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Rescue Efforts Continue for Earthquake Ravaged Asia; U.S., India Among Those Aiding Pakistan's Earthquake Victims; Home Explodes in Birmingham, Daycare Evacuated; Violent Arrest Caught on Tape in New Orleans

Aired October 10, 2005 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: Searching for survivors. Live pictures right now from an apartment complex in Islamabad, Pakistan. Rescuers looking for people trapped by the earthquake. We're live from the White House and the Pentagon on America's role in aiding countries hard hit.
"Security Watch": is the quake on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border making it easier for terrorists like Osama bin Laden to move around?

And fit and fast. NASCAR driver Carl Edwards joins me live to reveal why lean muscles are just one important part of getting that lead foot to the victory lane.

From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

Geology, geography and geopolitics colliding in the catastrophe after its aftermath in South Central Asia. The Pakistan government, police at ground zero and hospital workers estimate a minimum of 30,000 killed in Saturday's earthquake in Pakistan alone. Hundreds more, maybe a thousand, in India.

The outside world is rushing to the rescue, but the terrain was remote to begin with and remains, to some extent, cut off by land. The quake was centered near the capital of the Pakistani sector of fiercely disputed Kashmir, over which Pakistan and India have fought three wars.

While Pakistan has ruled out joint relief operations, it is accepting Indian aid.

Pakistan's capital is less than 100 miles from the epicenter but light years from the worst of the damage. Except at this 11th story apartment tower, which collapsed in a heartbeat and may -- may still be harboring survivors.

CNN's Andrew Stevens joins us now on the phone from Islamabad.

Andrew, what can you tell us?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, it's interesting you say it may be harboring survivors, because it looks as if at this stage, we're quite close to pulling someone else alive from the rubble. The British rescue teams say they have identified a woman in the rubble, but they aren't quite aware of exactly where she is. She has been talking to them. And they're expecting, probably in the next couple of hours to actually make contact with her.

As you said, this building collapsed at 8:50 on Saturday morning. A slow-motion collapse, as it was described to me by someone who was watching from the other side.

So far, they have got something like 35 bodies out. There's still something like 50 to 60 people under there. Rescuers say, "If there's one woman under there and we're talking to her, there may well be more."

PHILLIPS: Andrew, are there enough rescue crews? Are they getting enough helicopters, ambulances? Give us a sense for the first responders and if indeed there are enough?

STEVENS: Well, if you take Islamabad, for example, yes, there are. This particular area you're looking at, this one building has collapsed. British rescue teams got here very early. There's also the Pakistani army.

But as you point out, this really is just the tip of a colossal iceberg. If you go north to the northern western provinces, if you go to a little bit east into Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and Indian- controlled Kashmir, there are thousands, tens of thousands being reported. There's something like one million people have been displaced out of a population of four million.

Are they getting help? The short answer to that is not enough. There's landslides that stopped road vehicles from getting in. Helicopters are getting in, but they're just not big enough. They're not capable of dropping the supplies that are needed.

There are people without water. The temperature is dropping. They desperately need tents. They need cold weather gear. At the moment, it's just not arriving fast enough.

PHILLIPS: Andrew Stevens on the phone for us from Islamabad. We'll continue to check in with you. You're seeing video here one of those lucky survivors there, a victim of the quake, but alive. Andrew Stevens telling us a number of people still being rescued from that area.

Andrew, thank you so much.

Well, the Bush administration is promising $50 million up front in earthquake relief, and some of that in the former of food, water and blankets have already arrived. U.S. military helicopters are being borrowed from the war in nearby Afghanistan.

We get more on all this, what the U.S. ambassador of Pakistan is calling a very major relief effort, from CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr and CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.

Barbara, let's start with you.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, let's just have a little precision here about what exactly the map looks like to begin with.

This quake hit in the northwest frontier area. That is where the major damage is. And that is a fair amount to the east of the Afghan/Pakistan border. A lot of questions swirling around for what this means on the global war on terror.

And we've spoken to senior military -- U.S. military officers in the region just a little while ago, including Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry, the top commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

He says all the reports that he has seen, first and foremost, show almost no damage on the Afghan/Pakistan borders, so U.S. military operations in that region do continue fairly uninterrupted. No impact on U.S. operations against the global war on terror.

What the impact is one of a disastrous humanitarian situation, General Eikenberry says. The focus now is completely on getting relief and assistance into these devastated areas.

What the U.S. plans to do is set up, essentially an air bridge, if you will. That their supplies will now be coming in, U.S. military supplies will be coming in from all around the region.

They will come from key areas at least. That will be Qatar, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan. And the area where is the supplies now will be moving rapidly into Afghanistan. The first right U.S. military helicopters are there. The first U.S. cargo plane unloaded its thousands of pounds of supplies.

