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American Morning
Democrats Set to Announce Iraq Plan
Aired March 08, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: The situation facing retailers in this country, in about a half hour. For now, the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts now.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: All right, Ali. Thank you.
A deadly inferno: A horrifying fire rips right through a home overnight. Fire fighters were catching children who were tossed out of windows. But at least eight young kids are among the dead this morning.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: War divide: Democrats push again today to pull the U.S. out of Iraq. But one top commander says more troops are needed into next year, and maybe beyond.
S. O'BRIEN: Safety lessons: Ranchers are passing on to farmers what they learned in how to keep our meat safe; now it's for produce.
We're live this morning from London, Indonesia, Washington, D.C. and New York on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Welcome. It's Thursday, March 8th. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: I'm Miles O'Brien. We're glad you are with us.
S. O'BRIEN: We begin in Iraq this morning where the new general in charge says there is no military solution to the violence. No end in sight to the U.S. occupation, too, apparently. Early this morning General David Petraeus faced off with reporters in Baghdad for the first time since he assumed command. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, CMDR., MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE, IRAQ: Putting Iraq above personal and sectarian agendas will be critical, as Iraqi leaders and the Iraqi people grapple with some very tough issues in the months ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr is watching it all from the Pentagon for us this morning.
Barbara, good morning. Is this Petraeus asking really the Pentagon for additional assistance? BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: He is, Soledad. Because for the moment it's more troops for Iraq, not less troops.
In fact, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, just yesterday, publicly acknowledged that General Petraeus is asking for more troops. Listen to what Secretary Gates had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GATES, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We sent a new commander to Iraq, and he has come back with a request for an additional couple of thousand people to help maintain -- help oversee detainees. He anticipates that as the brigades come in, as the Baghdad security plan is implemented, that there will be a requirement for -- that they will pick up a significant number of additional detainees.
And he wants more military police to help with that. That's a new requirement by a new commander, subsequent to the submission of the supplemental to the Congress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: This security crackdown, Soledad, which now will require another 2,000 military police, every expectation is that this security crackdown will last for some time to come. There was an open acknowledgment yesterday that the military is now planning for these increased troop levels to be maintained in Iraq through much of 2008 -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: It certainly sounds like it. We heard, again, there's no military solution. We have heard that before. Is the plan then just to focus on quelling the violence?
STARR: Well, that is the goal of the security plan, of course. But, as you say, we have heard that before. What General Petraeus and others are emphasizing is no matter how long they stick with the security plan, they must have the economic and political progress from the new Iraqi government. That, that is really going to be vital to bringing the violence down -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us this morning. Thanks, Barbara.
In Washington, D.C., this morning as well, Democrats will try to unveil a new plan to bring the troops home by fall of next year, maybe even sooner. Democrats say it's linked to the series of goals for the struggling Iraqi government. Now, if the government hits the benchmarks U.S. troops could come home even sooner.
M. O'BRIEN: In Phoenix, a former Navy sailor is behind bars charged with spying and helping to plot terror attacks aimed at U.S. warships. Our Homeland Security Reporter Jeanne Meserve joining us with details.
Good morning, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
His name is Hassan Abujihaad, though he was known as Paul R. Hall. The allegations are that in 2001, when he was serving on the Navy ship USS Benfold in the Middle East, he provided classified information to people the government alleges were providing material support and resources to terrorists.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBORAH MCCARLEY, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: He provided details of a battle group's transition, or battle group's movements, from one place to another. As they engaged in missions concerning Al Qaeda, and as they were enforcing sanctions against the Taliban.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: According to government documents, Abu Jihad discussed the battle group's perceived vulnerability to terrorist attack. He even described a force protection briefing given on board the ship and praised the attack on the U.S.S. Cole, which had taken place a year earlier.
Abujihaad allegedly provided this information to a London-based group called Azzam Publications, which terrorist experts describe as a clearinghouse for jihadist information. Two men associated with that site are currently in custody in Britain fighting extradition to the United States for trial -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Jeanne, tell us a little bit more about this investigation. Any other possible links to terror that go back to this person?
MESERVE: Miles, there is another twist. Abu Jihad was discharged from the Navy in 2002 before, of course, they knew about any of this. In 2004 he lived for a time with a man named Derrick Shareef. Shareef was arrested in December charged with plotting to set off grenades at a Rockford, Illinois shopping mall, during the Christmas season.
