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Milwaukee Man Beaten by Gang of Young People; Immigrant Community's Anger in Ohio; Upsurge in Violence Between Israelis and Palestinians

Aired December 29, 2005 - 15:00   ET

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

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: A Milwaukee man remains in the hospital today. His condition is improving three days after a group of young people pulled him from his car and beat him, kicked him, and jumped on him. Samuel McClain's family has spoken out, and we have learned that this type of crime is not unheard of in Milwaukee.
So, joining me now from there, LaNelle Ramey, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club just one block from the beating site.

LaNelle, thank you very much for being with us.

Do you...

LANELLE RAMEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF MILWAUKEE: No problem at all.

LIN: Have you heard of who might have been involved in this?

RAMEY: We have not heard of any of the youth or the young adults who may be involved. We have questioned some of the kids who come to our club. But have -- don't know of anyone who was involved that comes to the club.

LIN: What do the kids tell you?

RAMEY: Well, not much about this.

I mean, they probably -- some of the kids that come to our club, they kind of go home, go to the club. These things, they -- they actually heard some noises that night, but they didn't see any of the incident that occurred that evening.

LIN: LaNelle, do you think that they're telling you the truth? Because we have a report where neighbors, potential eyewitnesses, say they are too scared to come forward?

RAMEY: The kids that we work with, they -- they trust in us. And, so, when we ask them things, they normally come to us and tell us exactly what happened.

So, we believe, if they knew anything, they would at least talk with us, because they're comfortable around us, but we know that a lot of people in that neighborhood are fearful of retaliation by some of the people that might have been involved in this.

LIN: Fearful of retaliation. So, what kind of youths are we talking about?

RAMEY: Well, you know, they don't come to our club.

You know, these are the kids who -- we heard that the age range may be anywhere from 16 years old, all the way up to a 44-year-old involved. So, there's a wide range of people involved. But these are people that -- kids who are -- just really don't want to be involved in anything positive right now. They're -- they're on their blocks, and they're surrounded by other negative people, who really push and pull them into other negative behaviors.

So, there are a lot of good kids in that community, but we think these were just a select few who were involved in this incident.

LIN: So, you think they would be easy to find. You know, people -- I mean, we get the feeling that people there know who they are, but are afraid for their lives. So, I mean, what are we talking about? Are we talking about a gang situation? And -- and, if we are, to what length will these kids go to protect themselves?

RAMEY: I think -- well, you know, we met earlier today, some other community leaders, and the police department. And we're hearing that it -- it may be gang involvement or it may be a gang in that area that may have been responsible for this. We don't know.

But we do understand that people still have to live in those houses, and until they can feel safe when they come out and -- and, you know, let the police know what they know or what they witnessed, they -- they have to live there tomorrow. They have to live there next week. So, they're very cautious on what they say and how they say it. And we -- we understand that and we respect that as well.

LIN: LaNelle, I know there are good kids there. There are good kids in every neighborhood. I'm wondering, what do you do, you at the club do, to -- to help kids stay on the right track?

RAMEY: Well, you know, we work at what they're -- what they like to do, you know, everything from something as simple as being a part of a basketball team, to we have a recording studio where kids can come in and learn how to be a professional deejay.

We even have a music department where kids can learn to get free music lessons. So, we try to give them offering of things they like to do and want to be involved in. We always get input from the kids. What would you like to do? And then we ask them. So, we try to give them programs that steer them in the right direction.

I mean, we teach them life skills. We have small groups where we talk one on one with the kids and pull them out of the negatives behaviors and the things they see and that they might be involved in.

LIN: LaNelle Ramey, you're doing good work out there.

RAMEY: Thank you very much.

LIN: You know, I know you want these guys caught as much as everybody else.

RAMEY: Yes, definitely.

LIN: All right.

RAMEY: We don't want a stigma on -- on our kids in our community, because we have a vast majority of real good kids who come over to our Boys and Girls Club.

LIN: You bet. And they deserve a chance.

RAMEY: Yes.

LIN: LaNelle Ramey, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club just one block from where, boy, Samuel McClain was beaten up so badly. Let's hope there's a break in this case.

RAMEY: Thank you.

LIN: In the meantime, it -- it's a case of a bad situation getting worse.

In Columbus, Ohio, a large immigrant community is outraged after one of their own was killed in a confrontation with police.

Details now from our Maureen Kocot of our Columbus affiliate WBNS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are racist.

MAUREEN KOCOT, WBNS REPORTER (voice-over): People who witnessed it didn't understand it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He put his hands up, and they pepper spray him, and they just shot him, point blank.

