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CNN Live Saturday

Airplane Skids Off Runway in Chicago and Kills Young Boy; Pace of Reconstuction in New Orleasn has been Slow; White House Readies Plans for Possible Bird Flu Outbreak

Aired December 10, 2005 - 12:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: What caused this fatal plane accident? This hour, what authorities are doing today to find out why this jet liner went off the runway.
Digging out a major snow storm leaves up to a foot of snow on the northeast. Thousands are still without power.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kathleen Koch. Bird flu is the focus at the White House today. I'll have more on the pandemic preparedness -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks Kathleen, look forward to that.

Welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. A busy hour straight ahead, first, other stories now in the news.

Another plane accident, this one in Nigeria. A government spokesperson tells CNN a domestic jetliner with 110 passengers onboard crash landed at an airport in southern Nigeria later today. Witnesses say the plane burst into flames after it crashed. Search and rescue operations are underway. Right now, no word on the number of casualties.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is still weighing the request for clemency for convicted killer Stanley "Tookie" Williams. Schwarzenegger calls the decision "very tough." Williams, who now denounces gang violence, is scheduled to put to death Tuesday by lethal injection. The cofounder of the Crips street gang was convicted of four murders more than 25 years ago.

The American death toll in Iraq has climbed again. Four U.S. soldiers died earlier today in separate incidents in and around Baghdad. Since the war began, 2,141 U.S. troops have died in Iraq.

Accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, Mohamed ElBaradei. ElBaradei sharing the award with the international atomic energy agency. He suggested to day that the human race cannot survive with nuclear weapons, adding they are just as much a taboo as slavery and genocide.

Investigators say it could take up to a year to determine if Thursday accident at Chicago's Midway Airport was due to pilot error or an unsafe runway? The Southwest passenger jet is being moved to a hangar this morning. But federal investigators are expected to be on the scene at least five or six days. A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board says it will focus on the weather, temperature, weight of the aircraft and length of the runway. The jet slid off the runway and into a busy highway, striking could two cars. Six-year-old Joshua Woods of Leroy, Indiana, a passenger in one of the cars, was killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD STEARNEY, ATTY. FOR FAMILY OF JOSHUA WOODS: Joshua was a typical boy who was interested in planes and trucks and that sort of thing and his father was pointing out airplanes and as they approached the field, passing by the fields they heard the noise, the roar of some jet engines, and this noise continued to rise in volume until there was a defining roar and then, bang, the plane landed on top of the car.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The attorney says the boy's father remains in the hospital and the family is suffering from shock and a tremendous amount of grief. The Midway accident has renewed calls for improved buffer zones and safety measures at other smaller airports around the country. CNN's Miles O'Brien reports Midway's runways leave little room for error.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Airline pilots call it USS Midway, as in the aircraft and landing here at the landlocked hemmed in Midway Airport, requiring here requires almost as much precision.

JON REGAS, FMR. AIRLINE PILOT: You take a great responsibility landing at Midway Airport because of the close proximity of all the buildings and the roads full of traffic. You have to be spot on.

O'BRIEN: Former airline captain Jon Regas has flown in and out of Midway dozens of times and every time, it has tested his medal.

REGAS: The only way to approach Midway is to make a good, firm landing on the main wheels at the proper touchdown speed.

O'BRIEN: The longest runway here at only 5,522 it's considered the tightest destination among the tightest urban airports. Washington's Reagan National, New York's LaGuardia, and Burbank's Bob Hope all have longer runways.

REGAS: Is it an unsafe airport? Sadly, last night, it was.

O'BRIEN: The weather is what pushed the limits too far: Snow, freedsing, fog, visibility a quarter mile, a ceiling of only 200 feet, a tail wind and a runway glazed with snow and ice.

(on camera): With perfect flying, the books say, a 737 700 needs 4,200 to 4,500 feet to land safely on a dry runway. If the pilots flew the radio beacon as they should have down to the landing area and the touchdown zone, those two white dashes there, they would have had about 5,000 feet of runway ahead of them, but it was covered with snow.

