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American Morning

Cleaning Up in Springfield After Tornadoes; Breaking Up a Notorious Prison Gang

Aired March 14, 2006 - 08:30   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: You're watching AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A view outside our window this morning. Welcome back, everybody.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good to have you with us. It's about two weeks ago tomorrow, Ash Wednesday. We were in Pass Christian.

S. O'BRIEN: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: In the tent city there. And it was actually kind of a drama unfolded, because we were told while we were there that in two weeks -- that would be tomorrow -- FEMA was going to pull up the stakes and it was very uncertain what would happen to 40 people, hurricane evacuees who were there. Would they be living in their vehicles, as some were worried about? Lots of calls, lots of discussion since then. And we have a new chapter to tell you, which we'll bring you in a just little bit.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, good, I hope it's a good news chapter to share with us this morning.

Also ahead, on a much lighter note, we're going to introduce to you a guy who thought he had a pretty clever idea. He said wouldn't I be faster riding in the HOV lane? Unfortunately, I don't have anyone else to ride with. So this is who he brought with him. That's Tilly, the dummy. Well, all was well and good for quite a long time, would you believe, until he got nabbed by the cops. We'll tell you what happened after they pulled him over and they weren't buying it.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, apparently the dummy was driving that day.

(CROSSTALK)

(NEWBSREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the clean-up that goes on this morning in the capital city of Illinois. Two days after tornadoes ripped through Springfield, schools and many businesses are still closed. Heartbreak, though, and loss remain.

CNN's Keith Oppenheim is live for us in Jerome, Illinois, which is just outside of Springfield. Keith, good morning.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. That's right, the neighborhood behind me is just on the border of city of Springfield. There's a lot of wind damage to the business district right here. And this morning, some residents are coping with the tough reality of having to rebuild.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OPPENHEIM (voice over): When Pat Kuster came back to her house this morning, the emotions poured out. The tornado left her home completely exposed. Just about everything she and her husband Dana had inside was damaged.

PAT KUSTER, HOMEOWNER: Last night in the dark it was one thing. But when you come in this morning and actually see it with the light and how little is left, just -- I just can't -- I just can't tell you what my heart feels like. I just can't.

OPPENHEIM: It was a traumatic night. The house has no basement. So Pat, Dana and their 8-year-old grandson took refuge in the bathroom. As they huddled, the entire roof blew away.

DANA KUSTER, HOMEOWNER: My grandson, he was -- he was scared to death. He says, "Hold me, hold me, hold me." And we were squeezing him as hard as we could just to calm him down because -- and the insulation was just flying everywhere. It just -- it's just like a snowstorm in here the way the insulation was flying around. It's just unbelievable.

OPPENHEIM: The Kusters suffered some of the worst damage in their neighborhood, but they weren't alone. The National Weather Service reported the Springfield twister was the biggest storm to pass through central Illinois in a decade, and part of a storm that spawned dozens of tornadoes in Illinois, Indiana and Missouri. At one point, 65,000 customers were without power.

But as residents cleaned up and utility crews scrambled to turn the lights back on, Pat and Dana Kuster were assessing their own damage.

(on camera): Are you hurt at all today?

P. KUSTER: I don't think so. Just inside. Just trying to figure out what Plan B is now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OPPENHEIM: A few minutes ago, I was speaking with a lieutenant from the Sagamond (ph) County Sheriff's Department. Their staff is very involved in patrolling the streets right now. And he said he estimates it will take at least three months for the city of Springfield and the outlying areas to clean up the infrastructure from this tornado and these storms, and that means getting the power back on and getting businesses reopened -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Gosh, yeah, it looks like that would be an accurate estimate. All right, Keith Oppenheim for us this morning. Keith, thank you very much.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Back now to Pass Christian and our efforts to keep the government honest as it makes promises to Hurricane Katrina victims. You may recall I was there two weeks ago tomorrow, Ash Wednesday it was. We at a tent city they call the "Village." It housed about 40 hurricane evacuees at the time. We were told FEMA was pulling up stakes in two weeks. That would be tomorrow. The fate of those evacuees at the time uncertain.

Well, a lot has happened since we signed off that day. Joining us now from the "Village" is Margaret Jean Kalif, the volunteer who runs the show there.

