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American Morning

Update on Hurricane Katrina; Bush Weighs in on Iraq Constitution; Teen Pregnancy

Aired August 26, 2005 - 09:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: New pictures coming to us from south Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. After a foot and a half of rain in some places, now serious flooding to show you this morning.
And forecasters say watch this storm. Katrina is gaining strength. She could be a major hurricane in just a matter of days, and hit Florida all over again. We're live with much more.

There's a deadlock in Iraq over the country's constitution. Now President Bush weighs in with a direct call to a key negotiator. We're live in Baghdad.

And Lance Armstrong taking the offensive against the new doping charges against him. He says they're preposterous. We have his side of the story on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.

O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. Lots to talk about this morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, there is. I'm Carol Costello, in for Miles. Good morning.

O'BRIEN: In fact, we begin again in south Florida. CNN, of course, is your hurricane headquarters, and we've been tracking Katrina for many days, and we continue to because it is not over.

Residents all across south Florida cleaning up the damage left behind by the Category 1 hurricane. At least four people were killed. Trees and power lines are down, phone services just a mess today. And at least a million customers are without electricity.

Jason Carroll is in Miami for us this morning. Susan Candiotti is in Hollywood Beach. Chad Myers is watching where Katrina's going from the CNN Center.

Chad, let's begin with you. What does she look like?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The very, very latest, they come out every two hours now. The hurricane center updating these things now every two hours, rather than every six hours like they do when it's out in the middle of the Atlantic. Katrina getting better organized, according to the hurricane center, although still 75 miles per hour.

Tropical storm warnings still in effect all the way across the west coast and up the east coast to Deerfield Beach, and all the way down even into Key Colony Beach, Marathon and Key West. Did have a wind gust at Marathon of 50, and at the naval air station in Key West of about 46.

So the storm still has a lot of strength. And it's far away from land now, almost 65 miles away from land. So we're going to have to keep watching where it's going. It's going to be a big storm. In fact, it will be a major hurricane for the weekend.

Back to you.

O'BRIEN: Chad, let's turn to Governor Jeb Bush. He is, of course, updating and filling reporters in on the status in the wake of this storm. Let's listen in a little bit to what he's saying.

Let's listen in to what he's saying.

GOV. JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: Unless local officials have determined it's safe to do so. There's been lots of flooding, lots of power lines down. This is not the time unless you've been told it's safe to come back to your home to do so.

Miami-Dade County and south Florida in general received overall about a foot of rain during the -- during the storm. And tropical- force winds and rains continue in the Florida Keys.

We've asked for a federal disaster declaration for Miami-Dade and Broward counties, and making assessments in the other areas. And we'll add counties to our declaration when it's appropriate to do so. We also expect a very quick response, as we've received in the past, from FEMA and from the White House.

The -- we're at least three days away from another landfall, which means that the families in the panhandle area once again should take precautions to prepare for the possibility of a storm coming. You have two days to calmly go about your business of making sure that you have the necessary supplies for your home, that your home has been secured, and we would urge you to do so.

The residents in south Florida, we ask that you use common sense. Most deaths, as you know, occur after a hurricane.

O'BRIEN: You're listening to Governor Jeb Bush, the Florida governor. He's talking a little bit about what it looks like today in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which came on land as a Category 1 storm.

He is talking about the request for a federal disaster declaration for two counties, Miami-Dade County, and also Broward County. And he also said he expects to get that fairly quickly, or get a resolution to that question fairly quickly. And he also has a warning, as we -- really reiterating what Chad just told us as well, which is you've got two days to get ready for the next hit. It looks like it's going to hit Florida again somewhere. People now have the opportunity -- without rushing around, but take the next two days to get some kind of preparations under way for this next storm.

You're looking at live pictures in Broward County of the flooding. It's clearly a problem, because those are not rivers. Those are people's streets, and they are now standing out in obviously hip-high water.

