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American Morning
Northern California Earthquake; Boy Dies on Disney Ride
Aired June 15, 2005 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
There was a Michael Jackson quake off the California coast, sparking a tsunami alert from Canada through Mexico. Did the warning system work? We are live on that story this hour.
Also, more frustration in Aruba. A search in an area known as lover's lane turns up no clues in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
And death at Disney -- a small boy dies on a popular ride at Epcot, raising some safety questions there, also ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Welcome back, everybody.
Also ahead this morning, a story about 9/11 and then what happened afterward. We're going to talk this morning to a woman whose husband died at the World Trade Center.
HEMMER: She received $5 million. Almost all of it is now gone. She talks about the money and where she spent it. She talks about the grief and a compulsion that grew out of both. So we'll get her story in a moment here.
O'BRIEN: That's right. It's really a sad story on a lot of levels...
HEMMER: Oh, yes it is.
O'BRIEN: ... I think it's fair to say.
That's ahead this morning.
First, let's get a look at the headlines with Carol Costello -- good morning again, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Good morning, everyone.
A deadly blast on an Iraqi military base. Police say a suicide bomber targeted a popular restaurant at lunchtime. At least 23 Iraqi soldiers were killed in the blast, dozens more injured. The base is just northwest of Baqubah.
An Australian man taken hostage in Iraq six weeks ago is a free man this morning. Australia's prime minister says Douglas Wood was recovered in a military operation conducted by Iraqi and U.S. forces. He is reportedly doing OK. Wood, who lives in California, was working as a civilian contractor in Iraq.
New word that Taliban leader Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden are both alive and well. A senior Taliban military commander tells a Pakistan TV station that he's still getting instructions from Omar and bin Laden is "absolutely fine." The commander would not say where they are and it's not been verified if he, indeed, has access to this kind of information.
President Bush speaking in Washington this morning. He's expected to renew calls for Congress to act on an energy plan. The president says the U.S. needs a strategy to become less dependent on foreign oil. The House passed an energy bill earlier this year. The Senate began deliberate on its own energy plan this week.
And New York Yankees fans get to get a first look at their team's future today. The Yanks are unveiling plans for a new $800 million ballpark this afternoon. The stadium will be built right next door to the current stadium, major league baseball's third oldest park. Construction is expected to begin next year and should be ready by the 2009 season. And everybody is wondering if the old stadium will be completely torn down.
HEMMER: Blasphemy.
COSTELLO: I know. I can't even...
HEMMER: As every Yankee fan would tell u.
COSTELLO: I know. I can't even imagine that happening. But apparently the new park will be built with some of the same flourishes as the old. But we'll know more later this afternoon.
HEMMER: It won't have the history.
COSTELLO: No, it won't.
HEMMER: Thank you, Carol.
We want to get back to the tsunami danger.
It is over for the people on the West Coast. A magnitude 7.0 quake striking off the northern California coast late last night. The epicenter only about 90 miles from Crescent City, California.
A tsunami warning went out along the coast from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, down to the Mexican border. It was called off about an hour later. It's believed to be the first large scale tsunami warning in California in nearly 20 years. Police hurrying people off the beaches there and people in other low lying areas headed for higher ground. Government scientists issued the warning quickly because of how close the earthquake was to the shore.
Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID APPLEGATE, USGS EARTHQUAKE ADVISER: You always want to have as much time as possible, certainly for a quake that was this close offshore. It's in that kind of a time frame in which you're going to be able to -- you're going to be able to act.
With the more distant sources, for example in the case of the Alaska quake, there would be a potential for several hours of warning once the buoys that NOAH has placed in the Pacific Ocean picked up the -- picked up evidence of a tsunami in progress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Also, when that warning sirens were sounded in Crescent City, California, many thoughts have gone back 41 years, 1964. a 21- foot highway wiped out 29 city blocks in that town. Eleven people were killed. Ninety-one homes were damaged or destroyed.
So that takes us to the obvious question now. Why didn't this quake cause a tsunami?
Chad is watching that at the CNN Center.
Explain her now -- good morning, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A totally different type of earthquake, Bill. And a totally different type of earthquake than they had out there in Malaysia, as well, and over there in Indonesia.
Ninety-one miles from Crescent City. The type of quake we had yesterday, think of this, is when we had two plates. And it's called a slip slide. They actually slide against each other. And the type of quake that we had that made the awful tsunami out there in Indonesia was a subduction type slide where the ground went up as one plate went under another. And so you had that lift of the land, that lift of the water, that entire water column went up and then obviously out all the way from India through Phuket and all the way from about Thailand all the way across the Pacific Ocean. And there was even about a six to seven inch wave felt in Mexico from that one.
From this one, slip slide, not causing the tsunami. Good news, I guess -- back to you.
HEMMER: All right, Chad.
Thanks for that.
We'll check back in again, 20 minutes away. Here's Soledad across the room.
O'BRIEN: All right, Bill.
Thanks.
