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CNN Saturday Morning News

The Search Continues for Three Missing Soldiers in Iraq; Whale Rescue Continues; Violence in Baghdad; Hamas and Fatah Make a Deal; Treasure Found at Sea

Aired May 19, 2007 - 09:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR, CNN SATURDAY MORNING: Hello there everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, it's Saturday, May the 19th. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CO-ANCHOR, CNN SATURDAY MORNING: Good morning everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen. We want to thank you for starting your day with us.

Let's tell you about this, deadly attacks on government officials, soldiers, journalists, even innocent civilians. No, we're not talking about Baghdad. It's happening much closer to home.

HOLMES: Also, preying upon those in prayer. A church attack caught on surveillance camera. Won't believe this one.

NGUYEN: That is incredible.

And they are trying to get a couple of wayward whales back to sea. We have an update on the rescue efforts, ahead on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

HOLMES: But first, new developments this morning in the search for three missing American soldiers in Iraq. The military says U.S. led coalition forces raided a building west of Baghdad and detained nine people. All suspected of being involved in the apparent abductions of the soldiers during an ambush a week ago. CNN's Arwa Damon is embedded with the unit taking part in an around-the-clock search. Here now, her report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is Carghouli Village, the main road here where Saturday's ambush took place. Using the dirt roads and thick vegetation for cover, the insurgents fled into the farmlands with three U.S. soldiers.

LT. DANIEL WELLS, U.S. ARMY: I'm pretty sure a lot of people around here are involved, because there's just no way they could be moving all this stuff without using vehicles placed in other spots.

DAMON: But everyone here says they know nothing. For the Americans, Carghouli has always been synonymous with terrorism.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So the day of the attack was the last day that we will let terrorists in Carghouli Village. DAMON: Major Griggs is issuing an ultimatum to the top two Carghouli sheikhs, control your tribe or suffer the consequences. Griggs is the operations officer for the same battalions that killed and kidnapped soldiers are with. Since Saturday's ambush, Griggs and his fellow officers, Iraqi and American, have been trying to put the pieces together.

Griggs is moving 2,000 men, searching about 60 square miles 24 hours a day. Sometimes they come back from a mission only to leave minutes later to follow up another tip. Somewhere on this base in an undisclosed location is the detention facility. Since the time of the attack, over 800 individuals have been brought in, most of them military-age males. Over half of them have been released. But the U.S. military says the best leads they're getting on the whereabouts of their missing soldiers are coming from the detainees.

MAJ. ROB GRIGGS, U.S. ARMY: You're going to follow every single lead, no matter what. But you've got to sit there and prioritize what makes the most sense. Then you've got to move people to where you can move them, because you know there's an IED threat. So I can't drive everywhere. I don't own helicopters. They gave us, brigade provided us helicopters from our division, and so we were able to move people around somewhat. But you have to pick and choose. That you can't just fly helicopters all over the place, because if one gets shot down, then you're in another recovery operation.

DAMON: Each day, each tick, each mission brings hope that the missing soldiers will be found.

GRIGGS: But that emotion is just tough, because when they come back from the mission, or I get a phone -- the radio call that says, you know, there is nothing there, you just got to regroup and start over. It's always let's --

DAMON: For Griggs and for many of the men out here, the hunt for three of their own is by far the most taxing, challenging, and draining experience.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Yusufiyah, Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, the fourth soldier killed in last week's ambush has now been identified. The army says he is 23-year-old Sergeant Anthony Schober of Reno, Nevada.

NGUYEN: His cheerful father says the 9/11 terrorist attacks inspired his son to join the army.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDWARD SCHOBER, SGT. ANTHONY SCHOBER'S FATHER: At the age of 17, he came to me and said he wanted to join the army. He was affected by the 9/11 incident. I asked whether he really was sure about this, really wanted to do it. He says, "yes," so I signed the papers. When he came home from basic training and advanced training, I noticed a huge difference in him. He truly changed from a boy to a man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Schober's father says he was on his fourth tour of duty in Iraq.

Well, out-going British Prime Minister Tony Blair is making an unannounced farewell visit to Iraq today. He arrived in Baghdad for meetings with Iraqi government officials, including Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki. The British prime minister is reassuring his Iraqi counterpart that British support for Iraq will not end when he steps down in June.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I have no doubt at all that Britain will remain steadfast in its support for Iraq, for the Iraqi people, and for the Iraqi government as it tries to make sure that it overcomes the threat of terrorism and continues to make progress. And the policy that I pursued is a policy for the whole of the government. So even when I leave office, I am sure that that steadfast support will continue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: And there is more violence-taking place in Baghdad, also news of the fact that nine people have been taken into custody, possibly with information on those three missing U.S. soldiers. Let's take you live now to Baghdad and CNN's Hugh Riminton with the latest on that. Hey there, Hugh.

