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CNN Sunday Morning
Devastation in Lake County, Florida; Escape From Violence in Iraq; Super Bowl: Money Bowl
Aired February 04, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. And "Now in the News," millions of dollars in federal aid is now available to the areas in Florida battered by those severe storms. President Bush declared four counties federal disaster areas. Twenty people died and at least 1,500 homes were heavily damaged or destroyed.
A live report from Florida coming up in just a minute.
Four U.S. helicopters lost in Iraq since January 20th. And we are just getting word from the military this morning that all four were, in fact, shot down.
Also in Iraq today, police say at least 13 people were killed by bombs, mortars and gunmen. The attacks follow yesterday's suicide bombing that left at least 128 people dead in Baghdad.
The U.S. back in charge of NATO forces in Afghanistan. American General Dan McNeil took over command today, replacing British general David Richards. Meanwhile, NATO says its forces killed a senior Taliban leader today. It happened during an air strike near an Afghan town overrun by the Taliban.
MELISSA LONG, CNN ANCHOR: An Amber Alert this morning for a Pennsylvania toddler. Police are searching for 23-month-old Inya Page (ph), reported missing from her bed in Braddock, Pennsylvania, yesterday morning. And the below-freezing weather is adding urgency to this search.
The Super Bowl, it is now less than 12 hours away. The Indianapolis Colts, Chicago Bears are getting ready for Super Bowl XLI. This evening's game is in Miami, and the forecast -- rain. It's never rained during the big game before.
In about 15 minutes, we're going to take you live to Miami to go beyond the game.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHARLIE CRIST (R), FLORIDA: I want to thank the local people, the people right here in Lake County, in Volusia County, in Seminole County, in Sumter County, because they have poured out their hearts to help their fellow man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Florida's governor touring the disaster zone, promising to help those who lost their homes.
LONG: That, while many residents are picking up the piece from that devastating storm that swept across the state.
HOLMES: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
It is February 4th, Super Bowl Sunday, as you know.
Good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
LONG: Good morning. I'm Melissa Long, in today for Betty.
It's 7:00 a.m. here in the East. And thanks for starting your Sunday with us.
Well, people in Florida are going through the rubble, looking for what the severe storms did not destroy when the fierce weather stormed through early on Friday. But Florida residents will have some help. President Bush has declared a federal disaster in all four affected counties. That means millions of dollars in federal aid is now available. Also, FEMA has already moved in with trailers of food, water and ice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID PAULISON, FEMA DIRECTOR: A disasters are local. The state is there to back them up. And we're there to back them up. But the way we are going to be responding is different than what we've done in the past. Waiting for a local community to become overwhelmed before the state steps in, and waiting for the state to become overwhelmed before the federal government steps in simply does not work anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: There's plenty of work ahead for those hit hard by the storms. At least 1,500 homes were heavily damaged or destroyed. Forecasters now say those homes were battered by winds in excess of 160 miles per hour. And the majority of the damage and at least 14 of the fatalities came in a span of only two minutes.
HOLMES: The Lady Lake Church of God was completely wiped out by the storm. But certainly not the spirit of its congregation. Church members are getting ready to gather this morning for a not-so-usual Sunday service.
And CNN's Susan Roesgen is there in Lady Lake this morning -- Susan.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT: T.J., the pastor is going to be standing in the rubble behind me. It's going to make for a pretty dramatic sermon this morning. He's going to be standing in the rubble of his church, and then where I'm standing, and on back toward the interstate here, about another 100 yards, there is going to be the makeshift pews, the folding chairs for the congregation. There are about 230 people in this congregation, but today they are going to have a special guest. Governor Charlie Crist is going to be here to listen to the sermon by Pastor Larry Lynn.
I spoke to him just a couple of minutes ago. He was wearing a tie that said "Jesus" all the way down, a navy blue suit. He was in good spirits.
I asked him what he was going to talk about today in his sermon, if he'd give us any hints. And he said, "No, the only people who know what I'm going to say every Sunday are me and God." He said he always takes a few notes, but he would not let us know what he was going to talk about today.
Probably redemption, hope, thankfulness. He said not one single member of his congregation was injured or killed by the tornadoes. So it's going to be probably an uplifting sermon here, in spite of the surroundings.
We are surrounded here by a lot of media. I think I counted six or seven different camera people here. So there's going to be a lot of media, a lot of people from the congregation. And again, Governor Charlie Crist as well.
T.J., back to you.
HOLMES: Well, Susan, I guess it's only been a couple of days still. A lot of shock. A lot of people still taking in the damage and exactly what happened. But are people getting past or starting to at least move past the shock of it all and starting to move into that next phase of recovery and moving on?
