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Interview with Brian Boitano; Health Care Workers Face Bird Flu Challenge

Aired February 16, 2006 - 13:30   ET

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

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KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, he's a three time Olympian, a gold medalist with more than 50 U.S. and international titles to his credit. He's also in the figure skating hall of fame. So who better to help us prejudge the competition on ice then Brian Boitano? He's live from Torino next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Most unusual sight today at the Winter Olympic Games in Torino: snow. So much, in fact, that officials had to call off practice on the downhill. The women's alpine combined, which includes the downhill and two grueling slalom runs, is tomorrow, and American Lindsey Kildow says she will be skiing.

Here we have NASCAR on icy snow, otherwise known as the wild sport of snowboard cross. It made its Olympic debut just hours ago, and it was a race to the finish. American Seth Wescott grabbing the lead midway through the course, hanging on for the gold. He and other Olympians are sharing the spotlight these days with Chevy, who usually goes wherever his owner, a U.S. ski star Daron Rahlves goes. This month, it's the Winter Games, and as you can see, well, Chevy's got his own credentials.

On the ice, a battle for silver in men's figure skating. The gold all but awarded to Russia's Evgeni Plushenko. He grabbed a commanding lead under the new scoring system in Tuesday's short program. His nearest competitor, Johnny Weir, the three-time U.S. champ, followed closely by Swiss and French skaters.

In Torino to cheer them all on, the last American male figure skater to win gold after earning eight -- count them, eight -- 6.0's, and the perfect score, of course, in the U.S. Nationals. Brian Boitano, welcome, great to have you with us.

BRIAN BOITANO, FORMER OLYMPIC CHAMPION: Thank you for having me.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk men skaters first. Who are you watching?

BOITANO: Well, you know, like you said, Plushenko is so far ahead, I think I read earlier today unless there's an alien abduction and he is taken away by martians, that he's going to win no matter what happens. I mean he's so consistent and he's so on top of his game. I think he's at the peak of male figure skating and his physical prowess. So I think he's really the man to beat.

As far as Johnny Weir, he really has a chance to get one of the two other medals. And he'll be competing against Stephane Lambiel and Brian Joubert of France. I think it's going to be a real battle for bronze and silver medals.

PHILLIPS: Well, let me ask you about Johnny Weir. I understand his quad is what is the most amazing thing that he does. Now, back in 1987 -- we did our homework. We found a picture of you actually attempting the quad. Now, you were able to have the triple axel right? You were famous for that.

BOITANO: Yes.

PHILLIPS: But just how hard is it to achieve a quad and is Johnny the guy to do it? Just tell us the significance and what makes it so tough and why it's so admirable.

BOITANO: Well, you know what, it's significant now because it's the next step up from the generation that I competed with. I didn't need a quadruple to win the Olympics. But nowadays you really do need a quad. It's pretty much essential for a man who's going to win the Olympics to do a quadruple. It's sort of the next evolution of the sport.

PHILLIPS: It's amazing how the sport has changed so much. Has it been amazing for you to watch and sort of sometimes sit back and think, wow, that is -- I never even thought it would come to this point?

BOITANO: Well, you know what, in some ways it's changed so much and in other ways, it's really stayed the same. I mean, when you go back into the world and meet all the other people and see what's happening behind the scenes, it's all the same game that it's always been. But like with a new judging systems and things like that, it's a whole different ball game than when we used to compete.

PHILLIPS: All right, let's talk women. Who are you watching?

BOITANO: Well, you know, I think our women are very strong. You know, with Michelle Kwan pulling out, I think that there's going to be a lot of focus on Sasha Cohen. And that's going to be a hard thing to do, because the media's going to really focus on her as the hope of getting a gold medal for America. And I think that she can do it.

It's going to be hard to overcome Slutskaya, who is basically what I said, the Plushenko of women's figure skating. She's 27 years old. She's a veteran. She's had a medal in the last Olympics. She's had a heart condition that has been affecting her, but she's so happy to just be back on the ice that I think all those things and how aggressive she is -- she really wants a gold medal. I think it's going to be hard to beat her.

But we have two skaters who could sneak in there, too. Kimmie Meissner is a very talented young girl from America. And also Emily Hughes, who, you know, I think will have no pressure on her because America's going to just be happy to see her going out there and representing our country. And I think that she's going to be prepared and come on and be aggressive.

PHILLIPS: And Emily Hughes, really the pressure, it's not -- don't you think she'll be a little more relaxed and kind of in a different mindset, considering how she got into the games?

BOITANO: Absolutely. I think that she's going to be in a perfect mindset. It's a perfect mindset for great winning performances, because America is going to encourage her and just be happy that she's here. And she's going to feel like, I'm so lucky to be at the Olympics, I've been training ever since the National Championships, I'm in good shape. She's doing the worlds in three weeks after this. So it's really an ideal situation. So you never know what's going to happen. Maybe she'll pull off something like her sister did four years ago.

