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Rally in Phoenix to Protest Immigration Legislation; Frozen Airman; Cruise Ship Woes
Aired March 24, 2006 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we continue to monitor these incredible live pictures. Tony Harris watching the story for us.
This immigration debate as it heats up, these protests, boy, just popping up all across the country.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Kyra, immigration demonstrations breaking out in, as you mentioned, sort of key cities around the country. At the top of last hour, we told you about the student protest in Los Angeles. But look at this situation.
Right now, a massive demonstration, again, in opposition to any congressional crackdown on immigration. And this is in Phoenix, Arizona.
Mike Watkiss is with our CNN affiliate in Phoenix, KTVK.
And Mike, good to talk to you. Give us -- well, we can hear it, but give us a sense of what you're -- what you're watching right now.
MIKE WATKISS, REPORTER, KTVK: Well, and you've said it perfectly, Tony. We're just seeing a massive flow of humanity, river of humanity flowing up one of the very bone-dry streets of Phoenix, Arizona, this morning.
The organizers of this protest anticipated about 2,500 people. They have at least four times that.
This, of course, is posing a challenge to law officers. (INAUDIBLE) out in force on horses, on bikes, doing traffic control, because this has snarled one of the main arteries in Phoenix, 24th Street. These protesters are now headed to the office of Republican Senator Jon Kyl.
And you should understand that the context of this debate, this has been -- immigration reform, the borders, has, in essence, been identified as the hottest hot-button issue among Arizona voters this year, as it is in many states. And the bottom line is, Senator Kyl's up for re-election. People who clearly are opposed to this House Resolution 4437, which would, in essence, criminalize entering the country illegally and then rendering any assistance, would criminalize those activities, as far as I understand.
These people are very much opposed to that, and they are going to take that message to the office of Senator Jon Kyl today. Again, 10,000 people shouting all kinds of civil rights slogans, some people likening the crackdown to the Japanese internment.
But again, this is the opinion of the people here. Lots of them. About 10,000 strong flowing up 24th Street here in the Valley of the Sun.
HARRIS: OK. Mike, just a couple of questions. So far, to your knowledge, has it been a peaceful demonstration?
WATKISS: I talked to a Phoenix police sergeant just a couple of moments ago. Despite the massive crowd, they say there have been no problems. They are just trying to deploy, because this, I think, has taken everybody off-guard, the magnitude of this march. So at this point, Tony, we understand no serious problems.
HARRIS: Wow. OK.
Mike Watkiss with our Phoenix affiliate, KTVK, watching the situation in Phoenix for us.
Just a massive demonstration, Kyra, 10,000 people strong, many more people than the authorities in Phoenix even anticipated. And they are doing the best they can to keep the streets as clear as possible, but it's hard to imagine that they can do that with so many people and in numbers that were totally unexpected -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Wow. We'll continue to monitor all those protests from Phoenix to L.A.
Tony, thanks so much.
HARRIS: Sure thing.
PHILLIPS: Well, the mystery captivated a nation, the frozen remains of an Army airman found high in the Sierra Nevada. Several families hoped to claim him, and tests finally identified him as Leo Mustonen, just 22 when his plane went down in the mountains.
Today, 63 years later, live pictures right now of his memorial service. His relatives welcome him back to Minnesota, finally and forever. His ashes right there in that urn.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez has more on the young man who dreamed of becoming an engineer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was just 18, a senior in the class of 1938 at Brainerd High School in Minnesota. The son of Finish immigrants, Leo Mustonen had big dreams of becoming an engineer. So, he enlisted in the Army.
MARJORIE FREEMAN, FAMILY FRIEND OF THE MUSTONENS: Mr. and Mrs. Mustonen were so proud of that, and, you know, happy to think that, well, he was going to really make something of himself.
GUTIERREZ: Mustonen's sister-in-law, Louella, says Leo was a devoted uncle to her daughter, Ona Lea.
LOUELLA MUSTONEN, SISTER-IN-LAW OF LEO MUSTONEN: He just loved her.
(LAUGHTER)
AJA: He walked around carrying her around.
L. MUSTONEN: He carried her around every place he went.
GUTIERREZ: For four years, Leo trained to become a navigator with the Army Air Corps.
By then, World War II was raging. One the morning of November 18, 1942, when Leo Mustonen was 22, he and four others boarded a routine training flight over the treacherous Sierra Nevada Mountains. Their plane disappeared. The news was devastating for all the families.
Louella says Leo's mother never got over her grief.
