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CNN Live Saturday

Interview Terry Gaiser; Interview Deborah Natansohn

Aired November 05, 2005 - 18:00   ET

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

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: It looks pretty now, but pirates attacked a luxury cruise ship. Sounds like a scene from a movie, but imagine living through it? The story and the captain's escape tale, straight ahead.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Keith Oppenheim in Houston. Charles Victor Thompson is someone a lot of folks in Texas hope will be behind bars soon. The story of a how a death row convict sprung out of jail is coming up.

LIN: And these are the faces of desperation. Thousands who survived the Pakistan earthquake now face the ravages of winter. Is there any reason for hope? A report from the region straight ahead.

It is November 5. And you're watching CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

From the CNN center in Atlanta. I'm Carol Lin. To our top story in just a moment. But first, these are the stories making news right now.

Hello Brazil. The summit of the Americas behind him, President Bush is taking a round-about route back home. It's one night in Brasilia and then Panama on Monday.

Two years' house arrest, that's for a Florida schoolteacher who left the scene of an accident in which two young boys were killed. Jennifer Porter pleaded guilty. The victims were black. And some say Porter's punishment is too light because she is white.

And a warm San Francisco welcome for Charles and Camilla. The royals are wrapping up their U.S. tour of the West Coast.

Those are the headlines. And this is our top story.

It is a manhunt as big as Texas. A convicted killer is on the lamb this evening. Day three. He is Charles Victor Thompson. Thirty-five-years-old. And sent to death row for capital murder. You will not believe how he managed to escape from jail. Police are so embarrassed. And many people are worried. In fact, fearing for their lives.

CNN's Keith Oppenheim in Houston tonight. Keith, so many people shocked that this guy managed to get out of prison, out of his handcuffs and hit the street?

OPPENHEIM: Yes. He probably had a combination of luck as well as planning and manipulation. There is a $10,000 reward from police. They want information leading to the capture of Charles Victor Thompson. And they are following tips at this hour.

He is considered very dangerous. And keep in mind, Charles Victor Thompson was convicted in 1998 of murdering his ex-girlfriend, Denise Hayslip, as well was her boyfriend, Darryn Cane.

He was brought to jail -- back to jail, because a Texas appeals court had ruled that he should be granted a resentencing hearing. In fact, just a little bit more than a week along a jury once again had condemned him to death. But police say he took the clothes that he was using for the courtroom, smuggled them into an attorney inmate room. It's sort of a booth that's used for lawyers and their inmates. And he actually did meet with his lawyer on Thursday afternoon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. JOHN MARTIN, HARRIS COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT: He got out of his inmate's jumpsuit the orange clothing that you wear, changed into civilian clothing. He was handcuffed when he was taken into the attorney booth and apparently was able to get out of the handcuffs. We do not know if he had a key or if he just slipped the cuffs off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OPPENHEIM: Police are investigating whether or not he may have had help on the inside. So far they say there's no evidence to that. But the incredible part of the story, Carol, is that once he leaves that room with the lawyer, or after he changes his clothes, then he goes to a security check checkpoint. He poses an investigator from the attorney general's office. Apparently is pretty convincing. And he is taken from the secure part of the jail to the lobby. And while they are apparently verifying his story that he is who they think he is, or they're trying to figure out who she, he walks out the front door.

Back to you.

LIN: All right. Thanks very much.

Well, Thompson's most recent attorney is Terry Gaiser who joins me now by telephone.

Mr. Gaiser, were you the last person to see Charles Victor Thompson behind bars?

TERRY GAISER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Oh, no. I'm not the lawyer that saw him in jail on Thursday. The last time I saw Charles was a week ago Friday.

LIN: OK. You know this man. I mean, how did he get out? Who helped him?

GAISER: Oh, Mr. Thompson is a charming, articulate, well-spoken young man. And he's very intelligent. I'm sure he's capable of doing all of this on his own without any help from anyone.

LIN: How did he figure out the system? How to get out? GAISER: Well, he's been in the Harris County Jail since May. And, of course, he's been incarcerated in Harris County back in 1998- 99 when he had his first trial. So I'm sure he knew all of the procedures, having been in there for the length of time that he was.