But it will take some effort to get all of this material moving. General Eikenberry spoke with us about a very interesting development here and that is for the first time it is the -- also the Afghan national army that will be able to help its neighbors in Pakistan. Let's listen to General Eikenberry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GEN. KARL EIKENBERRY: We'll have four Afghan national army helicopters that will be deploying from Afghanistan and joining our team down in Islamabad, joining our aviation task force. Also working in direct support with the Pakistan military.

I say that's a great news story, because if you think about this, our mission here in Afghanistan. Three and a half years ago, there was no Afghan national army. And we reached a point now where the Afghan national army, with great pride, is sending four of their helicopters forward to help their Pakistan brethren in need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Kyra, if you were standing tomorrow morning on the Khyber Pass, it would be indeed a remarkable sight, eight Afghan helicopters flying through the Khyber Pass, flying into Pakistan to help there.

What the U.S. will be doing now is ferrying supplies up into these remote mountain areas and evacuating out the wounded, trying to get them medical care -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon. Thank you.

And if the quake forges new potentially historic ties between two old enemies, Pakistan and India, it might also bolster a friendship that many Pakistanis have long been suspicious of, that with Washington.

Here's CNN's Suzanne Malveaux -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Of course, there is the humanitarian aspect of this, but there's also the political aspect as well.

Pakistan is a critical ally when it comes to the war on terror, a long time strategic ally. And really, the administration sees this as an opportunity to show a predominantly Muslim country and that the United States, yes, cares in their time of need, in their time of crisis and that they will come through.

It was unusual what we saw yesterday at the White House: President Bush in the Oval Office being briefed by Pakistani officials. Also holding an emergency meeting, essentially trying to reach out to the Pakistani authorities and what it is that they needed. President Bush reaching out to the president, Pervez Musharraf, offering assistance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I spoke to President Musharraf, and I expressed my nation -- our nation's deepest condolences. And I told them that we want to help in any way that we can. To that end, we've already started to send cash money and other equipment and goods that are going to be needed to help the people in Pakistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And Kyra, that $50 million is just an initial installment to help with the recovery efforts. There's bound to be much, much more. The White House sending a clear signal to the Pakistani officials and to that government there, that, yes, we care and you are, in fact, important to us -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And of course, there's still millions and millions of dollars of aid going to those Hurricane Katrina victims. Suzanne, the president making a trip once again to New Orleans. What can you tell us about that?

MALVEAUX: Well, Kyra, it's really interesting, because people are already making comparisons and drawing analogies, fair or not fair, saying that -- how is it that United States can get to the aid of Pakistan's people within 12 hours but taking days when it came to Hurricane Katrina.

And the White House wants to make it absolutely clear that the president is on top of the recovery effort. He'll be traveling to the region earlier today. He'll be having dinner with local and state officials and then on to building houses for Habitat for Humanity the next day -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux, live from the White House. Thank you so much.

And this just into CNN, we've been tracking Birmingham fire department responding to calls of a house explosion on London Avenue in the Gate City area of Birmingham.

The fire burning a home next to a church and its daycare. About 40 children, we're being told, evacuated from that daycare. We're hearing that possibly there are three people unaccounted for in this burning home.

Alan Collins with our affiliate WBRZ joins us, actually, live from the scene now. Alan, what more can you tell us?

ALAN COLLINS, WBRZ CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, what we can tell you at this time, talking to a witness here on the scene in East Birmingham, to let people know exactly where we are.

Apparently, I'm told that a man was working on a water heater at this residence. Go ahead and take a closer look at the residence over here. Was working on a water heater in the basement. Apparently, some sort of explosion developed from that or shortly time after.

We are told an elderly couple live inside this home. Some -- at one point, witnesses saw the couple but not since then. They have not come out. The fate of the three remain up in the air at this time.

The fire department, as you can see, the blames continuing to blaze. They have not been able to go in. That is because the gas line has collapsed on the house and on the line there. So they can't get to it. So basically, they're putting what water they can on it. Water has been pouring for a long time now, 20, 30 minutes, trying to get this under control. But they cannot get to the gas line at this time.

Now, if Lloyd will pan over a little bit. The building next door is the daycare center. It's a church daycare center. As you mentioned, about 40 children, they were here. No one was injured. All of those children have been evacuated, and they've been brought across the street to the church and parents are urged to come on the scene.

Again, the Birmingham Fire Department, they do have it under control as best they can right now. But really, their hands are tied until they get in control of this gas, which is continuing the blaze over here. And they will not be able to go inside. They will not be able to start a search for the three people, who at this time, it does not look good. We have one relative who just came by who said her aunt lives in there. And obviously, she's very distraught, because no one knows the fate of those three people right now. But it doesn't look good. It doesn't look like anyone survived this explosion here in East Birmingham -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Alan Collins with our affiliate WBRZ. Thank you so much. We'll continue to check in with you.

