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American Morning
Florida Recovery Still not Complete From Last Year's Hurricane Season; Hostage Rescue; Kabul Attack
Aired June 01, 2006 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's June 1st, and hurricane season begins right now as well. The tropics are calm for now, but the hurricane forecast is not good. We'll have that for you coming up.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Susan Candiotti, live in Miami Shores, Florida. Are this neighborhood and others ready for the start of hurricane season? That story coming up.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Gerri Willis, live from Miami Shores. Are you ready for hurricane season? And is this house protected? We'll have tips to help you get ready for hurricane season.
AMANDA ROSSETER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Amanda Rosseter in Birmingham, Alabama. A day-long manhunt ended in dramatic fashion yesterday on the second floor of this hotel behind me. I'll tell you how it unfolded in five minutes.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In your face and number one, the Dixie Chicks are riding high again with their new hit record. They've got lots to say about it.
Those stories and much more all ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.
It is the first day of hurricane season. We're bracing for another long, hard summer of big and frequent storms.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's get right to our severe weather expert, Chad Myers, at the CNN weather center.
Hey, Chad. Good morning.
MYERS: And good morning, guys.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: Thanks.
MYERS: You're welcome. S. O'BRIEN: States along the Gulf Coast are getting red for the next big storm. Here's a closer look for you this morning. Let's go state by state.
Starting in Houston, Texas, a vote is coming next week on a new $600,000 phone system. It's going to help warn parents about any school closings or early releases if a hurricane does threaten that city.
Going east to Louisiana, there's a key report on structural failures. It's coming out today. The Army Corps of Engineers releasing the most detailed look yet at the levee system and the flood walls in New Orleans and why they failed. This, as a new report says that certain areas of the city are sinking faster than previously thought.
Here's a look at what it looked like after Hurricane Katrina. You remember these pictures, of course. CNN will have more details on that report when it comes out at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
Let's take you to Mississippi now. Counties have patched together a new communication system for local and state police. That way they'll be able to communicate during any disaster. A statewide program is being worked on. It's not going to be ready this year, though.
Alabama has several new programs in place for their coastal counties. They include a coordinated system of evacuation centers and school buses that would be standing by to help evacuate people who don't have transportation out of the city.
And then in Florida, let's go there now. A special hurricane tax holiday is ending today. The tax break gives people added incentive to stock up on critical things. You just saw the things Chad mentioned, like generators, supplies for emergencies before it's too late, before a hurricane is actually on the way -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: In Florida, they know more about hurricanes than they care to. Seven big storms, seven of them hit the Sunshine State just in the past two years. You would think with all that experience Floridians would all be ready for whatever lies ahead this season. If you thought that, you'd be wrong.
CNN's Susan Candiotti with more from Miami Shores this morning.
Hello, Susan.
CANDIOTTI: Hello, miles.
Well, recovery here in Miami Shores appears to be complete, but that is not the case everywhere in south Florida, where it is not uncommon to see some neighborhoods that are full of blue tarps covering rooftops. And for those people in particular there is a surge of anxiety as hurricane season gets under way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MARY JOHNSON, HURRICANE VICTIM: Up in here, there's mold everywhere.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Mary Johnson can still see and smell the effects of Hurricane Wilma from last year.
(on camera): How can you breathe in here?
JOHNSON: It's very hard. But When you don't have nowhere else to go what choice do you have?
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): In Belle Glade, Florida, Johnson's story is not uncommon. No one will repair her home's interior unless the roof is fixed first. There's no insurance money left to do that, and FEMA turned her down. But condemning homes like Johnson's is not an option.
SHERI TAYLOR, DISASTER RESPONSE COALITION: What is the best thing, to render these families homeless, or to try to keep them there until such time as we can get either volunteers in to repair the homes or until we can find financial resources?
CANDIOTTI: After getting rocked by at least three hurricanes in the last two years, scores homes of homes in Bell Glade here have yet to be repaired.
(on camera): People here face the same problems as others across the state. For example, if you have insurance to get a new roof, more often than not there are not enough building materials or contractors to go around. If you don't have insurance or FEMA writes you a check that isn't enough to cover the cost, well, you're also playing a waiting game.
(voice-over): Blue tarps are a common sight in South Florida. A recent survey of coastal residents says 83 percent have taken no steps to make their homes stronger. Up to 68 percent have no hurricane survival plan or supplies. Florida officials are running TV ads designed to shock people into action.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 911.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Water is all in the house. The roof is completely caved in on us. We need emergency assistance, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, ma'am. We can't respond now because of the condition of the hurricane.