This guy looks like he's in need of some serious help as he's waving a white, you know, flag, essentially. They are trying to signal that they might need some kind of assistance. And I think this is actually Dade County, Florida, that we're looking at. And our signal is getting a little shaky there.

But flooding a massive problem today. There are over a million people who have no power. And when you see flooding like this, as Chad would be the first to tell us, it brings up all other sort of complications with the sewage systems, and transit's going to be a mess.

It's just going to be a very difficult situation there. And again, they're expecting the storm to hit somewhere potentially in Florida in the next two days or so.

Well, let's talk about Katrina's damage in other places. We've got Jason Carroll on a highway overpass essentially taken out by Katrina.

Jason, you know, considering that this is a Category 1 storm, when we see the flooding damage that we're looking at, and you see the damage behind you, it's kind of surprising.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very surprising. It's hard to believe that a Category 1 could do so much. In fact, you know, in talking to some people, I think it took them sort of by surprise. But in terms of what happened here, hard to believe wind could do so much damage.

But if you take a look, you can see what the damage was. According to the fire department, late last night here, this is a result of a strong wind gust that came through here, knocked out one of the beams supporting an overpass here, causing the overpass, which was under construction, to collapse. This overpass covers the 836, commonly known as the Dolphin Expressway.

Soledad, this is the main expressway that runs east-west through Dade County. It was last night, about 9:00 p.m., when that gust came through here and blew out the supporting beam. And what they theorize is that that one beam, then, created a domino effect, knocking out the other beams and causing the collapse.

And, you know, the crews are out here trying to work around the clock to get it all cleared out. No idea when they're going to be able to reopen that.

But as you said, it wasn't just wind. We saw some of the video. It was also rain that caused some problems in south Florida as well.

We heard reports anywhere as much as 15 inches fell in Dade County in some parts. The flooding still a problem even this morning. Water has not subsided as of yet. Some folks walking around out there in knee length and knee height and waist-height water in some parts on the streets and on the roadways.

Government offices and schools are closed today. That hopefully will alleviate some of the traffic.

You heard the governor say even just a little earlier they're encouraging people to stay indoors, if they can, even if they don't have power, even if it gets really hot out here, which it surely will. But to stay indoors, stay off the roadways.

There are still fallen trees that are out here, still downed power lines. Encouraging as many people to stay off the roadways so emergency crews can get their work done -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Jason Carroll for us with an update.

Jason, the governor really also pointing out that the majority of injuries, at least in Florida, in a hurricane, occur at this stage, in the aftermath. That's when people are out checking on the damage and seeing what happened that they actually get injured and killed off.

And that brings us right to Susan Candiotti. She's in Hollywood Beach this morning.

Susan, you have seen that, actually, where you are. People -- the bulk of the deaths have been people who were out and about.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's true. And despite those warnings, people -- look at all the people who are out here walking about on Hollywood Beach because they want to see what's going on.

But yes, we had four storm-related fatalities here. All of them hit by falling trees. Each circumstance tragic in and of itself.

For example, someone going out to inspect damage during the storm, struck by a tree. Driving in their car, hit by a tree. So these kinds of examples, despite the warnings, still seem to happen, sadly, each time you hear about these storms.

We can tell you progress is being made in terms of power outages. We hear from Florida power and line -- I spoke with them a little while ago -- that at least 100,000 customers now have power restored to their homes. However, they said we have a tremendous amount of trees down, in the words of the spokesman, a lot of power lines down.

It's going to take them at least through today to estimate how long it's going to take for everyone to get their power restored to them -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: It is truly a mess. And we can certainly see that, Susan, not only in some of those pictures you're showing from overnight, but the live pictures that we're looking at from the obvious flooding that is happening in southern Florida as a result of Hurricane Katrina that blew through the area.

A Category 1 storm. Again, many people didn't heed the warnings and didn't even want to board up their homes.

COSTELLO: They're driving in this. You hear all the warnings, don't drive through standing water that deep. But there you see people are just driving through the water.