According to the criminal complaint, Shareef told authorities after his arrest, that he had been with Abujihaad when Abujihaad read an article about the classified Navy information found during the Azzam investigation. According to Shareef, Abujihaad said I think this is about me. He began to cry, threw away certain Azzam Publications and deleted related computer files. And by the way, if convicted of the charges, which are espionage and providing material support to terrorists, Abu Jihad faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Jeanne Meserve live from Washington. Thank you.
In New York City this morning, shock and sadness after the deadliest fire in recent memory. Nine people are dead. Eight of them children, killed when their row house in the Bronx caught fire overnight. Neighbors did what they could before firefighters arrived.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of flames, smoke, couldn't see nothing. I couldn't see the kids coming down either. Took a guess and they fell right in my arms.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lady was screaming please save my babies. Save my babies. So, me and a friend of mine, we ran, we jumped the gate. She started tossing the babies out the window. The first one I caught. I leaned against my friend, and he sent a baby towards my other friend, David Todd. And David Todd, he took the baby and covered the baby up with some warm blankets and stuff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: And 14 others were seriously injured. No word yet on the cause.
Outrage and anger in Massachusetts this morning after a green card sweep ensnares some parents leaving a lot of kids high and dry. The Immigration raid happened in New Bedford, at the leather goods mill there. The feds say more than half the employees there were illegals. The arrest left dozens of children stranded at school and with babysitters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm in this place, and cry about this. Where is my children? What happened with my children?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They come to my wife in the middle of the night to ask how to prepare a bottle for the baby. This is not right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have to have heart. We are human beings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: Immigration officials say they released 60 of those detained. Those that did not have any way to care for their children. Still more than 260 are still under arrest at an Army base this morning -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: President Bush leaves for a week-long visit to five countries in Latin America. It's going to happen in just a couple of hours. He is looking to highlight the U.S.'s plans to fight poverty and disease. He sat down with Juan Carlos Lopez of CNN En Espanol.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN EN ESPANOL CORRESPONDENT (On camera): The first leg of the trip will take President Bush to San Paulo, Brazil, where he will meet with the President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to talk about ethanol. And they will talk about poverty in the region.
President Bush has said that he wants to convince Latin America that he has not neglected the region during the last six years. He wants American taxpayers to get credit for all the aid they sent to the region.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The American taxpayer has been generous about providing aid in our neighborhood, and most of that aid is social justice money. In other words its money for education and health. Yet we don't get much credit for it. I want the taxpayers, I want the American people, to get credit for their generosity in Central and South America.
LOPEZ (voice over): President Bush will then head to Uruguay, Columbia, Guatemala, and Mexico, on a six-day trip. The longest visit a U.S. president has made to Latin America. Juan Carlos Lopez, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: And AMERICAN MORNING will be coming to you live from Mexico for the president's visit on Tuesday. Immigration, of course, sure to be a big topic of conversation between the two presidents, Bush and Calderon. I will be in Mexico taking a hard look at the issue and examining why so many people there are desperate to come across the border into the United States. That's on Tuesday on right here on AMERICAN MORNING -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, what would you do with a truck load of cash?
S. O'BRIEN: Spend it, man.
M. O'BRIEN: You can bet this lucky lottery winner will leave the truck driving to someone else from now on. We'll tell you about him. I like to call him Uncle Eddie. Uncle Eddie, please, can I borrow a million? Anyway --
A closer look at Iraq. Is President Bush's troop build-up working? You are watching AMERICAN MORNING. Most news in the morning right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Most news in the morning is here on CNN.
In New York City at least nine people are dead, eight of them are young children, after a fire tore through a row house in the Bronx.
In Indonesia, the president is ordering a sweeping investigation after that deadly plane crash in Yogyakarta; 22 people died when the Garuda Airlines plane overshot the runway.
M. O'BRIEN: There is another Mega Millions winner out there somewhere, in New Jersey, we think. So far he or she is being a bit bashful.
Meanwhile, Eddie Nabors is getting ready to wait a line, as they say in Georgia. The Mega Millions winner and now former truck drive with an ear-to-ear grin as he posed with the big check we all dream of cashing, yesterday. CNN's Rusty Dornin, live from Dalton, Georgia where that lucky ticket was sold.
Hello, Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Miles.