KOCOT: Whatever happened, Nair Abdi's family says you can't blame him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was mentally ill.

KOCOT: Investigators say, when Abdi pulled a knife, they didn't want to hurt him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was maced. The mace did not work.

KOCOT: Because investigators say Abdi kept coming towards the deputies, making slashing motions with the knife. Deputy Jason Evans (ph) fired a single shot that ended Abdi's life.

The shooting sparked anger among the Somalian community.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The police could use another method to stop or talk to the person who is mentally ill. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was mentally sick, but he was not violent.

KOCOT: But court records tell a very different story.

In September of 2001, police arrested Abdi for domestic violence and assault -- one month later, arrested again, this time for criminal damaging, and again the month after that. Family members say Abdi spent several years in a mental health facility.

But, in May of this year, police again arrested Abdi, this time for disorderly conduct. Ohio law says, if Deputy Evans (ph) reasonably feared for his life, the shooting is justified. The community just wishes it could have been resolved another way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: And John Demjanjuk ordered deported.

You may remember him, a retired Ohio automaker accused of being a guard at a Nazi concentration camp.

Jack Shea with our Cleveland affiliate WJW more on Demjanjuk's fight to stay in this country, including reaction from his angry wife.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERA DEMJANJUK, WIFE OF JOHN DEMJANJUK: He is old man. That's a shame. It's a shame. America, America, wake up

JACK SHEA, WJW REPORTER (voice-over): After maintaining a public silence for nearly three decades, Vera Demjanjuk is speaking about a federal judge's order that her husband, John Demjanjuk, be deported to his native Ukraine. Demjanjuk, a retired autoworker, was stripped of his U.S. citizenship in 2002 after a judge ruled that documents proved that he was a guard at several Nazi concentration camps.

DEMJANJUK: You are citizens of United States. If you do something here, you would be in jail, just -- just like the rest of them, unless you don't follow the rules. OK?

What did he do? Who opened our record? Who opened our record ? I ask America, who opened our record?

SHEA: It was in 1977 the Justice Department first attempted to revoke the citizenship of John Demjanjuk. He was later extradited to Israel to stand trial for war crimes. He was found guilty, but his death sentence was later overturned and he was set free.

He was allowed to return to his home in suburban Cleveland; however, he was stripped of his citizenship again in 2002 after the Justice Department successfully argued that he had lied on his citizenship application when he denied any involvement with the Nazis or the concentration camps. His wife maintains he is wrongly accused.

DEMJANJUK: He never did to nobody nothing. He's helping people, he's good-hearted person. And that's what they do to us. SHEA: Vera Demjanjuk is pleading for mercy, the kind of mercy witnesses say her husband never granted in the Nazi death camps. She says her husband is 85 years old, and attorneys for Demjanjuk have argued that he will be tortured or executed if he is deported to the Ukraine.

DEMJANJUK: We have not much to live. We have maybe a couple years or maybe tomorrow I'm dead. I have heart trouble. He has arthritis and everything. You see his body? Yes, where he go, the old man? Who will be watching him there?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Demjanjuk, who has argued that he was captured by the Germans during World War II, has 30 days to appeal the deportation order.

Well, his case has made us wonder about the hunt for other Nazi war criminals. After all, World War II ended more than 60 years ago.

So, here's a quick fact check.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since the 1950s, 6,500 Nazi war criminals have been prosecuted in Germany alone. But the world's foremost Nazi hunter estimates that tens of thousands of more have never even been investigated.

Efraim Zuroff has been tracking down war criminals on behalf of the Simon Wiesenthal Center for more than 25 years. Zuroff says the proudest moment of his career came with the conviction of a former Nazi death camp commander in Croatia in 1999. That commander was believed to be one of the last few senior-level Nazi war criminals still living at large.

After the conviction, Zuroff and his colleagues turned their attention to tracking down lower-level Nazi war criminals. The Wiesenthal Center launched Operation Last Chance in 2002, offering a $10,000 reward for information on surviving Nazi war criminals anywhere in the world.

In the three years since the operation began, the Wiesenthal Center says it has received tips on 413 accused Nazi war criminals in more than nine countries. Eighty-seven of those names have been submitted for prosecution.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Returning to the epicenter of the earthquake -- Dr. Sanjay Gupta heads back to Pakistan to see how one colonel is leading the fight to save thousands of refugees -- that story from LIVE FROM returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LIN: Rocket attacks by Palestinian militants, Israel retaliating -- retaliating with artillery fire, just part of the recent upsurge of violence between the two sides.