Well, Disney's Mission: SPACE ride at Epcot is open once again, this after the death of a 4-year-old boy who passed out during the ride on Monday. Mission: SPACE simulates the feeling of a rocket launch. The ride has a 44-inch height requirement, which the boy fulfilled, but it has no age restrictions.
Disney reopened the ride after in-house inspectors found no mechanical problems.
Randy King is an expert on the subject of theme park safety.
He joins us from Houston this morning.
It's nice to see you, Randy.
Thanks for talking with us.
RANDY KING, THEME PARK SAFETY EXPERT: You're welcome.
Thanks for having me.
O'BRIEN: In-house inspectors, as we just mentioned, concluded there is no problems.
Do you think that's good enough or do you think that outside inspectors should be able to walk through and really determine if there's a problem with this ride or not?
KING: Well, certainly their in-house inspectors have the expertise to determine if the ride is operating as it was designed to operate. But it would certainly -- it wouldn't hurt to have a third party inspector from the outside come in to take a look at the ride and also give the management team there at Disney some comfort in that they are partnering with other people to help them out.
O'BRIEN: The ride is now open. The little boy who died was apparently in perfectly good health, according to, as far as we know, all reports.
Do you think that this ride should be shut down until the question can be answered what happened here?
KING: Well, I don't know. Without actually looking at the ride myself, I couldn't tell you should it be shut down. My understanding of the ride itself is that the riders experience about 2Gs and the forces and the nature of the ride being centrifugal, the motion going around and around, is that those 2Gs going front to back in your body isn't really that big a deal.
Now, you know, without ever being on the ride, it's hard to say, you know, what they should be actually looking for before they open it back up.
O'BRIEN: There are height regulations on this ride, as we mentioned. Forty-four inches, I think, is what it is. The boy was 46 inches. So he met the height regulations. No age restrictions, though.
Do you think there should be? I mean is four years old just too old -- too little to be on this ride?
KING: Well, the height restriction isn't age specific. The height restriction is really specific to how the restraints on the ride fit the body. And as long as the restraints on the ride fit the body, then you should be safe to ride the ride.
I'm not a psychologist or -- a child psychologist, for that matter, so I don't really know if, you know, what -- how a 4-year-old would experience the ride versus, say, a 7-year-old. I just don't know.
O'BRIEN: Well, certainly Disney has pointed out that millions of people have been on this ride and been perfectly fine. But I guess the question everybody has is OK, what caused an apparently healthy 4- year-old boy to die.
Do you have any guesses or speculation about some of the issues that could be at work here?
KING: Well, it's hard to speculate. And I want to say, too, that I feel badly for the family and certainly condolences to them. But I also feel badly for Disney and Disney's management team.
But to speculate about what the cause of death is really is just that, speculation. What I would say about that is that people bring their -- who they are with them to the theme park. Whether this child had some pre-existing condition or something happened to him there, we just don't know. I understand the autopsy was performed and there was no apparent trauma.
O'BRIEN: Trauma is what they pointed out, no apparent trauma from the G forces.
KING: Right.
O'BRIEN: So, apparently there's going to be more investigation and they'll have some more information in a couple of weeks.
You've got some tips for parents and I want to run through them, because I think there's never a harm in overstating it.
You say first, parents should always try any kind of ride first. Obvious, I think, right there.
What should parents be looking for, though?
KING: Well, what I say is if a parent has concern about a child being on a ride, certainly they should try the thing first and then determine if it's something they want their child to go on. But their own experience on the ride, how they felt about it, what the thrill level was, how scary the ride was for them -- and they can get a better sense of what their child is going to experience when they get on the ride.
They can also watch the riders coming off of the ride. What are the riders' reactions? They could even talk to the riders that are on the ride.
O'BRIEN: Do a little research first.
KING: Right.
O'BRIEN: You also say pay close attention to those warning signs. There are big warning signs in front of this ride. We well know that. Also, and finally, you say don't let kids ride with food in their mouths, or, I guess that applies to gum, also.
Have you seen lots of cases where children choke?
KING: Well, those -- it has happened and the nature of the rides being thrilling, taking deep breaths or the forces on the ride may cause something in the mouth to get lodged in the throat. And we know that as far as children go, that's generally the number one cause of them going into cardiac arrest is that they can't breathe. So that would be the first place I would look.
But I just don't know that that was the situation here.
O'BRIEN: Well, the folks at Disney say they are very saddened by this boy's death and that safety remains their top priority.
Much more investigation going on, of course, in this case.
Randy King, the expert on theme park safety.
Thanks a lot for being with us.
We appreciate the advice.
KING: You bet.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: Eleven minutes past the hour.
We want to get to Aruba now.
Authorities there are conducting a new search for leads in the case of Natalee Holloway. A beachfront area near the Marriott Hotel, about 10 blocks away from the Holiday Inn, where she was staying, that area near the Marriott was examined Tuesday for new leads. Federal officials, also from the U.S., participating in that search.
