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American Morning

West Coast Wildfires Bearing Down on Homes and Schools in Orange County, California; Thousands Gathering for Funeral of Coretta Scott King

Aired February 07, 2006 - 07:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR And I'm Zain Verjee, in for Soledad.

O'BRIEN: A story breaking overnight. West Coast wildfires bearing down on homes and schools in Orange County, California. We are live with the latest.

Thousands, including four U.S. presidents, gathering today for the funeral of Coretta Scott King. We have more on the final goodbye for a civil rights icon.

VERJEE: More protests this morning over controversial cartoons, and the demonstrations now getting more violent.

The worldwide search is still on for escaped terrorist in Yemen, but was it an inside job?

O'BRIEN: And you can cut the sarcasm with a knife. Why suddenly such bad blood between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama. We'll tell you who said what, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

In Southern California this morning, the threat of a wind-driven wildfire has forced evacuation of nearly 2,000 homes. More than 1,800 acres have burned in Orange County. Three schools and a major toll road are closed and a brown smoky haze hangs over the whole Southland area.

CNN's Kareen Wynter live now in Orange County, California.

Kareen, what's the situation?

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Miles, good morning.

If you can believe it, we can see that haze you just described at this hour. We're near a command post here in Orange County, which is just -- that post just a few miles away from where that fire, that very fierce fire, is burning. I just had a chance to speak with a fire personnel who said that crews have spent the last several hours really focusing on getting an upper hand, a directional upper hand on this burn. They're doing control burns. They're actually lighting back fires.

And the reason this is so critical, Miles, is where this brush fire is right now, there's just a toll road separating that fire from homes that are just less than a mile way so that remains the focus. You mentioned at the top also the thousands of evacuations. Some of those mandatory, others voluntary. About 1,800 acres burned right now. We will continue to keep an eye on the situation -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Kareen Wynter, thank you very much.

Coming up in the half hour of this program, we'll get today's outlook for fighting these fires from an Orange County Fire Authority official. We'll check in with him -- Zain.

VERJEE: Miles, protests erupted today in spots across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It's all over those Danish cartoons depicting Islam's Prophet Muhammad in an unfavorable light. These pictures are from Kabul, where protesters tried to break into a NATO peacekeeping base housing Norwegian troops.

CNN's Matthew Chance is in Copenhagen, and he joins us now by phone.

Matthew, how have ordinary Danes been processing the violence in Denmark?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, ordinary Danes have reacted with alarm at these scenes of violence that they've been witnessing, essentially directed at them, across the Muslim world over the past several days. This is a country that sees itself as having a very low profile in many parts of the world, a country that sees itself as respectable to other religions, and again, very low profile. It's not used to seeing its flag burned in the streets of Arab capitals around the region, and so, yes, so a great deal of concern.

Feelings, though, very mixed on the streets here amongst people about whether it was right for the Danish newspaper here in Copenhagen to publish those 12 offensive images of the Prophet Muhammad. Some say it was, because it's all about the freedom of speech in this country, they say. Others say that that mark was overstepped. Here's what a few of those people we spoke to had to say on the issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it's wrong, it could be wrong, of course, but that would be for our courts to say, not for a people's court.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have certain obligations to what you print, what you say and what you write. And I think that they just overstepped the line.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: Well, the government has reacted with concern, of course, about the violence across the region. It's issued a warning on 15 countries, most of them in the Arab world, but Indonesia as well, as a result of these protests, this violence directed towards Danish diplomatic missions, and other diplomatic missions as well, warning people of Denmark not to travel to that region unless it's absolutely necessary -- Zain. VERJEE: Matthew, what's the Danish government doing to get the situation under control in their own country and diffuse the growing tensions between the non-immigrant and the immigrant communities?

CHANCE: Well, I think it's been remarkable, the fact that, you know, even though we've seen these very violent protests across the Muslim world, we haven't seen much like that here in Denmark itself. It seems that the people who have complained most about these, the hard-liners amongst the Muslim community here in Denmark, are pretty much in a minority, the vast majority of Muslims in this small Scandinavian kingdom think the fuss is very much about nothing -- Zain.