LIN: Do you think he made friends with the deputies, the people who'd be watching him?

GAISER: Well, he's the kind of guy who makes friends wherever he goes. All his life he's been described as being a charming fellow. So, it wouldn't surprise me if he did make friends with the deputies.

LIN: So, how long do you think he might have been planning this escape?

GAISER: Oh, there's no telling. That would be pure speculation on my part.

LIN: What do you think the chances are that somebody on the inside helped him?

GAISER: Well, what I'm informed of, it's becoming less and less likely that someone on the inside was actually involved with helping him. It just sounds like a -- a series of human errors that resulted in his being released.

LIN: And he could actually make a convincing case to the deputies, in, you know, at the control center that he was an inspector from the state?

GAISER: Well, apparently he had some sort of an I.D. badge from the attorney general's office.

LIN: Uh-huh. A fake one. But they didn't even bother too look that close it seems, because he walked right out.

So is this the kind of man who is going to kill again?

GAISER: I don't believe that Charles is going to kill anybody again. He's dangerous, obviously, if placed in a desperate situation. But as far as the families of the victims or witnesses...

LIN: Why wouldn't he go after them? I mean, apparently he was keeping a list of people, a hit list?

GAISER: Oh, that was seven years ago that he was found with a list of witnesses in the case. He's been incarcerated for seven years, and hasn't even had a disciplinary report filed against him.

LIN: So, where's he going to go?

GAISER: I have no idea.

LIN: Is this the kind of guy who would head for the border? Could he survive in Mexico?

GAISER: I think he could easily. I think he could live by his wits, obviously.

LIN: So, he's smart enough, but he's also experienced enough, to be able to live on the run?

GAISER: I don't know. If he's able to live on the run or not. There's a nationwide manhunt. And I spoke to a federal marshal earlier today and they had some indications of where he might be.

LIN: Terry, Terry, if he's watching, do you want to tell him something?

GAISER: Well, you know, I think he can almost see the end to this as we sit here now, and it's not a good end. And I hope that however it ends, it's not a violent ending.

LIN: You're warning him that he could die out there, if he doesn't give himself up?

GAISER: Absolutely.

LIN: Terry Gaiser, I hope he's caught very soon. A lot of people are very worried and very scared right now.

GAISER: Thank you very much.

LIN: Terry Gaiser.

On the CNN "Security Watch," one of three men charged with terror offenses yesterday in Britain had images of the U.S. Capitol and other sites on his home computer. So how are Capitol Police responding? Let's join CNN's Gary Nurenberg in Washington. Gary, does it look like there's an imminent plan to attack?

GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's the mystery. Here's the mystery as posed to CNN by an American counterterrorism official. Quote, "It's hard to know if this was terrorist bravado or a real threat."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NURENBERG (voice-over): American officials aren't downplaying the danger to the United States posed by the three men arrested in London on charges including conspiracy and violating the British terrorism act. Investigators say searches of the suspect's homes uncovered directions for making rocket propellant and car bombs. Police also found papers including the phrase in Arabic, "welcome to jihad and hospital equals attack."

Investigators say one suspect had a video slide of sites in Washington including, a senior FBI official says, locations near the United States Capitol.

MAYOR ANTHONY WILLIAMS, WASHINGTON D.C.: You know, I've felt all along and I've discussed with my people all along that we are a target area, we are a risk area. NURENBERG: Intelligence tips of possible attacks caused Baltimore authorities to briefly close a major tunnel and New York to increase security the subway system. Those tips were later deemed to be unreliable. The evidence in London has not caused a similar reaction in Washington.

WILLIAMS: Obviously, if there's some indication both from our own evaluation of material or evidence or certainly a consultation with the federal government that leads us to do otherwise, we're going to take the side of caution and do whatever's necessary.

NURENBERG: Police chief Terrence Gaynor says I don't think anyone should worry about this. But terrorism expert Neil Livingstone says the investigation is still in its early stages.