Officials say the three remaining suspects, seen here in a photo from a newspaper in Aruba, are giving police contradictory statements. Security guard Mickey John, a former suspect in the case, talked with Paula Zahn last night about one of the suspects telling him, Mickey John, about what happened the night Holloway disappeared.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CNN'S "PAULA ZAHN NOW")
MICKEY JOHN, FORMER SUSPECT: He told me that he and his brother and the Dutch guy, they drove from Carlos & Charlie's and they went straight to the lighthouse with the girl. Deepak was driving. His brother was sitting next to him in the front. Natalee was sitting in the back seat behind Deepak and the Dutch guy was sitting in the back seat behind his brother.
And they went to the lighthouse. He didn't tell me what they'd done at the lighthouse, but he said on the way back, they dropped the Dutch girl -- the Dutch boy and Natalee close to the Marriott Hotel.
PAULA ZAHN, HOST: Did he describe to you what state either one of them were in?
JOHN: He said the Dutch girl -- Natalee was very, very drunk, highly intoxicated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: That was Mickey John from last night.
We're going to talk to Mickey John next hour, too, here on AMERICAN MORNING -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Coming up, a 9/11 widow who tried to spend her way through her grief. Five million dollars later, she's here to explain the pain and the addiction, too.
HEMMER: Also, is the CIA ignoring critical information on the location of Osama bin Laden? There is at least one congressman telling us today why he thinks that is the case. We'll get to that.
O'BRIEN: And 16 Americans say they were detained in Iraq and treated like insurgents. Their claims are ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Kathy Trant spiraled into a deep depression when she lost her husband Dan back on September 11. Her weight fluctuated. She took anti-depressants and she spent money, and lots of money, too. In fact, this mother of three shopped her way through nearly $5 million of compensation she received from the fund that was given out to the victims' families.
Kathy Trant is my victim now -- my guest here now, rather, in New York.
Kathy, thanks for coming in today. This is a really tough time for you, isn't it, just talking in the commercial with you?
KATHY TRANT, 9/11 WIDOW: It's very difficult. You know, I put my heart out there with what was going on to the "Post" and they totally exploited me and my family. I hope they can forgive me, but the main reason I wanted to talk about my addiction is because many people don't talk about shopping, you know, shopping addictions. Our president said Laura and I want America to shop. He didn't say we want America to go out and drink.
You know, I had to ask my dying father-in-law to give a DNA sample, a swab in his mouth. And then they just dumped my husband's body in a landfill in Staten Island. I have no rights left because I signed for the money. I have no rights to ground zero. I think my kids should be able to have a place at ground zero that tells the world who Daniel Patrick Trant was and what he was all about. He was one of the finest human beings I have ever met in my life.
HEMMER: Well, I can certainly understand that.
You talked about your addiction. And the reason we're talking today is to, well, to draw out your story more and perhaps to let other people know about what you've gone through in case they suffer from a similar, a similar condition.
But of the $5 million that was handed out to you, you spent $1.5 million in home renovations; $350,000 on, what, a pool, a hot tub, a new basketball court; $500,000 on shoes. You gave a gift to a housekeeper, about $15,000 worth. You took six friends to a Super Bowl for $70,000; the Bahamas for $30,000 with 20 friends there.
That's an awful lot of money.
You were spending this money for a reason, though.
What was it that you were trying to flush out of your life?
TRANT: Because every time I tried, I ran into a brick wall. I just wanted to get rid of the money because I had signed my husband's life away.
Now my hero is this man called Bill Doyle, who people don't really know about. He sends everyone e-mails, what's going on with 9/11 victims. And he sent me a thing about addictions. And my addiction got so bad, to the point where I was getting ill and for seven months after September 11, I went from a size zero to four, six, eight, 10, 12; down again, up again. It's just been a whirlwind.
HEMMER: You know, Kathy, when you were spending money, what sort of a feeling did you get out of it? Did it make you feel better, at least temporarily?
TRANT: Yes. For the moment I was like oh, maybe I'll look pretty and, you know, I'll find another Danny. Or, you know, maybe -- I always bought two of the same thing so I could give something away to someone, because I didn't know how to thank -- how do you thank people for holding you up when you're dying? How do you thank...
HEMMER: I would imagine, also, Kathy, too, you were trying to make your kids feel good, right?
TRANT: Um-hmm.
HEMMER: The new basketball court, the pool. Hey, let's go and have a great time in the backyard.
TRANT: I didn't -- and to see other children that their parents gave so much to me made me feel wonderful, you know, to see them out in the backyard playing with my children. And I also have a -- I'm the legal guardian to another child. So I actually have four, 14, 15 and 16.
HEMMER: Yes, you have an awful lot of responsibility.
Of the $5 million, how much do you have left?
TRANT: I have half a million. And that's an exploited number, also, I have to say, because my children's money is put away. My daughter I'm not going to speak for, because I already exploited her in the "Post" and I'm not going to say what she went through.
HEMMER: You're mentioning the "Post." For those outside of New York, you're talking about the...
TRANT: I'm sorry.