VERJEE: Matthew Chance reporting to us from Copenhagen in Denmark, thanks -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: The State Department is urging Americans in Yemen not to travel to that country. This after members of al Qaeda escaped from a prison there. Authorities are trying to determine if Yemeni intelligence officers might have aided in that escape.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr up early for us, and we appreciate that. She's at the Pentagon.

Barbara, some new concerns for the U.S. this morning, still trying to assess how dangerous these escapees are.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Exactly right, Miles. The U.S. embassy has now issued a formal notice telling Americans that travel to Yemen and throughout the country is restricted. They are urging all official travel not to happen, at least for the next two weeks, while these men remain at large. They say the security situation is uncertain. No direct threats against Americans. But again, telling them not to travel to Yemen for at least the next two weeks.

What senior officials are telling us,is as long as these men remain at large, the security situation is uncertain for Americans, there is concern about the U.S. embassy. There have been threats against it in the past. These men are now believed to be, of course, extremely dangerous. The assessment is that many of them are al Qaeda operatives who have specific field operational expertise. They know how to plan operations, they have carried them out in the past, and that is a very significant concern -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Significant and ominous. A couple of thoughts here, Barbara -- first of all, officials pretty confident they're still in Yemen?

STARR: Well, no one can say for sure, but this notice from the embassy is quite interesting, because it says for at least the next two weeks, to try not to travel throughout the country, and that affects all Americans in Yemen at this time -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: And what about this whole notion there might have been help, you know, kind of inside job? What do we know about that? STARR: Right. Certainly the Yemenis are looking into that, we are told. These men escaped from essentially a political security prison, not run by the Yemeni military, not run by the Yemeni police, but by the security apparatus and the intelligence services, so the Yemeni government is looking at those people carefully to see if they offered inside help -- Miles.

Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thanks much.

Three people are dead after a pair of bombings in a Baghdad market earlier today, 20 were hurt. The second bomb went off 10 minutes after the first. Double bombings, often seen in Iraq, as insurgents try to kill emergency responders.

In Baqubah today, an attack on a police checkpoint left one officer dead, four civilians wounded.

A similar scene in Afghanistan this morning. Reports say at least a dozen are dead following a suicide attack at a police station guard post there. The bombing in the southern city of Kandahar killed both police and civilians -- Zain.

VERJEE: Miles, she was known as the first lady of the civil rights movement. And today, thousands of people will say farewell to Coretta Scott King. Funeral services for the widow of Martin Luther King begin at noon Eastern in suburban Atlanta church.

CNN's Tony Harris is in Lithonia, outside New Birth Missionary Baptist Church.

Tony, good morning.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Zain.

And I have to tell you as I look at order of service here today and the people who are scheduled to participate in this homegoing celebration for Coretta Scott King, it is shaping up to be one of those days that is long remembered and talked about.

But let me set the scene for you. As you mentioned, we're at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. This is in Lithonia, Georgia, just about 40 minutes east of downtown Atlanta on Interstate 20. And the doors of the main sanctuary of this church opened about 40 minutes ago for another public viewing of the body of Coretta Scott King, another opportunity for people to pay their final respects to the woman widely considered to be the first lady of the civil rights movement, as you mentioned.

Let me take you back to yesterday. And what a poignant scene it was as the body of Mrs. King in the church, in the main sanctuary of historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, just a short couple of feet away from the pulpits where her husband, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and her father-in-law preached.

And then just across the street, in the Horizon Sanctuary of the New Ebenezer Baptist Church, there was this wonderful memorial service, Gladys Knight saying you're the best thing that ever happened to me, and Oprah Winfrey talked about her dear friend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: Every time I sat with her, whether she spoke or not, I came away wiser, knowing more about how to live and what it means to be a real woman. I felt blessed always to be in her presence. She leaves us all a better America than the America of her childhood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Four presidents -- wow. Four presidents will be here for the funeral service today. Presidents Carter, Clinton, President Bush and his father. The funeral was scheduled to get underway at noon, and will last until about 3:00 in the afternoon. Zain, back to you.