O'BRIEN: And you know the next phase will be the fire department called out to rescue a number of those people...

COSTELLO: Exactly.

O'BRIEN: ... whose vehicles cannot possibly make it all of the way through, and who then need to be plucked out of the water. So I think we're going to -- we're already seeing what tomorrow's story is going to be, which is these rescues.

COSTELLO: And, you know, earlier we saw people walking through the water. That's dangerous, too, because you don't know what's under there.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: There could be all sorts of debris.

O'BRIEN: And the power lines is a huge issue.

COSTELLO: Right.

O'BRIEN: So, you know, stay indoors is kind of good advice that should be heeded.

Of course CNN is your hurricane headquarters. You'll want to stay with us throughout the day not only to see some of the damage from Katrina, but also where she's going next.

Other stories making news this morning. Kelly Wallace has those.

Hey, Kelly. Good morning again.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning again.

Hello, everyone.

These other stories "Now in the News."

It's being called one of the deadliest fires in Paris in recent years. French officials say a seven-story apartment building turned into an inferno overnight, killing at least 17 people. Several children are said to be among the victims. Investigators are now trying to figure out what caused that fire. There is word today that former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants his job back. An Israeli lawmaker says Netanyahu is expected to announce next month that he will challenge current Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in primary elections. Netanyahu resigned as finance minister earlier this month to protest Sharon's plans to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the West Bank.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says the state has enough power to last the summer. Those assurances coming after some half-million people in southern California were left in the dark Thursday. And it was a hot one in southern California Thursday.

The rolling blackouts lasted for about a half-hour. A failed transmission line is being blamed.

And when you're a smoker, it's tough to get that monkey off your back. Well, the reason we tell you that, meet Love-Love, a 26-year- old chimpanzee from northwest China -- yes, that's right -- who has apparently been smoking for more than half her life.

Handlers are trying to feed her milk to help her kick the habit. Love-Love apparently increased her habit to eight cigarettes a day after the death of her cage mate. And get this, the chimp started smoking by picking up cigarette butts from tourists.

COSTELLO: OK. OK. So call me crazy, Kelly.

WALLACE: Yes?

COSTELLO: Call me crazy, but the chimp can't go out and buy the packs of cigarettes, right?

WALLACE: That's right. Where is the chimp getting those? Carol, we must investigate.

COSTELLO: Stop giving the chimp cigarettes.

O'BRIEN: Oh, that's horrible.

COSTELLO: I know. And they're giving him milk. They should give him a nicotine patch.

I don't know. That is horrible.

Thank, you Kelly. I just had to get that out.

President Bush is getting personally involved with the Iraqi constitutional process. CNN has learned he made a phone call to one of the Shiite leaders this week.

Aneesh Raman is live in Baghdad.

What did he say, Aneesh?

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning. The conversation took place on Wednesday between President Bush and Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Resolution, SCIRI, as it is known in Iraq. It is the main political party, Shia political party in this government. The president pushing Hakim and Shia negotiators to remain at the table and find compromise with other groups, the Kurds, but specifically the Sunnis, who have been very vocal that they don't want any mention of federalism in this draft constitution.

Now, the talks continue, Carol, today, another day, another guessing game whether at midnight tonight we will see a draft constitution. There are some reports that Shia negotiators have now put forth a final compromise, both on federalism and the other issue of de-Baath-ification.

It is unclear, though, whether the Sunnis and the Kurds will sign on. All parties trying to make sure that they can get as many groups on board as possible to prevent a rejection of this constitution in the referendum to come by mid October -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Aneesh Raman reporting live in Baghdad this morning.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, an alarming problem for one Ohio high school. Dozens of its students getting pregnant in just the last year alone. The superintendent of the school joins us just ahead.

COSTELLO: You know, that's my mother's alma mater, that high school.

O'BRIEN: Is it really?

COSTELLO: She was valedictorian. She's dying about this story.

O'BRIEN: I bet.