CANDIOTTI: If the ads work, all the better.
But what about Mary Johnson?
JOHNSON: I am very worried.
CANDIOTTI: For some, help is on the way.
SHEILA JOHNSON, "WE HELP": We're the last resort when everything else has failed. And everybody has been waiting, actually, for assistance.
CANDIOTTI: We Help is one Palm Beach County group organizing volunteers and donors to get the job done. And it's working. Johnson will get a new roof. Many others are still waiting, as hurricane season gets under way.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: And Floridians are urged to be self-sufficient, to have supplies that will carry them through at least three to seven days after a storm. Cities are being told the same thing because you cannot, as we have seen, always count on the cavalry to come riding in right away -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: But for whatever reason, Susan, people delay doing it, don't they?
CANDIOTTI: They like to procrastinate. We're lazy, generally speaking, and people just never think it's going happen to them, I suppose.
M. O'BRIEN: I think denial is a powerful thing. All right. Susan Candiotti, in Miami Shores, thanks very much.
Be sure to stay with CNN for complete coverage of the hurricane season. CNN remains your hurricane headquarters -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: I want to tell you about a dramatic rescue in Alabama. A woman is safe, a man in custody today after Birmingham Police spent all day yesterday hot on the trail of a suspected kidnapper. It all ended with a dramatic rescue at a hotel.
Amanda Rosseter is live for us in Birmingham this morning.
Amanda, good morning.
ROSSETER: Good morning, Soledad. This all ended as...
S. O'BRIEN: How did -- go ahead. I'm sorry, Amanda.
ROSSETER: As you mentioned, this all ended in dramatic fashion at the hotel just behind me. And it all came to a dramatic ending because of sort of the old-fashioned way, if you will, a tip to police. We understand that a male caller made a phone call to police and told them that the suspect and the victim were in this hotel room, gave specifics here. Gave not only the name of the hotel, where it was, but also gave the room number that they were in.
So some real specifics here. And that's how this dramatic ending came to be.
We understand that local police and U.S. marshals surrounded the hotel and they stormed the room. They brought out Sandra Eubanks Gregory, who was the victim here. And she is safe and sound this morning. And they also brought out and arrested Diedrich Riam (ph), who is the suspect. And he's in the Birmingham city jail this morning -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Amanda, give us a little background here. We know that her actual abduction at gunpoint was caught on videotape, but how did they know so quickly that something bad had happened to her?
ROSSETER: Well, she is a -- she's a local attorney. She practices family law. And she was on her way to work when she was getting into her car in the parking lot right outside her apartment in a downtown Birmingham area. And there's a surveillance camera that looks down on that parking lot.
And the tape catches her getting into her car, and a gentleman approaches her, and she attempts to back away from the car, and then suddenly gets into the car. Presumably, at that point, he holds her up at gunpoint, and that's when it all ensued. They drive off from there in that car -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Amanda Rosseter with an update on that story. What a lucky, lucky ending for that woman.
Amanda, thank you.
You'll want to stay with us. In the next half-hour on AMERICAN MORNING, we're going to get some expert advice on what is really important and how to protect yourself in situations like that attorney found herself in whether you're in a parking garage or any place, really, where someone could -- could grab you. Bob Stuber is going to talk with us about that -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Always worth listening to Bob.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, he's got great, great tips.
M. O'BRIEN: It's always very practical, good stuff. Stuff -- stuff you can really use.
Questions for us in the meantime. As a matter of fact, do you want to appear on the -- can you do the Miles cam today?
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I will be -- can I do a guest appearance?
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Guest appearance. Soledad is on the hook now. So this will be very special.
S. O'BRIEN: The last question I got was about my clothes, which, you know what? Come on, man, there's more to talk about than clothes and hair.
M. O'BRIEN: Clothes and hair and whether we're married. Those are the three touchstones of our existence on the Miles cam. AM@CNN.com is the place to send us questions, and as we always do on Thursday, we have a special Pipeline broadcast, 10:30 Eastern Time. We invite you to check out CNN.com/pipeline any old time, where you can be your own news producer and look at all of the feeds we use to put together our broadcast. But in this case, you do get to see the old Miles cam, and in this case, the Miles and Soledad cam.
S. O'BRIEN: Hey, best question of the day...
M. O'BRIEN: Yes?
S. O'BRIEN: I'm going to personally buy them a mug from the CNN store and send it to you if you give me the best question of the day.