Zain, back to you.

VERJEE: Tony Harris. Thanks, Tony.

And author and poet Maya Angelou will talk to us about her longtime friend Coretta Scott King. That's coming up in our 9:00 Eastern Hour, and this reminder for you, CNN is going to bring you live coverage of the funeral. As Tony mentioned, it's going to be from noon eastern until 3:00 p.m. from the church in Lithonia.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Coming up, is she the face of things to come? The recipient of the first-ever face transplant still can't fully move her face, but for her, it is still tremendous progress.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta in the house. We'll ask him about her recovery and what this means for others.

VERJEE: And also, the war of words between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama. Both have golden reputations, but will their recent spat tarnish their image?

O'BRIEN: And later, quite a commotion at the trial of admitted al Qaeda member Zacarias Moussaoui. We'll tell you why he got kicked out of court no less than four times yesterday. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: There's a new member on the board of General Motors. Could it mean that big changes are ahead? And also a call to shake up Time Warner.

Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." He's got more on both of those stories this morning.

Andy, hi.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Zain, good to see you.

Two companies under siege. Let's start off with General Motors. As you're saying, a new board member, Jerry York, industry critic, industry expert, and also a representative of billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, who's invested in GM and agitating for change. That's big news there. Stan O'Neal of Merrill Lynch leaves that board of GM.

Now, what about that dividend. We were talking about that the other day. GM, according to published reports, is going to be cutting its dividend. An announcement expected this morning. However, GM saying those reports right now are speculative. So we will be covering that more this morning.

VERJEE: And Time Warner shake up, our parent company.

SERWER: Our parent company. Obviously, big activity over there as well. Carl Icahn, another agitator shareholder, is holding a press conference today at 3:30 in Manhattan, where he is expected -- in fact, he will be releasing a plan to boost the stock price of our company. He is going to be there with his aide, Bruce Wasserstein, a 400-page report, and he is never shy about speaking his mind, Zain. So there could be some very interesting fireworks there.

Meanwhile, reports by Bloomberg suggests that Dick Parsons, the CEO of Time Warner, has engaged several investment bankers of his own to perhaps fend off Mr. Icahn.

VERJEE: Andy Serwer, never afraid of speaking his mind.

SERWER: Me neither.

And you, too.

VERJEE: Thank you. Thanks, Andy -- Miles.

SERWER: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: Coming up, what is next for the world's first face- transplant patient? Doctors and possible recipients all over the world are watching this one closely. We'll check in with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Plus, a nasty spat deflates the much-vaunted comity of the Senate. Senators McCain and Obama In a word of words. Why? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: We're learning more about the recipient of the first- ever face transplant. It's a fascinating story. Isabelle Dinoire is her name. She's 38 years old. She was mauled terribly by her own dog, terrible, terrible injuries, which she says she didn't realize were so bad until she attempted, after the attack from her dog, to light a cigarettes. Cigarettes are a theme that seem to run through this story. We'll get into that in just a moment, as we are joined by our senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta who's at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Sanjay, good to have you with us.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: We looked, depending on what you know about her backstory, she looks great or not. Having known how serious her injuries were, to see her yesterday, I thought, was quite remarkable. What were your thoughts?

GUPTA: Yes, I mean, absolutely. I had no idea what to expect, and certainly I did see some of the images of her before her operation. And it was hard to believe, understanding exactly how they were going to reconstruct.

But interesting, Miles -- there she is, obviously. But Let me show you some of the images that I think are quite striking, both of her before the operation, as well as the donor as well. I have a little telestrator here. I want to show you exactly what the transplant was, where it took place.

First of all, this is the donor over here on the left, and it's sort of a triangular piece of skin, a little bit more so more on the right cheek, came around, and this is really high-priced real estate when it comes to facial innervation, sensation, all that sort of stuff. And this is sort of the same location over here. You can almost see the scars sort of outlining them. This is where a lot of this takes place in terms of sensation to the face, motor strength. She can't smile yet. She can't purse her lips. These things all happen in this part of the face -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: And we should point out for our viewers, the woman on the left was brain dead, and donated that portion of her face, her family did, I should say.