HUGH RIMINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As ever, Betty, so much to talk about coming out of Iraq. Let's start with the missing soldiers. It's now into the second week, the search for these three young missing soldiers, but some signs of progress. The U.S. military says they've taken in nine people in a nearby town not far from where these soldiers were taken. The U.S. military says they suspect these nine were involved in that attack.

They're not saying the level of involvement they suspect, whether they were actively involved in the attack or perhaps in the planning or the subsequent escape of the people involved in that attack, but plainly, some serious, hard questioning going on. They've also taken in two others at Baqouba north of Baghdad. They say these are part of the al Qaeda control and command network also hoping to extract information about these three missing soldiers, Betty.

NGUYEN: Let's get some more information on that, because I know earlier this week, a senior Pentagon official said that 11 individuals had been placed in U.S. custody. Now, is that separate from the nine that you talked about now and the other two that were also taken into custody?

RIMINTON: I think so. The 11 that were initially taken and as far as we can understand were those who in their initial sweep of people they drew in and questioned, they thought would have further value to them. And they say that 4 of those 11 were what they called high-value targets. Now plainly, they're not making public everything that they know or everyone that they're bringing in, but what they are now willing to say is that they believe they have nine who were directly involved, they suspect, and two who may have been involved in the command network of al Qaeda, and plainly, they'll be trying to shake these down to see if it will get them any closer to retrieving these three, who they believe and certainly hope are still alive.

NGUYEN: Well, the U.S. military is working very feverishly to try to find those missing soldiers. They're dropping leaflets and they have even offered a $200,000 reward for information. Is that bringing in new leads?

RIMINTON: Well, they're getting information from a lot of sources. They certainly haven't got anything as of yet that would warrant the handing over of the $200,000, but they've been dropping lots of leaflets as well, trying to encourage people to give information forward. They ask as they sweep through thousands of troops, they just ask anybody for anything they can find. Now, they're getting from this an enormous amount of information. Not all of it is useful. They say they have received information being told to them emphatically that all three soldiers are dead. They say they received information from other sources that say emphatically they are alive. For the time being, they say they are optimistic they are still alive, Betty.

NGUYEN: Well, hopefully, they are, and the search continues, a massive search there in Baghdad. Hugh Riminton joining us live from Baghdad this morning. Thanks for the information, Hugh.

HOLMES: New this morning, another cease-fire agreement between rival Palestinian factions. Hamas and Fatah reaching a deal today after a week of deadly fighting in Gaza. This is the fifth attempt at a truce in the past week. On top of the internal fighting, Israel has launched air strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza that prompted accusations Israel is helping Fatah. Israel says it is responding to Hamas rockets fired at Israeli border communities.

The drug war's escalating just across the border in Mexico. A rash of recent bloody attacks. Police, government officials and journalists among those gunned down, 23 people were killed in a town just about 30 miles from the border with Arizona. Now the Mexican military is responding, as many as 24,000 troops being deployed across the country. The governors of Arizona and New Mexico are now asking President Bush to beef up border patrol.

NGUYEN: Well, some conservatives blasted as an amnesty plan. Some liberals say it is just too hard on workers. The battle lines already drawn over an immigration deal reached by Senators from both sides of the aisle this week. And among other things, the bill would offer a path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.

The Senate plans to open debate Monday on this new immigration bill and consider amendments. A Memorial Day deadline has been set for completing this measure. House Democrats are waiting for the Senate to pass a bill before they consider one. And President Bush says he is eager to sign the measure into law by August when Congress adjourns for four weeks.

HOLMES: Well, it's time to turn to some weather. Bonnie Schneider with us this weekend. She's not here in the studio with us; she's out and about, taking a stroll, if you will, taking a walk, a lot of people doing it.

NGUYEN: For a very good cause today. Talk to us about all those folks who have come out, Bonnie.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's true. You know, Betty, there are tens of thousands of people here. It's amazing. You can see the walk has begun. So now you can see plenty of people taking their strollers out with their kids. They'll walk three miles here at the Georgia Walk for Autism. We're in Atlantic Station, but this isn't the only place around the country where this walk is taking place.

In fact, if you take a look at the Web site, Walkautism.org, you'll actually see that these events are happening all over the country. In fact, 60 walks are taking place, Autismwalk.org, that's the Web site for you. And lots of information on there.

We're going to take a look at the weather now and show you what's happening across the country. First off, we're going to start with the northeast, because we are looking at some wet weather as we work our way through much of the region. You'll find some wet weather passing through the New England area right now. It's raining in Boston and into Connecticut and into parts of upstate New York, as well. Into Maine we'll be seeing rain and the wind making for tough conditions if you're traveling along I-95 heading from New York towards the Boston area or into Connecticut.