NEIL LIVINGSTONE, TERRORISM ANALYST: They're looking at their cell phone records. They're looking at their travel records. They're looking to see if they have lockers someplace where they might have stored some type of weapons or explosives. Do they have plans to come to the United States? All of these things are being examined right now to see if these are just fantacicists or whether they really had the capacity to carry out some kind of attack.

NURENBERG: Investigators hope to know more by the time the men return to court on November 18th, whether in the words of one counterterrorism official in the United States, this was terrorist bravado or a real threat.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NURENBERG: The bottom line at this point in the weekend, FBI assistant director John Miller tells CNN, quote, there is no credible indication of any imminent threat -- Carol.

LIN: All right. That we want to believe. Gary, thank you so much.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

We want to give you the latest now on what U.S. military officials are making progress in Operation Steel Curtain along the Iraqi/Syrian border. U.S. and Iraqi forces are trying to stop insurgents and weapons from coming in to Iraq. A marine commander spoke with CNN's Tony Harris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DALE AFFORD, U.S. MARINES: Been 100 percent urban fighting. We're in a city with lots of buildings and the streets are very narrow, and the marines are moving from house to house.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Give us a sense of has you've been up against. We understand you've been able to locate and disarm a lot of those improvised explosive devices? AFFORD: Yes. We've had these few vehicle borne I.E.D.s that we've destroyed. We've had insurgents that were held up in both schools and mosques we had to clean...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Our international desk says that these soldiers have been under constant firefight all day long. U.S. commanders say dozens of insurgents are dead.

And we're following another story on the front lines. A mother's fight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If this could help somebody else, it's going to be worth my fight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: She is talking about her son's final victory. It is a story of service and citizenship.

Plus, a summit surrounded by protest. And but back in Washington, questions regarding the ethics of President Bush's staff continue.

And terror on the high seas. Pirates try to overtake a luxury cruise liner. It sounds like fiction, but for passengers, it was all too real.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Well, it sounds like something out of a history book, or even an old movie, but it was not. A cruise ship came under attack by pirates off the coast of Africa. CNN's Fredricka Whitfield has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The Seabourn Spirit was sailing from Alexandria Egypt to Mombasa, Kenya on a routine pleasure cruise. Early Saturday, about 70 miles off the coast of Somalia, Seabourn's president says at least two small pirate boats raced towards the ship with guns blazing. A passenger explains what happened next.

MIKE ROGERS, PASSENGER: The captain tried to run one of the boats over. But they were small boats, about 25 feet long, each one had four or five people in it. And he said he was going to do anything to stop them getting on board.

WHITFIELD: The president of the cruise line spoke about the incident with CNN.

DEBORAH NATANSOHN, SEABOURN CRUISE LINES: There was a rocket propelled grenade as well as machine guns, and our captain did a terrific job taking responsive action. The boats were armed did not succeed in boarding our ship and eventually turned away.

WHITFIELD: A violent attack on a cruise liner is rare, but piracy is not. The Indian Ocean off the African coast is among the most dangerous. Maritime officials in London report more than two dozen pirate attacks off Somalia since March, including attacks against two ships used by the World Food Program.

Just days ago, the United Nations lamented that piracy had jeopardized emergency food shipments to a half million people in the region. This time, however, the pirates failed. Spirit eventually outran the pirates and no one onboard was hurt.

Spirit is now headed to the Seychelles Islands.

Fredricka Whitfield, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Deborah Natansohn is the president of Seabourn Cruise lines. She is on the phone with me right now from Miami.

Ms. Natansohn, this is a fascinating story, because when you say pirate attack, it raising all kinds of questions. What did the captain and the crew specifically do to save the passengers? How did they get away?

NATANSOHN (via telephone): Well you know, the cruise industry has a lot of well-established security procedures and protocolS. And in this instance, we're very pleased THAT the security procedures in place worked. They immediately instituted emergency response system.

lin: What is that? What is that? What did they do? Did they gun it? Did they fire back? Did they throw things off the side of the ship?

NATANSOHN: Well, naturally, we don't want to reveal all of our security measures.

LIN: You've got togive us something. Because you know what, these guys are heroes. These guys are heroes. And I want our audience to know what was at stake when the captain was making those decisions.