MIKE ABATE, PASSENGER ON SOUTHWEST FLIGHT: Felt like a normal landing, I mean, we landed hard on all three wheels, but didn't realize that something was going awry until we were not able to deccelerate like normal, and, you know, the terminal to my right, because I was at the exit window, went by pretty quickly and we were still at a pretty good clip. That's when I realized something wasn't going well.

O'BRIEN: Making matters worse at Midway, the end of the runway is only 280 feet from that road. These days, the FAA requires 1,000 feet of overrun space. That's not possible at older urban airports like Midway. But, Southwest Airlines insists the airport is safe.

CHARLES KELLY, CEO SOUTHWEST AIRLINES: Larger aircraft and this Boeing 737 land and take off at Midway Airport, so it is very well suited for the Boeing 737, and certainly we like to avoid congested, high-cost airports and Midway has a great history.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): Still, 14 other older urban airport with his no space to spare have installed arresting systems, crushable concrete or foam that can stop bog down a plane that's out of control, stopping it in an instant. There's no such system at Midway.

REGAS: Is it money? Probably. Is it stubbornness? Probably. This phenolic foam can be a real life savor. And in my humble opinion, if there had been between 500 feet and 1,000 feet of phenolic foam at the end of the runway at midway, the only thing we'd be talking about is a slightly damaged airplane as opposed to a tragic killing of a child.

O'BRIEN: Midway is not inherently unsafe on a good day, but on a bad day like this all that seems clear is that for airline pilots, it is one of the country's most challenging airports.

Miles O'Brien, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The airline passenger who federal marshals shot dead this week in Miami may have been agitated even before boarding the plane in Ecuador. This airport surveillance tape shows Rigoberto Alpizar engaged in what appears to be a scuffle in the boarding area. And one passenger recalls his wife telling him to calm down, let other people get on the plane and that everything will be all right. Well, after boarding, air marshals Alpizar threatened to set off a bomb and that was once in Miami. After his shooting death, it was learned he was not armed. His wife says he was mentally ill and off his medication. She says the couple was returning from a missionary trip to Ecuador.

As the holiday season hits its stride, millions of Americans are having to brave very nasty weather to get their shopping done. Today, it's slow going in the northeast after a big storm dumped heavy snow on the region. Some areas got more than a foot of snow. Thousands of people are still in the dark after the storm knocked out power across much of the region. And you have to wonder, what is next? Monica McNeal in the Weather Center. I have a feeling you're going to tell us, come on, it's winter. More is on the way.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right, not bad at all. Thanks so much, Monica. Well, Monica, I got a question for you, before you go though. As you send out your gifts, might you be sending any abroad?

MONICA MCNEAL, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know what, I can't think of any anywhere that I would send any off the top of my head.

WHITFIELD: All right, well if you were, we're going to have some suggestions. Because you would think it's very easy, right, gift giving to anyone.

MCNEAL: All right. Right.

WHITFIELD: Even if abroad? No. Apparently there are rules of engagement.

MCNEAL: Uh-oh.

WHITFIELD: There are certain things are just not appropriate, depending on which country you're sending them to. So, we're going to give you some tips on that straight ahead.

Also, the American dream, owning your own home. After Hurricane Katrina, the nightmare is owning and paying the mortgage on that home -- a home that you can't even live in. Is help on the way?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Still picking up the pieces along the Gulf Coast, savaging what's left of homes and businesses destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, all that compounded by still having to pay a mortgage. But for nearly 20,000 homeowners, a break. Their notes will be paid over the next year thanks to the Federal Housing Administration. But what about the thousands of others? Here's CNN's Keith Oppenheim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Leona Grandison walks into a home she bought four years ago in a neighborhood devastated by flooding. Now, mold is everywhere.

(on camera): Can you get this stuff off? Can you get rid of it?

LEONA GRANDISON, NEW ORLEANS HOMEOWNER: No.

OPPENHEIM: Can you get rid of it?

GRANDISON: No. You have to take that whole wall out here. Up to at least here.

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): The cost of fixing the damage, she estimates, would be at least $20,000.. Leona's mortgage lender gave her a break on payments for a couple of months, but any time now, she says she may have to resume making payments on a home she can't live in yet.

