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Afghan Convert Facing Death Penalty Expected to be Released; Report: Millions Wasted in Hurricane Relief Efforts; L.A.'s Skid Row a Dumping Ground for the Desperate

Aired March 24, 2006 - 14:30   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: Video just in of a story that we've been following since this morning. That's the wife of a minister that has confessed to shooting her husband in the back.
This is video that we just got of Mary Winkler moments ago. She actually told investigators that she shot her husband, Matthew Winkler, 31 years old. He was a minister at Selmer, Tennessee, Church of Christ. He was found dead on Wednesday night in the bedroom after church members went looking for him after an evening service.

Police are still trying to figure out what the motive is.

Mary Winkler was spotted yesterday night with her children, three children at a Waffle House restaurant in Orange Beach, Alabama. She's now on her way to Foley, Alabama, for a hearing on the children, and then she'll go to Tennessee. We're told that the grandfather is on his way to take custody of those kids in the meantime.

Meanwhile, we'll still try to figure out what the motive behind this woman who shot her husband in the back, a minister of a small church in Selmer, Tennessee.

And, according to police, they have found no evidence at this time with regard to a history of domestic violence. That was one thing that we were asking, and at this point, no evidence of that.

And apparently, investigators say that the children were in very good condition and were on their way to get something to eat when the officer pulled over their Toyota Sienna and arrested their mother.

A mosque is bombed north of Baghdad on the Muslim holy day. At least five people died in Baqubah when insurgents blew up the Sunni mosque while worshippers were leaving midday prayers.

Also today, four people died when insurgents shot up a bakery in Baghdad. They apparently left behind a bomb that killed a policeman who responded. The attacks come a day after 33 people died in suicide blasts and car bombings in Baghdad.

Norman Kember is exactly where he wants to be right now: out of Iraq. The 74-year-old peace activist and two others are savoring their freedom now a day after U.S. and British troops rescued them in Baghdad. They were kidnapped four months earlier, but a spokeswoman says they were not mistreated. Kember is on his way back to Britain. No word on when the others will go back home to Canada. He served his country in the military in wartime, and refused to pick up a gun. But on October 12, 1945, Private 1st Class Desmond Doss still received a Medal of Honor from President Truman. He was the only conscientious objector to be honored.

As a child, Doss was fascinated by the Bible story of Cain killing his brother Abel. It convinced him that killing another person was wrong, but still he answered his country's call to serve in World War II as a medic.

His heroic actions in Okinawa earned him that medal. He stayed atop a cliff and lowered wounded soldiers while under attack. Doss was wounded himself and spent years in hospitals because of those injuries and a bout of tuberculosis.

He was a devout Seventh Day Adventist, and he passed away yesterday at the age of 87. Desmond Doss, the war hero who never picked up a gun.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, billions of dollars in federal and flooded -- or federal aid, rather, flooded the Gulf Coast. It turned out that millions of those dollars were wasted. We're going to add up the damage, when LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Let's go straight to Tony Harris with some breaking news in the newsroom.

Tony, it's actually a story we've been covering quite a bit within the past couple of days.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. That's right. Yes, Kyra, we do have an update, and the story you're referring to is out of Afghanistan. And what a disturbing story it has been to cover, where 41-year-old Abdul Rahman was facing death for converting from Islam to Christianity some 16 years ago. This, as we've come to learn, is a death penalty offense under Afghanistan's constitution.

Well, here's the update. An Afghan government official with detailed knowledge of the case tells CNN that he expects the man to be released in the coming days.

Again, the story presented quite a diplomatic challenge to the State Department, President Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Now, tomorrow the Afghan cabinet will meet to talk more about this case. But, again, here's the update. An Afghan government official with detailed knowledge of the case tells CNN that he expects the man to be released in the coming days. And we will, of course, continue to follow this story for you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And Tony, you know, there were so many questions about what does the constitution say, what does the Koran say?

HARRIS: Yes. PHILLIPS: If he's a Christian, what does the Bible say? We're actually going to talk to a woman who's on the Afghan assembly about this.

HARRIS: OK, great.

PHILLIPS: We're going to help lay out the details of the case.

But you mentioned that we're getting word that he might be let -- let off of these charges. But the interesting thing to follow, and let me know what you find out as you're working your sources...

HARRIS: Will do.

PHILLIPS: ... that some clerics there in Afghanistan are saying that he's ejected Islam.

HARRIS: Yes.

PHILLIPS: It's an insult to God and, whatever the courts decide, this man must die. So it's going to be interesting to see what follows whatever decision is made with regard to the locals there.

HARRIS: And we'll certainly get a sense, maybe not from the locals, but maybe that's the situation we'll just have to see and watch what unfolds. But clearly we'll get a sense of the government take on this tomorrow when the cabinet meets. But I can't wait for your discussion.

