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American Morning

Global Health Fight; Save Or Raze In New Orleans; Poor in New Orleans; Minding Your Business

Aired November 03, 2005 - 07:30   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. Beautiful shot there of Columbus Circle in New York. And, no, Ted Turner did not buy the land there below Columbus Circle.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He might want to, right?

S. O'BRIEN: But who wouldn't is what I would say.

WALLACE: Right. Exactly.

S. O'BRIEN: Before the break, though, Kelly, we were asking Miles, how many acres of land he estimated that Ted Turner owns. And, again, there are your choices, 900,000, 1.8 million, 3 million.

Miles, what do you think?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, somebody told me.

S. O'BRIEN: Well.

WALLACE: Oh, man. Ruin the quiz.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, forget it then. I'll just tell everybody.

M. O'BRIEN: So I shouldn't weigh in. Carl (INAUDIBLE) told me. He spoiled it.

S. O'BRIEN: The answer is b, 1.8 million acres. He owns it across 10 states. But think about it, 1.8 million acres is -- he basically bought Delaware and Rhode Island. I mean that's...

WALLACE: Just bought two states, you know.

S. O'BRIEN: That's a lot of property. Man, who told you? I'm going to go back and...

WALLACE: They want Miles to look smart, but he's smart anyway, right, Miles? They didn't need to help you out there.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, she saved that at the last minute, didn't she?

M. O'BRIEN: I could have Googled it, I guess.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, well, a little bit later this morning, Miles, we're going to talk more about these Mike Brown e-mails. Some of them going back and forth to this chief of staff. Some of them going to Marty Bahamonde, who we spoke to during really the height of the crisis during Hurricane Katrina. I mean he was the only FEMA employee on the ground sending e-mails. Really, I think it's fair to characterize it as begging for help and some of the...

WALLACE: Critical situation on the ground.

S. O'BRIEN: Responses...

M. O'BRIEN: I mean, really, these were desperate e-mails. Desperate e-mails. And one we haven't been talking about this morning, which we talked about a few weeks ago when these first came out, really pleas for help by the single FEMA representative. And that, in and of itself, is interesting. One FEMA respective on the ground in New Orleans. And the response from the aide was, Mr. Brown needs some time for dinner. Needs a little more time for dinner. So, you know, I want to give somebody the benefit of the doubt because you can take e-mails out of context. But when you put this into the big picture, it's an ugly picture.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, we're going to get to some more of them because I think they're really kind of breathtaking. All right, Miles, thanks. We'll check back in with you in just a little bit.

First, though, let's update you on some of the stories that are happening right now.

Good morning.

WALLACE: Thanks, Soledad.

And good morning, everyone.

In just about three hours from now, a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney is expected to be in court. Lewis Scooter Libby facing an arraignment hearing this morning. He is accused of lying to the grand jury and to the FBI in the CIA leak case. Libby's expected to enter a plea and that plea is not guilty.

CNN has learned that Saddam Hussein may have been open to an exile deal just days before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. According to three senior Arab officials, the United Arab Emirates offered Hussein the deal. He apparently agreed in principle, but then made or set too many conditions so the whole deal fell through.

In Washington now, members of the so-called Gang of 14 meeting today to discuss Supreme Court Nominee Samuel Alito. The meeting could be a pivotal moment in Alito's confirmation. The Gang of 14, you'll recall, is a bipartisan group of moderate senators who agreed to end filibuster of judicial nominees if they agree there is not enough votes to sustain a filibuster. If they disagree, though, it could signal a nasty battle over the Supreme Court nominee.

And for all you royal watchers out there, that's right, Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, duchess of Cornwall, are the talk of the town in Washington. The royal couple dressing up for a rare White House black tie dinner last night. And we want to take a look at some of the more notable guests, Soledad, that were there. And there's former First Lady Nancy Reagan, and she was accompanied by Merv Griffin. You'll recall she hosted, with her late husband, former President Ronald Reagan, the dinner with the late Princess Diana in 1985. Also former "Frasier" star, Kelsey Grammar was there with his wife. Katrina relief coordinator, Lieutenant General Russel Honore. I'd like to hear his conversations with the royals. And Cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Today, Charles and Camilla tend to business in Washington before dashing off to New Orleans and San Francisco.