M. O'BRIEN: There you go, ooh.
S. O'BRIEN: How about that, raising the stakes.
M. O'BRIEN: Upping the ante here.
S. O'BRIEN: Upping the ante.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. We're going to call it O'Brien cam today. All right. We'll see you then.
Hurricane season starts today, but a poll shows most folks who would be in harm's haven't done anything to make their homes stronger, more hurricane-proof. Coming up, we'll give you some practical tips on that, how you can get your house ready for a hurricane.
S. O'BRIEN: Also this morning, everybody is focused on fixing the levees in New Orleans, but what about the hospitals, the emergency care, after they were devastated by Hurricane Katrina? Sanjay is going to join us. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has that.
And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Vienna. She's talking about Iran's nukes. Why is the U.S. ready to talk now? We'll take a closer look.
That's all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Some breaking news to get right to you this morning. This is just in.
A U.S. Army helicopter has crashed near Doerun, Georgia. Early word that the chopper crashed into a TV tower. Unclear exactly what happened, though.
It apparently took off from Hunter Airfield in Savannah. It's unclear how many people were on board. We do not know the fate of the crew. As many as five people may have been on board that chopper. The craft went down, we're told by a local sheriff's dispatcher, just after 8:00 in the morning.
We're going to update you on that story as we continue through the morning. A report from Afghanistan today has an accusation that U.S. troops fired into a rioting crowd on Monday, killed three people. A coalition spokeswoman tells Reuters that American soldiers fired in self-defense. No mention of anybody being killed. And we're learning more stunning details about what happened during that riot.
Let's get right to Barbara Starr. She's live by videophone for us from Kabul this morning.
Hey, Barbara. Good morning.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Soledad.
Well, now we have been to one of the sites destroyed in Monday's riot.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice over): At the Kabul headquarters of CARE, the international relief organization, the destruction from Monday's riot is almost overwhelming. Director Paul Barker says a mob of men came to this neighborhood not, he thinks, looking to attack CARE in particular, but more any Western organization.
PAUL BARKER, CARE: They were being directed, it seemed, by three or four older males telling them this is a target, that's a target, that's not a target. And they were directed to the CARE office amongst the ones that was a target.
STARR: Barker estimates 100 rioters then broke in the front door, began looking for money and equipment, and torching the buildings.
(on camera): Basically, they came through this whole area that we're now seeing?
BARKER: Yes, the building is on this side that they totally destroyed.
STARR (voice over): But in an act of extraordinary courage against the anti-Western violence that erupted, some of the young Afghan worker at CARE tried to fight the mob off.
BARKER: Some guards and some young men who work for us who couldn't hold themselves back, and there was a bit of fighting.
STARR: The mob tried to open the safe, but failed. In frustration, rioters simply began destroying everything in their path.
BARKER: There's a lot of resentment at the rate of reconstruction, of perceived weakness and corruption in the government, the affluence of the foreigners here. A long-standing problem here has the been the aggressive driving habits of some of the foreign military. STARR (on camera): When the rioters entered the compound, two Afghan women hid five small children in the nursery building behind me, but the violence only continued to grow. One of the women managed to escape with most of the children through this gate out into the city streets, but one woman was left behind with one small girl. The rioters threatened to throw the little girl into the fire because she had fair skin and they thought she was a Westerner until she started to speak in her native language.
(voice over): It is on this small patch of burned ground that so many of Kabul's poorest have found comfort. These workers help feed 10,000 Afghan widows here, but today they are digging through the ruins, looking for the remnants of a holy Koran. Their citizens burned in a riot that stunned this city.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: And, Soledad, everyone here in Kabul is waiting to see what happens tomorrow after Friday prayers -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, Barbara, those details are just horrifying. That poor woman and her baby and then, of course, everybody else. That's awful, awful.
Thanks for the update.
Barbara Starr for us in Kabul this morning -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: A stunning turnaround for the Bush administration. For the first time since Iranians overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and seized hostages 27 years ago, a U.S. administration says it is ready and willing to talk with an Iranian regime. The subject, Iran's seemingly unbridled nuclear ambitions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: Our choice is to provide an atmosphere in which Iran comes back to negotiations and we solve this by a negotiated track. We're trying to give that the very best chance. Or if Iran is not prepared to do this through a negotiated track, to bring isolation on Iran so that Iran realizes it doesn't have any other option.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: So why the 180 and why now?
Ken Pollack is a former CIA analyst now with the Saban Center at Brookings Institution. A frequent guest on the program and all over CNN, for that matter.
Ken, good to have you with us.
KEN POLLACK, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION SABAN CENTER: Thanks, Miles. Good to be here.