PHILLIPS: Tony, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

HARRIS: Sure.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, foul-ups or foul play or both? The Red Cross is investigating the behavior of some of its volunteers in the days after Hurricane Katrina now.

"The New York Times" reports on claims that workers diverted relief supplies, failed to track aid shipments and allowed convicted felons to work as volunteers. The investigation began after some volunteers complained that millions of dollars in supplies, including generators, rental cars and mattresses, were misused or stolen.

Even if those claims are true, they're not unique. A new report finds that vast amounts of federal money, taxpayer money -- nobody knows how much -- has been lost to mismanagement, waste, or worse.

CNN's Joe Johns adds it up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The desperation that these people are going through...

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Right after Katrina, survivors needed the basics, and fast. Beds, ice, a place to stay. And how did the government respond? Not well, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office, which found that poor planning and miscommunication led to millions of taxpayer dollars being wasted.

The report says FEMA awarded contracts for supplies that weren't needed and failed to use supplies already on hand. FEMA's new boss, David Paulison, is putting the best face on it.

DAVID PAULISON, FEMA DIRECTOR: But these are positive things for us to use as a tool to make this a better organization.

JOHNS: According to the five-page report, FEMA paid one company $10 million to fix up and furnish 240 rooms in a military barracks in Alabama, and only six people moved in before FEMA closed the facility. Three million dollars were spent on 4,000 portable camp beds, never used.

And there was the ice. Many tons were bought and paid for, but because of poor communication between FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers, at times, the ice wound up stranded, lost, or wasted.

Watchdog groups aren't surprised.

BETH DALEY, PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT: We don't have enough people who are responsible for making sure that what needs to get done gets done.

The government is basically an open money bag for big companies doing business with the government.

JOHNS (on camera): The worst may be yet to come. The GAO says it's continuing its investigation, as are inspectors general of the other government agencies involved. FEMA says it's tightening up the way it issues contracts, but, frankly, this is nothing new.

PAULISON: Well, I went through Hurricane Andrew in '92, and I did see a lot of those things. Even in our local government organizations. All I can tell you what I'm going to do with FEMA, and we are going to put a lot of these things in place. We've already done some of those.

JOHNS: The next hurricane season begins in 10 weeks.

Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So do you work with a killjoy? Or maybe someone who smiles to your face but stabs you in the back?

HARRIS: All right.

PHILLIPS: Tony, what's your biggest peeve about your co-workers?

HARRIS: Oh, it's about my co-workers? I thought it was about the environment in general? About my co-workers? I was going to say, well, how is this getting -- you're leading this to me?

PHILLIPS: You got to think about that one for a minute?

HARRIS: Yes. Let me...

PHILLIPS: Let me give you a second to think about this. You know, you're here, in the newsroom...

HARRIS: Yes.

PHILLIPS: ... and see a lot of different people, a lot of different characters. Something that just really drives you nuts, without naming names?

HARRIS: You know what it is?

PHILLIPS: What is it?

HARRIS: It is probably the -- the biggest thing for us here, and you know this, Kyra, is the information. I want the information now. I want it yesterday. I want it a minute from now. I want the information. And sometimes, as you know, it just doesn't get there as quickly as I'd like to have it. Is that -- is that something decent off the top of my head?

PHILLIPS: As we take the wide shot of the newsroom, are you pointing fingers at any individuals?

HARRIS: No, no, I wouldn't do that.

PHILLIPS: You wouldn't dare do that.

HARRIS: I've got babies to feed. Are you kidding me? I wouldn't do that, huh-uh.

PHILLIPS: So it doesn't drive you crazy when someone is really nice to your face and then you find out, you know, behind your back they may be saying a little something?

HARRIS: Yes, but I'm always the last to know.

PHILLIPS: I know.

HARRIS: I'm always the last one to know.

PHILLIPS: Or we never find out. Right?

HARRIS: Or we never find out. Right.

PHILLIPS: Well, I'll tell you what. I never do it. I'm telling you to your face I love you, and I'll say it behind your back.

All right. Well, you heard, Tony's, you know, I guess, pet peeve. Why don't you e-mail us at LiveFrom@CNN.com. Because we're going to talk with a couple of office experts. And they're going to tell you how to get the colleagues who bug you most off your back. A little later on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, this week's news that a hospital dumped a patient on the streets of L.A. is hardly a surprise to the people who know Skid Row. What started out as a place to get a helping hand and a ticket out of misery, today is a ticket to nowhere.

Here's CNN's Randi Kaye.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Skid Row, a 50-square-block human dumping ground in downtown Los Angeles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, let me see your wristband. Were you in the hospital recently?

KAYE: Still wearing a bracelet from the county jail, this lady Lilly was too strung out to tell how he got here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How long were you in the county jail?

KAYE: Because of the abundant social services, Skid Row is a magnet for the drug addicted, the mentally ill, the criminals, and the helpless. It's also a magnet for other cities, who don't know who to do with their own problems. So they bring them here, and dump them.