Now, in the latest deadly incident today, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up at a checkpoint in the West Bank, killing an Israeli army officer and two other Palestinians. Meanwhile, violence continued unchecked in Gaza.

CNN's Guy Raz is in Jerusalem.

Guy, we want to get the latest out of the Middle East, but, first, I have got to ask you about this report out there right now that al Qaeda in Iraq is claiming responsibility for firing a missile from Lebanon into Israel. Do you know anything about this?

GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, this is in relation to an attack that took place about two nights ago.

A barrage of Katyusha rockets were fired from southern Lebanon into northern Israel. And Israeli warplanes retaliated by striking at a Palestinian militant training base just south of Beirut.

Now a group known as al Qaeda in Iraq is taking responsibility for that attack. But it should be said that Israeli intelligence officials are treating this report with some skepticism, in large part because al Qaeda is a virulently anti-Shiite organization, al Qaeda adhering to the Salafist strain of Islam.

And southern Lebanon is essentially Shiite country, an area essentially under the control of the militant Shiite organization Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed group. At the same time, Israeli intelligence officials are monitoring that claim, because, if in fact it was al Qaeda, it would be the first time the terrorist organization has managed to mount such a large-scale attack into Israel -- Carol.

LIN: Guy, thanks for giving us perspective on that.

Can you give us an update on three British hostages who disappeared in Gaza?

RAZ: Well, we understand that those three hostages are still in captivity, one of them a human-rights worker. She entered into southern Gaza with her parents yesterday to try -- in an attempt to show them around southern Gaza, when they were taken at gunpoint.

They remain in captivity, and it's unclear what the demands of the captors are. It should be said that both the British Foreign Office and the Palestinian Authority have been trying to find out the location of these hostages.

This has been happening with increasing frequency in Gaza over the past several months. It should be said, though, that, in every case, the captives -- the captives have been returned unharmed, after several hours.

This is certainly the longest time that any hostages have been held in captivity in Gaza -- Carol.

LIN: So, Guy, what do you -- what do you make of it, then? I mean, who would take them? And why wouldn't demands be made?

RAZ: It's very difficult to know.

The situation in Gaza is spiraling out of control, increasingly. We have gunmen exchanging fire with Palestinian police officers. We, of course, have this spate of -- the spate of kidnappings, and, really, what appears to be the law and order, the authority of the Palestinian government really breaking down.

And, essentially, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, appears to be either unwilling or unable to control the situation. It's a very difficult time for his government at the moment, in terms of what's happening in Gaza -- Carol.

LIN: Guy Raz, reporting live from Jerusalem, thank you.

Well, it's been more than 11 weeks since that devastating earthquake rocked Pakistan. The situation for thousands of victims is still desperate.

But CNN senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta visited a refugee camp in one of the hardest-hit regions and met a man who is using all his skill and training to make a difference.

It's a story you first saw on "ANDERSON COOPER 360."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On October 9, just one day after the earthquake, Colonel Ahmad Faraz (ph) flew straight to the epicenter. When he arrived, the Allai Valley was a bloody, muddy, broken mess.

Amid criticism that the Pakistani army was too slow to act, Faraz (ph) and a small group of troops are assigned to turn Allai Valley into a safe refuge for tens of thousands of people.

The valley is in northwest Pakistan. It is among the most remote and difficult-to-reach places in all of Asia. To understand what was happening to the people here meant paying the colonel a visit. We started by car, bone-crushing hours in a small van.

(on camera): So, we are traveling through the mountains here near a place called Bahd (ph), which is one of the worst-hit areas by the earthquake. And, I mean, you can't escape it. It's inescapable all around us that -- the devastation by the earthquake, all these buildings.

(voice-over): And impossible to travel by car to areas higher up in the mountains. Landslides have destroyed many of these ancient roads beyond repair.

A helicopter was the only way to get to the colonel. Though these mountains may look desolate, hundreds of thousands of people live here. Tens of thousands have already died, many of them children.

Many more are still alive, but profoundly vulnerable. After surviving untreated injuries, dehydration, starvation and outbreaks of disease, there is now a good chance untold numbers could freeze to death.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And, you know, first they are saved, and then families, then -- then again, then again. And (INAUDIBLE) I think there is the fifth week, fifth week of this camp. I have 16,000 people. And, still, people are coming.

GUPTA: Many of these people have never left their small plots of land. Getting them to come to the safety of this camp meant thinking like they do. That means Colonel Faraz (ph) and the private aid agencies working here are caring for not just for these people, but also for their livelihood.

