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CNN Live Saturday

Interview with Janice Atkinson; Mississippi Home Owners Frustrated Over Lack Of Debris Removal Help

Aired December 31, 2005 - 14:30   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR; Bottom of the hour, now in the news, New York's Times Square is ready to welcome in 2006 tonight. Around a million people will jam the Square, a 1 billion more will watch it on television. The world famous ball drops at midnight. And you'll see it live here on CNN.
Well, don't worry about resetting your clocks, but 2006 will take an extra second to get here. The official leap second will be added to our official record of time, don't blink or you'll miss it.

And forecasters expect Tropical Storm Zeta to weaken today. It's spinning harmlessly in the West Central Atlantic. Zeta ties a record for the latest developing storm. Alice also formed on December 30th back in 1951, the record-breaking 2005 tropical season officially ended a month ago.

An infant Iraqi girl with a potentially fatal birth defect is expected to arrive here in Atlanta within the hour. U.S. forces with Georgia's National Guard came upon the child known as Baby Noor three weeks ago, while searching several Baghdad homes for insurgents. Well, thanks to U.S. efforts there and here, the child could undergo surgery in a few days that could help save her life.

CNN's Jennifer Eccelston has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Final preparations for a mission of mercy. Ear plugs modified to protect Baby Noor's delicate ears. It's a short hop to Kuwait on an American military transport plane, but it's a noisy one, and the 3-month-old is already fidgety.

She has a new chance at life, says her grandmother. We want her to be cured as she is our first grandchild.

She and the baby's father, their identities concealed for their protection, any association with U.S. forces could spell death at the hands of insurgents. They say good-bye to their troubled homeland and to those who helped them get this far.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We thank them for doing what Iraq couldn't do for us.

ECCLESTON: After Kuwait, it's a commercial flight to Atlanta, Georgia. There, the little girl with the infectious smile will have surgery for a spinal cord defect that left untreated would certainly take her life.

PFC. JUSTIN DONNELLY, U.S. ARMY MEDIC: I felt a burden to take care of this little girl because she was a 3-month-old baby that deserves a second chance at life.

ECCLESTON: The army medic initiated Baby Noor's incredible journey for survival. Three weeks ago his platoon entered her home looking for insurgents. Searching room by room, they discovered the little girl with a large tumor on her back. The Georgia and New York- based soldiers were told she had just weeks to live. Moved by her predicament, they moved to get her out of Iraq where appropriate care was simply impossible.

UNIDNETIFIED MALE: It's really something to feel good about.

ECCLESTON: Noor means light in Arabic. no Wonder she's lightened the hearts of these war-weary soldiers and all those who are helping to save her life.

Jennifer Eccleston, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And parts of California are bringing in the new year with dangerous weather.

Take a look at this. Heavy rain turned a Marin County street into a river. This dramatic video is showing that a woman trapped in her vehicle by floodwaters is now being rescued there in these images by emergency workers. They did manage to get her out. She is being treated at a hospital. She was in that vehicle apparently about an hour-and-a-half, and now she's being treat the for exposure.

That rescue was one of several in Northern California today. A half foot of rain is expected this weekend. Rivers are already running high and the soil is saturated. Flood and mudslide warnings extend across the north central side of the state from the North Bay area to the Nevada border. Let's check in with Monica McNeal. And things just don't look good for the folks there, does it?

MONICA MCNEAL, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No, ma'am, it sure doesn't. And you know, the storm comes on the heels of several storms that they've gotten earlier in the week. As you said, the soil is absolutely saturated. They're dealing with gusty winds right now, and these heavy downpours. And you know what, I wouldn't be surprised if we start to seeing downed power lines and downed trees really soon.

As we take a look at the radar and show you what's going on, this is a very intense line of showers and thunderstorms that's racing off toward the east.

One of the other concerns right now is the Napa Valley. Back in february of 1986, it crested out of its banks and produced a tremendous amount of flooding. And that could be feared to happen again. So, we'll need to monitor that.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFEILD: Not bad. Good advice. All right. Thanks a lot, Monica.

Wel, four months after Hurricane Katrina and some counties in Mississippi are still trying to pick up the pieces. In Jackson County, the debris is piled very high. Officials blame it on a combination of bad decisions and red tape. CNN's Sean Callebs reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH RIMES, HOME OWNER: Y'all got some stuff, y'all can put in here that wouldn't get?

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's become a sad routine for Josh Rimes and his father, Dwight. About once a week, they pick through the splintered ruins of Josh's house, looking for anything that can be salvaged. Today, it's a bit of fence.

(on camera): Are you frustrated that four months after the disaster, it's just a mess.

J. RIMES: Oh, absolutely. It's -- you know, it's like we can't do anything until -- you know, whether we build or whether we sell, this has to be cleared.

CALLEBS: The Hines thought Jackson County, Mississippi would be cleared of trees and rubble by now. County supervisor Frank Leach says the county had a contract to have the Army Corps of Engineers remove debris from public and private land.

FRANK LEACH, JACKSON COUNTY SUPERVISOR: One of their representatives made a statement, I've got the checkbook and if you do what I tell you, you won't pay any money whatsoever.