S. O'BRIEN: Looked all very fancy.

WALLACE: I know.

S. O'BRIEN: The First Lady looked great, huh, in the red dress.

WALLACE: She sure did. Red was great.

S. O'BRIEN: A lot of sparkly stuff on it.

WALLACE: We were talking to Roxanne Roberts with "The Washington Post." She described Camilla as frumpy.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh. You know, that woman cannot get a break. In all fairness it's like, you know, people said in New York that they were ignoring each other when it's like good manners to just, you know, talk to other people.

WALLACE: Oh well.

S. O'BRIEN: Camilla, girl, I'm with you. I'm sorry I could come -- I got invited to it here in New York.

WALLACE: You did?

S. O'BRIEN: At the Moma (ph).

WALLACE: Oh really?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

WALLACE: You couldn't make it?

S. O'BRIEN: I don't go out at night.

WALLACE: OK. Don't go out at night.

S. O'BRIEN: I go to bed at night actually very early.

Jacqui Jeras has got a look at the weather for us.

Hey, Jacqui.

(WEATHER REPORT) S. O'BRIEN: Ted Turner is in New York this week for "Time" magazine's Global Health Summit. She's speaking there later today. He joins us this morning along with the United Nations Foundation President Tim Wirth.

And, really, you have made a massive announcement of $20 million in aid to focus on measles. So, first, welcome. And tell me a little bit about why the focus on measles?

TED TURNER, FOUNDER OF CNN: Well, measles is -- can be handled by vaccination. If a child, a young child, gets two measles shots, they are pretty much immune to measles. At least 95 percent are. And it's malaria is much more difficult to treat than measles because once you've got those two shots, if you're in the 95 percent that the vaccine works on, you don't have a problem with measles. And measles is killing tens of millions of children in the developing world. It's virtually eradicated here in the western world.

S. O'BRIEN: So, basically, it's really worth the money. Two shots and you can...

TIMOTHY WIRTH, UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION PRESIDENT: We started this about four years ago with a good coalition of people. The Center for Disease Control, the Red Cross and the World Health Organization. And we've so far have been able to vaccinate about 150 million kids in Africa for less than $1 a person. We're going to complete that job in Africa, move to Asia. It's very, very cost effective. And when you do it, your can combine it with giving kids different vitamins. And we're now working on the idea, as Ted mentioned, of working with bed nets -- distribute bed nets to people related to malaria. So it's becoming an integrated program and a very successful one. So it's one of the success stories.

TURNER: Once you have the infrastructure in place to administer these medications and vaccines, that's one of the real problems. But once you've got it up and running, then you can use it for numerous things. When you think that you're saving millions of lives for less than a dollar per child, I mean that's really...

S. O'BRIEN: The business man in you says...

TURNER: I mean, yes, it's...

S. O'BRIEN: This is a good deal.

WIRTH: Yes, it's a good deal (?).

TURNER: You can't stand by and let something that simple. And lot of the problems in the developing world are very simple and can be corrected with just a small amount of money. And I think if the American people and the rest of the people that have money around the world knew that, that we'd be more generous in the international arena.

S. O'BRIEN: You're working in conjunction with the U.N. And I have to wonder when you talk about the American people and generosity, are there concerns with some of the scandals that you hear about that people will say, well do I give my money to the U.N.? Are they going to spend it the right way?

TURNER: Well, we're not the -- let me just say, we're not the U.N.

S. O'BRIEN: No, I realize that.

TURNER: We work with the U.N.

S. O'BRIEN: Right.

TURNER: And none of this money really goes -- almost none of it goes directly to the U.N. It goes to the American Red Cross, the International Red Cross. It goes to the World Health Organization. It goes to us who are independent of it. The U.N. Foundation. And there's been almost no scandal associated with those organizations.

