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Congressional Report Critical of Katrina Response; Cheney Shoots Man in Hunting Accident

Aired February 13, 2006 - 11:27   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Also on a military note here, there are plenty of people that are angry today because of the way they say the Army treated First Lieutenant Eddie Rebrook. A roadside bomb tore into his arm in Iraq 13 months ago. The last time he saw the vest that protected his body he was lying on a stretcher and he was covered in blood.
Well, sometime later when Rebrook requested a medical discharge, the Army said no, no discharge until Rebrook paid for the missing body armor, or at least accounted for it. And so he paid. The Army has since said that he will be reimbursed.

Eddie Rebrook joins me from Charleston, West Virginia, this morning, along with his father, Ed.

Lieutenant and Mr. Rebrook, good morning. Thank you for being with us here.

FIRST LT. EDDIE REBROOK, FORMER U.S. SOLDIER: Good morning.

ED REBROOK, EDDIE'S FATHER: Good morning.

KAGAN: Lieutenant, first of all, how are you doing today? Most important, how is your health?

EDDIE REBROOK: It's actually quite good. My arm's improved dramatically since I was wounded. It's not 100 percent, but it's a lot better. I'm very thankful.

KAGAN: Take us back to the incident last year, where you were and how you were wounded.

EDDIE REBROOK: I was patrolling in northwest Baghdad with a section of Bradleys and some dismounts, and a roadside body exploded, sending shrapnel into my face, my arm and my back. And it broke my arm up, and an elongated spiral fracture and tore my brachial artery.

My gunner, Staff Sergeant William Hennessey (ph), pulled me out of the back of the Bradley, got a tourniquet on me, and kept me awake and kept me alive until the actual medical crews arrived to evacuate me.

KAGAN: Now, fast forward us to the point where you're saying, OK, enough is enough, I've done my time, I want to get out of the Army?

EDDIE REBROOK: That time never happened. I was medically separated from the Army due to the extent of my injuries.

KAGAN: OK. But where does the controversy come up with the vest? Where do you find out that you're supposed to come up with money?

EDDIE REBROOK: Oh, OK.

Well, the way that happened is, ideally, the paperwork on the vest and any other damaged equipment should have been processed when I was wounded and when I was being evacuated. That didn't happen, which I understand because it's a war and sometimes paperwork doesn't get done. But when I finally found out that I was going to be medically separated from the Army, and I tried to out-process, as it's called, when you try to turn in all your things, I was told that I was responsible for the lost and missing equipment, some of which I did legitimately lose, but obviously I didn't legitimately lose my -- or I didn't intentionally lose my vest and the canteens and so forth that went on it.

So, I started to have a report of survey, which is a financial liability investigation initiated. And I was told by my chain of command that they would recommend negligence on it because so much time had elapsed from the time I was wounded until the time that I finally got out of the Army. So I would have to pay for it. My choices were to either pay for it right then or pay for it once the financial liability investigation was completed.

KAGAN: And so how much money are we talking about?

EDDIE REBROOK: I think the vest was around $510 and the canteens and canteen containers on it were maybe or $40 or $50.

KAGAN: All right, dad. Let's bring you in here. This, I'm sure, made you none too happy. Your son goes and serves his country and is wounded, and now the military asking him for money for equipment.

ED REBROOK: Well, it was disturbing. I was sitting in a hotel room in Dallas waiting for him to be discharged to Fort Hood, about 150 miles away, and so I'm sitting there for day after day because he can't get out. And we were trying to find a way to get money to him because they wanted cash, they would only take cash. They wouldn't take a check from him.

So, I found it very disturbing.

ED REBROOK: Well, it was disturbing. I was sitting in a hotel room in Dallas waiting for him to be discharged to Fort Hood, about 150 miles away. And so I'm sitting there for day after day because he can't get out. And we were trying to find a way to get money to him because they wanted cash. They would only take cash. They wouldn't take a check from him.