This is called Favorite Market No. 41. It's definitely Ed Nabors' favorite market. He would stop here often to get coffee. That's where Colleen Sexton is the manager. She was here on the morning when he did buy the ticket, which was on Tuesday morning.
He ended up going to work, he was a truck driver at one of the local carpet mills. It wasn't until the next day, he didn't even think of it, that someone flagged him down and said somebody from Dalton, Georgia won the lottery. Then he compared his ticket and he couldn't believe it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM NABORS, MEGA MILLIONS LOTTERY WINNER: I went numb. You know, just sat there, looked at both the paper and the ticket. I sat there, I know, for probably 15 or 20 minutes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: He has three children, six grandchildren. He said in the news conference yesterday that he is going to buy a home for one of them who has a mobile home now. He said he really wants to help people, but the next thing he will do? Well, the local paper said it, as he did it, he's going fishing.
As for the store here, they will get $25,000. Colleen Sexton, we were told by the corporation that owns the store, she will get half that money. The rest will be split among the other six employees -- Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: I'm doing the math. I'm trying to figure out how many bass boats he can buy right now. It's a lot, for sure.
(LAUGHTER)
DORNIN: Quite a few.
M. O'BRIEN: Rusty Dornin, thank you very much.
It's about a quarter pas the hour, Chad Myers at the CNN Weather Center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: We have been hearing from General David Petraeus this morning. He says the build-up of additional troops in Iraq should be at full strength by June. He is hopeful, he says, about the progress. Listen to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, CMDR., MULTI-NATIONAL FORCES, IRAQ: The upward spiral, we all want begins with Iraqi and coalition forces working together and locating in the neighborhoods those forces must secure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: That was General Petraeus. On top of that first wave of 21,500 troops, the Pentagon will send in almost 5,000 more support and military troops to the volatile areas of Baghdad. CNN's Military Analyst James Spider Marks is with us from Washington, D.C.
Nice to see you as always.
BRIG. GEN. JAMES MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning.
S. O'BRIEN: Thanks for talking with us.
I know it's early, but let's talk about whether you think this surge is working. If you look at a place like Sadr City, for example, they had something like 200 plus murders, really, in December and January that number now is something like 20. That sounds like good news. Is the surge working?
MARKS: It doesn't sound like good news, it is good news. And you're exactly right, Soledad. There has to be some cautious optimism about this. Clearly it's very early in this operation. I think surge is a term that we've all agreed to, but it really is a change of mission. It is an expanded mission. So stability will come as a result of increased security. That's what we see now with an increase in the violence.
S. O'BRIEN: At what point do you say, is it three months out, four months out, six months out, where you feel comfortable saying surge is working or surge is not working?
MARKS: I think we really need to extend this into about a six month time period. I think there was some reporting that there is an estimated increase that will be in place through the end of the year, maybe increase -- continuing into next year.
But you need to establish what's called a new normalcy. There's a situation of security that's been in place. That security leads to confidence. Then you have to keep delivering that. That's the new normalcy for the individual family on the street, so they can conduct commerce, they can send their kids to school, they can get about a normal life. That has to be in place and has to be sustained. You can't let it go back and then confidence is completely shaken.
S. O'BRIEN: It also sounds like a long progress. These 5,000 additional troops that will be going into Baghdad, is that because it's working so far, or because it's not working so far?
MARKS: The cynical question is to say, it's not working, we need more. What Dave Petraeus is asking for, look, we have increased troops on the ground, as a result of that we are rounding up more bad guys. As a result of that, we want to have the right soldier skills on the ground handling those folks. That's what military police do. That's one aspect of this increase.
The other aspect is certainly there are more support troops. Bear in mind, the first task of every soldier is to be an infantry men. To close with and destroy the enemy. That's task number one. But they have these additional skills as well. So, you have increased intelligence soldiers, gives you more situational awareness, leads to more arrests, leads to more handling of the bad guys. That's a good thing.
S. O'BRIEN: You talked a little bit about the changes that have to come and probably they'll come slowly. You talked about sort of sustaining stability over time and then building the infrastructure. And then boosting the Iraqi capabilities. As you well know, Democrats are pointing to a date not far from now, to have troops out. Can you get all those things done by that date, realistically?
MARKS: Realistically, you cannot and be able to put a score card in front of you and say yes, we have reached these objectives. Time for us to leave. I think that's the wrong way to look at it.
