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CNN Live Today

Two Arrests in Alabama Church Fires; Much of New Orleans Still in Ruins Six Months After Storm; Port Security

Aired March 08, 2006 - 10:59   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's take a look at what's happening right "Now in the News."
There's an apparent break in the Alabama church fires case. Federal law enforcement sources tell CNN two people are now under arrest and face federal charges in the case. They're due in court this hour. Authorities are still searching for a third suspect.

Much more on the story straight ahead.

In Ireland, a shocking admission by officials with the Roman Catholic Church. The Archdiocese of Dublin says 102 of its priests are suspected of sexually or physically abusing at last 350 children since 1940. "USA Today" reports that government health experts here in the U.S. plan to dramatically increase the number of wild bird tests that are tested for avian flu. The paper says officials fear that migrating birds could bring a deadly strain of the disease to the U.S.

Good morning and welcome to CNN LIVE TODAY.

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

First to the Gulf Coast.

President Bush is back in the disaster zone. The president is in New Orleans this hour for an update on the Hurricane Katrina recovery effort. He'll visit Gulfport, Mississippi, next hour.

The president is announcing a program to help homeowners affected by Hurricane Katrina. Officials say it will provide up to $150,000 for each homeowner who lost their residence to the storm. The $4.2 billion program is part of a supplemental funding bill awaiting approval from Congress.

Now let's get back to our other top story, and that is a break in the case in the string of arson fires that targeted so many churches last month in Alabama. We're expecting any minute now for two suspects to make their first appearance in federal court in Birmingham, Alabama. And also, we expect a news conference at 3:00 p.m. Eastern with federal authorities out of Tuscaloosa.

With more on what we're leaning about this break in the case, let's go to our Rusty Dornin, who is on the phone on her way to Alabama.

Rusty, good morning.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, according to the Alabama State Fire Marshals Office, Russell Debusk and Ben Moseley, both 19 years old, are students at Birmingham Southern College. From what we understand, they were arrested this morning, taken from some kind of dormitory or living quarters that was either on the college campus or nearby.

They are still searching for a Matthew Lee Cloyd who is 20 years old. He is a student at the University of Alabama.

When I asked him what led to these arrests, the state fire marshal replied, "It was good old police footwork." And a vehicle came -- it came down to a vehicle and a set of tires. It was a dark green Forerunner that had been seen at a few of the fires that witnesses had seen and a set of tire tracks that were found at four different fires that led them to the suspects, and they arrested those suspects today.

As you said, they are being -- having a court appearance in Birmingham today. And there will be a press conference later this afternoon in Tuscaloosa. They also say they are confident that they will arrest Matthew Lee Cloyd, also in connection with these fires -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Rusty, you can't see this because you're driving in the car, but we do have a little bit of video of the two suspects. You mentioned their names.

There's new pictures into CNN. Very brief, as they make their way, I believe, to the federal courthouse, Ben Moseley and Russell Debusk. As Rusty was saying, we know that they are college students from around the Birmingham area.

Rusty, we want to ask you about the car that you mentioned, because I believe when this was -- investigation was going on, they were talking about, like, a Nissan Pathfinder, a dark color. So not that different in terms of shape and size and color.

DORNIN: No, especially if it was at night. The witnesses saw this car at night. Originally, people thought it was a black -- some kind of black SUV. It turns out it's a dark green Forerunner.

As we said, they were just the four different tire tracks were left at different churches that are in rural areas. So, many times you drive into a little dirt road when you go to these churches, so they were able to get some clear tire tracks from those and trace it to this car.

KAGAN: The other thing that was interesting as these tragedies with these churches unfolded, at one point they thought there might be some kind of racial motivation, but half the churches were predominantly white and half the churches were predominantly black.

DORNIN: That's right. And they pretty much dismissed the racial motivation about midway between the occurrence of these fires, saying that they believe maybe they were thrill seekers, that they were -- it was something that they did in the dark of night and that they did not think that it was a racial or religious motivation to these.

KAGAN: Officials at some point said they believe the person or people who were doing this had some kind of message to get out. So they set up an e-mail address. They got a special post office box so that these people could get in touch.

Any indication whether the suspects ever took them up on that offer?

DORNIN: From what we understand, they had problems with that e- mail address and with the computer service that they were using -- apparently did crash. They did have some kind of message, but apparently that didn't really have anything to do with the suspects. It wasn't from the suspects.

