
COLLINS: And for employees like Linda Eisenstein, there's no shame in grabbing her pink pillow and using it.
YARDE SMITH: We say, you know, use it at your leisure, use it at your break time, at your lunchtime, any time that you feel like you need a break, and just let your supervisor know. And we trust you.
COLLINS (on camera): In a highly competitive newsroom environment, we wouldn't be caught dead napping on the job. But some sleep studies have shown after a nap, employees do have an improved memory, motor skills, and even muscular precision.
(Voice-over): Proof positive? Cyclist Lance Armstrong, a devoted napper. Even former presidents take five. The trick, say sleep experts, is to keep it short and refreshing so you're not drowsy in the afternoon and sleepless at night.
DR. MARC SCHOLSBERG, NEUROLOGIST: The ideal nap would be after lunch, maybe 1:00 or 2:00, and it shouldn't be more than 20 minutes.
COLLINS: Yarde Metal executives claim napping has not only perked up productivity, but loyalty as well.
EISENSTEIN: It's great. It's fantastic. That's why I've been here forever. They really care. And in return, we care.
COLLINS: In fact, the only thing employees like sleepy new dad Tim Regan don't like? Competition for the couch.
REGAN: If you go into the nap room and there's a tag on the door, you know, "do not disturb," darn! You know, I was going to nap today.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS (on camera): You don't need a nap room at work to make napping work for you, though. Sleep experts say you can just use your office or borrow an office.
ROBERTS: Closet?
COLLINS: Turn off the cell phone.
Yes, anything -- and relax for 20 minutes.
ROBERTS: All right.
COLLINS: I don't know, I don't think it would fly.
ROBERTS: Make sure you've got a napping policy at work, though, before you try this.
COLLINS: Yes. Yes, so you don't get in trouble.
ROBERTS: Interesting story.
Our reports on college drinking are "On the Radar" tonight, people weighing in on the blog.
From Caleb in Cleveland, Tennessee, "A buddy system works well. Have someone have your back, take somewhat of the role a DD has except without having to drive. Responsibility lies among students, who are adults."
Says Erica in Jamaica Estates, "I do not understand the need to drink. Why drink? I am 55 years old and have never used alcohol or drugs, yet I lived through the 1970's, and you must know what that was like."
Maybe, Erica. Maybe.
And this from Jennifer in Dallas. She writes, "We need to stop glamorizing the college experience by depicting it in movies and television as a big party filled with debauchery. Some people feel that they are entitled to have this 'Animal House' experience even if it is detrimental to themselves and others."
And more of 360 in a moment. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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