GRANDISON: You have to pay the mortgage payment whether you're living in it or not.

OPPENHEIM: In a different New Orleans neighbor, wealthier, but just as devastated, city councilman Jay Batt is facing a similar problem.

(on camera): Is this the way in, Jay?

JAY BATT, NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCILMAN: This is the way in. This is my front door.

OPPENHEIM: That's your front door?

BATT: Come on in.

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): His home is also in the process of being gutted and like Leona, he's suffered financial pressures. Jay resumed making mortgage payments.

(on camera): It's fair to say that over the next year, you would spend somewhere between, say, 20 to 30,000 bucks in mortgage payments for a home you can't live in?

BATT: That's correct. That's correct. That's difficult and while paying for an apartment.

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): Moments after that interview, we went upstairs.

BATT: Kids' playroom. Oh, good. I've been looted.

OPPENHEIM (on camera): You've just realizing that the TV is gone?

BATT: Yes, i've been looted. TV's gone.

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): Jay Batt knows he is in better shape then folks like Leona Grandison. He has income from a franchise of clothing stores.

GRANDISON: Basically, this is everything I had.

OPPENHEIM: She has really lost everything. Her business, the Candlelight Lounge in the city's historic Treme neighborhood, has been looted by thieves and ravaged by flood water. Leona has mortgage payments coming due here as well. By the end of the month, she may have to pay a hefty sum between her two properties.

GRANDISON (on camera): : Almost 2,000, I think.

OPPENHEIM: Two thousand bucks a month basically.

GRANDISON: Right.

OPPENHEIM: And you don't have any income?

GRANDISON: No income.

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): It is hard to pinpoint an exact figure for how many people are in the kind of financial fix Leona is in. One estimate from Louisiana State University says there are about 60,000 homeowners in the New Orleans area alone whose mortgage payments were deferred. And that doesn't count thousands of others along the Gulf Coast.

(on camera): The Federal Housing Administration is offering assistance to as many as 20,000 homeowners from Florida to Texas, mostly first-time home buyers whose mortgages were already insured by the FHA. Experts here say that will make a difference, but that there are tens of thousands of homeowners who don't qualify and won't get that kind of help to make their mortgage payments.

(voice-over): As a city councilman, Jay Batt is calling on the government to extend bridge loans so small business owners can rebuild.

BATT: You know, we're not looking for ridiculous hand-outs or anything but just an opportunity to put our lives back together.

OPPENHEIM: Leona Grandison, now staying at the home of a friend, simply doesn't know how she'll put her life back together.

GRANDISON: But you got to keep the faith and be strong, or else you won't survive.

OPPENHEIM: And she is optimistic, even as she faces big bills and has no way to pay them.

Keith Oppenheim, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And lots of other big problems persisting three and a half months after Katrina hit the city of New Orleans, so many uncertainties and frustrations. Earlier this week a House committee heard from some New Orleans residents who are still coping with the lack of basic necessities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DYAN FRENCH, KATRINA VICTIM: I didn't come to represent me. I didn't come representing Dyan French-Cole. I came representing the people sitting on (UNINTELLIGIBLE) street right now around a brick made fireplace, because that's the only heat we have in December. This hurricane happened in August. Somebody needs to hear why less than 500,000 people spread over 50 states, is a question my neighbor wants to know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, what will become of the Crescent City? Should some heavily damaged neighborhoods be forever abandoned? A rebuilding plan from the Urban Land Institute has touched some very raw nerves. Among other things, that plan says New Orleans should carefully study whether it makes sense to rebuild areas flooded the worst. With us now from Washington, Richard Rosan, the Urban Land Institution's president.

Good to see you, and Louisiana State Representative Charmaine Marchand.

Mr. Rosan, if I could start with you since your group's proposals are hitting a nerve. What is it about your plan that isn't being universally well received?