So there's no indication at this point that they ever did try to contact authorities.

KAGAN: There was no shortage of the type of authorities working on this, from local officials to state, all the way up to ATF and FBI.

DORNIN: That's right. And this is -- the ATF were the ones that did make the arrests. The suspects are appearing in federal court as we speak. And as we said, there's that third suspect that is still being sought.

KAGAN: Rusty Dornin, as she makes her way to Alabama on the phone.

And they're expected in court any minute, the suspects are.

Rusty, we'll check back in with you as we learn more, especially from this court appearance.

Also, as Rusty mentioned, there will be a news conference in about four hours, 3:00 p.m. Eastern, out of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. You'll see that live here on CNN.

Meanwhile, other news of the day.

Business owners who are struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina have a message for President Bush: promises do not pay the bills. More than six months after Katrina, much of New Orleans is still in ruins and business owners say the money they were promised has been slow in coming.

The story from Gulf Coast Correspondent Susan Roesgen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Lined up on wax paper, these blobs of sugar and butter and pecans are a New Orleans favorite. They're pralines, only Yankees say praline, made by Loretta Harrison from a recipe passed down to her from her grandmother. Since the hurricane, Loretta's praline business is back up and running, but she says she's struggling to make end's meet.

LORETTA HARRISON, BUSINESS OWNER: I'm willing to roll up my sleeves and get to work and all we ask is that the federal government will send in the money that we're promised so that each and every one of us can do the same thing, roll up our sleeves and move forward.

ROESGEN: Loretta was with a group of small business owners who met with President Bush the last time he was in New Orleans, almost two months ago. Back then, she was waiting to get approved for a government loan of $250,000. Now she's gotten the approval, but she says the government only releases the money in drips and drabs, less than she needs each month to pay a handful of employees and keep the business going.

HARRISON: This is the mixture for the original pralines that we make here.

ROESGEN: That you still make even after the hurricane. But there's something else in this kitchen that I want you to see. Not just butter and sugar and pecans, other foods are being prepared in this kitchen now. Another way that Loretta is surviving after the hurricane.

While New Orleans doesn't have many tourists these days to buy pralines, Loretta found that a lot of locals just need a place to eat. So the candy maker became a cafe owner, serving hot lunches.

PIERRE CHARBONNET, CUSTOMER: She's local. She's trying to get her business back. So -- and I live here and I want to see her get it back, so we come and support her and it's good. It's real good.

ROESGEN: By being flexible, Loretta Harrison has been able to keep her business and part of New Orleans food culture alive. And if she were to meet the president again, she'd offer him a praline and a piece of her mind.

HARRISON: If you just continue to tell us what's going to happen, that's one thing. But when the revenue and the money coming to do it, that's another thing. That's what we need to see. We need to see the monies come in so that the people can decide what they want to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROESGEN: Besides the damage to the Loretta Harrison's home, she and eight of her brothers and sisters all lost their homes to the flood after the hurricane. But they're all back in New Orleans, Daryn, and they're all trying to make a go of it again.

KAGAN: You know, you mentioned housing. I know that was a problem for a lot of small business owners, not just for themselves, but the people who work in these small businesses that they were having trouble finding places to live. How is that small businesses handling that?

ROESGEN: Well, that's -- this small business only has about five employees. Before she had 13. And she's been able to put some of them up in apartments above her shop.

But Daryn, that is a big problem for a lot of businesses in this area. You will see pockets of FEMA trailers behind me. I don't think you can see it in this shot, but there's a restaurant owned by Emeril Lagasse, the big restaurateur from this area, and there are some FEMA trailers in the parking lot of his restaurant.

So that's what you see around New Orleans now at different place where, when they've been able to, business owners have tried to get their employees into temporary housing very close to the businesses just to keep them going.

KAGAN: And under my, OK, I'm shallow department, Susan, as I'm watching your piece, my sweet tooth and I are wondering, did you get a taste? Did you get any of the pralines when you were there?

ROESGEN: You know, of course, in the name of research we sampled many a praline to make sure that they were up to CNN standards.

KAGAN: That is my girl. Good work there in the field.

Susan, thank you.

We're talking Katrina. President Bush is in town today. We are expecting him to speak almost an hour ago at one of the devastated levees that still needs to be prepared. When he does speak, you'll see that live here on CNN.