But the fact of the matter is, the bottom will fall out on this thing as we approach the election, unless there are clear discernible adjustments being made that can be measured. And clearly that's what needs to be articulated routinely.
Here is the increase in the Iraqi forces. Here's what they can do. Here's the increase in the number of schools that have opened. Those kinds of things must be evident -- and if they are, we will make progress.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, well, they talked about these joint Iraqi/U.S. security posts. Originally they were talking about 35 to 40, now it looks like the number is 70. There's some people, and you're the one who said cynical, not me, but there are some people who would say OK, if you have to bring in all this military might to quell the violence, isn't that really an indication that the minute the military might leaves it might go back to the way it was?
MARKS: The key is to increase the number of troops right now, which leads to, as I said, a new normalcy. So you get a new situation in place that is what needs to be sustained. You will not leave based on a time line. You will leave based on conditions that are set on the ground.
And Soledad, the thing that keep in mind is when you put a U.S. soldier or Marine next to an Iraqi soldier or Marine, training on both sides increases. That's just a form of embedded training that takes place. So, again, this is the kind of operation that needs to take place very aggressively, sustained over time. So you can then begin to wean U.S. soldiers away and the Iraqis will be able to take over based on very clear metrics and they're measured against those metrics.
S. O'BRIEN: CNN Military Analyst Retired Brigadier General James Spider Marks, always nice to see you, sir. Thanks for talking with us.
MARKS: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead, much more of our series, "Safe To Eat". We'll tell you how cattle ranchers are sharing what they learned about e. Coli with produce farmers. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Before there was e. Coli in spinach there was, of course, e. Coli in beef. Now cattle ranchers are helping produce farmers figure out how to keep our food "Safe To Eat". AMERICAN MORNING's Chris Lawrence is in Montvale, New Jersey with more and some useful tips for us.
Hello, Chris.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How are you?
You know, this is the end of the food chain. We don't always like to think about that. We just think hey, we go to the market and get what we need. Here you can see, unloading the pallets, the produce coming in. At this part, where it's coming into the supermarket here, and the supermarket back here, when you see different produce like this it's too late to fix the problem.
But there are steps along the chain, such as the processing plant, when food is taken from the farm, like this, then it's coming in from all these different farms into one specific place. Once it does that, if one batch of fruit or vegetables or meat or whatever is contaminated, it can then contaminate the rest of the entire batch.
So, what some of the meat producers have done, they are advising some lettuce growers on things they have worked on, such as establishing a choke point, where if it does come into that area, they can choke off the infection at that point, so it does then spread out to the markets and like that.
Again, these are just tips that the beef industry has gone through. They had a huge problem with e. Coli, and again, just trying to pass on some of what they learned the hard way to some of these other food industries -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Chris Lawrence, in New Jersey. Thank you.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Same store sale numbers are in today.
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
S. O'BRIEN: Top stories are coming up next. While the Pentagon is pushing for more troops in Iraq, Democrats mount their biggest challenge yet to the war plan. We'll tell you the details straight ahead. And then some health news. We'll tell you why that spare tire around your middle might actually be linked to how much sleep you are getting. Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows us.
And get out alive. We'll tell you how to survive a plane crash and a fire. You are watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Good morning to you. It's Thursday, March 8th. I'm Miles O'Brien.
S. O'BRIEN: I'm Soledad O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.
A couple of stories we're watching for you, out of Baghdad. We have Michael Ware talking about General Petraeus' comments earlier this morning. He is the new commander in Iraq. He says the war will not be won militarily, he says, actually the militia groups need to be involved in the political discussion as well.
Also, Dana Bash will talk about what democrats are doing. They say, no, they want troops out. They're working on a timetable.
M. O'BRIEN: OK, and how to survive a plane crash. Those pictures and those stories we heard out of Indonesia yesterday truly remarkable. We have some tips, we hope it never happens. The chances are it won't, but you know what, you should listen because it might save your life.
S. O'BRIEN: Then are you a little chunky and need to lose a few pounds? Believe it or not...
M. O'BRIEN: I'm on the South Beach. What more do you want?
S. O'BRIEN: It may not be what you're eating. It might actually be how much you are sleeping.
M. O'BRIEN: Well that could apply in our case.
S. O'BRIEN: It definitely could. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to explain the link for us straight ahead this morning.