RICHARD ROSAN, PRES. URBAN LAND INSTITUTE: Well, I think just that we suggested they've be very careful about rebuilding areas that could be dangerous. And that they think about how that could be done. You don't want a recurrence of what happened and I think we're also urging that actions be taken so that those areas can be rebuilt so that the infrastructure that's necessary is put in place so that ultimately they're built. But we've suggest you don't go forward there first, you go there after it's certain that they will be rebuilt -- they'll be safe.

WHITFIELD: So, is -- there is some concern that comes with the notion that New Orleans might be reconstructed or refaced and instead of New Orleanians like it's recovery and they will have an opportunity to return to a city that they once knew, loved, and lived in. So, how do you convey to these people that they are going to have an opportunity to come back to a place that they recall as opposed to being pushed out?

ROSAN: We urged the mayor's commission to take on strong leadership and urge with both the short term, medium term, and long-term program for medium development to encourage everybody in the city to come back and be a part of it. Now, everybody can't come back at once because things just aren't ready. But we were very much supportive of trying to keep the diversity and the liveliness, the uniqueness of New Orleans and not allow it to just be built over in a homogenized way.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ms. Marchand, let me bring you in. Good to see you, as well. Thanks for being with us. Well, when you hear the terms "equity" and "diversity" in these proposals, is it your view that it is not just a principle, but these things are really being exercised?

CHARMAINE MARCHAND (D), LOUISIANA STATE HOUSE: I don't see that there's a lot of equity in a lot of things being exercised.

WHITFIELD: In what way?

MARCHAND: There's not equity in how insurance companies are paying. There's not equity with regard of how FEMA is paying. There's a lot of inequities are going on right now. And people are just outraged. They're ready to get home. They're tired of being in shelters and tired of being someplace else. Becifically (SIC), they're tired of being in places they're not being treated properly. They want to go home. I want to go home. We're ready to go home. And everybody outside of the residents, those that are in leadership, are dragging their feet and people are tired of our leadership dragging their feet when it comes to people going back home.

WHITFIELD: When you listen to the frustrations being voiced by many of those New Orleanians who are on Capitol Hill this week, they talk about having heard a lot of lip service. They're hearing a lot of words. And so, Mr. Rosan, when your proposals say things like "establish a financial temporary oversight board or a rebuilding corporation," to a lot of these folks they kind of glaze over because they're saying we're hearing a lot about establishing committees, but we're not seeing anything about delivering on any of these promises. What do you say to these residents?

ROSAN: I think it gets back to being the leadership of the city. The things that we suggested, establish a redevelopment authority and an oversight committee were, in fact, to give the city the ability to move faster. It has to get going, there's no question about it. And I am totally sympathetic to the needs of the residents, the fact that months have gone by and they see that their homes are still destroyed. It's going to take a long time. This rebuilding effort isn't going to be three or six months, it's going to be many years before the whole place is rebuilt. So...

WHITFIELD: And Ms. Marchand, when we talk about being able to return to your city and having a place to live and not having a place to live, there still persists the issue of trailers. Where are they? And where to put them? Why is it that the thought and the notion of bringing in these trailers and putting them in certain communities really rubs some residents wrong?

MARCHAND: Well, unfortunately, we've got some areas in New Orleans that the upper eschelon live in. Those areas weren't as severely impacted. A lot of the residents had two-story homes. A lot of them were able to live on the second floor while the bottom floor was gut out. So, several of those residents are moving in. Where we've got large land mass, such as city parks and other areas...

WHITFIELD: And so, quickly, it's an issue of not in my backyard some of those...

MARCHAND: Correct.

WHITFIELD: folks don't want the trailers in their community...

MARCHAND: Correct.

WHITFIELD: And so therein lies another problem as you try to recover and rebuild there. And we're running out of time, but thank you so much, Mr. Richard Rosan and Ms. Charmaine Marchand. Thanks for joining us both of you.

MARCHAND: Thank you very much.

ROSAN: Thank you for having us.