So I found it very disturbing. But, you know, I want to say this. We know this is not a problem caused by the Army or by the government. This was just a couple of mid-level people who made the wrong decision at Fort Hood. This should not reflect on the entire Army or our government.

KAGAN: And I do want to say, we do have a statement from Fort Hood, where they say: "In the case of Lieutenant Rebrook, whether procedures weren't followed or the system failed him is currently under investigation. What is clear is that this command is going to do the right thing by Lieutenant Rebrook, who is one of our nation's proud veterans."

Lieutenant, does that satisfy you, that statement?

EDDIE REBROOK: Oh, absolutely. I'm not blaming anybody for this. These kind of things happen. It's a large bureaucracy. Sometimes paperwork doesn't get done. Sometimes people make mistakes.

I'm not going to look back on my service with anything but pride. I was proud to serve. I was proud to be around some of our nation's finest soldiers. And I'd do it again if I had the chance.

KAGAN: All right, well, thank you for your service and for your time.

EDDIE REBROOK: Thank you.

KAGAN: And we wish you well in your continuing recovery from your injuries.

To the Rebrooks, both of you, thank you gentlemen.

ED REBROOK: Thank you, Daryn.

EDDIE REBROOK: Thank you.

KAGAN: And now let's go live to Washington, D.C.

Our Jeanne Meserve standing by -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, is speaking shortly to a group of emergency managers here. He is not expected to respond directly to a draft report that comes out criticizing his performance during hurricane Katrina or a minority report which actually calls for him to be removed from office, although a spokesman has said it is "outrageous" to think that Mr. Chertoff was not doing his job during that emergency.

A little bit more about this emergency response -- excuse me -- this majority report. It is absolutely blistering in its assessment. It says, in part: "If this is what happens when we have advanced warning, we shudder to imagine the consequences when we do not. Four- and-a-half years after 9/11, America is still not ready for prime time." The report is highly critical of the White House, saying the president did not receive adequate counsel and that the White House did not do enough to de-conflict information that was coming in so it could get a handle on exactly what was happening in New Orleans.

But it is even more critical of Michael Chertoff, who, it says, did his job ineffectually, late or not at all.

But those two are not the only ones who come in for criticism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHRIS SHAYS (R), CONNECTICUT: It's very tough on the president. It's very tough on the Department of Homeland Security. It's a blistering report. But I think it's fair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: Secretary Chertoff has just arrived here at this conference. He is expected to talk about the need to integrate operations better within the Department of Homeland Security. He is going to talk specifically about FEMA, the need to improve logistics, communication and public service.

Some people in Washington do not think it's coincidental that he is going on the offensive today, just one day before he appears before a Senate committee that's investigating the Katrina response -- Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: All right, Jeanne, we'll leave you in Alexandria, Virginia to listen in to Mr. Chertoff's comments and check back with you.

Also ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY, Vice President Dick Cheney proves not everyone from Wyoming can handle a gun.

And Michelle Kwan's grace under pressure. We head live to Torino for details on the figure skater's big decision, plus all the other Olympic news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is speaking right now at a conference.

The National Emergency Management Association, holding its mid- year conference.

He, just a few minutes ago, responded to some scathing remarks made about him on Friday by former FEMA chief Michael Brown, as he testified on Capitol Hill.

Let's listen to Mr. Chertoff's response.

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I want to begin by saying that in the last couple of days I've read, in some quarters, that people are taking the position that DHS sees itself as a terrorism focused agency or that there's some huge difference between what we do when we deal with disasters that are triggered by evil acts of men and disasters that are triggered by acts of nature.

I want to tell you I unequivocally and strongly reject this attempt to drive a wedge between our concerns about terrorism and our concerns about natural disasters. That kind of wedge makes no sense and it does a disservice to all of you here, who are working very hard to protect against any kind of disaster, of whatever cause.

KAGAN: Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff responding to comments on Friday by former FEMA chief Michael Brown.

Brown said that the Department of Homeland Security treats natural disasters as stepchildren and they don't get the same response as acts of terrorism.

More on that story just ahead.

Our Jeanne Meserve is there on the scene in Alexandria, Virginia.