M. O'BRIEN: We begin now with two reports on the tug of war over the shooting war in Iraq. Michael Ware is in Baghdad. Dana Bash has a look at the Democrats new plan unveiling this morning. Let's begin with Dana. The Democrats are about to mount their biggest challenge yet to the White House war plan in Iraq, a plan of their own that would bring the troops home much sooner than anybody else is talking about. Congressional correspondent Dana Bash joins us live now from Washington with more. Dana, good morning.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Miles. In about an hour and a half, the House Democratic leaders are going to present the plan to the rank and file that will try to force the change in course in the president's Iraq policy by placing conditions on the funding for the war. And according to Democratic sources, this legislation would be binding, have the force of law, would set a date certain for troops to come home. Here's what it would do. It would withdraw U.S. combat troops by the fall of 2008, set benchmarks for the Iraqi government, set readiness standards for U.S. troops, including rest between deployments and the president must certify progress on all these fronts.
Now this is the product of days if not weeks of intense, very intense, very emotional debate inside the Democratic caucus about how to use their new majority to force the president's hand on Iraq. Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Dana, you mentioned that debate. My read on this is that there is still a lot of disagreement inside the Democratic Party. Is that true?
BASH: Very true. This is not a done deal at all Miles. The differences are very real and very raw inside the Democratic Party. It's unclear if the House Democratic leaders even will have the votes inside their own party to pass this. On the one hand, you have the self-described out of Iraq caucus, about 70 plus Democrats who say the voters' message in November was to bring troops home and they won't stand for anything else. Speaker Pelosi met last night with them. She is trying to stop a revolt there. But Pelosi's problem Miles is that she also has dozens of moderate Democrats in her caucus that say placing conditions on war funding is micromanaging the president and they don't want do that. So finding consensus here is not easy Miles to say the least.
M. O'BRIEN: Dana Bash, no truer words have been spoken from Washington, thank you. Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: Let's get right to Michael Ware. He was there when General David Petraeus faced off with reporters, the first time since the general arrived in Iraq just a moment ago. Here's his report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): In his first press conference since arriving in the country one month ago, America's new commander of its war in Iraq and the man overseeing the controversial new surge strategy to reclaim the capital of Baghdad, General David Petraeus revealed nothing new about American strategy nor its timetable for troop levels or withdrawals. However he did flesh out to some degree how he sees the battle unfolding in the months to come. The focus of the general's first press conference was the Baghdad security plan.
GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, CMD, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE IRAQ: Improving security for the Iraqi people is the first step in rekindling hope. The upward spiral we all want begins with Iraqi and coalition forces working together and locating in the neighborhoods those forces must secure.
WARE: General Petraeus also indicated, without giving specifics that many of these new forces will be deployed around the metropolis, into the rural support zones from which the insurgents have been forging their attack. Under question, the general also dampened speculation that his call for an additional 2,200 military police was an escalation of the troop levels, describing them more as enablers or supporters of the combat troops already committed to the new fight.
PETRAEUS: In partnership with our Iraqi colleagues, help improve the security situation and enable the Iraqi people to control the demons responsible for the vicious sectarian violence of the past year, demons that tore at the very fabric of Iraqi society.
WARE: General Petraeus made no mention of the militia or any attempts to curb its power, perhaps fueling speculation here in Baghdad that a political deal is currently on the table between the weakened central government of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki and the rebel cleric Muqtada al Sadr. Michael Ware, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: Here in New York City this morning, fire investigators are at the scene of the deadliest fire in recent memory. Eight young children killed, including a baby. Five children under the age of six in the hospital right now. Jim Acosta is at the scene of the fire. Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, as you mentioned, it's already being called one of the worst fires in recent memory in New York, not because of the scale of this fire, because there's just a four-story building behind me, but because of the human cost. As you said, nine people dead, eight of them children. Many of them very young, as you can see in the video from the scene this morning. Firefighters did all they could to save these children, but there were too many of them and it was just too late. Before firefighters arrived, neighbors say they rushed to the scene to try to help people. They were trapped inside this building. The neighbor's say one desperate mother actually had to throw her children out of the window, then she jumped herself to try to escape the flames.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lady trapped on the third floor, she started throwing (INAUDIBLE) throw the kids down. She was hesitant at first. She couldn't see it with all the smoke, so she threw the kids down to me and me and a friend John (INAUDIBLE) caught the kids (INAUDIBLE) .