M. O'BRIEN: Why now?
POLLACK: Well, I think that the key, really, is that you've got very good negotiations going on between the United States, the European powers, the Russians and the Chinese. The Bush administration, along with the British, French and Germans, have really sensed a seismic shift in the Russian and Chinese positions, in particular Vladimir Putin in his last conversation with President Bush made clear that Russia really did share U.S. interests about curbing the Iranian nuclear program. And the Russians, the Chinese, the Europeans all made clear to the U.S. that we if wanted them to take the next step, go ahead and come forward with a U.N. Security Council resolution that demanded Iran shut down its programs and even layout some real sanctions on Iran, that it was going to be necessary for the U.S. to take this step.
M. O'BRIEN: So, in other words, the administration looked at what the Europeans were doing, they saw much more in common with their position and felt they could come on board? Is it as simple as that?
POLLACK: It basically is. I mean, obviously, the details are incredibly complicated, but the fact of the matter is that the Europeans have been stick with the administration in the face of a lot of expectations that they wouldn't, and the Russians and the Chinese have actually been much more sympathetic to the administration's position, again, than I think many people expected. And the administration has sensed that there was a real opportunity here, and they decided to come forward because they were being told by all these different countries this is going to be part of what it takes to get us on board.
M. O'BRIEN: What happens if the Iranians say the U.S. is a part of this, we're not talking now?
POLLACK: Well, frankly, I think that's going to be a very hard statement for the Iranians to make. That's -- their initial -- their initial rebuffs have mainly been about, well, it's not really a good offer and the U.S. needs to be forthcoming. But I think the Iranians, at least the pragmatic members of the Iranian government, recognize that this is something that the Europeans, the Russians and Chinese wanted to see. That most of the great powers of the world regard this as a very legitimate offer, and if they turn it down flat they're going to look like they're the recalcitrant party, they're the ones who aren't interested in a peaceful solution.
That will put them in a box.
M. O'BRIEN: A lot of posturing to consider here. I had Bob Baer on the program yesterday, a former colleague of yours over at the CIA who is now writing books. This is the person who was the real life character on which George Clooney played that role in "Syriana". He had an interesting point to make about Iran and how the Iran situation has been allowed to fester.
Let's listen for one second.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BOB BAER, FMR. CIA CASE OFFICER: The truth is Iran is a country we can never fight. We can't invade, we've been unable to change the leadership. The losses we've taken from Iran are fairly minimal. Well, they're not minimal to the people who died, of course, but we just couldn't take -- it was a bridge too far.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: How much of that is true? Is it because Iran is just too difficult to approach militarily that the administration is forced into this position?
POLLACK: Well, certainly, I think there is some element of truth to that. I wouldn't go so far as to say we can't fight Iran. We can fight Iran. The United States has enormous military capacity, and the Iranians are clearly very nervous about an American military move.
It's more a matter of what the cost would be to us and would it be worth it to us? And beyond that, I think we need to keep in mind, the diplomatic option to solving Iran's nuclear crisis really the best one out there. It's not just something that you want to do because, yes, you always want to exhaust every diplomatic option before you go to force, but if we're going resolve this, this is absolutely the best way to do it.
M. O'BRIEN: But if they truly do wish to develop nuclear weapons, as some would suggest, is there a diplomatic solution?
POLLACK: I think there is. And I think that, you know, it's very easy to say Iran wants nuclear weapons. Quite frankly, there are a lot of people around the world who want nuclear weapons.
I'd like to have a billion dollars. The question is what will I be willing to do to get it? What kind of sacrifices would I be willing to make?
And in the case of Iran, it's clear there are a lot of Iranians who want a nuclear weapon, certainly in their government. But there are also a lot of Iranians who want to have a healthy economy, to have a better relationship with the world. And what we've typically seen is they actually value that a lot more.
M. O'BRIEN: Interesting points. Ken Pollack at the Brookings Institution Saban Center.
Thanks, as always.
POLLACK: Thank you, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, Dr. Sanjay Gupta brings us 24 hours inside a New Orleans ER. The city's hospitals were overwhelmed by Hurricane Katrina. What's happening this time around as this new hurricane season gets under way? Then later, a carjacking and kidnapping caught on tape. This one had a happy ending. We're going to tell you, though, how you could protect yourself.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: It's June 1st, and that means the hurricane season begins today. Last season, of course, was absolutely devastating to the Gulf Coast. In New Orleans, there's been progress made on the levees and evacuation plans, too, but what about medical care?