WHITFIELD: I'm sure we'll be talking with you a lot more about the recovery efforts.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Checking other stories across America now. Los Angeles officials are calling for peace if Crips gang co-founder "Tookie" Williams is executed as scheduled on Tuesday. Authorities say they've received reports of possible violence should Governor Schwarzenegger deny Williams clemency for the murders of four people in 1979. Williams' supporters point out he has been an anti-gang crusader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUCE GORDON, NAACP PRESIDENT: If you assume guilt, the real question here is what is the right punishment for Stan Williams? Should he be killed, which means his voice will be silenced forever, or should he simply be sentenced to life in prisonment without patrol and in that case, it affords him the opportunity if you believe one-tenth of what we've heard over the last couple of weeks in terms of lives that he's already saved. If you believe that, then a life imprisonment sentence with no chance of patrol affords him the opportunity to continue to save many lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: In other news, in California in Oakland, authorities say two more suspects are charged in connection with two liquor store attacks in the area. At least four people are now in custody. Authorities say about a dozen men damaged the stores on November 23rd while demanding that facility stop selling alcohol to African- Americans.

And a local TV superhero in New York state known as Banana Boy and two other people are charged with disorderly misconduct. They were filming a fight scene when a sheriff's deputy mistook the stage fight for the real thing. The dispute cited the three, saying their actions were tying up traffic.

Coming up, the fate of four Western hostages in Iraq hangs in the balance as a threatened deadline looms. The latest on their situation as well as that of an Egyptian hostage in Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A look at our top stories. Another plane accident, this one in Nigeria. A government spokesman tells CNN a domestic jetliner with 110 people on board crash-landed at an airport in southern Nigeria. Witnesses say the plane burst into flames after it crashed. Search and rescue operations are underway. Right now, no word on the number of casualties.

The National Transportation Safety Board is beginning its probe into the fatal accident at Chicago's Midway Airport. A Southwest Airlines jets slid off the runway, killing a young boy in a car. Southwest Airlines says at least 13 people were injured. The NTSB says it could take a year to determine the cause of the accident.

A former Croatian general is now at The Hague where he will be charged with war crimes stemming from the Balkans conflict in the 1990s. Police arrested Ante Gotovina was arrested Wednesday in the Canary Islands. Gotovina is one of the three most wanted war crimes suspects from the former Yugoslavia. The former Croat general is charged in connection with the deaths of at least 150 Serbs.

Actor Matt Damon and his girlfriend have tied the knot. Now man and wife. Damon's publicist says he and Luciana Bozan were married yesterday in a small private ceremony at New York City Hall. Bozan's 7-year-old daughter witnessed the ceremony. This is Damon's first marriage, her second.

Police in Tikrit say they found the body of a kidnapped Egyptian man this morning. He was abducted yesterday from his home in northern Tikrit. The victim is described as a contractor who did business with a nearby U.S. military base.

Meanwhile, a deadline looms today for four other hostages in Iraq, two Canadians, an American and a Briton went missing two weeks ago. Their captors have threatened to kill the four men unless all prisoners in Iraq are released.

Daily violence plagued much of Iraq ahead of a historic parliamentary election scheduled this week. Today, police say an election worker from a Sunni Arab political party died in a drive-by shooting in Mosul. Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson looks at some of the problems ahead of this Thursday's vote.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hands and arms inside the ride until it comes to a complete stop.

Good to go?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): But this is no ride at the fair. Capital Philip ash leads the way to the roof of perhaps the most dangerous building in Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basically, right now you're on the roof top of the al Anbar government center.

ROBERTSON: Al Anbar, the western Iraqi province where most U.S. troops are killed these days.

(on camera): This is the main government building in Ramadi. While we're on the roof, we've been told to keep our heads below the sand bags because there could be snipers out there.

BRIGADIER GENERAL JAMES WILLIAMS, USMC: It's obviously a con tension point for the insurgents. Because they need to continue to address. This is the beginning of the heart of government here in the Anbar province. ROBERTSON (voice-over): Several floors down the province's top sheiks and clerics are holding a ground breaking meeting with U.S. commanders.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to have the sheik security.

ROBERTSON: It's progress, U.S. commanders say, that insurgents want to stop and tribal leaders here, after more than two years of resistance to U.S. occupation realize they need to embrace.

WILLIAMS: They understand that democracy will get them to a different place. And they have to participate to be part of it.

