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CNN Live Today

Nazi or Not?; Mob Beating in Milwaukee; 9/11 Loans Abused?

Aired December 29, 2005 - 11:00   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: And let's take a look at what's happening "Now in the News."
Crews battling wildfires in Texas and Oklahoma are bracing for more hot, windy weather. Forecasters say the hazardous conditions could return by late Saturday. The fires have left five people dead, more than 100 homes have been destroyed. Texas Governor Rick Perry plans to survey the damage by air later today.

Israeli authorities say four people were killed today when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a West Bank checkpoint. According to Israeli defense forces, the attack happened after soldiers stopped a taxi to conduct a security check. An Israeli officer, the taxi driver and a passenger were also killed.

An agency from Bosnia and Herzegovina is helping to identify Hurricane Katrina victims in Louisiana. The agency was set up to identify people killed in the Balkan conflicts. The group will perform DNA tests on hundreds of bones samples from Louisiana. Test samples were sent to the lab in November.

Employees of Independence Air have reportedly been warned that it could be grounded as early as next week. Today's "Washington Post" quotes a letter to employees from the airline's parent company. The paper says workers were told the airline will shut down January 7 if it can't find a major investor or buyer.

Good morning. Welcome back to CNN LIVE TODAY. Let's check some of the time around the world.

Just after 1:00 a.m. in Nagoya, Japan; just after 11:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, Georgia; and just after 10:00 a.m. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

From CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Daryn Kagan.

First up this hour, a new turn in the long-running John Demjanjuk case. He was once accused of being a Nazi death camp guard, "Ivan the Terrible." This morning, the Justice Department is another step closer to putting him on a plane out of the U.S.

Am immigration judge says that Demjanjuk failed to show that he would be tortured if he was sent back to his native Ukraine. He ruled that Demjanjuk can be deported. His lawyer says he will appeal.

Beyond that, legal options are dwindling. Demjanjuk has always denied being "Ivan the Terrible." After the latest court ruling, WJW reporter Jack Shea went to Demjanjuk's suburban home in Cleveland. He was met at the door by an angry wife.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

JACK SHEA, REPORTER, WJW (voice over): After maintaining a public silence for nearly three decades, Vera Demjanjuk is speaking out 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 like the rest of them. (INAUDIBLE) less and 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 goodhearted 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? Where he go, the old man? Who will be watching him there?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: That report coming from our Cleveland affiliate, WJW.

On to Milwaukee now. A man who was brutally beaten by a mob in that town is in satisfactory condition, upgraded from critical. A resounding call to stop the violence has emerged from Monday's brutal attack in Milwaukee's inner city.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN (voice over): Samuel McClain today lies bruised and swollen in a Milwaukee hospital. Meanwhile, his wife is leading the call for parents to control their children. McClain's wife released this photo of her husband as he fights for his life.

In her first public statement since the beating, McClain's wife is appealing to parents. A hospital spokeswoman read the statement.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Parents need to sit down and talk with their children about what's right and wrong. The mayor and the police are doing their jobs, and I'm glad. But parents have got to step up and do their part."

KAGAN: Witnesses say the incident began when McClain honked his horn at the crowd of youngsters standing in the street blocking his way. And, then witnesses say as many as 15 people, some juveniles, some adults, yanked the 50-year-old man from his car and repeatedly beat and kicked him.

Some of the assailants were seen climbing on cars and jumping on the victim's head. The attack was so severe that police are treating it as an attempted homicide.

City officials are pleading with the public for help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am here today to ask the citizens of Milwaukee to help the police solve this crime. We need the citizens to help solve this crime.

KAGAN: Milwaukee's inner city has had a string of mob beatings in recent years, some of them fatal. Police say that some neighbors are cooperating in this latest investigation. But others are too scared to talk.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Milwaukee police have arrested at least nine people in connection with the beating. And almost a dozen more are in custody. Some suspects, others witnesses.

A deadly police shooting has triggered outrage amongst Somali immigrants in Columbus, Ohio. Police have been called to take Nasir Abdi to a psychiatric center after his family said the 23-year-old has stopped taking his medication and become delusional. Four deputies say they tried not to use force, but the say the Somali immigrant lunged at them with a knife, and a deputy fired on Abdi, killing him.

Witnesses say they didn't' see a knife. They're calling the shooting racially motivated. Officials disagree.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. BRENT MULL, COLUMBUS POLICE DEPT.: He was maced. The mace did not work. At one point, he made a lunge toward the officers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was mentally sick, but he was not violent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: The Ohio shooting bears some similarities to the shooting in New Orleans earlier this week, when police shot a man brandishing a three-inch knife. In that case, the victim's brother now says the knife-wielding man was schizophrenic. The New Orleans police chief says police appeared to have acted properly in that incident.

It was money meant to help businesses recover from the September 11 attacks. So how did it end up in a Utah dog boutique, or in a Dunkin' Donut shop across the country? Officials with the Small Business Administration say the buck stops there.