HEMMER: It's OK. No problem.
TRANT: All right.
HEMMER: I just want to get a clarification.
TRANT: Well, it was very, very difficult to see the -- I let myself be out there again and I was -- the wolves came at me.
HEMMER: I think for those who are watching this, though, it's very important for them to learn about the help you received.
TRANT: I haven't had any help.
HEMMER: Well, as you go through your life, you're going to need a certain amount of help. I mean, Kathy Trant, a woman who is responsible for young adults who are growing older by the day, how are you going to get the help that you need, Kathy?
TRANT: Well, when the money's gone I'll go to work and they'll be in college by then. They get straight As in school. My, the son I'm a legal guardian for is now getting Bs in school. So I don't want the money. I hate it.
HEMMER: Two other questions, though.
Had you felt an addiction to shopping before this came into your life?
TRANT: No. Not at all. I was the happiest woman in the world. I had the best life ever. I never wanted a thing, except for my husband and my kids.
HEMMER: What about emotional help? Do you think you still need a little bit of that?
TRANT: Oh, I need a lot. And I'm sure there's a lot of people -- I'm not going to speak for anyone -- but, you know, our debt in our country is really bad. Those -- my daughter gets credit card applications every day in the mail. And it's a real serious problem and no one talks about it. There's no help. I called five therapists and no one could help me because no one specializes in this. And it's one of the horrible, I think it's worse, it's the worst addiction. I feel shame, guilt. I get physically ill because I feel like everyone gave to me. For what? For material things? No. I don't know what, you know, I'm supposed to do with it.
HEMMER: Well, if it helps to talk about it...
TRANT: It does.
HEMMER: I hope we'll help you out today, OK, Kathy?
TRANT: Thank you, Bill, so much for everything.
HEMMER: Sure thing.
Kathy Trant, my best to you and your kids, all right?
TRANT: Thank you.
HEMMER: OK -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning on AMERICAN MORNING, a mix-up in Iraq between U.S. Marines. And more than a dozen American contractors now banned from that country. Is it a case of mistaken identity? A look at that is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Sixteen American contractors say they were abused by Marines in Iraq. Marines detained the men last month and later banned them from Iraq. The contractors are accused of recklessly firing their weapons.
And with that story, he's Jamie McIntyre.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This video, shot by a civilian contractor May 28th, documents part of a dusty, dangerous convoy ride through Falluja; a routine mission that ended with 16 Americans arrested, and treated, they claim, like Iraq insurgents.
ROBERT SHAVER, CONTRACTOR: They had us strip down to our underwear and basically we had to sit in the dirt just with our underwear on and our hands behind our backs with our heads down. We were given a Koran, a prayer rug, a blue mat to lay on the concrete floor to sleep on.
MCINTYRE: The 16 Americans and three Iraqis were working for Zapata Engineering, out of North Carolina, helping to dispose of stockpiles of old munitions, when U.S. marines stopped their convoy and took them into custody.
SHAVER: Basically, we were kept for three days -- three-and-a- half days, in a six-by-eight cell in solitary confinement.
MCINTYRE: Shaver is a former Marine. So is his co-worker, Matt Raiche.
MATT RAICHE, CONTRACTOR: I didn't know what was going on. I had no clue. We asked them every day, every time someone came in, hey, what's going on? What are we in here for? Nothing.
MCINTYRE: All 16 contractors were released May 31st and kicked out of Iraq. A letter issued by a Marine general barring their return accused the convoy of speeding through the city and firing shots indiscriminately, actions, it said, that endangered the lives of innocent Iraqis and U.S. service members.
The contractors insist they followed standard procedure to ward off a suspected suicide car bomber, firing warning shots into the ground. And, they argue, if the Marines had checked their video, it would back up their version of events. But they say they never got to tell their side of the story.
MCINTYRE (on camera): A U.S. military spokesman reached by CNN in Falluja disputed the contractors' account, saying U.S. Marines witnessed the contractors firing at and around civilian vehicles, and that some of the bullets even hit a Marine checkpoint. The contractors say the Marines must be mixing them up with somebody else.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
O'BRIEN: One of the contractors, Richard Blanchard, of Shelbyville, Tennessee, says he's going to appeal that ban -- Bill.
HEMMER: In a moment here, she gave birth. Why did he put on the pounds? A good question for Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Our special series, Just For Dad, continues in a moment, and so do we, after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Get the latest news every morning in your e-mail. Sign up for AMERICAN MORNING "Quick News" at cnn.com/am. Still to come this morning, one law maker says he tried to warn the CIA about a potential terror attack, but nobody would listen. We'll ask him why ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Good morning, everybody.
8:30 here in New York.
Good to have you along with us today.
Coming up here in a moment, a terror warning from a U.S. congressman he says no one is taking seriously.
O'BRIEN: And, in fact, we're going to talk to Congressman Kurt Weldon about what he's been told about Osama bin Laden and Iran. That's just ahead this morning.