NATANSOHN: Well, first thing we did was gather all the passengers, and asked them to move to the dining room, which is on a lower deck and away from the open decks, so that the passengers were safe.

And then we have various measures, everything from water cannons to audio frequencies that cause severe pain to the perpetrators.

LIN: All right!

NATANSOHN: And there were also, you know just very smart ship maneuvering by the captain to get away, and basically leave the aggressors in the ship's wake.

LIN: Because paint the scene for us. I mean, you were talking about machine gunfire, rocket propelled launchers and grenades?

NATANSOHN: Well, you know, this was not Johnny Depp type of pirates. I mean, these are criminals. And they're obviously sought to board the ship, but fortunately our measures kept them from doing so.

LIN: Do you have any idea what they were doing to go once they boarded?

NATANSOHN: No. We don't really know who was responsible for this. But, you know, it's most common for them to want to gain money. It's all about cash.

LIN: All right. This is, I mean, a beautiful ship. And these people paid top dollar. How much does a cruise like this cost?

NATANSOHN: To sail on a seaborn ship costs approximately $5,000 a week.

LIN: So is it fair to say that these passengers might get a refund?

NATANSOHN: Oh, yes. We'll take good care of our passengers.

LIN: I think they deserve it as well as a stiff drink. Ms. Natansohn, thank you very much for joining us.

NATANSOHN: You're very welcome.

LIN: Hats off to the crew. And listen, if you get any great pictures or any of the passengers or crew, would you let us know because we want to put them on the air.

NATANSOHN: OK. We will.

LIN: Appreciate it.

NATANSOHN: Thank you.

LIN: All right. In our "World Wrap" tonight.

Bill Clinton on Israeli television says if Hillary's elected president, she's probably going to do a better job than they.

And fire breaks out at Malaysia's best known landmark, twin 1400 foot buildings. It sent hundreds fleeing from a third story cinema, but there's no word yet of serious injuries.

And parades and fireworks and bonfire marked Guy Fox Day in England. It is the 400 anniversary of the gunpowder plot, a failed attempt to blow up Parliament.

Foreign born service members serving in the U.S. military, trying to become citizens. We are going to bring you one soldier's incredible story, next.

And the riots in France are continuing right now. We are going to look at why so many people are taking to the streets.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: This just in -- you are looking as investigators are lifting an SUV out of the water in Tampa, Florida. This SUV had a blowout on a bridge. It actually ended up in the water. We're glad to report two adults and a teenager escaped. There was a boat going by, and people on that boat jumped in the water to join in on the rescue. They managed to rescue a child, we don't know how old or if it's a boy or girl, but this child is now in critical condition.

We are going to bring you the latest on this developing story as soon as we get it. But obviously, some very brave people coming to the help of these people in this SUV that managed to survive a blowout on a bridge and ended up in the water.

Now, every week we like to bring you the more personal stories from the front lines in Iraq. And today, Brian Todd has the story of a soldier who in death achieved the one thing he fought so hard for in life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Laid to rest with full military honors -- the very symbol of American sacrifice. Kendall Frederic made that sacrifice. And according to his family, literally died trying to become an American.

MICHELLE MURPHY, SON KILLED IN IRAQ: I got a letter from his commander stating that's the only reason he was on that convoy is because he was on his way to do -- again, trying to become an American citizen.

TODD: Michelle Murphy says her son, a native of Trinidad, had applied for U.S. citizenship while serving with an army engineering unit in Iraq. The family says there was a problem getting his fingerprints processed. So on October 19, Kendall Frederic joined a convoy so he could submit his fingerprints at another location. He never got there.

(on camera): Killed by a roadside bomb near Tikrit, Kendell Frederic join more than 60 other non-U.S. citizens who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan while serving in the U.S. military.

(voice-over): At his funeral, Frederic finally got what he wanted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your son made the ultimate sacrifice for America. It is only fiting that we bestow on him our national ultimate honor: citizenship.

TODD: But his mother is frustrated with the red tape which she says led to her son being on the convoy that day. Contacted by CNN, officials at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration services say they've streamlined the process over the past year, introducing new rules to allow service members to take their oath of citizenship overseas.