L. MUSTONEN: She cried ever day. She waited for months. But there was nothing coming.
GUTIERREZ: Nothing, until this stunning discovery last October. Here, entombed in a grave of ice and granite, nearly 14,000 feet high, in the Sierra Nevada, climbers found this frozen Army airman, still wearing his uniform and unopened silk parachute.
For 63 years, this cadet had remained in his icy grave. It would take the nation's top forensic scientists four months to figure out which of the four missing men was the unidentified iceman.
AJA: You (INAUDIBLE) having a brother missing in action. And we are doing a DNA testing.
GUTIERREZ: Blood samples were collected from surviving family members. After several weeks, the DNA results were in.
ONA LEA MUSTONEN, NIECE OF LEO MUSTONEN: Would it be inappropriate to ask if it is my uncle?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The preliminary is that it -- it is your uncle.
O. MUSTONEN: OK.
(LAUGHTER)
O. MUSTONEN: Thank you. Wow. OK. That's really great.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And if there's -- if there's anything else, (INAUDIBLE) You have my number.
O. MUSTONEN: OK. Thanks, Captain. OK. Bye-bye.
I didn't think that would happen. It is him.
AJA: It is him? Oh, my gosh.
O. MUSTONEN: Yes.
GUTIERREZ: That call from the Defense Department was literally a once-in-a-lifetime moment for Ona Lea and Leane Mustonen. It turns out, the young man who had spent 63 years in ice at the bottom of a glacier was, in fact, their uncle, Leo Mustonen.
LEANE MUSTONEN ROSS, NIECE OF LEO MUSTONEN: We really hadn't had a reason to talk about him before.
AJA: No.
MUSTONEN ROSS: No. It was -- they were someone who was long gone. And -- and now they're part of...
(CROSSTALK)
MUSTONEN ROSS: He's back. He's part of our family, really, now for the first time.
AJA: Right.
MUSTONEN ROSS: So, that's what is exciting.
O. MUSTONEN: It's filling a pain and just bringing it all together. Just to know how somebody died or what happened to them, it stops the question mark.
GUTIERREZ: So after more than six decades, the body of Leo Mustonen finally begins the journey home to Brainerd, Minnesota, to be buried next to his parents, laid to rest along with the mystery of the frozen airman.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And live pictures as those friends and families right now remember his life at the First Lutheran Church in Brainerd, Minnesota. His memorial service continuing for the next hour or so. We'll continue to follow it.
We'll take a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, a fatal fire and at least two cancelled cruises. Now investigators have to figure out what happened aboard the Star Princess between Grand Cayman and Jamaica early yesterday. Stranded passengers have been sent home and the Carnival line has to try to recover the footing.
CNN's Bob Franken has more from the port at Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Hey, Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra.
You can probably hear in the background the loudspeaker of the cruise that's about to leave from this location, the same one that the ship that left on the 19th departed from. And it will be coming back eventually.
Right now it is docked in Montego Bay. It is awaiting Coast Guard investigators and allowing the passengers who had to undergo what was a bit of a problem as the ship caught fire because of a cigarette. And about 100 of the cabins on the ship were blackened. One person died, we heard, from a cardiac arrest during the drill that followed that, 11 others suffered smoke inhalation, other injuries.
But now the people are being returned, flown back. And as they arrive in trickles, they describe their ordeal by sea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was an ordeal I'd rather not go through again.
AJA: When we saw the lifeboats coming down, we thought, oh, boy, we're out at sea. But we were -- we were good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: Now, the people are going to be coming back. And meanwhile, the investigation is going to go on as the company explores what happened and how quickly it can restore the ship to seaworthy duty -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So, Bob, what's the company going to do for the passengers?
FRANKEN: Well, they're refunding all their money. They are paying for their airfare, and they're paying for out-of-pockets expenses. And finally, and this is one I'm sure that they will treasure. They're going to get a 25 percent credit if they want to take another Princess cruise.
PHILLIPS: It might by worth the risk depending on where e it's going.
Bob Franken, thanks so much.
Well, a shocking confession in the case of a murdered minister. Investigators in Tennessee say the wife of preacher Matthew Winkler admits she killed him.
Mary Winkler had fled to Alabama with the couple's three children. She was found last night and today faces first-degree murder charges. Matthew Winkler, shot dead in the back, was founds by parishioners on Wednesday in the parsonage of the Fourth Street Church of Christ in Selmer.
Here's what police are saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROGER RICKMAN, SELMER, TENNESSEE POLICE: March 22, 2006, the body of Matthew Winkler was found in his home in Selmer, Tennessee. Mr. Winkler had been shot.