HEMMER: First, back to the headlines and back to Carol Costello with those -- hey, Carol.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 15, 2005 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
There was a Michael Jackson quake off the California coast, sparking a tsunami alert from Canada through Mexico. Did the warning system work? We are live on that story this hour.
Also, more frustration in Aruba. A search in an area known as lover's lane turns up no clues in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
And death at Disney -- a small boy dies on a popular ride at Epcot, raising some safety questions there, also ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Welcome back, everybody.
Also ahead this morning, a story about 9/11 and then what happened afterward. We're going to talk this morning to a woman whose husband died at the World Trade Center.
HEMMER: She received $5 million. Almost all of it is now gone. She talks about the money and where she spent it. She talks about the grief and a compulsion that grew out of both. So we'll get her story in a moment here.
O'BRIEN: That's right. It's really a sad story on a lot of levels...
HEMMER: Oh, yes it is.
O'BRIEN: ... I think it's fair to say.
That's ahead this morning.
First, let's get a look at the headlines with Carol Costello -- good morning again, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Good morning, everyone.
A deadly blast on an Iraqi military base. Police say a suicide bomber targeted a popular restaurant at lunchtime. At least 23 Iraqi soldiers were killed in the blast, dozens more injured. The base is just northwest of Baqubah.
An Australian man taken hostage in Iraq six weeks ago is a free man this morning. Australia's prime minister says Douglas Wood was recovered in a military operation conducted by Iraqi and U.S. forces. He is reportedly doing OK. Wood, who lives in California, was working as a civilian contractor in Iraq.
New word that Taliban leader Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden are both alive and well. A senior Taliban military commander tells a Pakistan TV station that he's still getting instructions from Omar and bin Laden is "absolutely fine." The commander would not say where they are and it's not been verified if he, indeed, has access to this kind of information.
President Bush speaking in Washington this morning. He's expected to renew calls for Congress to act on an energy plan. The president says the U.S. needs a strategy to become less dependent on foreign oil. The House passed an energy bill earlier this year. The Senate began deliberate on its own energy plan this week.
And New York Yankees fans get to get a first look at their team's future today. The Yanks are unveiling plans for a new $800 million ballpark this afternoon. The stadium will be built right next door to the current stadium, major league baseball's third oldest park. Construction is expected to begin next year and should be ready by the 2009 season. And everybody is wondering if the old stadium will be completely torn down.
HEMMER: Blasphemy.
COSTELLO: I know. I can't even...
HEMMER: As every Yankee fan would tell u.
COSTELLO: I know. I can't even imagine that happening. But apparently the new park will be built with some of the same flourishes as the old. But we'll know more later this afternoon.
HEMMER: It won't have the history.
COSTELLO: No, it won't.
HEMMER: Thank you, Carol.
We want to get back to the tsunami danger.
It is over for the people on the West Coast. A magnitude 7.0 quake striking off the northern California coast late last night. The epicenter only about 90 miles from Crescent City, California.
A tsunami warning went out along the coast from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, down to the Mexican border. It was called off about an hour later. It's believed to be the first large scale tsunami warning in California in nearly 20 years. Police hurrying people off the beaches there and people in other low lying areas headed for higher ground. Government scientists issued the warning quickly because of how close the earthquake was to the shore.
Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID APPLEGATE, USGS EARTHQUAKE ADVISER: You always want to have as much time as possible, certainly for a quake that was this close offshore. It's in that kind of a time frame in which you're going to be able to -- you're going to be able to act.
With the more distant sources, for example in the case of the Alaska quake, there would be a potential for several hours of warning once the buoys that NOAH has placed in the Pacific Ocean picked up the -- picked up evidence of a tsunami in progress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Also, when that warning sirens were sounded in Crescent City, California, many thoughts have gone back 41 years, 1964. a 21- foot highway wiped out 29 city blocks in that town. Eleven people were killed. Ninety-one homes were damaged or destroyed.
So that takes us to the obvious question now. Why didn't this quake cause a tsunami?
Chad is watching that at the CNN Center.
Explain her now -- good morning, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A totally different type of earthquake, Bill. And a totally different type of earthquake than they had out there in Malaysia, as well, and over there in Indonesia.
Ninety-one miles from Crescent City. The type of quake we had yesterday, think of this, is when we had two plates. And it's called a slip slide. They actually slide against each other. And the type of quake that we had that made the awful tsunami out there in Indonesia was a subduction type slide where the ground went up as one plate went under another. And so you had that lift of the land, that lift of the water, that entire water column went up and then obviously out all the way from India through Phuket and all the way from about Thailand all the way across the Pacific Ocean. And there was even about a six to seven inch wave felt in Mexico from that one.
From this one, slip slide, not causing the tsunami. Good news, I guess -- back to you.
HEMMER: All right, Chad.
Thanks for that.
We'll check back in again, 20 minutes away. Here's Soledad across the room.
O'BRIEN: All right, Bill.
Thanks.