CAPT. ANDREW SMITH, LOS ANGELES POLICE: I saw an outside agency dropping off an individual who didn't live in this area, who had never been here before, and hadn't been arrested in this area, down -- actually right down on that corner down there.

KAYE: Out on patrol, LAPD Captain Andrew Smith says he saw two L.A. County sheriff's deputies dump this man, Byron Harris, who Smith described as confused.

SMITH: Watched them pull to the curb, open the door and take a handcuffed prisoner out, uncuff him, hand him a bag of his property and begin to leave. So I, of course, stopped them and tried to figure out what was going on.

KAYE: Smith says Harris told him he had not been requested to be dropped downtown. He had been arrested in Long Beach, 25 miles away, but a spokesman from the sheriff told CNN Harris, just released from jail, had requested food and shelter, both available on Skid Row. The spokesman said deputies did not dump that man or anyone else.

(on camera) Why do you think, if it's indeed happening, other communities are doing this?

SMITH: Well, we have a lot of services, social services down here. But, really, I think it's a way for other cities to get rid of the problems that they have.

KAYE (voice-over): Skid Row services include food, shelter, medicine, even prenatal care. It's a unique setup born from good intentions.

But critics, like Central City East executive director Estella Lopez, now worry the free handouts are leading to dumping.

(on camera) A long time ago, they thought that this idea of centralized services was a good thing. Has it turned out to be a good thing?

ESTELLA LOPEZ, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CENTRAL CITY EAST: It's turned out to be a nightmare. What it has done, it's been a good thing for the 88 other cities and the county of Los Angeles that don't have to deal with problems that come from their own communities. They send them here.

KAYE (voice-over): Which of these people have been dumped or decided to come on their own is unclear. But Estella Lopez and Captain Smith aren't the only ones who have witnessed dumping.

ORLANDO WARD, MIDNIGHT MISSION: How long have you been on the streets?

KAYE: Orlando Ward works at Midnight Mission, just a block from where Captain Smith encountered Byron Harris.

WARD: I had a guy in our courtyard three days ago. He had a hospital gown on. He has -- the IV was still attached. So I went and I asked him, I said, "How did you get down here?" And he said that the ambulance dropped him off a couple blocks down in front of a mission. I said, "Well, did you go in?"

He goes, "Well, they just dropped me off."

KAYE: Ward was once a basketball star at Stanford University. Drugs lured him to the streets of Skid Row. He bottomed out, and after two years, he got clean. Ward says Skid Row was designed to help people, not dump people.

WARD: It makes me angry when you dump people without attaching them to the services that they really need. If your motive is getting them out of your backyard and dumping them onto somebody else, I have a problem with that.

KAYE: Captain Smith's 145 officers can hardly make headway here.

On San Julian Street, otherwise known as Heroin Alley, is like a giant block party, where everyone brings an illegal drug. This woman propositioned me. Police say it's well known she's a prostitute.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How can I get paid for this?

KAYE: She explained she's been on the street since age 9.

(on camera) Why do you live like this, though, and do this to yourself?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because you know what? This is a million dollar corporation. It will never stop.

KAYE: This is Skid Row.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know, baby, Skid Row looks like Skid Row.

SMITH: How are you doing? How are you hanging?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm all right.

SMITH: Are you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I'm hanging on.

KAYE (voice-over): Captain Smith says police can't fix the problem, so who will? And when, the captain wonders, will other communities start providing services for their needy?

MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA, LOS ANGELES: Great city can't be a place where we're leaving so many people behind.

KAYE: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is investigating. He says the city of Los Angeles has pledged millions to help the chronically homeless, but it's time the federal government step up, too.

VILLARAIGOSA: The only governmental entity with the resources to deal with the structural problems of poverty in the cities is the federal government. The federal government has failed and refused over the last few years to invest in housing, to invest in the urban core in our cities.

KAYE: The same society that's allowing people to live on Skid Row is, in some cases, transporting them to be forgotten and, perhaps, to die.

WARD: It's a cultural genocide. We're losing a whole -- a whole generation of people to this despair and ultimately death.

KAYE: Unlike Byron Harris countless others may have been dumped here without a witness.

Randi Kaye, CNN, on Skid Row, in Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, a minister's wife bares her soul and a mystery is solved. A shocking confession in the killing of a Tennessee minister. Details straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, talk about a war wound, check this out. A Canadian surfer gets a lasting reminder of her trip in Hawaii: teeth marks, a row of red gashes left by a shark.

Elizabeth Dunn says something bumped her board off the North Shore of Oahu, a turtle, she thought. Not quite. Dunn was helped off shore -- ashore, rather, by two other surfers, taken to a hospital, treated and released. Just a little boo-boo, we're told.

New flood warnings in Hawaii. CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider has the forecast.

Hi, Bonnie.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Yes, really. Bonnie Schneider, thanks so much.

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