ROESGEN: Yes, they really are, T.J. I mean, out of the view of the camera here, you might be able to hear a little bit of it. I see three big dump trucks and three big pieces of heavy equipment. They are moving some of the debris right here in this area.
Over to my right, there is a big tent set up where they've been doing some disaster relief. They've had different church groups down here feeding people, helping people recover.
I think movement is good in something like this. Certainly when you have any kind of natural disaster you want to see work crews out, you want to see power crews restoring the power. You want to see the Red Cross out here, as we have seen, helping people, and the church groups coming down to help people clean up, pick up and move on. And that's what we're seeing today.
HOLMES: All right. Certainly good to see, again, so soon after that disaster.
Susan Roesgen for us in Lake County.
Thank you so much, Susan.
LONG: Now, Lake County was hit the hardest. All 20 deaths coming there. And now neighbors both tradition and untraditional are banding together.
CNN's Soledad O'Brien has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Amid the drone of chainsaws, the cleanup. Fifty-five prisoners from the Marion County Jail helping to clear downed trees.
ALLYSON SUGGS, LAKE COUNTY RESIDENT: I think that we're very lucky that our house is still standing.
O'BRIEN: Lucky to be alive. We heard it over and over again. It's the paradox of a tornado.
Tara Suggs' (ph) home is fine, but the storm ripped through the Millers' (ph) home next door. In spite of the damage, Yvonne Miller (ph) is feeling thankful. Three of her boys were asleep in their bedroom when a massive tree fell. Seven-year-old Cole (ph) narrowly escaped.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was in the top bunk. He was the one that got down just minutes before the tree fell in.
O'BRIEN: It was a weekend of progress. Elvin Jefferson (ph) watched with awe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just amazing to me. It is. (INAUDIBLE) everybody, every county and anybody who came from out of state.
O'BRIEN: Across the street, Juan Galavis (ph) was trying to figure out what to do next. There's a gaping hole in his house. Take a look from the outside. Inside, it's much worse.
Seven-year-old Brian (ph) and 4-year-old Karime (ph) told me what happened. "The tree," Karime (ph) says, "fell on my bedroom."
Along a stretch of Griffin View Dive, the trees are snapped off like little sticks. The streets filled with shell-shocked residents and utility workers, insurance adjusters, tree service workers, Red Cross volunteers, and many others, like Michael Meeks.
MICHAEL MEEKS, VOLUNTEER: Yes, we're going door to door. And where there's garbage that needs to be hauled out to the road and cleaned up, we're doing it.
O'BRIEN: A moment of joy for Ann Toule (ph), when pictures of her grandchildren were found. She told us how she climbed out of bed barefoot and in a nightgown over the glass and splintered wood, nails and pieces of metal, to get to safety.
Across the street, her neighbor wasn't as lucky. Residents told us this slab wiped clean was where Pat Boyle's (ph) mobile home used to sit.
BRIAN MILSTEAD, VOLUNTEER: Her trailer came across the street and behind these trailers and landed right here. That is her trailer.
O'BRIEN (on camera): That's almost a football field length.
(voice over): She was crushed under the debris.
Further east, around Paisley, the biggest death toll. Thirteen people killed in these rural neighborhoods.
(on camera): Three people were killed here when the storm ran through. There's a theory that goes like this: They think that an empty slab up there actually blew right across the street, the home that was on it, and rammed into their home.
One of the things that supports that theory is that navy van back there, it's kind of crumpled. It actually started up on the roadway.
(voice over): For the unfortunate ones, no place to hide during the storm. For the survivors, a time to count their blessings and begin the cleanup.
Soledad O'Brien, CNN, in Lake County, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LONG: And don't forget to start your weekdays morning with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien by watching "AMERICAN MORNING," bright and early, 6:00 Eastern.
HOLMES: Winter weather and traffic problems top the headlines in our look at other stories "Across America" this morning.
(NEWSBREAK)
LONG: It is frigid outside. Freezing-cold temperatures to tell you about today. Want to show you Michigan, where the high today might reach 12 degrees.
Whiteout conditions were blamed for huge traffic pileups, as T.J. was just telling you. That happened yesterday, south of Flint and Grand Rapids.
A virtual winter wonderland as well in Minnesota. Check out these photographs. Forecasters say this is the coldest weather there in three years, the kind of weather than can cause frostbite to exposed skin in just a manner of a few minutes.
And bitter cold in Wisconsin, too. The temperatures have dropped below zero in some places. And many outdoor events have thus been canceled.
Feel like singing "Baby It's Cold Outside."
HOLMES: Go right ahead...
LONG: No, you can do it.