But CIS officials say applicants still have to take certain tests and be fingerprinted. We asked why fingerprints are necessary, given the fact that all service members submit fingerprints to the government when they enlist.

CHRIS BENT, CITIZENSHIP & IMMIGRATION SERVICES: Our responsibility is different from the responsibility of the Department of Defense. We have to ensure that the individual who is asking for a benefit from our agency is eligible to receive that benefit. And the way that we can do that, one of the many ways that we do it, is we have fingerprints that we check against the FBI databases.

TODD: But we found out the fingerprints submitted when a service member enlists are also checked against the FBI database. It's that kind of repetion Michelle Murphy wants to eliminate. She's pushing for a new law that were allow service member whose want it to be automatically granted citizenship when they enlist.

MURPHY: IF this can help somebody else, it's going to be worth my fight.

TODD: Brian Todd, CNN, at Arlington National Cemetery.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Well, little boys on the missions of men. These are just some of the faces that tell the story of the deadly earthquake in Pakistan. Their heartbreaking story of survival is far from over.

And Hurricane Katrina's aftermath. The storm left tons upon tons of trash, but where people are taking it could cause an environmental disaster.

Plus this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think my jaw hit the ground. It was pretty astounding. I had to count zeros. It was -- so much money, but it's so exciting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: An anonymous donor changes the lives of thousands of students. You're watching CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: I'm going to bring you the latest right now.

Pirate attack, and this is not a bedtime story. Pirates fired upon and tried to board a luxury cruise liner off the African coast early today. There was one minor injury. The ship managed to get away from the attackers.

U.S. and Iraqi troops are leading a major offensive right now against insurgents near the Syrian border. So far dozens of insurgents are reported killed with no American deaths or serious wounds.

They're still two months before the confirmation hearing, but lobbying for and against Judge Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court is ramping up. New poll numbers today. Americans across the country overwhelmingly undecided when it comes to how they feel about the president's pick.

And reports today that many people doing the heavy lifting in the hurricane zone are not being paid. Thousands of Hispanic immigrant workers on the Gulf Coast say their employers disappear, or simply don't pay up.

Now, President Bush has just arrived in Brazil for meetings tomorrow with that country's president. These were pictures of him when he left the Argentina after the Summit of the Americas. Where talks there, frankly, kind of broke down. They are ending a short time ago, with no agreements on a proposed free trade zone for this hemisphere. CNN's Dana Bash reports the president has plenty of challenges awaiting him back in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A day after a small band of angry demonstrators turned into rioters, the only anger on the streets is coming from the local residents of the seaside Argentine town out surveying the shatters storefront windows and the damage from burned out bank.

That two hours of violence was in a confined area, but just blocks from where President Bush and other world leaders were meeting. Demonstration, whether violent or peaceful, have been only one of the distractions for a president watching his already low public approval back home sink in some surveys to new lows.

The president still refuses to answer reporters' questions about a host of issues relating to one top aide indicted and another, Karl Rove, still in legal limbo, stemming from an investigation into an outed covert agent.

However, Mr. Bush is now taking steps to make sure this doesn't happen again. He ordered all staff next week to take an ethics seminar. And those with any security clearance to attend mandatory refresher classes. A memo sent last week says the president wants all staff to, quote, "adhere to the spirit as well as the letter of all rules." Going on say, "Those obligations include strict compliance with the procedures for handling classified or otherwise protected information."

The president has been sidestepping calls to fire Rove, who, sources say did discuss classified information with reporters. The release of the memo is a White House move to show Mr. Bush may not be willing to talk about an open investigation but still takes leaking secret information seriously.

(on camera): It is also yet another example of how hard it is for Mr. Bush to escape his political troubles no matter how far from home he is. Dana Bash, CNN, Mar del Plata, Argentina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Now, firefighters in France responding to numerous arson reports tonight. For 10 nights, now, the country rocked by rioting, mainly by immigrant youths in poor neighborhoods. Our Chris Burns tried to find out the reasons for so much discontent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid high-rise housing projects outside Paris, voices from a neighborhood wracked by rioting, thanks to youthful mediators, some frank and sober talk from some of the boys in the hood.