Right now let's take a look at what's happening now in the news.

It's the day after the big East Coast blizzard. You can expect some major travel delays. Record breaking snow, over two feet in some areas, shut down airports from West Virginia to Massachusetts. New York's three main airports have all reopened. Still, airports are clogged with canceled or delayed flights and stranded passengers.

Authorities say the latest church fire in Alabama was arson. A Baptist church in northwest Alabama was heavily damaged by fire on Saturday. It was the tenth fire in the state this month. Investigators believe two men, described as "bosom buddies in their 20s or 30s," are responsible.

In Washington, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan meets with President Bush this afternoon. He wants the president to commit sending U.S. troops to help stabilize the war torn Darfur region in Sudan. World leaders say genocide has taken place there. It's estimated 180,000 people have been killed since 2003 in clashes between rebels and a government-backed militia.

And in Baghdad, more courtroom theatrics in the trial of Saddam Hussein. Saddam and his co-defendants say they were forced into court today against their will. At least one co-defendant reportedly wrestled with guards on the way in. Instead of a suit, Saddam wore a robe under his overcoat.

Court is adjourned for the day. It is expected to resume tomorrow.

Here in the U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney is back in Washington after a weekend hunting accident. Cheney shot and wounded a hunting companion on the ranch in South Texas. The man, who is a prominent Texas lawyer, is now listed in stable condition.

Our Ed Lavandera keeping track of the story from Corpus Christi -- Ed, good morning.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Well, we're at the hospital where Harry Whittington is resting in the intensive care unit. We're told that he's in the ICU mostly just because of his age. He is 78, so they want to keep a closer eye on him. But by all indications, we're told by hospital officials and a friend of Mr. Whittington that he is doing well. He's been sitting up in his bed. He had a good night's rest and has been very talkative with people.

This hunting accident happened Saturday afternoon when Mr. Whittington and the vice president and a group of others were out hunting quail on the Armstrong ranch south of the Corpus Christi area here. This is a huge ranch, 50,000 acres, privately owned. And there was a group of hunters out there.

Apparently, Mr. Whittington had been separated from Mr. Cheney. There were two groups of hunters that had kind of broken off. Mr. Cheney was hunting quail and Mr. Whittington's group was coming up from behind Mr. Cheney. And according to this friend of theirs, they said that Mr. Whittington had not announced that he was coming up behind the vice president. And the vice president had locked in on some quail and fired off.

And Mr. Whittington was peppered with the pellets from the shotgun blast. We understand that he was wounded in the face, in the neck and the upper torso area. They won't say exactly, though, just how intense the injuries have been. But by all indications, Mr. Whittington is in pretty good shape considering what he's been through.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER BANKO, CHRISTUS SPOHN HOSPITAL: I don't know how much spray he has in him. My understanding from the physicians is if you get peppered, sometimes they need to do exploratory surgery if it gets lodged in a little bit deeper. Sometimes it's tweezers.

But I can't really comment on how extensive he was sprayed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Now, Mr. Cheney did come here to the hospital in Corpus Christi and visited with Mr. Whittington yesterday afternoon for about 15 or 20 minutes, Daryn.

But as you mentioned, he is back in Washington. We saw him going into the White House this morning.

I was also told by a hospital official here just a short while ago that Mr. Whittington has been joking around with the nurses, considering that he's joking around, that he's become an instant celebrity because he was accidentally shot by the vice president.

So you can imagine that if he's joking around about it, that comedians across this country must be salivating today -- Daryn.

KAGAN: It's almost too easy to even think about what we're going to see on late night television today.

LAVANDERA: Right. Yes. You can just feel -- you can just feel they're warming up in the batting cages.

KAGAN: That they are.

And, of course, the more important thing being that Mr. Whittington has a safe and a quick recovery.

LAVANDERA: Absolutely.

Thanks.

KAGAN: And I guess he gets the final say on this anyway.

All right, Ed, thank you.

Ed Lavandera live from Corpus Christi.