President Bush has made repeated trips to the Gulf Coast region and requested billions of dollars in aid. The details on that now in our CNN "Fact Check."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN (voice over): President Bush is making his seventh visit to New Orleans and his 10th to the Gulf Coast in the six months since Katrina came ashore. During those trips, he has toured damaged areas, talked to victims of the storm, and made a memorable speech to the nation from New Orleans' Jackson Square, promising a massive rebuilding effort.

According to the White House, the Bush administration and Congress have already provided more than $87 billion in direct relief to the Gulf region. That money has been used for immediate recovery and rebuilding efforts and paid more than 200,000 flood insurance claims.

On February 16, President Bush asked Congress for almost $20 billion more in additional emergency funding. More than $9 billion of that would help pay for FEMA's ongoing efforts to provide shelter, medical care and other disaster assistance. More than $4 billion in block grants would address housing needs. Another billion-dollars- plus would be used to strengthen levees and improve storm protection for the greater New Orleans region.

This week, governors from the Gulf region, including the president's home state of Texas, told members of Congress the aid they have received so far is only a fraction of what they have been promised.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: There is more criticism today for FEMA. This time it's over hotel bills for Hurricane Katrina evacuees. According to "USA Today," a new oversight report blames FEMA for not setting cost controls on hotel rates. The report says FEMA was still paying as much as $364 a night for some rooms in December, more than three months after the storm. A FEMA spokeswoman says the costly rooms were the exception and not the rule.

Money for hurricane relief is the focus of a Senate committee that's hearing those going on right now on Capitol Hill. But Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is also facing tough questions about the government's response to the disaster.

Our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, joins us now from Washington.

Jeanne, good morning.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Secretary Chertoff, appearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee this morning, got an earful from Democratic senator Richard Durbin, who said he was stunned and angered by the administration's failure to prepare for Katrina, though there were ample warnings of the catastrophic damage the storm could do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: Mr. Secretary, if 9/11 was a failure of imagination, Katrina was a failure of leadership. I hope that we won't quibble over words here. Whether the levees were topped, breached, overflowing, the result was the same, and it was predicted, New Orleans would flood and innocent people would die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: Secretary Chertoff responded that the death toll was much lower than was expected for a storm of Katrina's magnitude because of the successful evacuation of 80 to 90 percent of the people in the affected area. And he said blame for the situation in the Gulf does not lie solely with the government's preparation or response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: A lot of blame assessment, but when you stand back and look at this in context, the lion's share of the blame goes to the storm. This was, short of a hydrogen bomb, about as big a storm as possible.

And let there be no mistake about it. On Sunday, the Sunday, the day before landfall, everybody knew, and I think no one has suggested to the contrary, that the potential here was catastrophic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: Army and Army Corps of Engineers officials were asked about reports that the levees in Louisiana are being built with substandard soil and are likely to fail. The officials said they take the concern seriously and will visit the specific locations in question, but they do believe the levees are being built to the appropriate standards.

Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: Jeanne Meserve is in Washington, D.C., in our bureau today.

Jeanne, thank you.

Another Hollywood star is revealing a private secret. Teri Hatcher opens up to "Vanity Fair" about desperate days during childhood.

Also this hour on CNN LIVE TODAY, we'll log on to redtoenail.org. Got your attention there with the name. It's a blog about a very serious subject.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: You know that face, retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. She is delivering a an address at the Justice Department today. We believe the theme has to do with it being Women's History Month.

We're going to listen in, bring you the good nuggets, and get you more of that in just a little bit.

Meanwhile, not far from there, Capitol Hill, Republicans in Congress are moving ahead today with a bill on the ports controversy. It would block oversight by a Middle Eastern company. That matter has opened up a deep gulf between the president and some Republican leaders.

Congressional Correspondent Ed Henry joining me live now.

Ed, good morning.

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

That's right, a full-scale Republican revolt here on Capitol Hill. A major break with President Bush, as you noted.

House Republican leaders today poised to block this port deal all together. As one top House Republican told me flatly, "The port deal is dead."

And what they're going to do is, later this afternoon, the House Appropriations Committee chairman, Jerry Lewis of California, will add an amendment to the must-pass emergency spending bill funding military operation in Iraq, as well as relief to Katrina victims. That is really a finger in the eye of the White House, because the president wants to keep that bill clear of any extraneous matters, especially the port deal that has become so controversial.