In this morning's "House Call," Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look at what remains of what was once one of the world's best trauma centers. He's at the CNN Center in Atlanta this morning.
Hey, Sanjay. Good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Really remarkable. You're of course talking about Charity Hospital. It was one of the largest trauma centers in the country, largely responsible for taking care of the indigent and the ignored in that part of the country. It is shut down. There are no beds in that hospital that are open today.
We wanted to give a sense of how it's all working now. We spent 24 hours in the New Orleans emergency system just to find out how stretched their resources really are.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice over): 1:22 a.m., all is quiet in New Orleans. Five minutes later, an ambulance driver phones in. Two minutes later, that ambulance brings in a 24-year-old man who is dying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa! He took all of these?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa, man!
GUPTA: And doctors say he took nearly 100 tablets of Extra Strength Tylenol in an apparent suicide attempt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy's going die unless we move on him now.
GUPTA: Believe it or not, this guy is considered lucky. He has a bed, he has a room, and he was seen by a doctor quickly. Most patients here do not.
In New Orleans, most of those who want to live are waiting. (on camera): Let me try to make this as simple as possible. What you're looking at is the board that keeps track of all the patients at the only emergency room in downtown New Orleans.
There's 15 beds here, 13 of those beds are currently occupied, and those patients have nowhere to go. That leaves only two beds for the about 50 patients that come into this emergency room today alone. The question becomes -- the problem becomes, where do those patients go?
DR. JAMES MOISES, TULANE MEDICAL CENTER: Two, three, four, five...
GUPTA (voice over): At the end of day a tally is taken.
MOISES: ... 11, 12, which is a lot. I mean, that's 12 patients that have medical issues that are not being addressed. I mean, that's -- if you're one of those 12 people, that's -- that's a bad thing. Pre-Katrina, this would never have happened.
GUPTA: Dr. James Moises was in charge of the ER last night. He says the waiting is becoming worse.
10:30 a.m., William Geskin (ph) arrives with a broken collarbone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would venture to say it's pretty serious, but I haven't seen anybody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry you had to wait so long.
GUPTA: Six hours later, he got a sling and a prescription for some pain meds.
7:30 a.m., a boy with an infected foot waited more than 12 hours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it gives you a real-time analysis of what beds are available.
GUPTA (on camera): Eight beds for all of New Orleans?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's in 62?
GUPTA (voice over): It's all the more stunning given that this was a city that had one of the most famed trauma centers in the country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: You know, and just to update you, the 24-year-old that we profiled in that piece who swallowed a hundred Tylenol is actually going to be OK because he actually got the care that he needed. But so many people with less life-threatening injuries are just wait an extremely long time, and it doesn't look like it's getting really any better anytime soon -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: That's a disturbing report. All right, Sanjay. Thank you.
GUPTA: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: A short break. We're back in just a moment.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody, to the last half hour of AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.
S. O'BRIEN: We've talked a lot, obviously, about hurricane season today, because June 1st is officially the start of hurricane season. We'll also talk a little bit about being prepared. Chad showed us his hurricane kit this morning, and also we've been profiling how the states individually are preparing on the bigger level. But what can you do in your own home? When you'll get some of the stats, it's pretty remarkable -- 75 percent say they don't feel -- say they feel vulnerable to a hurricane or tornado or flooding; 60 percent, though, say they have no family disaster plan; 68 percent say they have no hurricane-survival kit; 83 percent say they have taken absolutely no steps to make their homes any stronger. Pretty shocking numbers.
Let's get right to Gerri Willis. She's in Miami Shores, Florida this morning with a specific look on how you could make your home stronger.
Hey, Gerri, good morning.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. Good to see you.
You're absolutely right. People are not prepared out there. And as a matter of fact, we have someone out there who can help you be more prepared at your house, Rob Davis, who is from the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes. He has some great tips for prepare your home for any storm really at all, not even a hurricane, but maybe just a major windstorm.
Let's start with the major vulnerabilities. What are they?
ROB DAVIS, FED. ALLIANCE FOR SAFE HOMES: Well, first you have your windows, and then you have your doors and your garage doors, and then your roof. Your window, you need to protect from the push and pull of the wind. Flying debris also. Doors and garage doors. The garage door is the largest opening on your house, and when that comes in...
WILLIS: And garage doors the biggest problem, right? Because they can ultimately make your roof pop off like a cork, right? DAVIS: That's absolutely correct. They allow the wind inside, and the wind pressurizes the house, and then it just allows the roof to come off much easier.
WILLIS: And you say front door's in particular that can be a problem. What's your solution for making your doors safe?