Well, Disney's Mission: SPACE ride at Epcot is open once again, this after the death of a 4-year-old boy who passed out during the ride on Monday. Mission: SPACE simulates the feeling of a rocket launch. The ride has a 44-inch height requirement, which the boy fulfilled, but it has no age restrictions.
Disney reopened the ride after in-house inspectors found no mechanical problems.
Randy King is an expert on the subject of theme park safety.
He joins us from Houston this morning.
It's nice to see you, Randy.
Thanks for talking with us.
RANDY KING, THEME PARK SAFETY EXPERT: You're welcome.
Thanks for having me.
O'BRIEN: In-house inspectors, as we just mentioned, concluded there is no problems.
Do you think that's good enough or do you think that outside inspectors should be able to walk through and really determine if there's a problem with this ride or not?
KING: Well, certainly their in-house inspectors have the expertise to determine if the ride is operating as it was designed to operate. But it would certainly -- it wouldn't hurt to have a third party inspector from the outside come in to take a look at the ride and also give the management team there at Disney some comfort in that they are partnering with other people to help them out.
O'BRIEN: The ride is now open. The little boy who died was apparently in perfectly good health, according to, as far as we know, all reports.
Do you think that this ride should be shut down until the question can be answered what happened here?
KING: Well, I don't know. Without actually looking at the ride myself, I couldn't tell you should it be shut down. My understanding of the ride itself is that the riders experience about 2Gs and the forces and the nature of the ride being centrifugal, the motion going around and around, is that those 2Gs going front to back in your body isn't really that big a deal.
Now, you know, without ever being on the ride, it's hard to say, you know, what they should be actually looking for before they open it back up.
O'BRIEN: There are height regulations on this ride, as we mentioned. Forty-four inches, I think, is what it is. The boy was 46 inches. So he met the height regulations. No age restrictions, though.
Do you think there should be? I mean is four years old just too old -- too little to be on this ride?
KING: Well, the height restriction isn't age specific. The height restriction is really specific to how the restraints on the ride fit the body. And as long as the restraints on the ride fit the body, then you should be safe to ride the ride.
I'm not a psychologist or -- a child psychologist, for that matter, so I don't really know if, you know, what -- how a 4-year-old would experience the ride versus, say, a 7-year-old. I just don't know.
O'BRIEN: Well, certainly Disney has pointed out that millions of people have been on this ride and been perfectly fine. But I guess the question everybody has is OK, what caused an apparently healthy 4- year-old boy to die.
Do you have any guesses or speculation about some of the issues that could be at work here?
KING: Well, it's hard to speculate. And I want to say, too, that I feel badly for the family and certainly condolences to them. But I also feel badly for Disney and Disney's management team.
But to speculate about what the cause of death is really is just that, speculation. What I would say about that is that people bring their -- who they are with them to the theme park. Whether this child had some pre-existing condition or something happened to him there, we just don't know. I understand the autopsy was performed and there was no apparent trauma.
O'BRIEN: Trauma is what they pointed out, no apparent trauma from the G forces.
KING: Right.
O'BRIEN: So, apparently there's going to be more investigation and they'll have some more information in a couple of weeks.
You've got some tips for parents and I want to run through them, because I think there's never a harm in overstating it.
You say first, parents should always try any kind of ride first. Obvious, I think, right there.
What should parents be looking for, though?
KING: Well, what I say is if a parent has concern about a child being on a ride, certainly they should try the thing first and then determine if it's something they want their child to go on. But their own experience on the ride, how they felt about it, what the thrill level was, how scary the ride was for them -- and they can get a better sense of what their child is going to experience when they get on the ride.
They can also watch the riders coming off of the ride. What are the riders' reactions? They could even talk to the riders that are on the ride.
O'BRIEN: Do a little research first.
KING: Right.
O'BRIEN: You also say pay close attention to those warning signs. There are big warning signs in front of this ride. We well know that. Also, and finally, you say don't let kids ride with food in their mouths, or, I guess that applies to gum, also.
Have you seen lots of cases where children choke?
KING: Well, those -- it has happened and the nature of the rides being thrilling, taking deep breaths or the forces on the ride may cause something in the mouth to get lodged in the throat. And we know that as far as children go, that's generally the number one cause of them going into cardiac arrest is that they can't breathe. So that would be the first place I would look.
But I just don't know that that was the situation here.
O'BRIEN: Well, the folks at Disney say they are very saddened by this boy's death and that safety remains their top priority.
Much more investigation going on, of course, in this case.
Randy King, the expert on theme park safety.
Thanks a lot for being with us.
We appreciate the advice.
KING: You bet.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: Eleven minutes past the hour.
We want to get to Aruba now.
Authorities there are conducting a new search for leads in the case of Natalee Holloway. A beachfront area near the Marriott Hotel, about 10 blocks away from the Holiday Inn, where she was staying, that area near the Marriott was examined Tuesday for new leads. Federal officials, also from the U.S., participating in that search.