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Relatives of the victims say that many of the people who lived in this building were immigrants from Mali. There were 10 other people injured in this fire, six of them serious at this time. And just a few moments ago, we could see fire investigators canvassing the scene, talking to neighbors, trying to figure out exactly what caused this fire. At this point they just still don't know. Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Jim Acosta in the Bronx, thank you. Outrage and anger in Massachusetts this morning after a green card sweep snares parents leaving a lot of kids high and dry. The immigration raid happened in New Bedford at a leather goods mill. The Feds say more than half the employees there's were illegals. The arrests left dozens of children stranded at school and with babysitters. Immigration official says they released 60 people, those who did not have any way to care for their children. More than 260 others still detained this morning in an Army base. Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, how to survive a plane crash. We're going to be following Greg Hunter's advise.
GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, this flight simulator, an emergency simulator and it's shaking pretty good here. Look at this thing. Shaking, what it is showing is that the plane is having trouble. Inside it's really vibrating. We will show you how this thing works when we come back right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: The most news in the morning right here on CNN. House Democrats expected to unveil a new plan today to bring the troops home from Iraq by next year. And in Indonesia, the president ordering a sweeping safety investigation after this crash at Yogyakarta yesterday. Twenty two died after the Garuda Airlines plane overshot a runway. It's the third airliner to crash there in a year and a half. Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Those dramatic pictures out of Yogyakarta, Indonesia makes you wonder just how anybody was able to escape, not just that terrible plane crash, but then the fireball that followed. Flight crews though train for exactly that. Greg Hunter got a look at how you can make it out alive after a plane crash. Good morning, Greg.
HUNTER: Good morning Soledad. This is not an earthquake. This is the fax mobile emergency trailer. This thing travels all over the country to give people training on what to do on an airplane crash and right now this is stimulating the plane is in trouble actually. It's on its way to crashing. It has everything in here. It has a cockpit with some controls. If you walk back here, will you see we have the seats. You can see it's moving around pretty good because it's buffeting, it's acting like the thing is going to crash. All these people here are our passengers who are students, basically. Right now, I just want to show you a little bit about what this facility can actually do. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLAIN STANLEY, FACT: The first scenario is going to be a decompression scenario.
HUNTER (voice-over): Blain Stanley shows people how to survive an aircraft emergency. He does it with a mobile emergency simulator, used mostly for crews with corporate jets from this small control room. STANLEY: Any in-flight fire, lavatory fire, cockpit fire, gallery fire, engine fire dumping smoke into the cabin, ditching, decompression, medical emergencies, anything.
HUNTER: Stanley uses these levers to make the simulator roll and vibrate like a real aircraft in trouble. One scenario, a decompressing plane making an emergency landing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Put your masks on quick.
HUNTER: Another scenario, how to escape a plane that's crashed into the water and you find yourself hanging upside down under water. You must be able to unlock the seat belt, find the exit and swim to safety and the most terrifying for passengers -- fire. Whatever the emergency situation, Stanley tells his clients the most important thing is to stay cool and listen.
If you don't know anything about a crash, what should a consumer do?
STANLEY: A consumer again needs to have situational awareness, know exactly where they are in the airplane and above all else, listen to the crew members.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTER: Right now, we are listening to the sound of smoke coming in. It's fake smoke. But it's coming in. It will fill this cabin up in just no time. This is kind of what happens when or actually this is what happens when a plane crashes. This plane has come to a stop. It's not shaking and it's on fire. You can see how fast it fills up. This is the same kind of thing that happened in that Jakarta plane crash. You can see how fast it's filling up. The flight attendant right now is back there. You can't see her. She's taken the window off and she's getting people ready to get out of this airplane. You can see how this is really unnerving, how you can't really see.
This is why they say you should know where the exit is, know where the exit is. You cannot see your hand in front of your face. You can't even see me. You are just listening to me, right? Come on, let's step this way. Step this way. Listen to me. Come on back this way. We'll follow the light. Follow the light. You can't see anything. I can just see the window. So I'm going to step out here. Oh. I'm a big guy. But I'm out. So there you have it. It shows how fast this thing fills up with smoke. Check this out. I mean it's just billowing out smoke. That's exactly what happens in a plane crash. It fills up with smoke fast. That's why they always tell you know where the exits are and the other thing is to listen to the flight attendants. Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: You are making me nervous, man. That's good, though, climbing out the window. Greg Hunter for us this morning, thank you Greg.