It was the deaths of two teens of poor immigrant families here last week that sparked violence that has spread beyond these northern suburbs of Paris to cities across the country. Rioters torched hundreds of cars or buses. Businesses were burned. Police and firefighters shot at.

This, after the two teen was electrocuted as they hid in this power switching station to evade police, though officers say they weren't chasing the youths.

Still, it was the last straw. The youth were angered Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy saying he wanted to clean up what he called scum in poor neighborhoods. "We're all human beings and says he's going to steam clean the place. After that, we get angry," he says.

The anger had been building for years in neighborhoods like this one, plagued by high unemployment.

"When they see our address on our resumes, when they see Clichy-sous- Bois, they think we're all scum," he says.

They welcome the authority's plans for a new youth center here by converting an old discotheque but they also say it's far from enough to ease the frustration.

"That the police stop checking us all the time. That they talk to us. That we have more jobs, more activities for us. There's nothing to do here," he says.

Back at the power station where the youths died, we talked to Ibrahim (ph), one of the mediators who tried to persuade rioters to put down their stones and their Molotov cocktails.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are waiting for this solution from the state, from the government.

BURNS: You hope it comes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We hope it comes, but we are deceived (ph) that it didn't come without violence.

BURNS: And without the deaths of two youths that unleashed a nationwide rage. Chris Burns, CNN, Clichy-sous-Bois, France.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: When we first told you about the earthquake in Pakistan, I don't think anybody had any idea how lethal it was. More than 70,000 people died. And 3 million people are now homeless. And believe it or not that is not even the end of the tragedy. For many, it could be justify the beginning. CNN's Stan Grant reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It has been the month of the long cold night. Of the tears of children, of hunger and fear, and the whispers of mothers who hold their babies so close.

From face to face, night after night, our camera has searched for signs of hope. We want to see it, to believe in it, but the belief is ours alone. Ask Nuzia (ph), alone with four children, her husband dead, she knows a far more brutal truth.

"There is no hope in my life," she tells me, "there is no future. How will I raise my children? How will I find shelter?"

Night follows day and turns to day again. The lines of the hungry and homeless only seem to grow longer. The eyes urgent, searching, desperate. Little boys on the missions of men to feed what remains of their families.

One by one they're checked off the list. They leave with rice, some tea, sugar, cast-off clothes and the knowledge that it will not be enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He lives here from here about five miles and he'll go by foot and come back after two days.

GRANT: It has been four weeks now since the earth tore apart beneath these people. A month on and the broken landscape mirrors the broken lives, the crushed buildings not merely rubble, they're tombs. Bodies trapped under here, not yet retrieved.

Merchants trade where the dead lay. Locals read now of the misery they have lived. Haunted by the memory of the moment the quake hit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We saw some dead bodies, after one day, second day, third day, we are searching only dead bodies.

GRANT: Yes, the relief is coming. We have traveled with airlifts high into the mountains, but it is too slow and it is not enough. Money pledged has not been delivered. Where there are millions of dollars, billions are needed. And relief agencies are losing the fight.

Nature will soon deliver its next assault. Snow will fall, the poor and homeless will be at its mercy. Thousands more will die.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Particularly two or three months are very much dangerous because snowfall is coming, and weather is very cold.

GRANT: It has been a month of misery told in the faces of the people of the quake. We have looked on the twisted bodies into the eyes of the dying. Everywhere, the shuddering cries of mothers mourning their dead, and reminder that it could so easily be us.

A little boy catches my eye, he could be my own son, same dark eyes, dark hair and brown skin. And a smile that comes from somewhere pain cannot touch, and it breaks my heart. Stan Grant, CNN, Pakistan- controlled Kashmir.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: All right, now, some stories making news across America.

Rescue crews in Baltimore have managed to free a man who was trapped for hours in debris from a collapsed building. The two-story structure was under demolition.

And a small jet crashed after taking off from Houston's Hobby Airport killing both people onboard. The pilot had asked for permission to return to the airport shortly before the plane took a nosedive into the runway.

Hundreds of AIDS activists are in the nation's capital to begin four days of rallies. The Campaign to End AIDS wants nor funding for treatment.