Officials say the three remaining suspects, seen here in a photo from a newspaper in Aruba, are giving police contradictory statements. Security guard Mickey John, a former suspect in the case, talked with Paula Zahn last night about one of the suspects telling him, Mickey John, about what happened the night Holloway disappeared.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CNN'S "PAULA ZAHN NOW")
MICKEY JOHN, FORMER SUSPECT: He told me that he and his brother and the Dutch guy, they drove from Carlos & Charlie's and they went straight to the lighthouse with the girl. Deepak was driving. His brother was sitting next to him in the front. Natalee was sitting in the back seat behind Deepak and the Dutch guy was sitting in the back seat behind his brother.
And they went to the lighthouse. He didn't tell me what they'd done at the lighthouse, but he said on the way back, they dropped the Dutch girl -- the Dutch boy and Natalee close to the Marriott Hotel.
PAULA ZAHN, HOST: Did he describe to you what state either one of them were in?
JOHN: He said the Dutch girl -- Natalee was very, very drunk, highly intoxicated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: That was Mickey John from last night.
We're going to talk to Mickey John next hour, too, here on AMERICAN MORNING -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Coming up, a 9/11 widow who tried to spend her way through her grief. Five million dollars later, she's here to explain the pain and the addiction, too.
HEMMER: Also, is the CIA ignoring critical information on the location of Osama bin Laden? There is at least one congressman telling us today why he thinks that is the case. We'll get to that.
O'BRIEN: And 16 Americans say they were detained in Iraq and treated like insurgents. Their claims are ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Kathy Trant spiraled into a deep depression when she lost her husband Dan back on September 11. Her weight fluctuated. She took anti-depressants and she spent money, and lots of money, too. In fact, this mother of three shopped her way through nearly $5 million of compensation she received from the fund that was given out to the victims' families.
Kathy Trant is my victim now -- my guest here now, rather, in New York.
Kathy, thanks for coming in today. This is a really tough time for you, isn't it, just talking in the commercial with you?
KATHY TRANT, 9/11 WIDOW: It's very difficult. You know, I put my heart out there with what was going on to the "Post" and they totally exploited me and my family. I hope they can forgive me, but the main reason I wanted to talk about my addiction is because many people don't talk about shopping, you know, shopping addictions. Our president said Laura and I want America to shop. He didn't say we want America to go out and drink.
You know, I had to ask my dying father-in-law to give a DNA sample, a swab in his mouth. And then they just dumped my husband's body in a landfill in Staten Island. I have no rights left because I signed for the money. I have no rights to ground zero. I think my kids should be able to have a place at ground zero that tells the world who Daniel Patrick Trant was and what he was all about. He was one of the finest human beings I have ever met in my life.
HEMMER: Well, I can certainly understand that.
You talked about your addiction. And the reason we're talking today is to, well, to draw out your story more and perhaps to let other people know about what you've gone through in case they suffer from a similar, a similar condition.
But of the $5 million that was handed out to you, you spent $1.5 million in home renovations; $350,000 on, what, a pool, a hot tub, a new basketball court; $500,000 on shoes. You gave a gift to a housekeeper, about $15,000 worth. You took six friends to a Super Bowl for $70,000; the Bahamas for $30,000 with 20 friends there.
That's an awful lot of money.
You were spending this money for a reason, though.
What was it that you were trying to flush out of your life?
TRANT: Because every time I tried, I ran into a brick wall. I just wanted to get rid of the money because I had signed my husband's life away.
Now my hero is this man called Bill Doyle, who people don't really know about. He sends everyone e-mails, what's going on with 9/11 victims. And he sent me a thing about addictions. And my addiction got so bad, to the point where I was getting ill and for seven months after September 11, I went from a size zero to four, six, eight, 10, 12; down again, up again. It's just been a whirlwind.
HEMMER: You know, Kathy, when you were spending money, what sort of a feeling did you get out of it? Did it make you feel better, at least temporarily?
TRANT: Yes. For the moment I was like oh, maybe I'll look pretty and, you know, I'll find another Danny. Or, you know, maybe -- I always bought two of the same thing so I could give something away to someone, because I didn't know how to thank -- how do you thank people for holding you up when you're dying? How do you thank...
HEMMER: I would imagine, also, Kathy, too, you were trying to make your kids feel good, right?
TRANT: Um-hmm.
HEMMER: The new basketball court, the pool. Hey, let's go and have a great time in the backyard.
TRANT: I didn't -- and to see other children that their parents gave so much to me made me feel wonderful, you know, to see them out in the backyard playing with my children. And I also have a -- I'm the legal guardian to another child. So I actually have four, 14, 15 and 16.
HEMMER: Yes, you have an awful lot of responsibility.
Of the $5 million, how much do you have left?
TRANT: I have half a million. And that's an exploited number, also, I have to say, because my children's money is put away. My daughter I'm not going to speak for, because I already exploited her in the "Post" and I'm not going to say what she went through.
HEMMER: You're mentioning the "Post." For those outside of New York, you're talking about the...
TRANT: I'm sorry.
HEMMER: It's OK. No problem.