The snowboarding superstar, otherwise known as The Flying Tomato, is a golden tomato today. Red-headed speedster Shaun White slid his way to the gold medal in the men's half pipe for the U.S. team. White actually clinched the top spot on his first run of the finals. American Danny Kass took the silver.

Michelle Kwan's misfortune is a rising star's luck. Seventeen- year-old Emily Hughes got the call to fly to Italy this week to replace Kwan on the Olympic team.

Yesterday, Kwan announced that she would drop out of the Games because of a persistent groin injury. Kwan says she re-injured herself while practicing a triple flip and a team doctor recommended that she not skate.

Kwan has won nine U.S. championships and five world titles, but never the Olympic gold. And it looks like this was the 25-year-old's last chance.

Her replacement, Emily Hughes, is the younger sister of Olympic figure skating champ Sarah Hughes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE KWAN, U.S. SKATING CHAMPION: The Olympics is an incredible experience. I know that she'll have an amazing time and she'll make the country proud. I'm sure she's been working really hard, running through her programs, and that she's ready.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Our sports correspondent, Larry Smith, joins us live from Torino with much more on the figure skating switch -- Larry, in terms of Michelle Kwan, I say gold schmold (ph). She is the superstar of the skating world, a class act who has had to grow up on the national stage and has nothing to apologize for.

LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's no question where she stands, I mean, as the face of figure skating for the past decade. And certainly she understands, too, the position that Emily Hughes is in, despite the weather problems just trying to get over here.

Keep in mind that in 1994 at Lillehammer it was a teenage Kwan who was the first alternate for Nancy Kerrigan, who did not compete in the Nationals because of the whole Tonya Harding smacking in the knee incident that you may recall from 1994. Kerrigan didn't compete, was allowed an exemption to be on the team, went on to compete, actually, and got a silver medal in those Games. Kwan had to sit out.

This time, though, Kwan is the one getting the exemption and she is the one, unfortunately, this time, that has to bow out. And now Hughes steps up onto center stage.

KAGAN: OK.

SMITH: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

KAGAN: And what about other medal winners today, Larry?

SMITH: Other medal winners today, well, two more medals for the U.S. They now have five total, that's tied with Russia, second place total medals, behind Norway, which has seven. The USA, three gold medals. That's tops.

They got two in the Women's Snowboard Half Pipe. Hannah Teter taking gold. Gretchen Bleiler got silver. Kelly Clark came in a close fourth. So almost medal sweep for the U.S. in this.

But, again, gold and silver and they're well off and running in this. And they could have more gold medals coming up tonight. More medals, I should say, tonight, as well, in the Men's 500 Speed Skate. That includes Casey FitzRandolph, who is the Olympic record -- set an Olympic record and won gold in the 2002 Games in the 500 Meters in Salt Lake City.

KAGAN: OK.

Larry Smith live in Torino, thank you.

SMITH: OK.

KAGAN: Important information for women with diabetes is just ahead in our Daily Dose of health news. New research suggests some minor changes in your diet could help your heart -- keep your heart healthy.

We'll be back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Time now for our Daily Dose of health news.

We begin with some heart healthy news for women with diabetes.

A new study finds women with Type 2 Diabetes who ate more whole grains, bran and fiber from cereal reduced their risk of heart disease. The Harvard researcher who authored the study also found foods with a low glycemic index, such as beans, vegetables or apples might also help curb signs of heart trouble.

Bird flu -- it's spreading across Europe. Just this past weekend, government officials in Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia reported cases of bird flu. In most cases, the virus was found in a wild swan.

In another development, a medical expert in Singapore says hospitals must act now to prepare their staff for the trauma of a bird flu epidemic in people. If not, he says, there will be a big morale problem that could affect services and patient care when it's needed most.

Military doctors say that many soldiers who lost limbs in Iraq or Afghanistan are developing rare bone problems and that's complicating their recoveries. Doctors say almost 60 percent of the amputees treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center have developed a condition known as H.O. That is when bone grows where it doesn't belong. Doctors say the problem rarely occurs in civilian amputees. Instead, it's seen more often in victims of blast injuries. And it is in those protesters, doctors say, that the body's normal repair signals can kind of go awry and can form new bone.