DAVIS: Well, doors we like to see covered with approved shutters, just like the windows, just to prevent any kind of openings and allowing the wind and the water inside. We do like to see that one door not be covered by shutters, instead make it impact resistant, just in case you have get out of your house in an emergency, you will be able to egress safely.
WILLIS: So let's talk a little bit about the roof, because I know people worry about the roof, having problems with shingles coming off. How do you know that you might have a problem?
DAVIS: Well, you can get do an inspection. If you can get up and move around in the attic safely, I would first look and see if there's any broken or cracked members. Second, see if there's any stray nails, and I'm talking about the longer nails, not the shorter roofing nails. And third, look and see if the roof-to-wall connections, see if there are any metal straps down there, and also if your roof leaks at all, that could be a good sign that your roof is a little bit weaker than it should be.
WILLIS: Now some of this goes to construction, just the way your roof is made, can create a problem. Explain.
DAVIS: That's absolutely right. The two basic shapes for roofs that you see is hip roof, and that slopes up on all sides, all directions up to the top, and then the gable roof has more of an A- frame end. The hip roof just allows the wind to flow around it a little bit easier, and it doesn't push and pull on the roof as much. The gable end just presents a flat level, and that just allows a little bit more for the wind to push up against.
WILLIS: All right. Now any last-minute advice for people, who may have a storm approaching? You know, it was raining this morning in Miami Shores pretty hard. What should you do when the storm is approaching? Just the last-minute piece of advice?
DAVIS: I would -- if you're going do window protection, you need to do temporary protection. Go ahead and get your plywood up. Make sure it's the correct thickness, and make sure it's installed correctly. The best way to go really is the approved shutters, but just for a temporary emergency board-up procedure, put 5/8-inch plywood up and make sure it's installed and fastened correctly.
WILLIS: And obviously tape on the windows, that's a myth.
DAVIS: That's an absolute myth. I would stay away from that. That's not going protect you whatsoever.
WILLIS: All right, well, thank you so much for that, Rob. You can get more information on rob's Web site flash.org.
And this weekend on Saturday morning, 9:30 a.m. Eastern on "OPEN HOUSE," we're going to have more tips on how to keep you, your family and even your pets safe. We'll have lots of details on danger zones across the country where you might see problems -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Gerri, some excellent advice. Gerri Willis for us this morning. Appreciate it, Ger.
Short break. We're back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: No regret. That's what the Dixie Chicks are saying about their tumultuous last three years. Criticism, protests, even death threats ended up providing plenty of material for their new album, and that has them back at the top of the charts.
CNN entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas has the story.
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SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Those were fighting words and the Dixie Chicks came out swinging. Round one, a "Time" magazine cover story. Round two, a TV media blitz, round three, putting out their new CD at a fan friendly $10 and the winner of a public showdown between the Dixie Chicks and the country music community, according to "Billboard" magazine, it's the Chicks.
GEOFF MAYFIELD, DIRECTOR OF CHARTS, BILLBOARD MAGAZINE: As we expected Dixie Chicks album debuted at number one in the "Billboard" 200 and of course on our country album chart as well.
VARGAS: That makes the Chicks the first female group in history to notch three number one albums.
MAYFIELD: The album opens at 525,000 copies, which is smaller than the first week they had for their last studio album "Home" in 2002, but it's still the third largest sales week that we've seen this year.
VARGAS: It's a far cry from 2003 since before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, when lead singer Natalie Maines told London concert goers she was quote, embarrassed to be from the same state as George Bush. Eventually Maines issued a qualified apology.
NATALIE MAINES, LEAD SINGER: My apology was for the words that I used, but not for the motivation behind the words and for my beliefs.
VARGAS: But outcry from the conservative country community was loud and clear. There were CD smashings, picketing, even death threats. Many radio stations refused to play their music.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course she was wrong for what she said.
VARGAS: Now it may seem that radio's boycott has backfired, driving consumers to purchase the music they aren't hearing on the air waves.
VINCE GILL, RECORDING ARTIST: I have a big problem with what they did to the Dixie Chicks. I don't think that their political stance should in any way have their career taken away from them. That was just wrong.
VARGAS: Indeed, somebody is buying the record, half a million somebodies.
MAYFIELD: There could be people who either are opposed to the war in Iraq or opposed to Bush, who might feel sorry for some of the negative attention that's been accorded the Dixie Chicks and they may have run out and bought their very first country album.
VARGAS: This leaves one to ponder with President Bush's approval rating at an all-time low, maybe more folks agree more with the Dixie Chicks in 2006 than in 2003.