Our map for today shows high pressure across the country, and that means we'll be seeing some very clear conditions across the U.S. St. Louis looking good, nice and mild. It's a beautiful day here in Atlanta. Hot conditions across the desert southwest, Phoenix, you'll be seeing some high temperatures. Let's look for highs today and you'll see what I'm talking about. High temperatures are warming up all the way into the 90s, some into the triple digits across the country. And we're looking at some mild conditions as we look further off to the east. Raleigh looking nice so is Charlotte. And down in Florida you'll see high temperatures that will be climbing into the 80s.

We are joined now by Dr. Catherine Trapani, Catherine I know you are an educator with the Marcus Institute. Can you talk about early intervention for autistic children and how it helps them?

DR. CATHERINE TRAPANI, THE MARCUS INSTITUTE: Research has been really clear that as soon as a child is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, they should receive early intervention services right away. It's important because early intervention helps to circumvent the development of any severe behavior problems that may also be associated with autism. But it also allows children to develop language or an alternative way to communicate. It helps them to develop social skills. And it helps them to develop cognitive and academic skills, as well. And those are all very important for young children, because many of them need time to learn.

SCHNEIDER: I understand there is quite a spectrum for the children who suffer from autism.

TRAPANI: Yes. The spectrum ranges from children who are severely affected by the disorder and often have related intellectual disabilities to many children who have gifts and talents and are quite typically developing.

SCHNEIDER: Thank you so much, doctor. We really do appreciate it. This walk is under way, the walk for autism. Right now they've raised $1 million here, 1 in 150 children are affected by autism right now. Unfortunately, the numbers have grown dramatically over the past 10 to 15 years. So hopefully, this walk will raise awareness. They certainly raised a lot of dollars.

Betty, T.J.

NGUYEN: And those dollars are going to go to, hopefully, finding a cure for this. Because as you mentioned, it is increasing by the year, and that is definitely not a good thing when you are dealing with autism. Thank you, Bonnie. We appreciate that.

HOLMES: All right, and so far, not so good. Two wayward whales stranded in California. Find out what's next for scientists trying to rescue the big mammals.

NGUYEN: And from high-tech search and rescue vehicles to low- cost storm protection. With hurricane season right around the corner, we've got information that could help you and your families survive the storm.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I read somewhere that even the EPA says that indoor air pollution two to five times higher than outdoor air pollution.

HOLMES: And if that's the case, what can your family do about it? Coming up on "Open House," easy step-by-step instructions you can use today to protect your home. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Want you to look at this. Attacked in church. Can you believe it? Surveillance video from Middletown, New York. A man approached a woman in a pew and grabs her chest and then she fights back, taking a pen and stabbing him. The woman runs for an alarm, the man runs for the door. He's captured by another surveillance camera as he flees. Police have now charged a former psychiatric patient with attempted sexual assault.

HOLMES: Well efforts in northern California to redirect a pair of wayward whales not going that well right now. A mother humpback whale and her calf wandering 90 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, up the Sacramento River is where they are now. Experts have been trying to lure them back out using whale sounds, which if you can't hear that whale, Betty will imitate for us now.

NGUYEN: I am not!

HOLMES: Go. OK, well, those efforts are on hold for the weekend because experts are afraid the injured whales are getting stressed out, and that noise will do it to you.

NGUYEN: Sounds like someone had some bad breakfast, dealing with it coming back up.

But let's talk about this. Five hundred million found just lying on the ocean floor. Yep, these plastic tubs you see there, filled with gold and silver coins. How great is that? They were found in the hold of a colonial era ship somewhere in the Atlantic. We can't tell you exactly where because, well, we'd all be headed there right now. But we get more on this intriguing story from Walt Makavorski of affiliate WFTS from Tampa, Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALT MAKAVORSKI, WFTS: Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration hit the mother lode. Their deep-sea explorers found what may be the richest sunken treasure ever discovered. This jet at an undisclosed airport in the United States is off-loading 17 tons of colonial-era silver and gold coins from a sunken ship in the Atlantic.

GREG STEMM, CO-FOUNDER, ODYSSEY EXPLORATION: Just an amazing thing about gold. I don't care who you are, what age you are or what you do, there's something about gold, especially when that sunlight hits the gold.

MAKAVORSKI: Some divers in the bay area say this is what they live for.

KEVIN KIRK, VETERAN DIVER: This is really exciting, actually. I think every kid has dreamed about finding a wreck, myself included.

MAKAVORSKI: But veteran diver Kevin Kirk knows it's no easy task finding sunken treasure, even with the latest high-tech equipment.