CALLEBS: Leach says the county took that advice, but the Corps of Engineers never took any debris from home owners' properties.

LEACH: I got tired of waiting for, it's on the way, or it's going to happen, or we're going to get there, because every time we began to communicate, guess what? It was another red tape, it was another issue.

CALLEBS: Sam Horton is with the Army Corps of Engineers.

SAM HORTON, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: It has been four months since Katrina hit, but the magnitude and the scope of this recovery effort and the hurricane itself is just unprecedented.

CALLEBS (on camera): Just how much debris remains from devastated homes is anyone's guess. But Jackson county, Mississippi officials are convinced that federal authorities simply didn't live up to their repeated promises.

So fed up with the cleanup, Jackson County recently fired the Army Corps of Engineers.

(voice-over): But surprisingly it didn't have to be this way. The county was given a choice. So now, all it can do is look longingly at a neighboring county that made a different decision.

LEACH: You know, it's really exciting when you stop and look just across the bay and we can see that here even as we're looking across that way, they went about doing this on their own.

CALLBS: Biloxi and Harrison County turned on its back on the Corps of Engineers' offer to remove the debris. And still, using federal money, hired their own cleanup crews. And look, many residential areas here are cleared of tree limbs and remnants of wrecked homes.

The Corps of Engineers says it did removed 90 percent of the debris from public areas in Jackson County, but says the holdup in cleaning private property results in need to get permission before working on home owners' land. More red tape, according to county official, and more disappointment for debris-fatigued home owners.

The county says it has hired private contractors to begin the cleanup work after the first of the year.

DWIGHT RIMES, HOME OWNER: I don't anticipate it cleaned up any soon, not the way the first four months. No.

CALLEBS (on camera): And what do you think of that?

D. RIMES: Well, again, it stinks, but it's reality.

CALLEBS (voice-over): Sean Callebs, CNN, Jackson County, Mississippi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A very grim reality.

Ahead, another type of reality, an incredible story of survival following the earthquake in Pakistan, some of you may think it nearly impossible.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We're continuing to keep a close watch on the Napa Valley area and other parts of north and central California. Because of a lot of rain, there's also been a lot flooding that's taken place and even rescues.

On the phone with us, Janice Atkinson of the Sonoma County emergency services. And Janice, what's the situation in your area?

JANICE ATKINSON, SONOMA COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICES (via telephone): Well, currently we have very bad flooding along the lower Russian River area. We're advising the residents of that area to evacuate. We'd like them to evacuate now, because we're concerned the crest is not supposed to hit until late tonight. And it would be dangerous if not impossible, to try to evacuate people...

WHITFIELD: Are you considering this a mandatory evacuation?

ATKINSON: This is not a mandatory evacuation. However, it is highly advised.

WHITFIELD: Janice?

ATKINSON: Yes?

WHITFIELD: My audio's clipped as well.

All right, Janice, can you hear me?

ATKINSON: I can hear you.

WHITIFELD: Well, Janice, can you give me an idea whether is this a mandatory evacuation or is it considered a voluntary evacuation?

ATKINSON: This is not a mandatory evacuation. However, it is highly advised, because we're already in the situation that vehicles cannot get into or out of the Russian River area, and we have not hit a crest. We're sending in high water vehicles.

WHITFIELD: All right. And Janice, if you can still hear me, what about any kind of rescue efforts?

ATKINSON: We're sending in high water vehicles to transport residents to the shelters. We have had some rescues from elevated homes and helicopter rescues have been performed.

WHITFIELD: And give me an idea -- we're looking at some pictures right now. I don't know the exact area but we're seeing in the Napa -- oh, I see the Napa Valley Railroad area now in Napa Valley. We're seeing the runoff of the water into the tracks, and other video that we're seeing, it looks like water that is at least a couple of feet high. Describe for us what is the situation where you are in most of Sonoma County.

ATKINSON: Well, we are experiencing flooding across the county, not just in the river area, because many local streams and creeks have overflown their boundaries. We are advising people not to drive through any standing water. It's impossible to tell how deep it is, until you get in, and then it's too late.

WHITFIELD: All right, Janice Atkinson of Sonoma County emergency services, thank you so much. And best of luck to you in your efforts there as well as the evacuation orders now in effect.

Now on to Pakistan. A story that defies science, a woman spent nine weeks trapped in earthquake wreckage, amazingly she survived. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports now from Islamabad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The earth shook. The mountains came down like rain. More than 80,000 people died, and were instantly buried. It all happened in just two minutes.

This 80-year-old man was convinced his daughter was among the dead. She was in the kitchen working, he told me. We heard her scream. And then nothing. We couldn't find her. Not in the mountain rubble that had buried their simple home.

But the family needed to rebuild. And as they cleared the ground for a new home, they finally found her, accidentally, more than two months after the quake, long after most victims had been given up for dead.

(on camera): The woman you're about to see is the longest survivor ever of someone trapped after an earthquake or after any sort of disaster. Supposedly she lived for two months, actually 65 days, with no food. Maybe only access to some muddy water. She weighed just 26 kilograms when she got in, that's just about 60 pounds. She was severely malnourished. Let's take a look for the first time.