Sibila Vargas, CNN, Hollywood.
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S. O'BRIEN: The new CD is not only number one on the Billboard charts. They're number one at amazon.com and among the top downloads at Apple's iTunes. If you want to hear more of what the Dixie Chicks had to say to Larry King, go to CNN Pipeline, there all day for your convenience.
"CNN LIVE" is coming up next. Let's get right to Daryn Kagan.
Hey, Daryn. Good morning. What are you working on?
Well, she's obviously hard at work, working on something. We'll talk to Daryn in a bit.
Short break. We're back in just a moment.
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S. O'BRIEN: "CNN LIVE TODAY" is coming up next. As I promised, let's get right to Daryn.
Hey, Daryn. Good morning.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I was sitting here, I was, but nobody can hear me.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, it was technical difficultly. But yet, here we are.
Soledad, "LIVE TODAY" has the skinny on heartburn. Those extra pounds are more than extra caboose on your back side. Researchers are finding even modest weight gain can cause acid reflux to flare up in women. Speaking of heartbone, Prince Albert of Monaco proves his playboy as a Mediterranean image reports today that the monarch has not one,, but two children from his former flames. Plus, an oddity from China.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The best result of the operation is getting rid of the weaker arm, in terms of function and shape, while making some repairs on the one we keep.
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KAGAN: A baby boy born with three arms. Doctors have a tremendous decision to make. Which one will they take? You'll also stay up to date with any breaking news when you join me for "LIVE TODAY," 10:00 Eastern, top of the hour.
S. O'BRIEN: Gosh, what an amazing picture. Gosh, it looks like the baby's in good shape, though. So maybe it'll go well.
All right, Daryn, thanks. We'll be watching.
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M. O'BRIEN: All right, have you seen that shocking piece of videotape? It came from Birmingham, Alabama. There it is. A woman there, highlighted, carjacked and kidnapped in a parking lot yesterday. Nine hours later, she was rescued and the suspect caught, we're happy to tell you. I'm sure a lot of you out there seeing all of this have been wondering what you would do in that circumstance.
Well, this is a good time to check in with our friend Bob Stuber. He is a family safety expert. He joins us, as he always does, from Sacramento, California, along with Jen Magaroff (ph), a former member of the AM team who bolted and left us and is now is obviously working as a model. Is that it? Or something like that.
Bob, good to have you with us this morning. Let's talk about scenarios and what you're supposed to do. You know, one thing that is basic and I tell my kids when they're walking the streets of Manhattan, you've got to be aware of your surroundings all of the time, right?
BOB STUBER, FAMILY SAFETY EXPERT: Yes, you do. You have to be aware. And to break that down, what that means is, you know, the iPod, the cell phone, these are the things that take away our awareness. These are the things that take away our awareness. These are things that bad guys, carjackers, are looking for because that makes you the easier mark.
So when you're out in public, what you want to do is you want to look around. You want to know what's going on around you. You want to know who's moving around you. And always have an idea of what you would do if something happened. What would you do if somebody tried to grab you and, say, force you into a car.
For instance, the last thing you'd want to do is get in the car. If you get in the car, your chances of getting killed go right through the roof. And in most cases, that's exactly what happens. If the guy has a gun, for instance, the gun isn't there to necessarily shoot you with, the gun is there to threaten you. The gun is there to get you to do what he wants you to do. He wants cash, he's got other ideas in mind, and the gun is for that purpose. He doesn't want to attract attention, so if he was to shoot you or hurt you right there on the street or in the parking lot, he would do just that, attract attention.
M. O'BRIEN: That's easy to say right now until you're out there, you know, on the business end of a gun, of course. then that could change the way you react, but give us practical tips here with Jen offering some help. How would you fend off an attacker? I guess you're going to play the bad guy here. How would you fend off an attacker if you're at your car?
STUBER: Several things you could do. The first thing I would recommend you do is take the keys and throw them. Throw them a distance from you, just like Jen did. Now the focus is over there on the keys, because he wants to get in the car and go somewhere, he has to go get the keys or somebody does, which gives you another chance to get away.
M. O'BRIEN: Couldn't that make him mad, though? Wouldn't it be a bad idea, though?
STUBER: He's already mad. He's crazy. He's out there with a gun, trying to get you in the car.
M. O'BRIEN: That's a good point. Very good point. He's crazy.
STUBER: So I don't think you're going to -- yes, you're not going to make your situation any worse. You're going enhance it. I know most people are looking for the real safe choice, that one that says, hey, nothing bad is going to happen. But when this happens, when you're in this situation, you have to make some choices.