More LIVE FROM right after a quick break.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next, on LIVE FROM, rough treatment caught on tape. Did New Orleans police cross the line?

WARREN RILEY, ACTING NOPD CHIEF: What is obvious is that our officers used more than the force necessary.

PHILLIPS: The police chief joins me life.

Later on LIVE FROM...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I watched a couple of the houses down River Street go down the river.

PHILLIPS: Relentless rains, heavy flooding and fears that dams can fail. Tracking the deadly flood waters on the eastern seaboard.

Later on LIVE FROM, fast and fit, NASCAR racer Karl Edwards reveals why running, biking and pumping up are his keys to taking the checkered flag.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Officers on the edge, now accused of crossing the line. A warning here that this story may be too graphic for some of you to watch. It's the latest trouble for the New Orleans beleaguered police department, and it's all caught on tape.

Here our Alina Cho.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two New Orleans police officers are seen here trying to make an arrest. The suspect, 64-year-old Robert Davis.

Moments later, an officer on horseback maneuvers in front of the A.P. photographer, blocking his view. Then, a glimpse. Davis sustains several blows to his head. His head also appears to hit the wall. Later, four men, two of them clearly identified as police, push Davis to the ground and place him in a head lock.

(on camera) Having seen the tape, what is your reaction?

RILEY: Well, to see the tape is -- it's troubling.

CHO (voice-over): Police Chief Warren Riley says tapes of the incident don't show everything.

RILEY: What is obvious is that our officers used more than the force necessary.

CHO: Including this, an officer who identifies himself as S.M. Smith pushes the A.P. producer, pinning him against the car. In a profanity-filled tirade, the officer says, "I've been here for six weeks trying to keep myself alive. Go home."

The aftermath was caught on tape by a CNN photographer. Davis' shirt is soaked with blood. As he tries to turn over it becomes clear he has suffered head injuries.

The suspect, Robert Davis, has been freed. He'll appear in court on charges including public intoxication, battery on a police officer and resisting arrest. Three New Orleans police officers are suspended, charged with battery.

RILEY: A few bad cops. It happens everywhere.

CHO: Since Hurricane Katrina there have been many complaints about bad cops here, including looting by officers. One case involved a Cadillac dealership, where the owner says officers made off with some of his cars.

RILEY: We had units that lost their entire fleet into the flood, and they did, in fact, commandeer some of those vehicles. We're not denying that.

CHO: The chief says the cars were used for patrols and rescues and that these are trying times.

RILEY: Where 80 percent of the city was flooded, where 80 percent of the citizens are displaced, had to be evacuated, 80 percent of the police department also lost their homes. Certainly, this is a unique situation to say the very least.

CHO (voice-over): The officers involved in the incident are white. The suspect is black, which raises the question, did race play a role in this? The police chief says he has no evidence to support that.

Alina Cho, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And we have new video now of the three suspended officers. Each pleaded not guilty to battery charges today in New Orleans. A trial date has been set for early January. The officers are now out on bond.

And something you'll see only here on CNN, the latest from the man in charge, acting New Orleans police superintendent, Warren Riley now joining us live from our bureau.

Sir, I sure appreciate your time today.

RILEY: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: Well, first of all, these officers now out on bond. I have to ask you, are you concerned about that? Are you concerned about these officers being back on the streets?

RILEY: No, I'm not concerned about them being out back the street. I think they went through due process. They were released by a judge. I'm satisfied with that.

PHILLIPS: Sir, do you think they'll stay on the job?

RILEY: That I don't know. That will be revealed in the investigation, once that's concluded.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk about the man that, of course, we saw in the videotape, the man that was arrested by police, the man that appears to be beaten up on that videotape.

We also don't see what happens, what leads to the end result. Can you tell us anything about Robert Davis, the 64-year-old man? Do you know if he had alcohol in his system? Do you know if he had drugs? Do you know if he had a weapon?

RILEY: Well, the reports are that he was intoxicated. That's all I really know about the gentleman. The investigation is ongoing. We're attempting to actually ascertain exactly why this encounter occurred at all. But I don't have any other information other than that and what I've seen on the video.

PHILLIPS: Well sir, no doubt, this is an extremely difficult time for the New Orleans Police Department. And I must say, with this situation, when those stories came out about the looting, it took a long time to kind of get to the bottom of that and to see some action go forward.

But you reacted quickly when this happened. And you talked to the cameras. And you got out how you felt about this situation. Will you be doing that on a regular basis? When something like this goes down, how fast will you be to react?

RILEY: Well, certainly, we hope that we do not have many incidents like this at all. However, when we do, in fact, have incidents, we will take swift and decisive action.