And this is also causing not just a rift between the White House and Republican on the Hill, but the House speaker, Republican Dennis Hastert, who is pushing ahead and leading this effort to block to block the port deal, and the Republican Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, who has said in recent days he's more comfortable with this deal, and is saying -- he's preaching patience and saying let the 45- day review go forward, don't pass any legislation. And just a few minutes ago, at a ceremony here in the Capitol, Frist and Hastert were shoulder to shoulder, celebrating the renewal of the Patriot Act, and it was interesting because Hastert was glad to answer my question about what he's going to do today.

But Senator Frist would not even turn his back -- he had his back turned to reporters. He would not even turn around to answer any questions and then ducked out of the room.

Take a look at this exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Speaker, why are you going to block the port deal today?

REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Frist? Senator Frist? Senator Frist? Senator Frist?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Leader...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Frist? Senator Frist, are you going to follow Speaker Hastert?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: You can see Senator Frist ducking out there. Speaker Hastert was not right next to the microphone. What he said was, "We want to protect Americans. We have a point of view on this and we're going to move forward on it."

They will, the House Appropriations Committee, move forward this afternoon. Then the full House expected to vote next week to block the port deal.

Then it would have to go over to the Senate. So far, Senator Frist, again, not answering any questions. His staff is saying they're not expected to take up the must-pass military spending bill until at least a month from now.

So even if the Senate were to act a month from now, then you have the president saying he'll veto any legislation blocking the port deal. This is a real political pickle for Republicans that's growing messier and messier by the hour -- Daryn.

KAGAN: You know the old phrase, talk to the hand? I think Senator Frist was saying talk to the back.

HENRY: We did see his back.

KAGAN: Not talking to Ed Henry today. I am, though. And my question to you is, the politics of this involved, because it seems like some of what we're seeing in the jockeying has directly to do with upcoming elections and even maybe setting people up for -- to be potential presidential candidate in 2008.

HENRY: Well, sure. I mean, you can see Senator Frist. He's kind of been on a couple of different sides of this issue.

A couple weeks ago, he was with Speaker Hastert in saying that the port deal should not go forward. He did succeed, though, Senator Frist, a potential presidential candidate, in get that 45-day review. But again, in recent days, he's been saying he's growing more comfortable with this deal, when all across the board Republicans in both chambers, for the most part, saying they are not on board with this deal.

In terms of the politics beyond 2008, think about 2006. What's really going on here is that the Democrats are pounding away, they're moving to the right of the president on a security issue. Nobody thought the Democrats would ever be able to do that, and the Republicans on the Hill, the leaders, they know every single house Republican and Democrat is up for election in November. The president is not on the ballot.

They are scared of this issue. They want to kill this deal once and for all -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Ed, for the record, even if we have our back to you, we will always turn around and answer an Ed Henry question. Thank you.

To Iraq now and a troubling new concern. Authorities in Baghdad say gunmen dressed as police commandos abducted dozens of workers at a private Iraqi security firm.

Our Aneesh Raman is live in Baghdad with the latest on this story -- Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, good morning.

The incident took place just around 1:00 p.m. local time. Police officials tell us some 25 armed men dressed, as you say, as Iraqi police commandos, driving somewhere between 10 and 15 vehicles, showed up at the offices of an Iraqi private security firm. They then went in and rounded upwards of 50 employees and left with them to another location.

Now, initially, there were suggestions that the entire operation took about two hours, that police weren't notified until afterwards. Three of the guards at the private security firm were able to escape at the end and call police. But other reports suggest that police were aware this was going on but thought it was a legitimate operation being conducted by Iraq's ministry of interior, and so they backed off. They didn't go in to try and rescue or save these 50 employees that were taken by these armed men.

It raises, of course, any number of issues of what the security was like around this office. It was a security firm. That's their business. So one could presume security was high.

How these men were able to get through, and also the issue of the fact that they're dressing as Iraqi police commandos, we've seen this often here, the fact that the uniforms can be purchased on the streets. And insurgent groups often buy cars similar to what the Iraqi police use. Essentially dress them up so they look official.

So a number of questions. Iraq's minister of interior he has launched an urgent investigation into what took place -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Aneesh Raman live from Baghdad.