Abercrombie and Fitch will stop selling controversial women's t- shirts. The t-shirts say things like, "Who needs brains when you have these?," and "I had a nightmare I was a brunette."

Two months. Two months after Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana officials face another devastating blow. This time it's a bill. FEMA wants $3.7 billion. Officials say that's nine percent of FEMA's post- hurricane expenses in Louisiana. Three point seven billion dollars is almost half of the state's normal $8 billion annual budget.

FEMA expects to spend a total of $41.4 billion in Louisiana, about $9,000 per resident. So cleaning up New Orleans is a big job and all that debris has to go somewhere. As CNN's Jonathan Freed reports, that is causing a problem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the eastern edge of New Orleans, this road not only leads to the city's main dump for Hurricane Katrina waste -- the road itself has become a dump site. It's lined with piles of garbage. Everything from boxes labeled "biohazard" to office materials to discarded appliances.

DARRYL MALEK-WILEY, SIERRA CLUB: Whoever did this, it's illegal. They shouldn't have done it. There are fines and fees set up to make sure we don't have this type of illegal dumps.

FREED: Environmentalists like Darryl Malek-Wiley are fuming. His group, the Sierra Club, says its watched junk piling up daily right next to wetlands. He believes people have become desperate to dump their Katrina trash.

Is part of your concern that a climate, a bad climate of dumps has grown out of the storm?

MALEK-WILEY: I think that, yes, in has been a bad feeling of dumping anyplace. You've got so much waste. Just get it out of my yard.

FREED: The Sierra Club wants to know what authorities are going to do about it. Environmentalists are also concerned about the dump down the road. The Old Gentilly landfill a growing mountain of New Orleans hurricane debris. The Louisiana Environmental Action Network has sued the state, which oversees the city-owned site, alleging, among other things that Old Gentilly, which hasn't been used for decades, isn't up to code. The group is worried toxins could seep into ground water, and the nearby intercoastal waterway, because it claims the site doesn't have a liner.

CHUCK CARR BROWN, ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY DEPARTMENT: We've got 20 years' worth of groundwater that hasn't shown any problem from anything that may be escaping into our groundwater system.

FREED: Chuck Carr Brown with the State's Department of Environmental Quality insists Old Gentilly has a protective liner. Compacted clay, two to three feet thick. And he says the state is extending a levee around the site to keep it contained. Brown says only nontoxic construction and demolition debris is allowed to be dumped here. He says tower monitors who inspect every truck are just part of the safeguards.

BROWN: If it gets all of these guys here in the tower, then there are monitors, at the actual dump site, and we're going to pull it out and make sure it's disposed of properly. So we're not and never have relaxed any environmental standards.

FREED: As for the junk by the side of the road, the state says there's only so much they can do about it, since much of it is on private property. Jonathan Freed, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: OK. So after so much death, destruction, trash -- we want to bring you some glamour. OK? Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla visited New Orleans yesterday and they spoke with residents and relief workers in the devastated Ninth Ward. Today Charles and Camilla are in California, and CNN's Kareen Winter joins us from San Francisco. Kareen. Not actually San Francisco but up in Marin County.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Carol, close enough. About an hour away. An hour north up here in San Francisco. The first day of this four-day stop, it's almost over, but what a day it's been for many here in the community who basically came out and had a chance, a front-row seat to royalty. From the minute the couple arrived here, Prince Charles and wife Camilla, it drew cheers. There were people standing on their tippy toes trying to get a look at this royal couple.

Camilla had on a crisp black tailored suit. A striking purse that many people commented on. They, from there they went into a farmer's market and sampled the food. Ate some of the fruit. Tried some of the lotion. Camilla did. And they also petted some goats that were inside. Prince Charles actually gave one of the goats a rose pedal and it drew laughter. They had a good laugh on that.

But again, it's just been such a whirlwind day, a whirlwind tour for this couple, going to many places in the U.S., New York, Washington, DC, New Orleans, as you mentioned, and once again coming here.