TRANT: All right.
HEMMER: I just want to get a clarification.
TRANT: Well, it was very, very difficult to see the -- I let myself be out there again and I was -- the wolves came at me.
HEMMER: I think for those who are watching this, though, it's very important for them to learn about the help you received.
TRANT: I haven't had any help.
HEMMER: Well, as you go through your life, you're going to need a certain amount of help. I mean, Kathy Trant, a woman who is responsible for young adults who are growing older by the day, how are you going to get the help that you need, Kathy?
TRANT: Well, when the money's gone I'll go to work and they'll be in college by then. They get straight As in school. My, the son I'm a legal guardian for is now getting Bs in school. So I don't want the money. I hate it.
HEMMER: Two other questions, though.
Had you felt an addiction to shopping before this came into your life?
TRANT: No. Not at all. I was the happiest woman in the world. I had the best life ever. I never wanted a thing, except for my husband and my kids.
HEMMER: What about emotional help? Do you think you still need a little bit of that?
TRANT: Oh, I need a lot. And I'm sure there's a lot of people -- I'm not going to speak for anyone -- but, you know, our debt in our country is really bad. Those -- my daughter gets credit card applications every day in the mail. And it's a real serious problem and no one talks about it. There's no help. I called five therapists and no one could help me because no one specializes in this. And it's one of the horrible, I think it's worse, it's the worst addiction. I feel shame, guilt. I get physically ill because I feel like everyone gave to me. For what? For material things? No. I don't know what, you know, I'm supposed to do with it.
HEMMER: Well, if it helps to talk about it...
TRANT: It does.
HEMMER: I hope we'll help you out today, OK, Kathy?
TRANT: Thank you, Bill, so much for everything.
HEMMER: Sure thing.
Kathy Trant, my best to you and your kids, all right?
TRANT: Thank you.
HEMMER: OK -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning on AMERICAN MORNING, a mix-up in Iraq between U.S. Marines. And more than a dozen American contractors now banned from that country. Is it a case of mistaken identity? A look at that is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Sixteen American contractors say they were abused by Marines in Iraq. Marines detained the men last month and later banned them from Iraq. The contractors are accused of recklessly firing their weapons.
And with that story, he's Jamie McIntyre.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This video, shot by a civilian contractor May 28th, documents part of a dusty, dangerous convoy ride through Falluja; a routine mission that ended with 16 Americans arrested, and treated, they claim, like Iraq insurgents.
ROBERT SHAVER, CONTRACTOR: They had us strip down to our underwear and basically we had to sit in the dirt just with our underwear on and our hands behind our backs with our heads down. We were given a Koran, a prayer rug, a blue mat to lay on the concrete floor to sleep on.
MCINTYRE: The 16 Americans and three Iraqis were working for Zapata Engineering, out of North Carolina, helping to dispose of stockpiles of old munitions, when U.S. marines stopped their convoy and took them into custody.
SHAVER: Basically, we were kept for three days -- three-and-a- half days, in a six-by-eight cell in solitary confinement.
MCINTYRE: Shaver is a former Marine. So is his co-worker, Matt Raiche.
MATT RAICHE, CONTRACTOR: I didn't know what was going on. I had no clue. We asked them every day, every time someone came in, hey, what's going on? What are we in here for? Nothing.
MCINTYRE: All 16 contractors were released May 31st and kicked out of Iraq. A letter issued by a Marine general barring their return accused the convoy of speeding through the city and firing shots indiscriminately, actions, it said, that endangered the lives of innocent Iraqis and U.S. service members.
The contractors insist they followed standard procedure to ward off a suspected suicide car bomber, firing warning shots into the ground. And, they argue, if the Marines had checked their video, it would back up their version of events. But they say they never got to tell their side of the story.
MCINTYRE (on camera): A U.S. military spokesman reached by CNN in Falluja disputed the contractors' account, saying U.S. Marines witnessed the contractors firing at and around civilian vehicles, and that some of the bullets even hit a Marine checkpoint. The contractors say the Marines must be mixing them up with somebody else.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
O'BRIEN: One of the contractors, Richard Blanchard, of Shelbyville, Tennessee, says he's going to appeal that ban -- Bill.
HEMMER: In a moment here, she gave birth. Why did he put on the pounds? A good question for Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Our special series, Just For Dad, continues in a moment, and so do we, after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Get the latest news every morning in your e-mail. Sign up for AMERICAN MORNING "Quick News" at cnn.com/am. Still to come this morning, one law maker says he tried to warn the CIA about a potential terror attack, but nobody would listen. We'll ask him why ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Good morning, everybody.
8:30 here in New York.
Good to have you along with us today.
Coming up here in a moment, a terror warning from a U.S. congressman he says no one is taking seriously.
O'BRIEN: And, in fact, we're going to talk to Congressman Kurt Weldon about what he's been told about Osama bin Laden and Iran. That's just ahead this morning.
HEMMER: First, back to the headlines and back to Carol Costello with those -- hey, Carol.
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