And there's scandals connected with the federal government of the United States. Any big organization is going to have some corruption. But what we want to do, both here in the United States and at the U.N., is to minimize it as much as we can. And every time we find something that's broken, fix it. And that's what they do at the U.N. and that's what we do here in America.

WIRTH: We're trying, Soledad, to find some -- also other delivery mechanisms. The face community has really burst on the scene and it's very interesting. Rick Warren's been at this conference and, you know, it's very important to look at that extraordinary constituency out there that's now engaging in this global battle.

S. O'BRIEN: Why fo you think -- that's an interesting thing to hear that (INAUDIBLE). Why fo you think that's...

WIRTH: Well that tells you their commitment to poverty. You know, you are your brother's keeper in a way. You know, Jesus said, I am ill in his own (ph)...

S. O'BRIEN: An extension of missionary work essentially.

WIRTH: Extension of your sense of, I'm a creature of God's creation, want to protect God's creation. Think about it, I mean it's a wonderful spirit and can that get engaged in a nonpolitical way which, you know, some of these -- it's really extraordinary and it's a wonderful, new contribution around the world.

S. O'BRIEN: What's your message today? I know you're going to be addressing...

TURNER: Well, basically, the American people are the most generous in the world individually. But, unfortunately, our government, for foreign aid, gives less than two-tenth of 1 percent of GDP. We're way below the recommended amount, which is seven tenth of GDP. Less than 1 percent of the total economy of the country.

But if the average American, because it doesn't -- this is not on the radar screen most of the time with the media. The American people are not fully informed about just how much misery and agony there is out there in the developing world and how little money and a little effort can make a huge difference out there.

S. O'BRIEN: (INAUDIBLE) kid, I mean.

TURNER: If they know about it, that's why we're here, because things will change. And that's what we're trying to do. And you've got to give a lot of credit to Bill Gates too and the Gates Foundation, which are contributing billions to children's health around the world. And he was here yesterday and spoke along with Bill Clinton. It's been a very, very good conference.

WIRTH: And there's some other great opportunities out there to think about this. There's a great opportunity for this administration to really rethink our energy policy. Energy and problems around the world are closely related. No chance for development if you don't have access to electricity. That's a big one. The idea of reclaiming human rights and freedom for women around the world.

S. O'BRIEN: There certainly is a lot of things to do. I mean, there's a lot to do on a list (ph)...

TURNER: There's a lot to do out there...

WIRTH: An exciting time (INAUDIBLE).

TURNER: And the U.N.'s really working on all of it.

S. O'BRIEN: Ted Turner and Tim Wirth, nice to have you, gentlemen. I know you're in town for this week's "Time" magazine Global Health Initiative. You'll be talking later today. Thanks. Appreciate your time.

WIRTH: Thanks, Soledad.

TURNER: Appreciate it too.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's get right back to Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Thanks very much, Soledad.

We're in the Algiers section of New Orleans. They call this the west bank. We're just across the river from the French Quarter. A little less than a mile away, as the crow flies.

This is the second oldest neighborhood in the city. And because of the way the storm came in, it was the least affected by Katrina. You can see behind me, there's still -- that's not to say that there isn't damage. There's some work underway in one of these craftsman bungalows here this morning.

As a matter of fact, I just spoke to the contractor. He's Houston based. He's going to be here for three years, he figures. Plenty of work for he and his crew over that period of time. Along with all the efforts to clean up comes the related issue, just assessing the damage. And the city is systematically going through and looking at 110,000 homes. That's fully two-thirds of the city's housing stock, to determine just how bad the damage is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, (voice over): In New Orleans, inspectors are fanning out through neighborhoods marching west to east assessing the damage, plotting it on a map, and seeing some interesting patterns.

GREG MEFFERT, NEW ORLEANS MAYOR'S EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT: The good news is that the newest and the oldest kind of tend to make it. It's the World War II era and 60s and 70s, those -- that period of homes is the ones that we're most concerned about.