As far as sensations and movement, over time, is that bound to improve?

GUPTA: Yes. You know, the thing about this it's really too early to tell. A couple of things sort of are going to drive that. One is that the nerves that were actually cut and sewn in from the donor to the recipient, they take a while to regenerate, and also...

O'BRIEN: Look at her drinking that water there. Isn't that amazing. I tell you, that's incredible.

All right, go ahead.

GUPTA: Right, drinking the water is important, Miles, as she can actually still swallow. But they call it the muscles of mastication that allow you to chew. That might be a lot more difficult for her, and that's going to very important for her. But also the -- those nerves as they start to come back and the whole transplant starts to take, she might get some of that function back with therapy, for example. O'BRIEN: You mentioned the transplant taking. As best we can tell, everything I've read, there's no indication she is rejecting any of this. In a transplant like this, is rejection fairly common?

GUPTA: Well, you know, it's so interesting, Miles, because this is the first one that's ever done, but it's a valid question, because the skin is the largest organ in the body. People don't realize that, but your skin is an organ and has its own blood supply. And there is a real risk of rejection of skin transplants and muscle and all of that, as much so as there might be of a liver or a kidney, so people are going to be very concerned about that, and she is going to be on a lifetime of immunosuppressive drugs, the same drugs that you take if you had a liver transplant, for example. Maybe not the same doses, but the same types of medication. So it's a real risk.

O'BRIEN: So it's an ongoing story here, one we'll be watching. But in the meantime, many doctors and many people who sadly are faced with horribly disfiguring accidents are watching this one very closely. What do you think the implications are?

GUPTA: You know, there's so many -- I've talked to so many people about this since this has happened.

A couple of things to keep in mind, the controversy exists, in part, because there are doctors who believe this should not have been a first-line option for her. There may have been other options. For example, taking your own skin and muscle from another place in your body and using that to transplant onto the face. That way you wouldn't have to have the risk of rejection and things like that. I think it's going to be a while before we start to see face transplants with any degree of common. In this country, there's going to be one institution that may get the approval to do that.

That's a before-and-after picture there. You get a sense of that. One institution, the Cleveland Clinic, and we'll have to see if that actually happens.

But, Miles, another question, where are these donors going to come from? Even after brain death, would families be willing to give up their loved one's face? It might be more controversial and difficult than giving up a liver or a kidney.

O'BRIEN: All right. And the one picture which we're not sharing with people, when we say before is after, is the middle picture, after the mauling, this is a woman who had -- she couldn't appear in public without wearing a mask. And so for a lot of people to say, well, there were other options, they weren't in her shoes, fortunate for them.

Let me just ask you this, though. If they had gone that route and tried to graft skin from her own body, could they possibly reconstruct it in the way we just saw?

GUPTA: Well, you know, I don't know. Obviously, I haven't seen her particular injuries, although there are dog maulings that happen all the time around the world. It wouldn't be just skin. You'd be grafting muscle as well.

O'BRIEN: Cartilage, whatever, yes.

GUPTA: Cartilage, all of that, to give the contour of the face there. She's really got a remarkable result if you look at her there. But given that contour is difficult. No one is saying that is isn't. But whether a face transplant should have been the first option still is going to be a point of controversy I think for some time.

O'BRIEN: Well, yes, and as we follow, I know this doctor in previous cases has had chosen patients who didn't follow through, so this will be interesting to see how this one goes, because there is a whole emotional component to it.

Sanjay Gupta, thanks. Good information.

GUPTA: Thank you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Coming up, the latest on efforts to contain the huge wildfire in California. It's bearing down on nearly 2,000 homes as we special. Will firefighters get some help from the weather? It doesn't look too likely right now.

GUPTA: Plus, the trial of an admitted al Qaeda member turns into a circus. We'll tell you why Zacarias Moussaoui got kicked out no less than four times on Monday. That is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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