Log on to cnn.com/health for the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness.

Digging out from that record-setting storm. Will your snowman stay awhile or start melting right away?

We'll check in with Chad just ahead.

Plus, we're live from the New York Stock Exchange with the latest business news.

We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: So, is that snow going to stick around in the Northeast or is it going to melt?

Let's check in with Chad Myers -- hi, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Daryn.

For a while it will definitely stick around.

Temperatures tonight are going to be down into the teens. I would even suspect that places around Saranac Lake, places -- the Capital District, Rutland, Killington, you could get down to the single digits and below because of all of that fresh snow. Not much snow today, but there goes the snow from yesterday. Really, it has pooped way out into Atlantic Canada now, into the northeastern sections of the Atlantic Ocean.

Fifty-seven minute delays at LaGuardia for the planes that are leaving. Thirty minutes in Philadelphia for those that are departing there. We're going to have to watch out for these airplanes today. They're in the wrong places. The crews are in one spot. The planes didn't get to take off yesterday. So the pilots thought they were going to Tampa but they're stuck in D.C. And the plane is still on the tarmac and all the passengers thought they were going to Seattle.

So you've got to let -- just trust me, the people that are standing there trying to help you, it wasn't their fault that it snowed and it's not their fault that the pilot isn't where he thought he was supposed to be. So give them a break today.

Warmer weather tomorrow. It does warm up into D.C. It does warm up in Raleigh. Here's a look at tomorrow, 46 in D.C. And with that southerly flow, we push 55 in Atlanta, on up even into D.C. And by Wednesday, look at this, 55 D.C. 60 by Friday, melting a lot of the snow.

But the problem, Daryn, is that, yes, it is melting and it's mild across the West. No real weather problems there. But as it melts during the day, it refreezes at sunset. And all those spots that at 4:00 in the afternoon were just wet will be an ice patch by 6:00. The same spot you just drove to the road, to the school on or to the store on, now it's an ice patch. So be careful right at sunset.

KAGAN: Yes, that's a good tip there.

Thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

KAGAN: Let's go to the New York Stock Exchange.

Susan Lisovicz is there -- Susan, any trouble getting into work today?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It took longer than usual and I am absolutely dreading not the snow, the -- what Chad was describing on Wednesday.

KAGAN: Yes.

LISOVICZ: Because not only before it freezes, it gets so yucky -- black, these rivers of ugh.

Anyway, Daryn, I'd like to tell you that we have a blizzard of buying here on Wall Street, but we've got a little bit of a sell-off right now, weighed down by tech -- weakness in the tech sector. This after the financial weekly "Barron's" said Google's shares could lose half of their value over the next year because of increased competition from Microsoft and Yahoo!. Let's take a look at the latest numbers.

The Dow Industrials down just 1 point. That's not too bad -- 10,918 is the level there.

The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, down 12, or about 2/3 of a percent.

And Google is one of the weights. They are down 5 percent.

As if Blackberry didn't have enough problems, the popular mobile e-mail device is facing a challenge from the world's biggest software company. Microsoft is teaming with several cellular networks, including Cingular and Vodafone, to create a new generation of phones with e-mail capabilities. The new phones will differ from Blackberries in that they will be able to receive e-mails pushed directly from users' work accounts. Blackberries require e-mails to go through a separate server.

This is just the latest challenge for Blackberry maker Research In Motion. We've been reporting how it's facing a patent lawsuit and is in danger of having to cut off service in North America. That would be problematic.

That is the latest Wall Street -- Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: I think the word would be withdrawal for me myself there.

LISOVICZ: Yes.

Yes, it would.

KAGAN: Thank you, Susan.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

KAGAN: I'm Daryn Kagan.

International news is up next.

Stay tuned for YOUR WORLD TODAY.

And I'll be back with the latest headlines from U.S. in about 20 minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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