Margaret, good to see you again. Tell us what happened after we signed off the air there. You got a call from FEMA pretty quickly, didn't you?

MARGARET JEAN KALIF, "VILLAGE" HOUSING DIRECTOR: Good morning, Miles. How are you?

M. O'BRIEN: Good. Thanks.

KALIF: Yes. That afternoon, FEMA came. There were several FEMA representatives that came down to the "Village" and helped facilitate the transition of the residents in the "Village" into trailers, into apartments. There was one family that was temporarily had to go with family and friends, but they have since been put into a trailer.

M. O'BRIEN: So everybody that we met there that day, one way or another, is in a more permanent situation. And, of course, that's still a temporary situation, but better than a tent?

KALIF: Correct. Well, you know, I have to tell you, Miles, there were a few residents who were hesitant to leave our little "Village" because we did try to make them comfortable. But they left and FEMA was very helpful in expediting that process.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, that's a testament to your hospitality, of course, Margaret Jean. You made them feel at home there in a very difficult situation. Do you think it was a coincidence they showed up just a few hours after we got off the air and got all of these people settled?

KALIF: Well, you know, Miles, I have found that so oftentimes, it's just a communication problem between the upper echelon and the people on the ground. The local FEMA officials have been really helpful, and have really tried to reach out and help all of the residents down here.

But, you know, Miles, we need permanent housing. We're right around the corner from hurricane season, and I fear for the safety of a lot of the residents who live in the FEMA trailers. And in addition to that, we still have a lot of people that don't have the FEMA trailers. We have some situations where the trailers are in place, but have not been hooked up yet.

M. O'BRIEN: So where are those people staying in the meantime, if the tent city is going to close down? What do they do?

KALIF: Well, the villagers, the people who lived in the "Village," have been transitioned out. They are in trailers. But we do have still a lot of residents who don't have a place to live. We need permanent housing down here, Miles. We need skilled laborers to help us rebuild. You know, our life's blood has been the volunteers that have come from all over the United States and Canada to help us. But we need skilled electricians and carpenters, people who know how to hang drywall. That's our real need now.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about that tent right behind you, behind your left shoulder. That's the food tent there, and that's been an important part of this whole operation. When that disappears, a lot of people who have been relying on that, above and beyond villagers are going to have to go elsewhere, and there's not a lot of services available in that part of the world right now. I know that there is the Katrina Kitchen, which is volunteers are staffing. Will that be able to sort of absorb that need?

KALIF: We hope so, Miles. We hope that -- Katrina Kitchen is a faith-based volunteer group who have come down to try to help feed the residents down here. Yes, tomorrow morning, at breakfast, will be the last meal served here in the tent. We're hoping that God's Katrina Kitchen will relocate and move closer to the central area of Pass Christian to help people access that -- those meals, because we have no grocery stores down here, Miles....

M. O'BRIEN: I know.

KALIF: ... that are easily accessible.

M. O'BRIEN: Final quick thought here. When I talked to you, you said you were afraid that you were being abandoned. Do you still feel that way?

KALIF: Well, thanks to you, Miles, no. We are receiving help. We still need a lot of help. As I said earlier, we need skilled laborers to come down and help us. I hope you have telephone numbers there, Miles, that you can flash on the screen.

M. O'BRIEN: We're putting them on right now. We got the number there -- 314-420-9631, if you want to volunteer in Pass Christian. They are going to leave those tents up, right, Margaret Jean, and if you want to come, you can live there, bring your pickup down, if you got work to do. There's plenty of work to do. We ran into amazing people from Americorps there while we were there. They are doing great work. So let's hope the volunteers pick up the slack here.

I know you're doing great work, Margaret Jean Kalif. Thanks for being with us.

KALIF: Thank you, Miles. And I want to add, if you will allow me... M. O'BRIEN: Sure.

KALIF: ... if the groups want to come down and help, which I hope they will continue to come, please call that telephone number so that you can be scheduled to come so that we can facilitate you. We have requested FEMA to turn the tents over to the city so that we can house the volunteers that come. Americorps will help the day-to-day operations of it.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

KALIF: We've asked the Mississippi Power Company to pay for the electricity. So that's in the works right now. We hope that that's all going to come to fruition, Miles. And don't forget us. Please, don't forget is.