PHILLIPS: Well, now let's have a little fun. We've talked about the serious stuff. This picture of you -- I want to say you look about 10 years old, out there practicing. Give me the background on this.

BOITANO: Doing my split jump.

PHILLIPS: Yes, doing your split jump. Give me the scoop on this.

BOITANO: My coach used to always take pictures of us so that we could use them in the programs for the club competitions every year. So this was outdoor in Palo Alto Winter Club, where I was doing one of the photo sessions. And it was my coach, actually, sitting down on the ice, taking pictures of all of her students. We used to look forward to it every year, because it was our favorite time. Because we didn't have to skate all day, we could outdoors and skate, and we got to take pictures.

PHILLIPS: Well, that's a pretty cool shot. And you know what, we -- during the Olympics, we sort of found a similar shot, but I must say, the move is much more perfected than when you were a young boy, it's pretty amazing. I don't know how you did this.

BOITANO: Yes, it's -- I think I know the shot you're talking about, the split jump. It's amazing to see through the years, like, where you begin and where you end up.

PHILLIPS: Wow. OK. So I had no idea about this "South Park" song. I'm going to play a little bit for our viewers. I know you know definitely what I'm talking with. And then I have a question about this.

BOITANO: OK.

(SINGING)

PHILLIPS: All right, be honest to me, when you first heard this and found out about this, did you laugh? BOITANO: I was frightened. I was frightened. Because I wanted them to be nice. So I had a friend at Disney say, hey, there's -- the soundtrack from the new "South Park" movie is out, you better go get it, there's a song about you. And I'm like, oh, my God, so I got it, and it was fine.

I've never met the guys, but I really think what they do is funny, and it's nice. I have this whole new set of fans of boys, you know, 16 to 17 years old or, you know, 25 years old that don't watch ice skating, but they know "South Park."

PHILLIPS: They know "South Park," and they also know the T-shirt you just came out with. I love it. But you're doing a good cause with it. You took the "what would Brian Boitano do" T-shirt. But the money goes to a really special program, Youth Skate. Tell us about that, Brian.

BOITANO: Yes, Youth Skate is a program I started with the San Francisco Unified School District. We introduce inner-city youths to figure skating. We bring a different school in every month. I have a staff of coaches that teach them lessons, and they get passes to come back, they get a lunch and they get an experience at the rink. It's all in an attempt to keep kid office the streets.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's great to see what you're doing.

Brian Boitano, thank you so much for joining us. It was fun.

BOITANO: Thank you very much.

PHILLIPS: Let's get straight to Carol Lin. She's working on a developing story for us in the newsroom -- Carol.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: That's right, Kyra. We've news out of Kentucky. A miner has been killed in some sort of collapse where he was moving some equipment at a mine and a bunch of rocks fell on him, killing him. They have identified the victim now as 33-year-old Tim Cawdell. He was a roof bolter who worked for the company since 2001. Now this fatality raises the number of coal miners who have been killed in Kentucky this year alone to three.

Kyra, last year in 2005, Kentucky led the nation in mine deaths. And I just found out the state's top mine safety regulator resigned at the end of January amidst a bunch of safety changes that they're trying to make in that state because apparently such a dangerous place to work in the mines there.

It's definitely a dangerous job, that's for sure. We'll continue to follow up on that, in addition to everything that's taking place in West Virginia.

Carol Lin, thank you so much. We're going to take a quick break. The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: British suspect, the U.S. courtroom, a crime that shocked two countries. Neil Entwistle is accused of killing his American wife and baby daughter in their Massachusetts home almost a month ago. He was arrested in London last week and arrived in the U.S. yesterday in shackles and handcuffs, having waived what could have been a lengthy extradition fight. He's due in court in about an hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELLIOT WEINSTEIN, ENTWISTLE'S ATTY.: At that time, we will plead not guilty, and from that moment forward, all of our efforts will be to see that he receives the fairest of trial, with the expectation of him being exonerated and held to be innocent of that which he is now charged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Live picture from the courtroom now as we wait for his entrance. Prosecutors claim that Entwistle had desperate money problems and may have been planning to kill himself as well.

Indoor poultry farming all the rage in Europe as the deadly bird flu turns up in two more countries. Germany's health minister says the H5N1 strain killed two wild swans on a Baltic Sea Beach, and Slovenia confirms another case near the Austrian border. A second case of human infection is being confirmed in Iraq, a man whose niece died of bird flu last month. The two lived in the same home in the Kurdish north and died 10 days apart.