HOLMES: ... if it so moves you.
LONG: No, no, no. Maybe we can get Bonnie to sing.
HOLMES: Bonnie, if you feel like singing...
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I don't have a good voice.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LONG: And still to come, a deserted playground in the middle of a war zone.
HOLMES: And for some Iraqi kids, a getaway from the daily killings, even if it's just a few moments. Our report from Baghdad coming up in about four minutes.
LONG: Plus, you know it's hard to get tickets to the Super Bowl when the man who owns the stadium has to pay to get in. The details when CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues.
HOLMES: And then at 7:30, "OPEN HOUSE" with Gerri Willis. Gerri's special report from the tornado-ravaged central Florida area, that's coming up this morning, and that is in about 20 minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: Four U.S. helicopters lost in Iraq over the past two weeks were all apparently shot down. That coming from the U.S. military just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, SPOKESMAN, MULTINATIONAL FORCE, IRAQ: The investigation of each of those is ongoing, but it does appear that they were all the result of some kind of anti-Iraqi ground fire that did bring those helicopters down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: And a fresh wave of violence swept across Baghdad today. Police say at least a dozen people were killed by bombings, mortar attacks and drive-by shootings. And this bloodshed comes on the heels of yesterday's slaughter at a central Baghdad market.
A suicide truck bomber killed at least 128 people and wounded almost 345. The White House called that attack an atrocity targeting innocent people. President Bush is sending about 21,000 more troops to Iraq in an effort to stop that violence.
Iraq's Interior Ministry says as many as 1,000 people have been killed throughout Iraq in the past week alone. For Iraqi children, violence is a harsh reality. But one little girl and her family have found a place to escape. At least for a while.
This story now from CNN's Arwa Damon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Once alive with the sounds of children's laughter, no more. Rides which carried the city's young to another world idle eerily quiet. This day, little Arand (ph) is the only kid here. Her only friend, her plastic bunny.
IBRAHIM JABER, FATHER (through translator): At home she's depressed. But here it seems she can breathe.
DAMON: Her family comes seeking respite from the daily violence their child is growing up with. Although, in Baghdad, respite is hard to find.
A gunshot. Three-year-old Arand (ph) reacts. She knows what it is.
IBTISAM AMER, MOTHER (through translator): Sometimes she gets scared, even when a door slams. She thinks it's a roadside bomb.
DAMON: At an age when children learn nursery rhymes, Arand (ph) is learning the sounds of war.
AMER (through translator): She says, "Mommy, where did the mortar fall?" She knows the difference between a mortar and a rocket and a roadside bomb.
DAMON: We walk around and find life being planted in a place surrounded by death.
ALA'A IBRAHIM, PARK EMPLOYEE (through translator): When you come in here, you forget. You feel more secure. You forget what's happening outside.
DAMON: It may seem a vain effort in a city that is fertile ground for violence, but park employee Ala'a Ibrahim is determined to keep this place alive, planting flowers to fight those who plant bombs.
For now, only a handful of people come here, couples sneaking cherished moments, students taking a break.
(on camera): The girls are telling me that they are here for a change of atmosphere, for the opportunity to be able to laugh. Even if only for a little.
(voice over): The teacup starts up for one ride, as if to defy those who keep the crowds away. Arand's (ph) family say they will defy the violence, too, keep coming back to allow their child to get away from the city's realities. But they can never truly get away.
More gunshots. Arand (ph) doesn't even flinch.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: We will turn now to surveying the damage in Florida. Our Gerri Willis gets a close-up look at the storm's aftermath. That's in a special edition of "OPEN HOUSE," and that's coming up in about 10 minutes.
Meantime, this evening, nearly 300 million eyes will be glued on those two guys. But, we're going to go beyond the game.
But before we do that, want to ask you, do you know what the inspiration was for the Super Bowl, the name the "Super Bowl"?
Was it, A, a Tiffany bowl belonging to the wife of a team owner? Was it, B, a song from "Mary Poppins"? Was it C, a child's toy ball? Or was it D, the 1972 film "Super Fly"?
The answer when CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, that should get you going, get you ready for the big game. The biggest game of the year is here. Super bowl XLI, Colts versus Bears, tickets selling for as much as $4,500 a piece.
Well, the prices are down a little bit over a week ago with those prices. They are down to about $1,500 per seat this morning. Still a pretty hefty sum no matter how you look at that. But even the owner of Dolphin Stadium, where the game is being played, he's got to shell out cash for tickets. WPLG says Wayne Huizenga had to pay for the 55 tickets for his own suite.
For more now on the NFL's money bowl, we are joined by Rick Horrow, author of "When the Game is on the Line."