M. O'BRIEN: Ranch homes like these that sit low on the ground on a concrete slab are nearly always in need of a complete gutting. But homes built since federal flood insurance regulation forced builders to raise them have done much better. And older homes, the city's architectural gems, were built before the levies, gave people a false sense of security. They sit high on high ground and they, too, have passed the Katrina test.

MEFFERT: The answers to our present are really in our past because all we've got to do is do what people were doing in the late 1800s and the 1900s and it will make sense and it will work.

M. O'BRIEN: Greg Meffert is the executive assistant to the mayor and he is tracking the patterns. Green means the house is fine, yellow, in need of a major renovation, red, demolition.

MEFFERT: We found so far inspected 60,000 homes and we're finding about two-thirds are at least red or yellow. Now most of them are yellow, which means that it's flooded, I'm going to have to do some work, and the house might be saved if financially it works for the owner.

M. O'BRIEN: They have 50,000 more homes to inspect. Fifty-two- person inspection teams are on the job and the hope is to have the assessment complete in just a few weeks.

These are quick inspections and you're making decisions which are really life altering decisions really in minutes.

MEFFERT: Well, you can do that because we know what happened. You know, it wasn't like we're going to each individual house and we don't know what happened here. We know there was eight feet of water here. We know what was in that water. We know how long it was there and what happens to the wood.

M. O'BRIEN: And while this assessment is a crucial first step for people trying to get some answers, like everything else here, it just leads to more questions.

MEFFERT: What do I do? Is it over 50 percent? Is it not? Do I have flood insurance? Do I not? Am I at the flood elevation or not? And the answer to those three questions answer's, OK, what do you do now? And I think that's the biggest thing. You know, we're hearing a lot of people that just need -- they needed to see the house, they needed that closure, and now they just want to know, what do I do now?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Lot of questions also as to whether the city would be just doing wholesale steam rolling of neighborhoods. And Greg Meffert wants to make it very clear that's not the plan at all. That's why they're doing this systematic assessment. And each homeowner will have to make their own, individual decisions about how to proceed. Whether to demolish, renovate or whatever.

Coming up, we're going to check in with a pastor with two congregations here in the Algiers section of New Orleans. He says, in many respects, Katrina was a hidden blessing for poor people who had to leave here. Back with that interesting twist in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: So is it possible that Hurricane Katrina might have been a hidden blessing for some poor people who had to leave here and more on to places like Houston and San Antonio and Atlanta? Pastor Arthur Wardsworth, who is actually pastor at two congregations -- you must have a busy Sunday -- and is president of the Algiers Concerned Ministers and The Algiers Group, which is a group of concerned African-American leaders in the community, is with us this morning.

Pastor Wardsworth, good to have you with us.

Explain what you mean when you say poor people who left here, who have found opportunity elsewhere, might be better off?

REV. ARTHUR WARDSWORTH JR, PRESIDENT, THE ALGIERS GROUP: Well, what I mean is, is that New Orleans is a beautiful city. When you look at the river this morning, you look at the French Quarter, you look at Jackson Square and some of the other areas in New Orleans, physically it's a beautiful city. But behind the scenes, there's some ugliness to the city of New Orleans. We do not treat poor people very well.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, that's quite a statement though, that they would actually be better off leaving the city and that there's not that much opportunity here. What could be done to fix that here?

WARDSWORTH: Basically, one of the things I think that needs to happen is, we need to have some leadership. We need to be able to provide for those individuals who are the have nots. The hotel/motel industry last year made $350 million and paid its employee $5.15 an hour. Many instances people had to work two jobs just to make ends meet.

If we could get a living wage here. If there were some adequate housing, as well as appropriate schools. I've talked to many people who are in my congregation who have good schools go to, good housing, good jobs and God has blessed them. We're going to miss them, but I really believe that they're better off.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Well, that's an interesting thought because as you see the city come back, a lot of people are concerned that poor people are not being concerned in the way you mentioned. That it's being gentrified or Disneyfied, anyway you want to slice it. When this new city, whatever it becomes, arises, poor people won't have those kinds of opportunities and that kind of housing.