CNN's Gary Nuremberg joins us with Washington -- from Washington with details.

Gary, good morning.

GARY NUREMBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

A buck? How about lots of bucks, $3.7 billion of them in the SBA's post-9/11 terrorism recovery loan program.

As Daryn said, a dog boutique in Utah, a perfume shop in the Virgin Islands, more than 100 Dunkin' Donut and Subway sandwich shops. The Associated Press reports that while those loans were being made, some businesses near ground zero in New York were unable to get the financial assistance.

The new Small Business Administration report says most companies questioned about getting the loans were not hurt by the terrorist attacks and didn't know they were getting money from a terrorism relief program. It says that 85 percent of the time, lenders failed to prove recipients of the loans were eligible for them.

The report says only two of 42 recipients interviewed were aware they were receiving money from the terrorism recovery program. Thirty-six of those 42 questioned said they were not asked or couldn't remember if they were asked if they had being affected by the attacks. And in 34 cases where eligibility could not be determined, 25 said they had not been adversely affected by the terrorist strikes.

Although the report said only nine of 59 sampled loans appeared to qualify, the SBA administrator put out a statement saying the report doesn't prove recipients were unqualified.

A bottom line from the report, "SBA did not implement adequate internal controls and oversight of the STAR loan program to ensure that only eligible borrowers obtained STAR loans."

That's the name of the program, Daryn, STAR loans. So, although you said that Dunkin' Donuts got some of the money, it's clear what we're talking about here is STAR bucks. KAGAN: Oh, STAR bucks. Very good.

NUREMBERG: OK.

KAGAN: Had to catch up with you on that one, Gary.

Thank you.

Gary Nuremberg in Washington, D.C.

Well, still to come, living with the threat of terror. What security measures could Americans take that Israelis already have in place? A lesson in preparedness from CNN's Kelli Arena.

Teen angst isn't just an American problem. Wait until you see how a TV show host in Japan literally is dragging young people out of their depression.

And later, are you dreading that trip to the mall to return your unwanted Christmas gifts? Well, there is a solution which involves just a little bit of effort on your part. We're heading online in just a bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: All right. A question for you. What did Santa leave under your tree? An ugly tie, perhaps something polyester? Maybe your new luggage is kind of a knockoff?

Well, instead of re-gifting, some people -- and you know who you are -- are cashing in gifts online.

KCAL reporter Lisa Sigell takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA SIGELL, REPORTER, KCAL (voice over): One by one they come, careful not to be recognized.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's dark out and I have my shades out.

SIGELL: Yes, it all looks innocent enough, but customers who frequent this establishment know the consequences of being discovered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely don't want anybody to find out about this.

SIGELL: So for their own protection, we've disguised their faces. Yes, all of these people have a secret. A secret they don't want someone to know.

(on camera): Who gave it to you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was my grandmother that gave it to me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I take the fifth on that? SIGELL (voice over): Welcome to the afterworld of holiday gifts, a store called "we'll sell it on eBay," where presents find new life in cyberspace.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I brought in a shirt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A watch.

GREG KUSCH, STORE MANAGER: What we do is very simple. We place it on eBay's worldwide auction market and we take professional photographs of it, we write a very nice description about the item, and sell it. And once the item sells, then we cut you a check minus our commission.

SIGELL: Business has doubled this year for the company, and the biggest day on eBay has yet to come, next Tuesday, a week after Christmas auctions began. And there are plenty of items to choose from.

KUSCH: Number one, they don't want to the go through all the hassles of the people in lines and all that.

Cash or charge?

Also, here, they can get cash for their item. At the malls, usually they only get credit. So...

SIGELL: Plus, there's the guilt factor. Some customers say it just seems less emotional when returning is done by computer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no guilt. Once my pocket is a little heavier, there's no guilt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's all good. She'll never know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's old enough to forget about it.

Is that going to be on?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Oh, yes, that wasn't just on local television. That was on national television. And our thanks to KCAL reporter Lisa Sigell.

Parents, there's this idea that might work for you if you have naughty kids. Last year, one frustrated dad in Houston sold all his kids' presents online on eBay.

Susan, how Grinchy is that?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: That's pretty low.

KAGAN: But we know you've been a very good girl. So that would never happen to you.

LISOVICZ: It has never happened to me, and I hope it never happens to any children out there after the holidays.

KAGAN: Absolutely. What about the markets?

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

He might only have three legs, but he is a very accomplished kitty. Coming up, we'll speak to the woman who is helping Henry inspire and entertain with a new book. A three-legged cat who has his own book.

And what have you done lately?

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, for you parents of teenagers, our sympathies. Dealing with a brooding teenager is something that a lot of parents here in the U.S. are very familiar with, but in Japan, one woman's method of confronting depressed teenagers is drawing both praise and criticism.

The story now from CNN's Atika Shubert.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Yuriko Osada is not a psychologist. She has no degree in child counseling. But that doesn't stop her from entering a stranger's home and trying to literally drag their kids out of depression, all on national television.