On March the 23rd, 2006, the deceased wife, Mary Carol Winkler, was apprehended by law enforcement officers in Orange Beach, Alabama. According to agents of the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, Mary Winkler has confessed to the murder of her husband, Matthew Winkler, shooting him on March the 22nd, 2006, leaving Selmer with her three daughters.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Mary Winkler is awaiting extradition to Tennessee. Authorities say the murdered minister's father has gone to Alabama to claim the children.
Dumped like baggage, hospital patients, some still in their gowns, left on the streets outside a home shelter. It's a growing problem in Los Angeles, and the latest episode was caught on tape.
CNN's Chris Lawrence has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): So many patients have been dumped on skid row the rescue mission installed outdoor cameras to catch them. This videotape shows a cab making a U- turn then driving out of view. A few seconds later, Carol Reyes appears, disoriented and wandering about in her hospital gown.
Did you ask the cab to take you here?
CAROL REYES, DUMPED ON SKID ROW: No.
LAWRENCE: Then why did he bring you here?
REYES: I have no idea. If I knew, I'd tell you.
LAWRENCE: Carol has no idea who paid for the cab.
Was this one incident?
ANDY BALES, UNION RESCUE MISSION: No, this is the third incident since last Wednesday.
LAWRENCE: Andy Bales runs the Union Rescue Mission. He shows us its logs, documenting dozens of incidents where patients were dump on skid row.
BALES: We've got an ambulance with the name of the hospital on the side.
LAWRENCE: The hospital that released Reyes says patients should be discharged with dignity.
DIANA BONTA, KAISER-PERMANENTE: I want to apologize to this patient. I want to sincerely apologize.
LAWRENCE: Kaiser-Permanente and other hospitals are working with the mission to more closely monitor discharge policies.
BALES: And make sure you call ahead. We know we have a bed. We know they're going to be welcomed and treated with dignity. Don't drop them off like baggage.
LAWRENCE: Were you angry?
REYES: Yes, and I still am.
LAWRENCE: Why?
REYES: I don't like what's happening.
LAWRENCE: The Los Angeles city attorney is using these logs from the rescue mission as part of an investigation into patient dumping. But he says it's a hard case to prosecute because a lot of the victims are confused or mentally unstable.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Hiding in plain sight in the City of Angels. The largest homeless population in the nation calls L.A.'s skid row home. We're going to tell you more about these streets of broken dreams straight ahead on LIVE FROM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A roach by any other name would still give most people pause, but not my next guest. She sees them as, well, collectibles in a very unusual way. It's an art form, she says. We're going to pin her down on these bizarre brooches next on LIVE FROM.
But first, Miles O'Brien with our series, "Welcome to the Future."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it's funny, because each of these things is supposed to save me time. But because I have to use them all, it actually winds up costing time.
Well, I've got two cell phones. Neither one does everything that I need it to. They both have their pluses and minuses; but, unfortunately, there's no way to combine the best aspects of each phone. The systems aren't compatible. If there were just some way to combine them into one device I could carry around, I'd be set.
To me, the most important thing is to be able to do everything that I can do on a computer on a handheld device. And the technology is out there to do it. I'm just waiting for it.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And so am I. But the single device solution for phone calls, e-mail, Web surfing, pictures, organizer, you know, the gadget that does it all remains the digital Holy Grail. And I'm beginning to wonder if it will ever be discovered.
(voice-over): You bet, says technology analyst Rob Enderle. He says the answer may lie in a new breed of fourth generation, or 4G, mobile devices.
ROB ENDERLE, TECHNOLOGY ANALYST: And the cell phone is trying to evolve into a personal communications device, but something less than a laptop in terms of size, but encompassing all of that in terms of the device.
O'BRIEN: Due out by 2010, 4G comes with promises of full Windows XP capabilities, broadband Internet speeds and a set of worldwide service standards. I'll believe it and buy it when I see it.
ENDERLE: It's really supposed to bring everybody together in some type of a kumbaya environment and things will work. But be aware, we've had this promise before, so I probably wouldn't hold my breath.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Yes, that's a live picture. Talk about suffering for your art. My next guest works for a jewelry designer. Keen-eyed LIVE FROM viewers will recall these alarming adornments.
Jared Gold dreamed up the idea for roach brooches, baubles created atop living bugs. But Gold's vision is executed by a roach wrangler named Aja.
She joins me live from Salt Lake City with more other very delicate art.
Aja, good to see you.
AJA: Good to see you as well.