In this particular case, there was video, which gave a clear depiction of our officers using force beyond what I described force that was beyond what was necessary in this incident, based on the video. But we will take decisive action once we gather all the facts. We will take quick action, yes.

And not only in a negative sense, if officers are in fact -- if officers are in fact that the evidence shows that they were following policy and procedure, we will not be taking such punitive type action.

PHILLIPS: Let me ask you a question, sir. I remember when you were a captain in the Sixth District when I was a reporter there in New Orleans 10 years ago. And I remember, you were a part of the changes that were taking place, when officers were dealing drugs and allegedly putting hits out on individuals. I mean, it was a troubled time.

And you were involved with the community and trying to get, or be a part of this new department and holding these types of officers accountable.

Ten years has passed. You have a chance now, as acting superintendent, to completely change this department, to get rid of this ever happening again. You've got police officers that have left. You've got police officers that don't want to be on the job anymore. And you have a lot of fantastic, honest police officers staying in the fight and working in that city.

What can you do, right now, 2005, to make sure what we've seen over the past decade and what we're seeing now on videotape will never happen again? You have such an opportunity here.

RILEY: Well, it is a great opportunity. It's a great opportunity to give the police department a new direction, a direction where we are focus on integrity, professionalism. We want every citizen of New Orleans, every citizen in this nation to be proud of this department.

Throughout Hurricane Katrina, many stories have now gotten out about the heroism of the police and some of the things that they actually went through and still came -- came to work.

But this is an opportunity for us to ensure that the police department is one that's respected around the country for its professionalism.

Those handful of officers that we have, and I'm not -- I want to clarify, I'm not saying that these three officers a re apart of that. That investigation will reveal it.

But those handful of officers that we have who have been involved in incidents that have embarrassed this police department or caused us any problems, we want to weed them out.

But we also want to say that the vast majority of NOPD are hard working, true professionals, many men and women who are out here, risking their lives on a daily basis and making New Orleans a safe place. And we hope to continue that. And hopefully, you won't see us back on CNN or any other news channel in a negative light for a long time. PHILLIPS: Chief, I've go to tell you, I keep my fingers crossed we will not see videotape like that and talk about incidents like this. And you know that I've known a lot of these officers for more than a decade. I think of Jeff Wynn (ph) when he was a young officer, and now he's the head of your SWAT team.

RILEY: Yes.

PHILLIPS: And he helped a lot of these great cops deal with what took place in your city.

Let me tell -- let me ask you a question. How do you keep the good cops right now? Do you have any sort of incentive plan to keep the good cops? And how do you recruit new police officers? I mean, these are officers, you and I well know, don't get paid a lot of money when they first come onto the job. And they're put in some of the roughest districts.

Now, you've got less people in the city, less crime. Once again, it's a new opportunity to keep the good cops and bring in even better ones.

RILEY: Well, certainly, there are many opportunities that come with this, although as catastrophic as it has been, it is an opportunity for New Orleans to revive itself, to rejuvenate itself, for some new initiatives to take place.

How do we keep officers here? We continue to push our morale, trying to push it up, elevate our officers. We're doing all that we can to assist our officers as it relates to housing. They're working overtime. We have mental health professionals that are in. We are trying to provide clothing and things for their families and things such as that.

Those officers who really want to be here and who love New Orleans, which most do, will be here. But you know, the ironic part about it, we have officers that have come here from other agencies that have actually left a couple of resumes that want to become a part of the New Orleans Police Department because they see the true side. They see a professional and courageous police department.

PHILLIPS: Let me ask you that, chief, final question. Do you think you need those outside agencies, still, to try and keep the peace and keep the crime low in your city? And do you feel that you still need the military? Let's get it on the record so the president on down can hear it from your mouth. Do you need that support right now? Do you need the military? Do you need these other agencies?

RILEY: Well, absolutely. We still need the assistance. I mean, things have certainly gotten better in New Orleans. Our department is functioning probably at about 70 percent of its capacity. And the restrictions are simply the equipment. We're still waiting on cars and things like that to get in.

The military has been a great help. They're in static positions throughout the city, ensuring that -- assisting us with anti-looting. The federal agents have been tremendous. Their presence, their experience, has been invaluable to us.

So yes, we would like to see them here at least through the end the year, if possible.

PHILLIPS: Acting Superintendent Warren Riley. Sir, let's try and make a pact: the next time we have this interview, it will only be about good officers.

RILEY: Certainly. I certainly hope so. And that's what I expect. Thank you very much.

PHILLIPS: All right. I appreciate it, chief.

Straight ahead, does the quake along the Afghan-Pakistan border pose a security threat? How it might affect Osama bin Laden and other terrorists in the region, just ahead on LIVE FROM.

Also ahead, what goes up might soon be coming down. Details on why Americans may soon be seeing lower prices at the pump.

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