Other news out of Iraq today, a flurry of roadside bombings in Iraq claiming the lives of at least a half-dozen people. Attacks in different areas of Baghdad killed three Iraqi police officers. A bombing in northern Iraq killed an American soldier. And in Falluja, a roadside bomb killed two civilians.

Also, authorities say two dozen bodies have been found across Baghdad today. In one incident, police found the bodies of 18 men in a minibus. They all had been strangled.

There's something you might not know about the war in Iraq. The survival rate for wounded American troops is higher than in previous conflicts, including Vietnam. A number of factors getting the credit, better body armor, faster medical evacuations. But combat medics may be the most important factor of all.

Here now is CNN's Kelly Wallace with the story seen first on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): An explosion at a Baghdad market. U.S. Army medics rush in and within minutes must decide who needs to be treated first.

It's make-believe, but designed to feel, sound and look like the real thing. All to prepare these would-be medics for combat.

CLAY WALKER, SIMULATION TECHNICIAN: We want to ingrain in them when they see it it's an automatic reaction. It's just a response. I have a limb removed, I need to stop that bleeding.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who's the company commander?

WALLACE: Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, the site of the Army's only medic training school. Any soldier-turned-medic heading to Iraq or Afghanistan is trained here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to check your respiration again, all the way down to your chest. I'm going to go ahead and...

WALLACE: In essence, they are getting one year of medical school in a 16-week course...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I'm going to go ahead and administer.

WALLACE: ... learning primary care, emergency medical techniques and combat medicine all at once.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you worked on him?

WALLACE: It's tough. About 15 percent don't make it past the first few weeks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It took you three and a half minutes to realize that he was missing his leg.

WALLACE: They could mean the difference between life and death. Nearly 90 percent of military men and women wounded in Iraq survive, which is higher than the 78 percent survival rate for the first Gulf War and 73 percent for Vietnam.

Leaders here say that's partly because there are more highly- trained combat medics, more soldiers on the front lines with basic medical knowledge.

COL. PATRICIA HASTINGS, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, MEDIC TRAINING: The combat medic allows the patient to come in as a patient and not a victim so that the physicians and nurses at the upper echelons of care can take care of them and get them back to the states.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you hear me? Can you hear me? One, two, three.

WALLACE: The training is constantly updated based on what soldiers are now seeing regularly on the battlefields of Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, how is his breathing?

WALLACE: For instance, new types of injuries from IEDs can be woven into the training here in less than 90 days.

WALKER: We get feedback from our doctors and our VAs back from the war, and this is the injuries they are seeing.

WALLACE: Eight of the 16 weeks are devoted entirely to combat medicine.

Can they work in the darkness? What if they come under fire? Can they handle the seriously wounded?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How's he working, doc?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's doing good. He's doing good.

WALLACE: In this scenario, four soldiers come across an infantryman whose hand has been blown off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, doc. Hurry up.

WALLACE: These soldiers have been here now for 12 weeks and say the highly-specialized training is invaluable.

PFC. RUBEN RYAN, MEDIC TRAINEE: By the time we're released to go with the regular line units, we're going to be that much more advanced or be able to pick up the slack where we need to.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on, doc. Hurry up. We've got to get going.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. All right.

WALLACE: Trying to give these soon-to-be medics a sense of what they will see on the battlefield before they actually see it for themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hang in there, buddy. We're taking good care of you. We'll get you out of here.

WALLACE: Kelly Wallace, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And we're learning more about the two suspects that are in custody in connection with that string of arson church fires in Alabama. You saw this little bit of video earlier.

Ben Moseley and Russell Debusk taken into custody. They are still searching for a third man.

We're now learning that these two are students at Birmingham Southern College. That's a church associated with the United Methodist Church in Birmingham. We believe taken into custody today or yesterday.

And we should learn more after this court appearance in federal court in Birmingham. Also, a news conference scheduled for later today, 3:00 p.m. Eastern, out of Tuscaloosa.

Right now, let's check on business news. Our Susan Lisovicz on the move.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: One of our favorite people, Susan Lisovicz.

We're going to get serious when we get back. A blog about cancer attracting a really big following. We'll meet the man behind it and why he offers so many patients hope.

And what's this? Have you seen this? Probably not. We're still scratching our heads over this odd creature from the deep.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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