WARDSWORTH: I would agree with that. Even in the wonderful people in St. Bernard Parish, as I was speaking to someone this morning, they're not being considered. They're not being heard. I think everyone has an opportunity, should have an opportunity to voice their opinions and have an opportunity to come to the table. There's something valuable about individuals, even though they don't have money, even though they don't have a large house, they're valuable to us. We need some type of leadership that's going to bring everybody to the table.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. You've been critical of charter schools. In the wake of all this, of course, the New Orleans school system was widely criticized, the school board in many respects inept. And what they've been talking about is using these charter systems which allow them to operate more autonomously as long as they meet certain standards. What's the matter with that idea, especially when you're talking about, you know, reconstituting a system from the ground up?

WARDSWORTH: I am not critical of charter schools. I am not critical of charter schools. I am not critical of charter schools. I'm critical of the process. The process is, if you know anything about charter schools, you to have parental involvement, you to have staffing, the teachers involved, you to have to have the administrator's involved. That's not being done. That's the ugly side of the city of New Orleans. Because people are poor, they should also have a voice in their schools. How their schools look. What their schools ought to look like. It's not that I'm against charter schools, I'm against the process and not against the program.

M. O'BRIEN: Pastor Arthur Wardsworth, thank you very much for being with us this morning.

WARDSWORTH: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Back to you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles, thanks.

Ahead this morning, we're "Minding Your Business." Andy has got some details on a $25 billion game of chicken. Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan heads to Capitol Hill this morning. Wall Street is, as always, hanging on his every word. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business."

ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And the real important thing here, Soledad, is, it's likely to be one of his last times.

S. O'BRIEN: How long -- he's -- the guy's in till January.

SERWER: Yes, January 31st.

S. O'BRIEN: Any time he walking out of his home and goes anywhere we'll be like -- for almost the last time.

SERWER: This could be the last time he's walking down the block as fed chairman.

No, it is sort of getting to be like that and Congress is going to be getting its fill of green speak today, Soledad. That opaque language that he uses leaving many senators and congressmen scratching their heads.

And what's interesting is Ben Bernanke, who is tabbed to succeed him on January 31st, he needs to be confirmed by the Senate first, but that's a sure thing almost, is much more direct and clear spoken. So when he gets up there, he's going to say things very differently, I think, from Alan Greenspan. So it's going to be a real change in style, I think, when that transition takes place.

S. O'BRIEN: It will be interesting, too, to see how the markets react of different style.

SERWER: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Because I think there is an element that plays into the market when you have that -- well, first, we've got to figure out what he meant by what he said.

SERWER: Right. And I think that the markets have really benefited from that because, you know, it leaves people trying to think, well maybe he means this, maybe he means that, and maybe that's a good thing.

S. O'BRIEN: Right. More analysis, right.

SERWER: Where if Bernanke says something very direct, it might send the market off in a direction which he may not have wanted it to do.

Speaking of the markets, let's talk about that a little bit. Yesterday was a good day. And guess which stock led the markets higher? Time Warner.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, yeah.

SERWER: Time Warner up almost 2 percent yesterday.

S. O'BRIEN: Our parent company.

SERWER Our parent company.

S. O'BRIEN: We own some of this stuff. SERWER: On positive earnings news. That's right. Techs were strong also yesterday. Apple set a new record. Google getting towards $400 a share. I'm going to get Soledad a cake the day that happened. Remember, we did cupcakes.

S. O'BRIEN: Is it $400? Yes, I got cupcakes.

SERWER: On $300.

S. O'BRIEN: How about a car?

SERWER: Yes. That's $500.

And then finally today, one stock that's going to be active, Johnson & Johnson. Trying to do that deal with Guidant, that $25 billion deal. Guidant makes defibrillators. They agreed on a deal but there have been problems and investigations there. So these companies are going back and forth on this one.

S. O'BRIEN: Andy, thank you very much.

SERWER: You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: Minding our business this morning.

Let's get right back to Miles.

Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Soledad.

Coming up, we're going to talk to James Lee Witt, the former FEMA head, and we'll ask him about those amazing e-mails between Mike Brown and his staff. That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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