Something else you can do is grab something. Now, in this case, Jen's got a garbage can. Something as simple as that, if you hold on to that, it makes it virtually impossible for somebody to force you into a car. They can get you or the garbage can, but they can't get both of you
M. O'BRIEN: Interesting. So be on the lookout for just stuff around you could use as either an offensive or defensive, too. Would you look for an offensive tool? And one other thing. I've always heard -- the keys can be like brass knuckles if you use them right. You say throw them away. I've heard some people say keep them in your hand and you can really strike a blow.
STUBER: Well, you can strike a blow with the keys, maybe, if it gets to that point. But what could be better than that is,for instance, like the windshield wiper on the car. You could pull this backwards. It wouldn't take much to break it off. Now you've got a better weapon than the keys. You've got something that puts some distance between you and that person. So there, there are weapons in your environment that you can use, you just have to know what they are. Antenna off a car, windshield wiper, the keys can work. In fact, if you end up getting in the car, you know, none of these things come to mind.
M. O'BRIEN: You don't want this to happen, but if you're stuck. What do you -- you're in the car, you got to keep your presence of mind, what do you do?
STUBER: Yes, you have to escalate these scenarios. If you end up in the car, if you can disable the car, then you've kind of stopped the crime. One thing you can do is take either a button off your clothing, a stick off the floorboard, anything that you can stick in the ignition cylinder, break it off. Now the car's not going to go anywhere. He can't get the keys in there to go anywhere. So the car is going to sit right there. Chances are, that's when he's going to abandon the crime.
And if it goes further than that, you're going down the road and he's driving you, making you drive to ATMs and places like this, when he gets out of the car or you get out of the car, that's the time to take off. Just because this person has a weapon doesn't mean you have to do what he says. Your chances of being rescued are better if you take off running.
Here's how it works, real quickly. If you take off running, there's only a 50 percent chance the person's going shoot you. Of that, there's only a 50 percent chance he's going to hit you. Of that, there's only a 50 percent chance that it's a mortal wound. You end up with a 12 percent chance of getting injured if you run, and almost a 90 percent chance of probably getting worse than that if you don't.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, so just to button all this up, if you will, Bob. The one thing that comes through loud and clear is don't be passive about these things. You need to be as aggressive as you can be.
STUBER: You have to be aggressive. You have to make some of these choices. You can't just hope that this thing is going have a happy ending, because this is not the kind of person that's likely to let it go that way. So, yes, you have to be aggressive and you have to have an idea of what some of these choices are, like the ones we've looked that this morning.
M. O'BRIEN: Bob Stuber is our family safety expert. Jen Magaroff, former producer. Next time we'll give her a speaking role. We'll have to talk to her agent about that, though. All right, thank you, both.
S. O'BRIEN: Excellent tips, you know.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's useful.
S. O'BRIEN: I think every single woman thinks about that stuff.
M. O'BRIEN: He always has good stuff, stuff you can really use. S. O'BRIEN: Yes, true. Coming up at the top of the hour, we're going to hear from our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis. She's live in Florida, going to help you get your home ready for the big storm now that hurricane season is officially underway.
Plus, a convicted killer demands a sex change or he says he's going kill himself. Here's a little interesting nugget. Guess who he'd like to pay for the said operation?
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, gosh. I know where this is going.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes. Much more AMERICAN MORNING, right after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Guess what? Time to check in with Miles as he gets ready for Miles Cam down in his office. There he is. All right -- ooh. That looks like a pretty good shot today, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Scratching out, yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Here's a question. Are you ready for it?
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: It goes like this. "Is AMERICAN MORNING getting a new set?" Did I write this question this morning? "If you are, any idea when you're going to be moving to it?" Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Take a look at the new set. There it is. We're going to do it from the office. We have actually one more temporary set coming up. That's on June 12th. We'll see you from there. It's actually the Lou Dobbs set, which we've tweaked a little bit for our purposes. And then we're going to clear the space where we're in, which we share with the "SHOWBIZ" folks on Headline News, make ourselves a new whiz-bang set there, and that will be rolled out in -- I don't know when. Do you know?
S. O'BRIEN: As soon as possible. We're out of times, Miles, but that's a very good answer to that first questions. Thanks. Miles on the Miles Cam this morning for you, if you want to check him out on Pipeline.
That's it for AMERICAN MORNING. Let's get right to Daryn. She's at the CNN Center. She'll be with you for the next couple of hours on CNN LIVE TODAY.
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