M. O'BRIEN: We won't. We'll check back in with you. It's now a volunteer village. We'll put that number back on the screen in a little bit as well.

Margaret Jean Kalif, we'll check back with you in a little bit. You stay this close contact with us, OK?

KALIF: Thank you, Miles. Thank you so much.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Andy Serwer will be here "Minding Your Business" in just a moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MARKET REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, Howard Stern, have you heard him, ooh, talking about his former bosses...

M. O'BRIEN: A little nasty.

S. O'BRIEN: ... at CNN -- oops, at CBS.

M. O'BRIEN: Careful!

(LAUGHTER)

S. O'BRIEN: That's under his nose, because he was on CBS. It's kind of funny what he said, but mean, too. We're going to show to you the clip.

M. O'BRIEN: On CBS, by the way.

SERWER: It's out there.

M. O'BRIEN: You know, there's the interesting part, on CBS, aimed at C-B-S, transcript people.

S. O'BRIEN: And then we're going to talk to a guy who was caught cheating with a mannequin. He used this doll here, Tilly, he calls her, to sneak into the HOV lane with his car.

SERWER: That's a mannequin?

M. O'BRIEN: I think that's a woman-nequin.

S. O'BRIEN: It's a woman-nequin.

His punishment has been especially designed to fit the crime. We'll explain just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: They're considered some of the most vicious felons in the country. Now the alleged members of a notorious prison gang are facing new charges as the Feds try to end their reign of terror.

CNN's Kareen Wynter has our story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Federal prosecutors are going after what they say is one of the deadliest criminal organizations in the country. But they won't have to go far to find them, as the defendants are already behind bars.

A notorious white prison gang called the Aryan Brotherhood, allegedly headed by kingpins Barry Mills and Tyler Bingham, were accused of waging a bloody war, primarily against black inmates.

LAURIE LEVENSON, LEGAL ANALYST: And when the jurors hear the indictment itself, I expect eyes to be open. Because it really tells the story of a prison gang, the Aryan Brotherhood and how they would conspire not to just deal drugs, but to kill any of their enemies.

WYNTER: The group's alleged crimes span decades in state and federal prisons coast-to-coast. There are 40 Aryan Brotherhood members named in an indictment so large half of the defendants pleaded guilty. Mills and Bingham are among those who pleaded not guilty. They're facing the death penalty.

JOHN MCDONALD, REPORTER, "O.C. REGISTER": Murders and crimes that allegedly were masterminded by people who were in maximum security with almost no contact with each other, and almost no contact at all with the outside world.

WYNTER: An attorney involved in the investigation discussed the graphic nature of the crimes.

GREG JESSNER, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: More than half of them involve stabbing with a prison-made knife of some sort. You also see some other types of murders, including some strangulations, sometimes with instruments and sometimes with bare hands.

WYNTER: Witnesses for the prosecution include former Aryan Brotherhood members, and inmates outside the gang. The attorney for Barry Mills says they plan to prove the witnesses testimony is unreliable, because, quote, "The government is providing these informants with favors, freedom and cash to get their testimony." The defense will strongly that testimony is untrustworthy, lies and outright perjury."

The lawyer for Tyler Bingham did not return calls from CNN. Some legal analysts predict some people may fear may sitting on the jury.

LEVENSON: Everybody is scared. These are very dangerous criminals. The indictment charge is murders. Nobody wants to take a risk.

WYNTER: Authorities say it's the highest security level imposed in the region for one of the country's biggest capital murder cases.

(on camera): In fact, the defendants will be chained to the floor. A specially constructed table will hide that from the jury. Four defendants go on trial here today. The others go to court later this year.

Kareen Wynter, CNN, Orange County, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Two of the three men charged in the dragging death of a black man in Jasper, Texas, eight years ago -- remember that story? -- they claimed to be members of the Aryan Brotherhood.

Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: In a moment, our top stories, including a gruesome discovery. More than 30 bodies found in Baghdad.

Then, White House reaction to the president's new slip in the polls.

A judge threatens a mistrial in the case against Zacarias Moussaoui.

Plus an Alabama cow testing positive for mad cow disease.

And firefighters making some progress on those huge Texas wildfires. Nearly 700,000 acres have burned, 11 are dead.

Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Here is what it looks like in New York City this morning. You can see there, not such a great-looking day.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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