COSTELLO: Also, burning an American flag can certainly start a controversy, but in this case, it may have ended one. We'll tell you why.

O'BRIEN: And then later, a waitress whose life was saved by a customer she hardly knew. We're going to find out how he made the "Extra Effort" just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: A shocking statistic to tell you about at one Ohio high school. More than 13 percent of the school's female population is pregnant. Canton, Ohio's Timken High, 65 of the school's 490 female students are going to begin the school year pregnant. Parents and school officials are scrambling to explain why those number are so high. And even the students can't explain it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RACHEL HINTON, PREGNANT SOPHOMORE: To me, it was something that always happened to that other girl. You know? I'll never get pregnant. I'm too good to get pregnant. But here I am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Dianne Talarico is the superintendent of the Canton City schools.

It's nice to have you. Thank you for joining us this morning.

Tell me a little bit about the Timken High School in Canton, Ohio. What kind of students are there socioeconomically, what kind of a school it is, what kind of neighborhood it's in?

DIANNE TALARICO, SUPERINTENDENT, CANTON CITY SCHOOLS: OK. Timken Senior High School is located in the heart of downtown in Canton. There are approximately 1,200 students who attend there. They come from diverse backgrounds in terms of race and ethnicity and socioeconomic status.

What's interesting in Canton, Soledad, is that we've seen the socioeconomics change from 1998, seven years ago. They were at 40 percent poverty rate in Canton City Schools, and now we're close to 77. So it's almost doubled in seven years.

O'BRIEN: So you think -- and you think that might be a huge link between those -- these two statistics then?

TALARICO: I think it's a factor that is contributing to certain issues that our teens are facing in Canton.

O'BRIEN: You know, that young woman we showed right at the beginning before we introduced you, she said she knows about birth control, she never thought it was going to happen to her. She considers herself a relatively educated young woman in this issue.

So why is this happening?

TALARICO: Well, I really think, first and foremost, responsibility for this issue starts in the home. The schools are operating under incredible accountability structures right now both at the state level and the national level with No Child Left Behind. We cannot take on the ills of society because we -- our core mission is to educate youth, raise achievement, see that the graduate from high school and increase the college-going rate.

O'BRIEN: Well, that's -- let me interrupt you there, because, while I think every parent would recognize that -- well, most parents would recognize that they ultimately have responsibility for the children, many would say, listen, you're the ones who have them for a big part of the day. And so schools have long been teaching sex ed because people recognize that you have them for a big part of the day.

What is the sexual education program like at that high school?

TALARICO: Well, we are requiring as a result of last year's pregnancy prevention task force that I put together, we will now require that students at that particular high school attend a parenting class for multiple reasons. One is we obviously want them to be able to take care of their young child, but we also want to keep them on track for graduation and emphasize how important their education is to them in the future of raising their child.

Secondly, there is a life school (ph) curriculum that is being recommended. It's really comprehensive in terms of educating children about their total health and wellbeing. And we're looking at -- the curriculum committee is reviewing that currently, and we're looking at implementing that in January in our middle schools, because prevention as to start as early as possible.

O'BRIEN: So those are all things that are being done for girls who find themselves in the predicament that they're in right now. But what about students who are not pregnant that really are at risk, I think it's fair to say? What are you doing for those students?

TALARICO: Well, obviously we're working on self-esteem and self- concept and self-confidence. I don't believe this is just a female issue. I think it's a male issue as well.

O'BRIEN: I was going to say -- I was actually going to say, you know what? I should stop myself and say I'm looking at it like it's an all girl's issue. I mean, clearly, someone's getting these girls pregnant.

TALARICO: Absolutely. And I do think it's time for the community leaders to step up to the plate, including the local churches, to respond to this very important issue.

I mean, it is a family, community, school issue. We are giving them as much information as possible.

And one thing I'd like to add, Soledad, if you don't mind, is that 65 girls will not enter in August next week pregnant at Timken Senior High School. As far as we know, there will be 20 students. This data is from last year, last school year.

