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CNN Live Today
Taliban Still a Presence in Afghanistan; Thousands of Mobile Homes Intended for Katrina Victims Remain Unused
Aired June 02, 2006 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It sparked rioting. Tomorrow, an investigation begin. Afghan authorities will look into the traffic accident that drew violent crowds into the streets of Kabul. Twenty people were killed. It was the worst bloodshed since 2001, when the Taliban regime was overthrown. But there are still remnants of Taliban operating in Afghanistan.
Our Barbara Starr now has an exclusive walking tour with the head of U.S. forces there. It's a report you saw first on "THE SITUATION ROOM."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry goes walking through the City of Khowst in eastern Afghanistan, he attracts a huge crowd. Everyone wants to know who is the big man in the American military uniform.
Look closely. Eikenberry has no armored vest, no helmet, no weapon. His security is discrete.
LT. GEN. KARL EIKENBERRY, U.S. ARMY: How are you doing?
(CONVERSATION IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
STARR: This three star commander is now facing a changing situation in Afghanistan. In many places, like here in the highly conservative area of Khowst, once an al Qaeda stronghold, there is relative peace.
EIKENBERRY: How is the -- how's the security?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Thanks to god, everything is OK. The security situation is very good in Khowst Province.
STARR: But in some areas, the Taliban are back, especially in rural areas, where the new government is almost non-existent and U.S. military forces have not yet, after four-and-a-half years, conducted significant operations.
(on camera): What's the part of the country that concerns you the most right now?
EIKENBERRY: Taliban influence in some of these districts in the south, in Helmand Province, in Kandahar Province, in Uruzgan Province. It's in some of those areas, Barbara, that there is more Taliban influence and presence than there was last year at this time.
STARR (voice-over): But even as he plans operations against a resurgent Taliban, this general, who is on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, says it is reconstruction, aid and jobs for Afghans that will defeat the Taliban, and not U.S. military power.
EIKENBERRY: It's about building schools. It's about building health clinics. It's about what has taken place in this city, right here in Khowst. It's about creating the conditions so that a civil society can begin to take shape.
STARR: But make no mistake, this military commander is determined the people of Afghanistan will have peace and his troops will keep after the Taliban until they are defeated.
Barbara Starr, CNN, Khowst, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: And Barbara is part of the team covering the world for "THE SITUATION ROOM." Join Wolf Blitzer at 4:00 Eastern and in primetime at 7:00 p.m.
She is getting better. Hospital workers say that CBS news correspondent Kimberly Dozier is off of a respirator, breathing on her own and talking today. Dozier was seriously injured in a bomb blast in Iraq on Monday, and doctors weren't sure she'd make it. Dozier remains in critical, but stable condition, at Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany. She's expected to return to the U.S. this weekend for more medical treatment.
Dozier has been visiting with family and colleagues in Germany. Her mother talked about what it was like to see her daughter so critically injured.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOROTHY DOZIER, KIMBERLY DOZIER'S MOTHER: I've had all kinds of rumors, watched the news at first. But when I walked into the room and saw her, it really impacted what that was all about and how closely we came to maybe losing her. I didn't hit that point until I actually saw her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: And then there was this tearful homecoming. Simple wooden caskets holding the bodies of CBS cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan arrived in London. Both were killed in the same car bomb attack that injured Dozier. Family members attended an airport ceremony.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need today to remember and to celebrate the lives of two great journalists. They were husbands to Gerri (ph) and to Linda, dads to Kelly (ph) and Joe (ph), Sam (ph) and Agatha (ph). But to most of us here, they were mates. They were mates that we knew we could depend on. And they were guys that would get the story for us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, he has that smile. He had the ability to light up a room. And I'm going to so miss him. But I've got so many memories.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I keep thinking of James, his back killing him one day, climbing that mountain in Pakistan, loaded with gear, never allowing anybody to take any of his bags, and cracking jokes. Or I'd see him in Balakot, a town that was flattened in the Pakistani quake, climbing over the ruins, a gaggle of kids constantly surrounding him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My dad was -- but you already know that -- he was the most fantastic dad. And we're honored to have had him bring us into the world and keep us safe. Although he only managed to spend 30 years with my mom, they've got a lifetime of memories.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was always the day of the unspoken horror, and now it's happened.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: There is a story of tragedy for a Texas family. A touching soldier's story is coming up.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
Down, but not out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every dog deserves a chance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: With all the difficult news, we thought an inspiring story would be appropriate. Paralyzed and homeless after Hurricane Katrina, now Red the pitbull gets his second chance. That's coming up on LIVE TODAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: How about this, a redhead with plenty of energy and a heart of gold. Interested? Well, you're a little too late. A Florida woman has already adopted this playful pitbull, paralyzed and abandoned after Hurricane Katrina.