ROBERTSON: At the meeting, next week's elections are the biggest issue. These Sunnis all think Iraq's electoral commission is limiting the number of polling stations they can have to reduce turnout and cut their representation in the new government.

MA'AMOUN SAMI RASHID LATIF, AL ANBAR GOVERNOR (through translator): It would lessen our position in other provinces and make our province look smaller, less than important.

ROBERTSON: But it could be too late. Two years of resistance has stifled security force growth and the province doesn't have enough trained men to secure all the polling sites it wants.

WILLIAMS: For all intent and purposes, there are zero Iraqi police here even though there are 6,000 police on the rolls, they're not at work, because they've been intimidated by the insurgents.

ROBERTSON: A drive outside shows how bad security has become. Long grass grows in the street opposite the governor's office. And stores on the once busy thoroughfare are shut. Within a sniper's shot at the governor's building, the market district is a little busier. But some here do not buy the idea of their leaders meeting with the Americans. The American occupation forces are harming us, this man says. They shoot all over the place. The same streets at night, a target for U.S. raid.

It's a dual mission. Marines are searching for any hint insurgents stage attacks from here and at the same time, they say, they encourage people to vote. A tough job, not just because it's the middle of the night, but because the insurgents here have spread their own message. You vote, you die.

If you vote -- They kill you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah. Me or my family or my brother. This is a problem.

ROBERTSON: In elections so far this year Ramadi has had the lowest turnouts of any Iraq city, barely two percent in the referendum two months ago.

COL. JOHN GRONSKI, COMMANDING OFFICER: Somewhere between 5,000 to 10,000 voted here in Ramadi last time, the Ramadi area. And what we're hoping -- what I personally hope for, for the coming election, is at least five times that amount. I'm hoping for around 50,000 people.

ROBERTSON: Nobody, even in the upbeat mood of the new meetings, is counting on it being easy. Nic Robertson, CNN, Ramadi, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And for a complete look at progress and problems in Iraq, be sure to watch a special CNN PRESENTS, "1,000 Days in Iraq." This Sunday night at 8:00 eastern. This begins a week of special coverage on CNN as Iraqis prepare to elect a permanent government and as the U.S. military reaches its 1,000th day in Iraq.

Coming up, during this jolly season, will you be sending gifts abroad? We'll test your international gift giving etiquette right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Making that list and checking it twice? Well, some advice. Never send clocks to China as holiday gifts or white handkerchiefs to Korea. Why not? Well, those are just two bits of advice in the Asia etiquette guide. A manual that details the dos and don'ts of other cultures.

Dean Foster is the author of the book. Welcome to you, Dean. So why wouldn't we want to give clocks to the Chinese or white handkerchiefs to the Koreans.

DEAN FOSTER, WWW.LEARNABOUTCULTURES.COM: Well, in Chinese culture traditionally, the clock sounds like the same word for death and white handkerchiefs in Korea symbolize tears and sadness. So these are not good gifts to give.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. Now you would think so, if you would have someone you would want to send gifts abroad, that know them well, but sometimes we don't know about the culture as a whole. So we also have to take into consideration some things that may have symbolism for spirituality or religion, such as, say, India, we know the cow is very sacred. You have to keep those things in mind, too, don't you?

FOSTER: Absolutely. Because, as your example says, Hindus in India see the cow as sacred. So you don't want to give a gift of leather. A leather bag or a fine leather picture frame. That's just not going to be a good gift.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And then sometimes you may want to keep into consideration that if you're sending things abroad, they really want something that's very Americanized, they want something that symbolizes where you are from? For example?

FOSTER: Well, I think that people appreciate it when you send them something from your hometown or something that represents where you live. It's really personal. And it's a nice way of saying here is something from me. And as long as it's of good quality and difficult to get in their home country, it's usually really appreciated. WHITFIELD: As long as it's not a white handkerchief that you're sending to Korea.

FOSTER: Right. Could be a sweatshirt from a local university, or maybe a sports team, or a coffee table book of your town. That's usually much appreciated.

WHITFIELD: All right. And then re-gifting. A lot of us are considering these days that is more acceptable, re-gifting, but you say, but not in some cultures. They don't want see they're getting a used gift.