O'BRIEN: I see. So it's 65 over the past year, is that correct?

TALARICO: Yes, that's correct. And even -- I do want to make a point that even one teenage pregnancy is one too many for me.

So we are absolutely very concerned about this -- this issue. But it's not unique to Canton. As a matter of fact, our stats are below that of the national average for urbans.

O'BRIEN: Isn't that just shocking. It really is -- it's breathtakingly shocking. I'm glad to hear that your school's doing something about it.

Dianne Talarico, thank you very much for being with us.

She's the superintendent of the Canton City Schools -- Carol.

TALARICO: Thank you, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: My pleasure -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Still to come, a waitress gets the best tip ever from one of her customers. He saved her life. We'll tell you how in "Extra Effort." That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: In our "Extra Effort" segment this morning, two strangers meet at restaurant by the side of a highway. The one -- the one-in-a-million encounter result in a passing acquaintanceship. Neither of the two have any idea that years later they would share the gift of life.

Correspondent Chris Lawrence explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON BEDWELL, KIDNEY DONOR: You look prettier every time I see you.

BARBARA RECTOR, RECEIVED KIDNEY: I feel better today.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's only been three weeks since the surgery...

BEDWELL: No, no, no, no, no. I love you. I love you.

LAWRENCE: ... when doctors transplanted one of Don Bedwell's kidneys into Barbara Rector's body.

RECTOR: There's nothing good enough to say for him. There's not a word that would describe what he did for me.

LAWRENCE: The two met a couple years ago, when Don took a job near Cleveland, even though he lives four hours away. He'd leave home Monday morning, work all week, and head home Friday.

BEDWELL: I've been away from my wife and my grandchildren and my children now for five days. And so you naturally stop at the first place, which is this rest stop on the Ohio Turnpike heading west.

LAWRENCE: For more than a year, he ate at the same place, had the same server.

RECTOR: He would come in, and if I wasn't there, he would say, "Where's she at?" And then we would talk about our kids and our grandkids.

LAWRENCE: Mostly small talk, until one day late last year

RECTOR: I told him I was going to quit my job because I had to have a kidney transplant. And he said, "Well, I'm a pretty healthy person." And he says, "From the bottom of my heart, if I can help you out, I will."

LAWRENCE (on camera): I just think so many people would have said, "I'm so sorry for you," and kept going with their life.

BEDWELL: You can do two things in this world, you can take and you can give. And I spent many a year taking. I don't think I could have walked out of that restaurant without doing something. I don't know why.

LAWRENCE (voice over): Barb got so sick she quit her job. The doctor told her, "No one in your family is a suitable donor."

RECTOR: He said the kidney transplant was five to 10 years long, even if I -- even if I could get one. That's a long time. Don gave me one, though.

LAWRENCE: He was a perfect match.

RECTOR: It's hard to believe somebody would even do something like that for you that doesn't even know you, you know?

LAWRENCE: Think about all the rest stops on 240 miles of the Ohio Turnpike. Don goes to any one of those. He never meets Barb.

RECTOR: He gave me my life back.

LAWRENCE: But Don says he just grabbed the kind of opportunity we all have, every day.

BEDWELL: You can make someone very happy. You can make someone extremely happy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Oh, such a nice story. Both Bedwell and Rector say they expect to get back to their regular routines soon, with Recter once again dishing out Bedwell's take-out meal on his way home.

O'BRIEN: Wow. What an amazing thing to do for another person.

COSTELLO: It's incredible.

O'BRIEN: I mean, really, if you think about it, people die sometimes from -- you know, from those surgeries. So to, you know, to do that for a complete stranger, that's pretty amazing.

A short break. And when we come back, an update on the death and destruction in south Florida following Hurricane Katrina.

Where is this dangerous storm going next? We're tracking it for you. You'll want to stay with CNN. We're your hurricane headquarters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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