Reporting from outside of Houston, here's Brad Woodward from our affiliate KHOU.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRAD WOODWARD, KHOU REPORTER (voice-over): This is a story of absence and abundance. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good boy. Where's your treat? Where's your treat? Get it red! Good boy.
WOODWARD: The abundance of unconditional love.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on, Red, let's go outside.
WOODWARD: And the absence of self-pity.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, buddy. Hi!
WOODWARD: The complete absence.
Diane McDermott (ph) has traveled all of the way from Florida to meet and adopt a pitbull named Red.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just felt so bad, everything he'd already been through, and I know I can give him a really good home.
WOODWARD: Red was among the thousands of companion animals left companionless in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
DR. LUCY GILLESPIE, VETERINARIAN: Red basically was being fed by a nice man that wasn't his owner. And during the hurricane, Red drug himself back to this man's home after he'd been hit by a car.
WOODWARD: Completely paralyzed from the waist down, Red has been recovering at the Longwood Animal Hospital and Pet Resort in Cypress.
And he doesn't seem to waste much time feeling sorry for himself. Those racing decals on his wheelchair are there for a reason.
(on camera): Ask anyone who's met Red and they'll tell you there's a lesson to be learned in his resilience, a lesson which transcends species.
GILLESPIE: I think so. I think so. He just keeps on trucking. Basically every dog deserves a chance.
WOODWARD (voice-over): Just as every person deserves a chance.
Brad Woodward, 11 News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: OK, just stop it right now. Just stop it, Chad. You know I love the animal stories, and you throw in a little physical disability, like my three-legged cat tripod, and you've made my day. Those are the most special ones.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: This is the winner here. Hard to spell, hard to pronounce, but this girl was so happy when she got the winning word. She had no trouble with it. The winner of the National Spelling Bee, and we'll have the winning word, coming up in just a moment. And these students know their place in the world. Imagine this test. One teacher giving them a blank piece of paper, and they had to draw the entire map of the world. Could you do it?
I wonder if Chad could do it. We'll ask him about that, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ursprache. U-R-S-P-R-A-C-H-E, ursprache.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is correct!
KAGAN: And with that, 13-year-old Katharine Close is the nation's new spelling bee champ. Close says she was lucky that she didn't get the words that knocked out the third and fourth place finishers, because she said she didn't know those. But Close says that she did study ursprache, the word that clinched the title. Close is an eighth grader from New Jersey, and she's the first girl in seven years to win the National Spelling Bee. Close takes her more than $42,000 in cash and prizes, and one really big trophy.
Then there's the geographically challenged. Despite all of our hurricane coverage, the war reporting, some students still can't even find Louisiana on a map. Six in ten are clueless about Iraq's location. Well, that National Geographic survey apparently missed Courtney Roberts' ninth grade class.
Keith McCord with Salt Lake City affiliate KSL sat in on their final exam for geography.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEITH MCCORD, KSL REPORTER (voice-over): It's one thing to point to a map and name a certain country, but in Courtney Roberts' geography class, the students don't get that luxury.
COURTNEY ROBERTS, GEOGRAPHY TEACHER: I'm going hand you out the paper and then you can get started as soon as you get the paper.
MCCORD: For their final test today, they got a blank sheet of paper and they had to draw, from memory, the world, with all 200 countries and eight bodies of water identified, freehand. And neatness counts.
ROBERTS: Their countries have to be pretty much the right size and shape or it's not going fit together like a puzzle. So if you're going to have a good map, they do have to be pretty accurate.
MCCORD: Preparation for the final test actually began at the beginning of the school year.
(on camera): On the first day of class the students were asked to draw a map of the world. You can see, they're pretty basic. On the last day of class, they've all gotten a lot better. (voice-over): Take this student, for example. Here was her view of the world last September. And here's how she drew it up today. Though some of these world maps were less precise than others, they were pretty impressive. After all, the students only had 45 minutes to sketch these.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Only 45 minutes. Chad, could you do it?