FOSTER: No. That's really not good. Because the whole idea of gift giving is a symbolic statement about the relationship. If you're saying something about your relationship with that person it's really hard to say it with sincerity if you're giving them something that's from somebody else.

WHITFIELD: Even if you saying sincerely, you know what? This is something that I cherish and really love and so I'm now sharing it with you?

FOSTER: I think in those situations, yeah, then it would be appropriate.

WHITFIELD: All right. And then there's the dilemma of wrapping the gift. You've got to be careful about colors, don't you?

FOSTER: Absolutely. How you wrap a gift is very important in East Asia, for example. In Japan and in Korea and in China. You want to wrap it in red paper or gold paper. Because those are good colors. You don't want to wrap it in white paper. White is a funeral color in East Asia. When you give a gift if you're doing it face to face, give it with two hands and receive a gift with two hands. And typically, in East Asia, you don't open the gift in front of the person who gives it to you.

WHITFIELD: Wow. That's interesting. So, there are a lot of rules of engagement here. You talk about giving the gifts with one hand versus two hands. The same thing in the Japanese culture. You accept money and you give money with two hands. It's a show of disrespect if it's only one hand?

FOSTER: That's right. If you go into the Arab world and do things with one hand, be sure not to use your left hand. Because you should always use just the right hand.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Now let's talk about things such as alcohol, chocolate. Those are things that folks love to give at the holidays. If you know someone in Belgium, stay away from trying to give chocolate, because no one does chocolate as well as they do.

FOSTER: I call that the coals to Newcastle syndrome. You don't give Belgians chocolates. You don't give the French wine. You don't give Germans beer. Everybody in those countries think they make the best of that. And they might be right. WHITFIELD: Wow. All great advice. Thanks so much. And even if you have a friend abroad, when you think that your friend might tell you these things, sometimes they just don't. And it's presumed you have got to do your own research on your own.

FOSTER: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dean Foster. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

All right. And when we come back, the White House is coming out with trying to allay some fears there about the flu, the bird flu specifically avian flu, possible pandemic. When we come back, we'll have a view from the White House.

BRAD HUFFINES, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm meteorologist Brad Huffines with your cold and flu report across the country. The good news is nothing is happening widespread. We have some regional activity, especially across the northern plains and the Northwest. As well as parts of the southwest from California through Arizona and Utah and Colorado. Texas, of course. And into Florida and then some more of the sporadic activity through parts of the great lakes and even into portions of Pennsylvania and New York.

But most of the country is still no activity and the good news is still nothing is widespread.

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WHITFIELD: We want to take you straight to the White House there and that's Frances Townsend, who's homeland security adviser for the White House talking about the United States' plan for any possible avian flu pandemic.

FRANCES TOWNSEND, HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: We're safeguarding against the pandemic flu. That plan includes a $7.1 billion request for emergency funding from Congress. What we've learned today, as the president has said, it's the most important part of that strategy will be vaccines and antivirals. And that is the bulk of what that funding is for. We urge Congress to fully fund the president's strategy to be implemented.

I should be clear that we currently have no evidence that a pandemic flu in this country is imminent. That said, we are fairly warned and the time to prepare for that pandemic is now. That involves all levels of government, federal, state and local, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, the media. We all must be prepared and we all have a role to play in the nation's preparation. Secretary Leavitt this week hosted a conference of state public health officials and will be traveling with each of the 50 states to meet with public health officials and discuss preparedness.

Secretary Rice at the State Department is spearheading the international partnership to ensure sure we are fully knitted up at all levels of government and internationally as well as private and individual citizens. The key for individuals is education. I would like to talk about that for a moment. This is the time to go, if you haven't gotten your annual flu shot, you might think about doing that this year. That's part of your individual preparedness plan. You want to educate yourself by going to the Web site. Pandemicflu.gov.

We each have a role to play. I'm a mother. I've got two small boys. And you can be sure I take this seriously as I'm sure all Americans do. You have a responsibility to make sure that you are informed so you can best prepare your family. Now, we can take a couple of questions. And I have the secretaries here to help.