Rick, good to see you again, sir. How have you been? What -- you got tickets?
RICK HORROW, SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: Well, first of all, let me tell you something, Wayne is a good friend.
HOLMES: All right.
HORROW: And he needs -- here are the hospitality tickets. Here's the parking pass. Have him call me. And here are, of course, the tickets from the NFL. So we got those covered as well.
You know, I grew up in south Florida, and this is the ninth Super Bowl here. Four hundred million dollars of economic impact. I don't have tickets, everybody who keeps asking me, but this is a big deal.
HOLMES: I was about to ask.
HORROW: It will stop raining at 6:27 and remain quiet for the rest of the evening. It can't rain here. Come on.
HOLMES: It can't rain for the Super Bowl.
We've got to talk about the money bowl. Super Bowls, money bowls, same thing.
Who is cashing in this time around? We always talk about the television ad revenue. It seems like they go up every year, the cost to do a 30-second ad.
HORROW: Yes, yes. Well, the cost to do a 30-second ad is $2.6 million. We understand that. But who's cashing in is the NFL.
You know, when the Packers and the Giants and everybody shared revenue in the early '60s, the rights fees for the TV season were $35,000 per year. The last time the Bears were in the Super Bowl, it was about $450 million 21 years ago. And now, $3 billion for television.
And why? You've got 90 million U.S. and about 150 million people abroad in 232 countries watching this game. The next best watched last year was the Academy Awards at $39 million. So it's a premium television event.
And it gets better. Forty-seven high-def cameras by CBS. Back when the first Super Bowl was held, we had, you know, the bailing wire and the one camera probably.
HOLMES: HD. Man, I can't wait to watch this thing in HD tonight.
Well, you talk about all the eyes and the millions watching. But who is actually watching? It's just not all the fellows.
HORROW: Clearly not the fellows. And that's really important. The demographics are great. It's 40 percent women. That's why Revlon has its first commercial ever. And that's why, again, the demographics for women appeal to corporate America and advertisers.
There are 22 NFL advertising partners. They spend $2 billion on every kind of ad you can imagine through the rest of the season. So that is huge. But also the kids age 7 to 11.
NFL fans are the most loyal of any sport. Minority increased 10 percent across the board. So there are expanding demographics as far as the NFL is concerned.
HOLMES: And you said we have -- we're going to have to -- we've got to see a Revlon commercial tonight, Rick?
HORROW: Well, but we're going to see Sheryl Crow, and she's going to sing. And, of course, I don't know who decides to sing on your set, but I think she's probably a little better than any of you all even combined.
HOLMES: Right, Rick.
Help us through the trivia question then here now. The inspiration for the name "Super Bowl," we asked folks, what was it? Was it A, a Tiffany bowl? Was it, B, a song from "Mary Poppins"? Was it C, a child's toy ball? Or was it the 1972 film "Super Fly"? Tell them the answer, please, kind sir.
HORROW: Lamar Hunt, the -- may he rest in peace -- the former owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, Super Ball, little kid's toy, that's 41 years and that model.
By the way, one quick thing.
HOLMES: All right.
HORROW: Last year, this time of year, I predicted the Stealers by 11. The score was 21-10. This year, Colts by 9. First prediction.
HOLMES: All right.
HORROW: Second quick one.
HOLMES: All right.
HORROW: There's an over and under. If you want to go to Vegas and bet legally, Billy Joel, over and under on how long it's going to take for him to sing the national anthem. You can bet on anything -- one minute, 44 seconds. Bet the over.
HOLMES: All right. We appreciate you giving us the line in Vegas there.
Rick, always a pleasure. Good to see you again. Enjoy the game tonight.
HORROW: Here you go, man.
HOLMES: All right.
LONG: And T.J., from the Super Bowl to the super cold. Check out this video. People are nuts? I don't know.
HOLMES: Appear to be.
LONG: Yes. Well, what is this? It's a rare breed, of course, to plunge into a frigid lake in the dead of winter, but there's a good reason for this completely irrational behavior, some would say.
This is the annual fund-raiser for the Special Olympics by the Lake St. Louis Community Association of Missouri. And as you can see, the people dip and dash. And don't blame them.
HOLMES: Get in and get out.
LONG: No.
HOLMES: But for a good cause. We'd all take that dip.
LONG: Absolutely. More winter weather ahead, including a whiteout in the Midwest. And below-zero temperatures for so many this morning. Your forecast is straight ahead.
Plus...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you think this was a house or was this a garage?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: ... our Gerri Willis travels to Florida to survey the unbelievable tornado damage. She's coming up with a special edition of "OPEN HOUSE."
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