KIRK: With all of that high-tech gear, with all of that, it still is unpredictable as sifting through sand looking for a needle in a haystack. The treasure doesn't -- isn't shiny. The treasure isn't glowing. The treasure blends in with everything else in the environment.

MAKAVORSKI: The shipwreck location is being heavily guarded for fear of looting from modern day pirates. Countries may also try to lay claim to this treasure, which ties up ownership rights in the courts. And the location of the loot is also protected, out of the obvious fear of a high-level robbery. Each coin is worth about $1,000 with a total estimated value of $500 million.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Wow, man! Just think about it. Again, that report from Walt Makavorski of WFTS in Tampa. Now, it is believed that that treasure or booty, as T.J. loves to call it, comes from a 400-year-old English ship not far off the British coast.

HOLMES: That's what it is.

NGUYEN: I inserted that word.

HOLMES: It's the treasure, that's what it's called, Betty.

NGUYEN: OK, we are going to ride out a hurricane, believe it or not.

HOLMES: The season starts June 1st, right around the corner. You'll see what's new in storm protection, next on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, .COM DESK: And coming up next from the .com desk, these second leg of the Triple Crown. We're going to take a closer look at the preakness (ph) online. So place your bets. It's all coming up when CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, surviving a hurricane. Once you make it through the storm, how do you take care of yourself and your family? There are plenty of new products out there designed to help storm victims with their basic needs and John Zarrella checks it all out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Long lines for food and water and gasoline. The aftermath of a hurricane can be at best miserable. Now there are hundreds of products, from prepackaged hurricane survival kits to hurricane armor, an alternative to shutters or plywood. The fabric will stop more than just a water bottle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stops wind and rain up to 176 miles an hour.

ZARRELLA: In the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita and Wilma, inventors and entrepreneurs discovered there is a growing market for products designed to get you and your family through the storm.

MIKE PHILLIPS, SAGE PRODUCTS: Give you an idea of how much solution's in this product here. If you take this thing, it's got --

ZARRELLA: Wow!

If you don't have water, these cleansing cloths are a bath in a package, eight for $1.38. There is even a shampoo in a bag. If you've got water, well, how do you store it? How about this a water bob or this, an aqua pod kit. You no longer have to worry about filling your tub only to watch it slowly drain away.

PHILLIPS: Once you lay it down flat inside your bathtub, you take the fill sock, which attaches to the front nozzle here and slides over your faucet of your bathtub.

ZARRELLA: Now what about food? Heater meals, chef five minutes.

PHILLIPS: Mm! Hot.

ZARRELLA: Or meals in a box.

PHILLIPS: This is a three-meal kit, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

ZARRELLA: They work by using a chemical reaction to create heat. There is a lot of high-end stuff, too, from communications equipment to portable water purification trucks to this. Now, this vehicle is called the roof. The manufacturer says they named it the roof because in the game of chess, the closer you get to the end game, the more valuable the rook becomes. During a hurricane event, a vehicle like this would be used for search and rescue. With tracks instead of wheels, it's designed to bulldoze its way through debris.

PHILLIPS: We can also deliver personnel, food, rescue people from ceilings, roofs, wherever.

ZARRELLA: And soon, Millennium Cell hopes to market a tiny fuel cell like this to power cell phones and televisions or a camera so I can turn the table on the cameraman.

There he is, Jerry Simonson. Wave Jerry.

John Zarrella, CNN, Ft. Lauderdale.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: All right, we're going it take that to this.

Horse racing and history. They could come together today at the Preakness and we have a preview right after the break.

HOLMES: And then at 10:00, our CNN heroes segment. Today you'll meet a teacher who is giving at-risk kids a brighter future by sending them to college.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Get your money ready, because several hours from now Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense will try to make history.

HOLMES: And Veronica De La Cruz will be there with the box of tissues in hand.

DE LA CRUZ: You guys are so mean to me. Did you see the race?

HOLMES: We did see the race.

DE LA CRUZ: So I was just being honest when I said it made my eyes water. That guy came all the way up from all the way behind. He was like the 20th horse.

NGUYEN: It's sweet, I know. Here, some tissues for you.

DE LA CRUZ: Like I said, the horse came from way behind the pack, which is why a Street Sense wins today's Preakness stakes, Americans will definitely have a case of a triple crown fever. There has not been a Triple Crown winner in nearly 30 years, but if Street Sense loses today, probably won't hear another peep until next year.

We were scouring the Web for good sites and found Technirody.com this Web site has a list of horse racing blogs as well as video of Street Sense's awesome derby win that brought tears to my eyes. So, the question now will Street Sense do it again today? And many of the bloggers hope so ...

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