We spoke to a gentleman who had an opportunity to not only have a few words with the prince, but he also shook his hand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's such a kind individual. He's committed to sustainability, he's committed to family farms, and he came out here and he looked happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WYNTER: And that person also commented on the fact he was surprised to see the couple inside a saloon. To my right and they went in and had a few sips of beer and the beer, Carol, is still on display there.

Now, from this location they headed to an organic farm about 15 minutes away from here. It's an issue very, very close to the prince's heart. He's an organic farmer himself. He started a company, food company back in 1992.

Some these are some of the issues he was hoping to bring out, the highlight on his visit. And it was so far, Carol, very well received in this community.

LIN: What did you think when you saw them? Kareen? What kind of a couple are they?

WYNTER: It was absolutely surreal. We're talking about royalty. I had never seen them before. Other than on television, as many Americans have. And they were very, very humble, very poised. They went around and shook hands and it was so intimate. I think that was what was so striking, Carol. They weren't afraid go into the crowds, extend their hands, to smile, to joke. And people here went crazy. The cheers were deafening at times. They made their rounds and definitely impacted those who came out to see them, the royal watchers.

LIN: A lot of fun. A lot of fun. Thanks very much, Kareen.

All right, you guys, you know the feeling. Debt. It can weigh heavy on the shoulders of many students, but these musical students have been given a special gift. But first, here's John King to tell us what's ahead on ON THE STORY. John?

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are ON THE STORY at the George Washington University. Dana Bash is with President Bush in South America as he tries to shake off questions about falling popularity and the indictment of a top White House aide.

And Ed Henry talks about Democrats closing the doors of the U.S. Senate this week, pushing on details or pre-Iraq War intelligence and Elizabeth Cohen, whether this week's $7 billion plan to fight bird flu will do the job. All that, coming up, all ON THE STORY.

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LIN: Music students often the sing the blues about the high cost of studying their craft. But a record setting gift to one Ivy League program means students there can now concentrate on music, not money. Here's CNN's J.J. Ramberg.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

J.J. RAMBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A spot in this class at the Yale School of Music used to cost more than $23,000 a year. As of last week, it's free.

THOMAS DUFFY, YALE SCHOOL OF MUSIC: This is going to set the bar for music schools all over the country.

RAMBERG: An anonymous donor gave $100 million to the program, an unprecedented amounted for a school of music. Acting Dean Thomas Duffy has big plans, starting with waiving tuition fees for all the students.

KATY AMBROSE, YALE MUSIC STUDENT: I think my jaw hit the ground. It was pretty astounding. I had to count zeros. It was so much money, but it's so exciting! So exciting!

RAMBERG: Katy Ambrose came to school with debt from her undergrad and master's degree and was chalking up more each day. Unless she's lucky enough to get a job with one of the top symphonies, Ambrose, like many music students, could end up paying off student loans for 10, 20, even 30 years. AMBROSE: It's such a weight off your shoulders. At least for a year, a year and a half, two years. You don't have to worry about accruing more debt.

RAMBERG: But not everyone feels the money's going to the right place.

(on camera): One student wrote to the student paper saying she found the donation socially irresponsible given the number of humanitarian crises there are today.

(voice-over): Ambrose says it's frustrating to try to defend the gift.

AMBROSE: You want to enrich people's lives. Some people do that through medicine. Some people do that through a public service. But music is a public service. I really believe that communicating emotion and communicating your life to someone else is a beautiful thing.

RAMBERG: And Duffy hopes this sets out of a ripple effect throughout the country.

DUFFY: I'm waiting for the first colleague, for the first conservatory in this country to call up and say, because of the publicity around your gift, one of our donors said we need to do the same thing. This is going to be good for all music schools.

RAMBERG: J.J. Ramberg for CNN, New Haven, Connecticut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Thanks so much for joining me on CNN SATURDAY. Coming up next, ON THE STORY, then at 8:00 Eastern on CNN PRESENTS: "Reasonable Doubt." Disturbing assertions about crime labs. Can they really be trusted?

And at 9:00, LARRY KING. Former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson talks about his wife, Valerie Plame and the CIA leak probe. And I'll be back at 10:00 Eastern with CNN SATURDAY NIGHT.

Now, a check on the hour's headlines and then ON THE STORY.

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