(on camera): A lot of these people would not have come out of the mountains, would not have come to camps like this, unless they bring their -- animals with them, their livestock. That is their livelihood. And so many places -- we have heard this over and over again -- they treat their livestock better than they treat their own children in some ways.

They're not only members of their family, but they are also a significant source of income. And what -- what this organization has done here, Save the Children, USAID, actually create a place not only to keep the animals warm, safe from the elements, but also to provide them food.

And that was a big incentive to actually allow many of these families to come down here.

(voice-over): And they continue to come. Make no mistake. There has been a long, deep distrust of the military by the mountaineers. Yet, they still line up, because they believe in Faraz (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look how organized they are now.

GUPTA (on camera): Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can -- you can talk with any of them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will come. We will come. We will come. Goodbye. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. He says thanks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's thanking you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) He is helping this, you know, tent village. Thank you very much.

(CHILDREN SINGING)

GUPTA: They're learning Urdu, the official Pakistani language. And the camp is working. This is the largest refugee camp in Pakistan. We saw absolutely no violence or looting. In fact, as soon as I met the colonel, I was reminded of another military leader who changed the tenor of the relief effort in New Orleans, General Russell Honore.

LIEUTENANT GENERAL RUSSEL HONORE, COMMANDER, FIRST U.S. ARMY: Put that weapon down on your back. You are delivering food.

GUPTA: Both men have proved a critically important point about relief. Money and resources alone won't promise success. Effective relief depends on strong leadership.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is this? What is this?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Chin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is this?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Nose.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Eyes.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Eyebrows.

GUPTA: Turns out, saving lives wasn't Faraz's (ph) only agenda. He wanted to tackle something much more profound. He hopes this tragedy can help bring Pakistan into the 21st century, learning new languages and changing the culture.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, Sanjay. OK. She will tell you the national anthem.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING URDU)

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See, this is -- this is the (INAUDIBLE) culture, you know? This is what I want to show you, the -- all these people. This -- look at their faces. Everybody is happy.

GUPTA: Of course, you are just seeing a small slice of the relief in Pakistan. And, surely, not everyone is happy.

Forty-five-year-old Reyaz Mohammed (ph) was injured in the earthquake. He began having fits, or seizures. The volunteer nurses, who will alone see more than 200 patients today, are at a loss. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fifteen minutes ago, and I see one just now like this.

GUPTA: Everyone is recruited to help.

(on camera): This is a big problem here -- around here, because you are actually seeing patients, they have no history. Their CAT scans, all their records were actually destroyed by the earthquake. So, they show up here, as this gentlemen did, with a seizure, and nobody knows exactly what to do in this case.

You can just drink this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. That's good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK?

GUPTA: Tastes pretty good.

(voice-over): Colonel Faraz (ph) knows he won't be able to take care of Reyaz Mohammed (ph) and many of the sick and needy in Pakistan. But he will do what he can to provide clean water, warm tents and basic hygiene.

(on camera): Most of these people here have used toilets before?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They use toilets. Have never seen any -- any -- any -- I mean it's so neat and clean area.

GUPTA: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No smell.

GUPTA: Right. There is -- there is no smell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sixteen thousand people. It's very neat and clean, though.

GUPTA (voice-over): He dreams of much more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we are going to have, attach toilets and bathrooms everywhere in the tents. This is going to be a metropolitan city, not less than Islamabad.

(LAUGHTER)

GUPTA: This is going to be a metropolitan city?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

GUPTA (voice-over): Given the tremendous need and suffering here, Colonel Faraz (ph) is determined to make it possible.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Allai Valley, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE) LIN: All right, now want to bring you the latest on the grass fires burning in Oklahoma.

You're looking at a shot out of Oklahoma City, actually near Oklahoma City. Some 30,000 acres have burned in the state of Oklahoma just in the last 48 hours. A couple of days ago, the temperatures were hovering up in the 80s and the dry conditions out there sparked many of these fires. There have been dozens of fires and dozens of homes destroyed.

Now, so far today, reports out of the area have it a little more humid. The winds are starting to die down again. But this is the time of day when the winds start picking up, as we head more towards the late afternoon.

So, let's check some with our severe weather expert, Chad Myers, with more on that.

Chad, what can those folks expect out there in Texas and Oklahoma?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, this is not that far from Oklahoma City, really, between Oklahoma City and Jones. The fire is right here.

If you know where the TV stations are in Oklahoma City, just kind of go off to the east about six miles or so. It's about Wilshire (ph), probably in Post (ph), where we're seeing some of the heaviest fires.