QUESTION: Can we talk about what happened today and what you guys went through, the drill you went through and some of the problems that still remain?

TOWNSEND: Let me say this. We're not going to go into the specifics of it. The exercises are just that. It's a drill. It's meant to test - meant to push federal resources to the breaking point. And ensure that we're prepared, that we identify gaps and we plan to fill them. We accomplished that this morning.

QUESTION: Can you tell us what worked and what didn't?

TOWNSEND: Well, what you do is you walk through a fact set and identify options and what you want to do is go back and make sure that do each of the federal agencies have plans to fill those gaps and, quite frankly, I think we did quite well. But the thing that we take away from it, more than anything, is the role that state and local governments will play. This is not going to be a federal answer to the problem. The federal government has got a support role to play, but frankly I think, really, very important is the state and local efforts that Secretary Leavitt is spearheading.

QUESTION: Were they involved at all, state and local officials?

TOWNSEND: This is an opportunity to test the preparedness and understand what the connection is for our support with state and local government.

QUESTION: (inaudible) ... was not -- on the medical side of things set up field hospitals and the whole medical front, a lot of issues and it was bungled is what some people referred to it as. What's your response to that whole accusation about this report that's (inaudible)?

TOWNSEND: There's been a great deal of planning preparedness in just that area. I have not seen the report. So I wouldn't comment on it specifically.

QUESTION: Can we hear from the two secretaries on how you thought this went?

MICHAEL LEAVITT, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: This was a valuable exercise. I will tell you that maybe even of greater value was what happened in the last week and a half as we prepared for it. It has moved us, our thinking deeper in preparing. What became evident was the need for a comprehensive plan. We need to have a surveillance plan that allows us to identify when an incident has occurred in the world. The sooner we know, the more quickly and more adequately we can respond.

We need to have a domestic surveillance system. Knowing when it happens in the United States. Having the capacity to know what's occurring within the healthcare systems ix of vital importance.

Antivirals, we talked at length about how we would deal with the fact we don't have an unlimited supply. Vaccines, a very important part. Something that we'll have a limited constraint of for a few years. And more importantly, we lack the capacity in this country to manufacture the number of courses needed to give everyone a vaccine. That's why the president has proposed this $7.1 billion plan to revitalize that industry.

But as was previously stated, state and local governments, state and local communities, schools need to have a plan. Businesses need to have a plan. Faith organizations need to have a plan. Local officials need to understand. The public health community understands a pandemic, they understand the dangers of a pandemic. It's now time to engage a broader community so we have a true nationwide response effort that's not only planned, but exercised and ready.

QUESTION: (inaudible)

TOWNSEND: I think it's -- president knows pretty clearly what his role is. And what this exercise is about was testing federal roles and the interagency coordination. Thank you.

Did you want to say something, sir? I wanted to give you the opportunity.

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I just want to add the fact that this is really about planning and putting capabilities in place. This is not something we're saying it's around the corner tomorrow. But it is something we have an opportunity to get ahead of. And if everybody at all levels takes the opportunity, we will put ourselves in the position to be ready if and when we have some kind of outbreak. Thanks a lot.

QUESTION: Is there a gap between the federal and state officials?

TOWNSEND: One more.

LEAVITT: This is the time for us to be informing, but not inflaming. It's a time for us to inspire preparation, but not panic. We have time to become the first generation, literally, in the history of man, to do something to be prepared for a pandemic. Pandemics happen. They've happened in the past. They'll happen in the future. This is about being ready for what inevitably will come. We're quite concerned about this H5N1 virus. Scientists suggest it could in fact mutate into a virus of major concern. So we need to be ready. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Informing, but not inflaming, those words from the health and human services secretary, Mike Leavitt. Alongside him, homeland security chief Mike Chertoff as well as Frances Townsend with the Homeland Security adviser say that this is a cautious approach to the federal test preparedness on any potential pandemic of the avian bird flu. And of course, tomorrow at 10:00 pm, Sanjay Gupta will be bringing us a special on killer flu.

More in a moment.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Our top stories when we come right back.

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