The challenge facing health care workers and bird flu fighters keeps getting harder. In Nigeria, for example, it's not easy to convince people that every chicken in a single village should be killed, especially when they appear to be perfectly healthy.

Here's CNN's Jeff Koinange.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like a scene out of a Hollywood movie, health workers arrive fully outfitted at a farm in northern Nigeria, where the bird flu virus has contaminated the entire chicken flock. Curious villagers can only stare in disbelief at the sight before them in what must seem like aliens invading their remote village.

But on this day, these local health officials aren't taking any chances. The H5N1 virus is spreading, they say, and no chicken within a 100-mile-radius is safe.

Still, they are hopeful they can contain it.

DR. MOHAMMED SEYYU, NIGERIAN AGRICULTURE MINISTRY: The worst situation is when you find it spreads like a wildfire, and that is what we do not hope for, that is what we are not envisaging. That is what we are prepared to prevent. KOINANGE: All 5,000 chickens on the farm are to be culled. And the officials waste no time stuffing the live birds into plastic bags before tagging them. They are then carted into pits like this. This one's an old disused water well about 30-meters deep. And tossed in. With the hope that no one would be desperate enough to climb down and drag out the contaminated chickens for personal consumption.

But that's now how Abubaka Mohammed (ph) and Abdel Ali (ph) see it. They are poor, unemployed and hungry. They see the culling of chickens more a waste than a deterrent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This meat is great meat for me.

KOINANGE (on camera): It's good meat?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I eat.

KOINANGE: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I no money. No eat. No money, no food.

KOINANGE (voice-over): That seems to be the general feeling among a largely uneducated and misinformed public, despite warnings from the government. Without hesitation, they dig into the shallow pit and come up with the arm loads of dead and possibly contaminated chickens. They do this until they feel they have enough, they say, for a meal they otherwise simply cannot afford.

(on camera): Because this area of Nigeria is impoverished and the people poor, dumping of chickens into pits like the one behind me is just a temporary reprieve. And young men like Abdel Ali and Abubaka can literally come in, pick up the chicken, take it home and cook it. And this, officials here say, poses the biggest risk.

(voice-over): And they also say it's the illiterate and the uninformed population here that they'll have to concentrate their efforts on to prevent bird flu from mutating into a human form. Not so much the cooking, but handling the dead animals without protection.

Bird flu, so far, has been largely confined to birds. Fewer than 100 people worldwide have died from bird flu. The fight against bird flu in Nigeria, it seems, will have to be quickly stepped up to avoid this seemingly runaway virus from taking on new, unsuspecting victims.

Jeff Koinange, CNN, Kano, in northern Nigeria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: A 100,$000 hound on the loose. The search is on for a show dog presumed to be running around near JFK Airport. Have you seen this dog? LIVE FROM grabs the leash and some liver snacks, heads out the door, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Whatever you do, don't chase her. Get down to her level and ask her politely to come to you. That's the advice from the distraught owners of Vivi, a Westminster that's on her own in New York. Vivi, a brown and white Whippet, apparently freaked out at JFK Airport and found a way out of her crate. Whippets are very fast runners and before anyone knew it, Vivi escaped into the wetlands around the tarmac. By the way, she's worth about $150,000 by some estimates and a substantial reward is offered for her safe return.

Here's a little Whippet 101 for the dog impaired. The breed is related to the greyhound, probably mixed with some type of terrier back in the day. The result, small stature, extreme velocity and a penchant for small prey. Like other Whippets, Vivi probably loves human companionship and is a bit a couch potato. More on the search for Vivi in the next hour of LIVE FROM.

We've got all the news you want this afternoon. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A British murder suspect. The U.S. courtroom, a crime that shocked both countries. Neil Entwistle is accused of killing his American wife and their infant daughter at the family's home outside Boston last month. Live pictures right now. His lawyer tells reporters to expect a not guilty plea a day after Entwistle returned to the U.S. from London. If convicted, Entwistle could face life in prison. Massachusetts doesn't have the death penalty. As soon as he walks into the courtroom, we'll go back there live.

Cracking jokes, taking calls and packing for home maybe in the next few days. That's how Charles Whittington was described last hour in a news briefing you may have seen live here on CNN. Whittington, of course, is the 78-year-old high-powered lawyer who was accidentally shot last weekend by Vice President Dick Cheney while both were hunting quail. Whittington remains in intensive care, doctors say, for privacy, not medical reasons. The hospital administrator says he met with Whittington this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER BANKO, HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATOR: Mr. Whittington, he's in stable condition, doing extremely well. We met with him this morning in a joking mood. Looks really good. The 64-slice CAT scan has been completed. Once those results are back, we'll review with them with the family and if they feel appropriate, we'll share those results with you tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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