Let's go back to the -- the pictures, because they're so amazing. What has happened now, the winds have picked up to about 25 miles per hour. We had a very large clump of cedar trees just in the fire zone itself. Those trees went up like -- like nothing, like gasoline, really.

Those cedar trees are all dried out. Get this, Carol. Since December 1, Oklahoma City has picked up one-quarter-of-an-inch of rain. Before that, for the entire month of November, it never rained one day. So, they have had one-quarter-of-one-inch of rain in 60 days. That's obviously just tinder-dry conditions out there.

This storm, this firestorm, was right in a clump of cedars. It jumped into a yard, a very large yard, very brown, very dry. It completely overtook a -- a house. You can't even find the house in there. That house went up in flames in, literally, 15 to 20 seconds after the flames were licking at the door.

And, for a while, you can even see right in the middle part of your screen, there are some horses that are just running away from the fire. They're not getting too far away from the fire, but, obviously, they knew what to do. And that's what you should do, too, if it approaches your house.

LIN: Yes.

MYERS: Don't try to save the house, because this is moving too fast.

LIN: Yes. Boy, Chad, reading just such -- some sad stories on the wire services.

This one couple had an offer for their cute little farmhouse, but they decided not to sell it and instead start over with new furniture and everything. And now everything is gone.

MYERS: Oh.

LIN: Everything is gone. So...

(CROSSTALK)

MYERS: Just for reference, the winds are blowing from the south to the north. So, the winds and the waves and all of this stuff, all of the winds, are not blowing the smoke and the fire to Oklahoma City, but, in fact, blowing it north and east of Oklahoma City, and just to the west of Jones.

LIN: All right.

MYERS: We will keep you up to date. These pictures aren't going to go away.

LIN: No. Good information. Thanks very much, Chad.

MYERS: All right.

LIN: In fact, let's get information right from the scene.

I have got with me on the telephone right now Michelann Ooten. She is with the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

Ms. Ooten, can you give us an idea of what's happening right now on the ground?

MICHELANN OOTEN, SPOKESWOMAN, OKLAHOMA DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Good afternoon, Carol.

At this point, we have fires working in four different Oklahoma counties. And we are sending Black Hawk helicopters and Chinook helicopters equipped with buckets to provide aerial suppressions in -- in those locations.

LIN: And what is the wind report out there, because it is going to start picking up, I understand, this afternoon.

OOTEN: It's certainly high. I'm hearing between 25, 30, 35 miles per hour, with gusts much higher than that.

LIN: Are you getting a better -- better weather report? Because we are -- we're also hearing it's a little more humid out there. So, is -- is the weather helping you any?

OOTEN: Well, I think, certainly, you know, higher humidity will always help us, but, as your pictures are showing, it's not helping enough. What we really need is some rain.

LIN: Yes. And, so far, the forecast is rain to the north of Oklahoma, but not heading your way.

So, what is local government doing right now? Because New Year's Eve is coming up. People might be thinking about fireworks.

OOTEN: We were actually talking about that a lot in the last 24 hours and encouraging Oklahomans and reminding -- actually reminding them there's a burn ban in place.

And setting off your own fireworks is -- is prohibited at this time. It's not going to be allowed. The only fireworks will be done at those professional fireworks show. And even those, in some cases, are being curtailed and decreased.

LIN: You know, some of the reports also say that it was people's carelessness that caused a lot of these fires. This -- this isn't just weather related.

OOTEN: Well, all these are under investigation. There's very few that we know exactly how they start at this point.

And keep in mind, on so many cases, the fires are ongoing. We're continuing to do fire suppression. The investigations will come at a later time, but we just need to remind everyone that the conditions are so ripe for fires.

We just need to be very careful in our outdoor activities. The slightest cigarette butt can create such a small spark, but it can create such a large fire and a major tragedy for someone.

LIN: Yes.

Do you think any arsonists might be involved?

OOTEN: That's certainly one of the things we always look into.

LIN: Now, isn't that cruel? I mean, people are losing their homes. Dozens of people have lost their homes this holiday season.

OOTEN: We just need to make sure we're being good neighbors. And good neighbors take care of each other and -- and make sure that they behave responsibly.

LIN: All right.

Michelann Ooten, let's hope for some rain -- so far, not in the forecast, but maybe a break in the weather will be in the way over the new year.

OOTEN: Thank you.

LIN: All right. Thank you very much.

All right. Well, forget the skirmishes over snoring, the thermostat, or who is hogging all the covers. The biggest controversy in American bedrooms may be about the smallest members of the family. Should you or shouldn't you let the baby sleep with mom and dad?

We won't rest until we talk it over -- when LIVE FROM returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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