CHAD MEYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm impressed. No. All those little countries that that one little girl was drawing. I mean, especially of, like, the eastern sections here and western sections of Africa. I mean, you've got Senegal, you've got Guinea, you've got Sierra Leone, you've got Liberia, all kind of packed together. They were all drawing them. I mean, I was very impressed watching that piece.
KAGAN: Good for them. And hard, but interesting how -- I think that the reporter made an interesting point of how you show how it changes somebody's worldview, not just memorizing stuff on a map.
MEYERS: Well, considering most people draw the U.S. this big, right? And then Greenland, you know, whatever -- it's almost the same.
KAGAN: And we'll have your map test in just a little bit.
MEYERS: I'll fail.
KAGAN: Thanks, Chad.
MEYERS: I'll absolutely fail some of these.
KAGAN: Hopefully not.
How about these not so mobile homes? Trailers that never made it to the hurricane zone. A new hurricane season is underway. The trailers, well, they're still stuck in limbo. Did you know that you are paying the price? We'll explain ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Do you remember those mobile homes that were stuck hundreds of miles from the hurricane zone? They have become a symbol of bureaucratic bungling. While they're still there rustling away, the multimillion dollar tab keeps running, and you are paying the bill.
Gulf Coast correspondent Susan Roesgen has an update. Her report now from "ANDERSON COOPER 360."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here they are, nearly 10,000 mobile homes lined up end to end in Hope, Arkansas, and still empty.
It's FEMA's mobile home park, 450 miles from the Gulf Coast. As taxpayers, we paid $300 million to buy these mobile homes, $6 million to put gravel under them to keep them from sinking in the mud. And we're still paying $25,000 a month to lease the land they sit on.
SEN. TIM JOHNSON (D), SOUTH DAKOTA: It seems to me that they ought to be able to part with at least some of them for some of the housing crisis problems we have in Indian country.
ROESGEN: FEMA rules say, in general, mobile homes can't be placed in a flood plane, which makes them pretty much useless along the Gulf Coast.
So, South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson says, why not drive those mobile homes up to his state, where he says 90,000 families need housing on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation? But FEMA rules won't allow that, either.
DAVID PASSEY, FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY: Right now, it's not possible. FEMA's housing mission is confined to disaster housing after presidentially declared disasters. So, we're legally not able to use mobile homes that were purchased for disaster housing for any other form of housing.
ROESGEN: So who makes the FEMA rules?
We do hereby move --
ROESGEN: FEMA says it's the same group that's complained about the agency the loudest lately, congress. Congress made the rules and congress can change them. Senator Johnson of South Dakota says, FEMA should bend the rules.
SEN. TIM JOHNSON, (D) SOUTH DAKOTA: It seems to me that FEMA ought to be more creative, ought to be more innovative, ought to be thinking outside of their own little jurisdictional box. What I think is going to happen is that these trailers are going to continue to deteriorate and we're going to wind up with a lost investment and no one's going to get the value of the trailers.
PASSEY: It's not that we aren't supportive of Senator Johnson's efforts to improve Indian housing in South Dakota and around the United States. There are organizations in the federal government designed to do that. But FEMA's the disaster coordination agency for the federal government.
ROESGEN: Since we first started reporting this story, FEMA has moved several hundred mobile homes from Arkansas to other states as housing for potential tornado victims. Some have even been sent to Edison, New Jersey, just in case the east coast gets hit with a hurricane or a terrorist attack. But FEMA intends to leave about 5,000 mobile homes in Hope, Arkansas, ready to be used but with no guarantee they ever will be.
Susan Roesgen, CNN, New Orleans. (END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: And you can see more reports from Susan on "ANDERSON COOPER 360." Watch "AC 360" weeknights at 10:00 Eastern, 7:00 Pacific.
Nuclear diplomacy for Iran. The moment of truth or consequences.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Do you trust the Iranians? Do you take them at their word?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Western powers issue a challenge. And police launch a manhunt for this man. Have you see him? We're going to try to unravel a mass killing in the Midwest. This developing story ahead in the second hour of LIVE TODAY, which begins right now.
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