PHILLIPS: And your little friend here, tell me his name.
AJA: He's named NEXH. He's actually named after our stock ticker symbol.
PHILLIPS: And how is the stock doing?
AJA: That I'm actually -- I'm the roach wrangler. I actually don't know.
PHILLIPS: You're not the money person.
AJA: No, that is not me, no.
PHILLIPS: All right. Now, explain to me, how did you become a roach wrangler?
AJA: Well, I work for Jared Gold, and we just sell these on blackchandelier.com. And when he received a big box of roaches that needed a little adornment, I jumped up and volunteered for him.
PHILLIPS: All right. Do me a favor, grab NEXH and get -- and untwist him from your microphone because we're getting a little -- see the chain? There we go.
There we go. Perfect. Now I can hear you beautifully.
OK, so you hooked up with Jared. Did he call you up and say, look, I've got this idea for roach brooches and I need an expert that can basically attach jewels without hurting the poor little things?
AJA: No, I'm actually just his head seamstress, and I volunteered to do it. So...
PHILLIPS: Really? So you've had to become an expert in this?
AJA: Yes, absolutely. This is something Jared has done before in the past. And when he received the box of roaches at the studio, I just jumped at the chance. So...
PHILLIPS: How do you get the roaches?
AJA: We have a breeder in L.A., actually, that we get them from. So...
PHILLIPS: Now, some people are concerned that, you know, roaches are known to carry diseases. How do you know that your roaches are clean?
AJA: Because they are bread especially for us from a breeder in L.A. We don't get them out of our apartment or anything like that. So...
PHILLIPS: That can be a little scary, Aja. All right. Now tell me how you actually attach the jewels to the cockroach.
AJA: It's taken a little bit of research, but we just have found an adhesive that we can use that we adhere only to their carapus (ph) so it doesn't injure them. And we've just found something that we can use that -- they actually excrete this waxy substance, and so it will stick to that as well. So it's taken a little bit of research and a little bit of a secret process that we've come up with, but it works quite well, and they seem very happy.
PHILLIPS: Now, how do you calm the roaches down like NEXH there to actually attach the jewels?
AJA: I actually usually just play with them for a little bit, let them run up my arm and run all over my living room, wherever they want to go.
PHILLIPS: And there's absolutely no gross factor in this for you? I mean, not -- in any way, you don't ever think, yuck?
AJA: No. I've had up to five of them on me at a time and actually think that looks even cooler when you do more than one.
PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh.
AJA: But it really doesn't bother me at all. I love it. I think they're beautiful. And they're...
PHILLIPS: So what do you -- yes? They're what?
AJA: Oh, they're just like my little friends. They each have their own personality.
As you can see, he's trying to hide and he likes to be in the dark, not as much in the light. But I've really kind of made friends with each and every one. It's sad to see them go when we do sell them. So...
PHILLIPS: Yes, and are they selling like crazy?
AJA: They are doing really well. For the -- for the daring and fabulous, they are available, for sure.
PHILLIPS: You can get them online. How do you ship them?
AJA: We just overnight them from -- just send them out. If you order them on blackchandelier.com, we just overnight them in a box. And I sent some out last night, and they had a little bit of water and food, and overnight them.
PHILLIPS: Aja -- OK, final question. What if they start getting -- going up the neck and going in the hair and going in the ear? It's OK?
AJA: Oh, yes, it's fine with me. And usually if you're daring and want to wear one, you usually make friends with and it and just grab it and put them where you'd like them. So they have a good time.
PHILLIPS: Unbelievable. Aja, good luck.
AJA: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: We'll monitor it and see how the sales go. The Web site is quite interesting. I appreciate your time.
AJA: Thank you. Yes, you too. Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Well, if that story doesn't bug you enough, here's today fact check on, what else, roaches.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: According to Discovery Communications, Roach World (ph) web site, there are 5,000 species of roaches. Most roaches live in the tropics, but there are some known to inhabit extremely cold climates, such as the North or South Pole.
Roaches are thought to have originated some 280 million years ago. The six-legged insects are well known for their resiliency. They can go without food for up to a month, water for a week, or even oxygen for up to 40 minutes.
Roaches use their antenna for their incredible sense of smell. That comes in handy for reproduction, as a female will produce pheromones, or a roach perfume, to attract male roaches. Some female cockroaches mate once and remain impregnated for the rest of their lives.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, it's a tough time to work for the world's largest automaker. General Motors may be on the verge of making even more cutbacks.
Chris Huntington now live from the New York Stock Exchange.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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