M. O'BRIEN: Glad he made it. I don't know if I would want to be behind him in a crash. S. O'BRIEN: You would be pushing him right through. Go!
M. O'BRIEN: Like those guys in Tokyo pushing him on the subways. It's about quarter of the hour now. Chad Myers is at the CNN weather center. He's watching the big chill as it continues here in the northeast. Hello Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning Miles. It is still cold up there, although 21 Central Park. The winds blowing a little bit. It feels more like 10. It's colder in Boston. The wind chill there is 8. Look at Mt. Mansfield, Vermont yesterday, 28 degrees below zero, Saranac Lake, 35 below, a record and the other records, even Atlantic City, right there on the board walk, 11 degrees yesterday. It's going to be warm in Orlando today. Miami, if you are traveling through Atlanta, 72, 34 for the high in New York today, a windy day in Montreal, high of only 7, 52 St. Louis, 64 in Memphis. And if you're traveling back out to the west, pleasant in Denver today. Spring skiing out in the Rockies, a high of 61. Miles, back to you.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you Chad. Spring forward, fall back on your dieting goals. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is up next with a surprising connection between losing sleep and gaining weight.
And breaker, breaker, 1-9. We got us a convoy of cash. A Georgia truck driver is much more than semi rich. And some consolation for the losers like us. What the lottery money pays for. The good deeds we do by being losers.
And it's Thursday, which is your lucky day on pipeline because it's --
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Miles cam.
M. O'BRIEN: Excellent, crew. Thank you very much. We are all losers but we're happy still here this morning. Miles cam airs on the pipeline product cnn.com/pipeline 10:00 a.m. Eastern. But you have to participate to make it a wonderful Miles cam segment. Send us your e- mail now to milescam@cnn.com, any old question you like. Fire away. We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Are you ready to spring forward this weekend? It's happening three weeks earlier than usual. We've been telling you about all the computer issues and all that and technically as you know, it means losing an hour of sleep on Saturday night, although but most of us can probably make it up by sleeping in a little bit Sunday morning. Nevertheless, a loss of sleep means a lot more than bags under your eyes and cob webs in your brain. It means more pounds for your paunch potentially. Sanjay Gupta has more in his fit nation report. Good morning Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Miles. It's amazing. It's just one hour of lost sleep, yet the impact can be pretty broad reaching. They expect more traffic accidents, for example. They expect a loss of productivity on Monday when a lot of people return back to work. As you say, it can also help put on the weight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): Bill Ten Eyck has always battled the bulge, he says since his 40s. He suffered three heart attacks and watched the numbers on the scale go up and down like a yoyo. His cardiologist couldn't figure out why his weight was fluctuating. So he suggested that Ten Eyck see a sleep specialist.
BILL TEN EYCK, SLEEP APNEA PATIENT: I made the assumption that my fatigue and my inability to do things was because my heart was just failing.
GUPTA: Ten Eyck was diagnosed with sleep apnea. His test found that some evenings he stopped breathing 33 times in one hour. He wasn't getting rest and that wasn't helping his weight. Not only does a lack of sleep zap your energy, but studies have found that sleep- deprived people just seem to eat more. Doctors say chaotic sleeping patterns tend to develop chaotic eating habits and that can mess up your metabolism and cause you to burn fewer calories. Researchers have also found that people who got four hours of sleep or less a night saw a rise in the hormone gralin (ph) that stimulates the appetite and causes people to eat.
DR. THOMAS LORUSSO, NO. VA. SLEEP DIAGNOSTIC CENTER: They got these patients to sleep better using various sleep hygiene techniques and when they repeated the levels of these hormones, they found that the level diminished significantly.
GUPTA: Today, Ten Eyck is working on keeping the pounds off. He uses a keypad device to help regulate his breathing. It blows air through his nose and keeps his airways open. He says it's been a life saver because for once in his life, he's getting a good night's sleep.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: And the American Academy of Sleep Medicine says there are some things you can do to try and conquer the loss of sleep this weekend. One thing is to go to bed an hour earlier Miles as opposed to sleeping in. That helps readjust the schedule. Also maybe things like eating dinner an hour earlier, sort of getting yourself in the mode ahead of time Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Sanjay, I know you don't get a lot of sleep typically because all do you is work, you also have a new baby in the household. Did you pack on a few pounds? Be honest with us now?