Does she have any injuries?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's got (INAUDIBLE), and we have x-rays done, a C-scan (ph) was done. (INAUDIBLE) is OK. Her chest is OK, her heart is OK.

GUPTA (voice-over): Of course, the only person who really knows what happened to Noksha (ph) is Noksha (ph) herself, but she is still too weak to talk.

(on camera): What do you think? I mean, you're her doctor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think she must be getting some food or else water, maybe, from the rain or something like that, because something she must be eating or drinking, which kept her alive. And secondly, I think she was very healthy.

GUPTA (voice-over): Even if she did have food, she clearly didn't have much.

(on camera): Can I see her legs. I mean, how much weight did she lose here in her legs? Wow. There's no muscle mass, no fat, just skin and bones.

(voice-over): We don't know why she's hitting herself, but it could be that she is upset about her condition. Also, she has been told her mother died in the earthquake.

Still, she's in remarkable condition for her ordeal. Her father is in a hospital close by. He was at a market when the earthquake hit and his leg was crushed in the rubble. By the time he arrived here several days later, his shattered leg was infected. Doctors couldn't save it.

But then, good news. After his operation, confined to a hospital bed, he is told his daughter is alive. He doesn't believe it, until he sees her with his own eyes. It was a reunion seen and heard around all of Pakistan.

(on camera): They say that she survived two months with no food and hardly any water, the scientist in me is somewhat skeptical of that, but all the doctors here say it's a miracle.

(voice-over): Noksha (ph) is slowly rehabilitating her broken down and battered body. For the time being she doesn't seem to know that she survived when so many others died. And that when she was lifted from the rubble, she lifted the spirits of a broken country.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Islamabad, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes you to the epicenter of misery in Pakistan, where every day is a struggle to survive, after October's devastating earthquake. Is enough being done to help the people left behind? What can do you? Join Dr. Sanjay Gupta for a firsthand look in the quake zone tonight at 6:00 eastern only on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well, we invite to you ring in the new year with CNN's Anderson Cooper. He'll be live from Times Square. You'll hear an eclectic mix of music from James Brown, Brooks and Dunn, the Bare Naked Ladies, Harry Connick Jr., and more, plus a look back at a turbulent year in news.

CNN's new year's eve with Anderson Cooper begins tonight at 11:00 Eastern.

And if you're headed tonight out for a New Year's Eve dinner or party, be nice to your waiter or waitress. If you don't, Jeanne Moos found out you might live to regret it in 2006.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ever wonder what the smiling wait staff is really thinking?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So when I come back, and they're like, "We need more bread, please," you don't need any more bread than that.

MOOS: Pardon the pan, excuse the strainer, we're hiding the identity of waiters ready to dish the dirt on what can happen when the customer isn't nice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I actually watched the waiter drop their steak on the floor and then put it back in the box and take it back to the table and hand it to them.

MOOS: Like in the movie "Birdcage," these days you can read all about bad behavior and sweet revenge on Web sites like Bitter Waitress, Stained Apron, Waiter Rant and Shameless Restaurants.

Speaking of shameless, don't ever provoke a lactating waitress, and don't shake up the bartender.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can put Visine in somebody's drink and give them terrible diarrhea, too. One drop of Visine in somebody's drink will send them to the bathroom for the rest of the night.

MOOS: And talk about crappy, Bitter Waitress lists bad tippers by name. And entry about Omarosa from "The Apprentice" asks, "Is this woman even human," for allegedly tipping 15 cents.

J. Lo supposedly complained, "Waiter, this water's too cold. Make it warmer."

And then there's the war story about someone leaving $2 and a coupon for cranberry juice.

No wonder Bitter Waitress sells shirts plastered with the preferred tip.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's also the verbal tip. That's my favorite, when at the end of the meal, you get the, I loved you, it was wonderful.

MOOS: Praise but a lousy tip.

New York City servers point out that without tips they only make three bucks an hour.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The way that people in Israel have to go into the army, I think that everybody in America should have to waitress.

MOOS: But even Jack Nicholson's restaurant run-in...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want me to hold the chicken, huh?

JACK NICHOLSON, ACTOR: I want to you hold it between your knees.

MOOS: ... doesn't compare with a Sizzler waiter who got in a fight with an Atkins dieter who wanted to substitute vegetables for potatoes. The server followed the family home and covered their house in toilet paper, syrup, flour, you name it.

(on camera) Are there things that people ask for that really get on your nerves?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think every waiter in the world hates people who order tea.

MOOS (voice-over): For a cheapo beverage, you have to get a saucer, a teabag, a teapot, pour scalding water, get lemon, milk, more sweetener.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They open it up and they wrinkle it into those little balls, and they stuff it back into the sugar caddy, like that's going to be OK.

MOOS: Got tea, get your waitress teed off. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Don't ask for tea.

So much more ahead on CNN this Saturday at 4:00. I'll speak with a woman who has been instrumental in bringing an Iraqi baby to the United States for potentially life-saving care. Ahead, more coverage of the stormy weather impacting California as well. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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