This boy, his face obscured to protect his privacy, has locked himself in his room for months. His parents have called Osada for help. She bursts in with a camera as he tries to crawl under a table, but there is no escape.

Osada specializes in treating this phenomenon known in Japan as hikikomori, prolonged teenage withdrawal, often for months and years. In all her cases, she is asked to step in as a disciplinarian to both parent and child.

"Do you know how he got to be like this?" Osada snaps at the parents. "Because you babied him, you allowed him to be like this."

After a tearful apology, the boy draws up a list of promises to his parents: to go to school, eat his lunch, and stop sucking his thumb. The problem, she says, is not the child, it's the parents.

"Adult parents have to make a clear distinction between what is right and what is wrong for their children," she says. "It's not shocking if I'm telling the truth. A doctor might say it's a shock, but I'm only saying what's true."

Psychologists say Osada's technique is dangerous. "From beginning to end, I am critical of Osada's methods," says this psychologist. "I am completely opposed to them. Her method is based only from the parents' point of view, and she uses violent intervention."

But Osada's methods are popular enough to sustain her dormitory for hikikomori kids. Here, they follow a strict schedule of study and physical exercise.

Not everyone is strong enough. Matsumoto (ph) is 13 years old, but two years of locking himself in his room and eating junk food have left his muscles too weak. Even walking is painful. In a quiet, expressionless voice, he describes how he met Osada.

"Dad was talking to someone behind the door. And he told me to come out of my room," Matsumoto (ph) says. "Well, I said, 'No' and locked my door. But he came bursting in. He grabbed my arms and pulled me out, and there was a cameraman there"

That forced intervention may deliver more harm than good, say critics.

"Violently forcing treatment upon them may get them to participate in society. It's not impossible, but it may cause more trauma and distrust, or even make it more difficult for them to commit to treatment in the long run."

Osada says her method teaches children how to take care of themselves independently of their parents. Her solution is a physically demanding regimented schedule.

(on camera): It's 9:30 in the evening, and these kids are doing the third and final round of physical exercise before going to bed. Now, they're going to need their sleep because tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m. sharp, they're up for another round of pushups and sit-ups.

(voice over): Every day, each child has to draw up a list of goals to be accomplished. Those who succeed earn more free time. Those who don't are punished with more study.

"All you have to do is teach them how to live. It's obvious," Osada says. "Parents cannot make their children happy. Only the children themselves can make their own happiness."

Matsumoto (ph) seems to accept his new life. His goals are to finish his dinner and complete at least one round of sit-ups and pushups. He hasn't succeeded yet.

"If your mind does nothing all day, you just feel tired. And I began to lose my sense of time," he says. "I just stopped feeling the days go by. Since I've been here, I've been able to regain the sense of time."

Osada checks in on her boarders before lights out. Matsumoto's (ph) case, she admits, is still a puzzle to her. Will Osada's methods work for him? Matsumoto (ph) won't say. Atika Shubert, CNN, Nagoya, Japan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And when we come back, we will look back at 2005. Two words come to mind that sum up much of the year's headlines: courtroom drama. Last hour, Kendall Coffey shared some of the highlights. Coming up, we're going to get his take on the lowlights.

And a look at some of the security measures in Israel that American police are trying to incorporate here at home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: It is downright balmy in Minneapolis today. That means for them highs in the 30s. But that also means that Minnesota's frozen lakes aren't so frozen right now. At least a half a dozen pickup trucks have been swallowed by lakes this week.

So much for the ice fishing. The warm spell has turned skating rinks into slush circles. And it's the end of the road for now for snowmobilers (ph).

I guess it's all relative, Jacqui. I guess that's a bad thing. To me, snow is something that you visit.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Well, I am a Minnesota native, as you know.

KAGAN: Yes.

JERAS: And yes, that's the one thing I love about my hometown. It's like, you know what, it's cold, it's winter, but we love the snow.

Everybody gets out, they do things. You go ice fishing, you go ice skating, you go snowmobiling, skiing, cross-country, downhill, whatever. You just go ahead and bundle up and enjoy the cold weather.

KAGAN: You grew up in Minnesota with snow. I grew up in LA with smog.

There you go.

JERAS: Well, you know, which is better I'm not so sure. Right?

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Speaking of feet...

JERAS: Yes?

KAGAN: You have met my three-legged cat Tripod.

JERAS: Yes, I have.

KAGAN: Yes, you have. Well, apparently, there are a number of three-legged cats out there.

JERAS: Really?

KAGAN: Who knew?

JERAS: Who knew?

KAGAN: Who knew? Including one named Henry. He has his own book out.

JERAS: Really?

KAGAN: "Henry the Cat."

JERAS: A pictorial?

KAGAN: He's an inspiration -- yes, lots of pictures, lots of photos. How does Henry do that, how did Henry overcome his three- leggedness and embrace it? We'll talk to his owner just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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