GUPTA: No, because my wife is not feeding me anymore. She's feeding the kid.
S. O'BRIEN: Feeding you? Please.
GUPTA: I know. But it can be hard sometimes. People who are sleep deprived -- I was just kidding, by the way. M. O'BRIEN: You better get out of that one pal. You're in deep trouble.
GUPTA: Eat my words, insomnia versus sleep deprivation for example. I did get myself studied at one point Miles because I was concerned about sleep deprivation. You can see some video there. I actually went to a sleep lab and actually got tested and found out that I was a pretty good sleeper. I certainly did not have any insomnia whatsoever. One of the things they told me that I thought was so...
M. O'BRIEN: How did you sleep with all that stuff attached to you though?
GUPTA: It was amazing Miles. They said it will probably take you a half hour to an hour fall asleep. Here's a few books and stuff. You saw the wires and the lights. I was out in 90 seconds. They could measure my brain waves and I was truly asleep in 90 seconds. But one thing they told me though two to three hours after you wake up, go into a dark room, just sit for a few minutes, no distractions, just sit. And if you fall asleep in a couple of minutes, it probably means that you are sleep deprived. As opposed to insomniacs who have trouble initiating sleep and they wake up frequently through the night. So that's a distinction there.
M. O'BRIEN: I got to say, every time I stop moving in the course of the day, I start to fall asleep. That should tell you something.
GUPTA: Morning anchor job.
M. O'BRIEN: Thanks a lot Sanjay.
GUPTA: All right guys.
M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, does the U.S. need more troops in Iraq? The new commander on the ground there says yes. We'll tell you why.
Plus, we have been following developments on that plane crash out of Indonesia. That's the nation's national airline, but lots of tourists were on board that plane. When you are traveling overseas, how do you know which airlines are safe to fly? We'll take a look straight ahead. The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Big news from Wal-Mart this morning. The largest retailer in the land is in with a sales report. News is not good. A few minutes before the top of the hour. Ali Velshi, if Wal-Mart is in trouble, if they sneeze, everybody gets a cold and all that stuff.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the one we've been waiting for. This is the day when the retailers in America report what they call their same store sales. The sales for February compared to sales in the same stores a year ago February. Now we were expecting Wal- Mart to come in with numbers that weren't good, a 1.9 percent or 1.5 percent increase in sales February over February. The numbers are much worse than that, 0.9 percent, 0.9 percent was the increase in sales that were open at stores that were open at least a year at Wal- Mart.
That's a problem because the world's biggest retailer really skews the average. As things stand, we were expecting retailers as a whole to come in with a 3 percent improvement year over year. We're now not going to see that. We also have other news in from -- Wal- Mart was saying by the way it was clothes and home furnishings that were part of the problem.
Costco, the largest wholesale retailer as it were. We are expecting numbers of 5 percent, came in with 4 percent. Limited Brands which has a number of companies, including Victoria's Secret, which I was trying to get some video on, expecting 4 percent monthly sales increase. They came in with 3 percent. So across the board, for people who are watching stock markets, for people who are watching the impact this may have on that "R" word we've been talking about, the sales numbers were not good. The only saving grace here is that February is not a particularly important month as far as retailing goes. If things are off in February, it is not all that. It's not like being off in November or December. But it's not good news.
M. O'BRIEN: It's cold. We're not buying for any particular reason. What do the futures indicate?
VELSHI: The futures, until this news came out, were indicating an open that was strong. We'll have to see whether this changes.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: Coming up at the top of the hour, let's get right to Chad Myers at the CNN weather center with a look at the big weather center, weather story this morning. Good morning.
MYERS: Very, very cold in the east. Good morning Soledad, but not so bad in Baghdad. In fact for our men and women over there, temperatures in the 70s to 80 by Monday. The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts now.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you Chad. War divide. Democrats push again today to pull the U.S. out of Iraq. But one top commander says more troops are needed into next year.
M. O'BRIEN: High anxiety. A sweeping investigation ordered in Indonesia after that stunning crash yesterday. And some tips for you, how do you know if that foreign airliner is safe to fly?
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