[Announcer:] You're watching AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.
[Miles O'brien, Cnn Anchor:] Columbus Circle is not on fire. Don't worry. That's just a little...
[Soledad O'brien, Cnn Anchor:] No. What is all that steam coming up there?
[Miles O'brien:] You know, cold weather steam thing going on.
[Soledad O'brien:] More than usual today.
[Miles O'brien:] Yes. Yes.
[Soledad O'brien:] It's still a beautiful shot. Welcome back, everybody. We're going to follow up a story that we've loved telling you about. Because you'll remember that terrible fall of that cheerleader, Kristi Yamaoka, took the other day. And after she falled I mean, look, this is a videotape. Oh, it's brutal.
[Miles O'brien:] Kind of hard to see, but I see enough.
[Soledad O'brien:] They do a pyramid. She rolls off and it is horrible. Everyone surrounds her. They're, of course, terrified that she's very severely injured herself. And look, as she's being wheeled away on the gurney, continues to do the cheer. She says she wanted to make sure this was an important game and she wanted to send the message to the team, don't worry about me, focus on the game. They went on to win. We love this girl. We're going to have her story in her words. Look at her.
[Miles O'brien:] And there she is. There she is. A little bit of a you know, a little worse for the wear. But, geez, when you consider how terrible this could have been.
[Soledad O'brien:] And doctors say full recovery ahead for this young lady. We're going to talk to her a little bit later this morning. First, though, lots of other news to get to. Carol's got that. She's in the newsroom for us. Good morning.
[Carol Costello, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning. Good morning to all of you. The U.S. and Iran trading threats over nukes. Iran says it will continue to pursue its nuclear research no matter what. Earlier this morning, the U.S. issued a statement calling on Iran to stop uranium enrichment or faces consequences. The U.N. Atomic Agency is meeting in Vienna. We're expecting to hear from them later this morning. When we do, we'll pass those comments along to you. New attacks leave at least five people dead in Iraq today and there has been quite a gruesome discovery in western Baghdad. Police there have found the bodies of 18 men. They were strangled with their hands tied behind their backs. The bodies found at a Kia mini bus. No word on who the men are. President Bush expected to sign The Patriot Act into law. It could happen as early as today. The House voted last night to renew the measure. Despite safeguards, critics say the measure still steps on civil liberties. Congress appears heading for a veto showdown for the White House. At issue, the Dubai based ports deal. Some House members have written legislation to delay or block the deal. Today they'll try to attach it to a billion dollar measure to pay for the war in Iraq. Wow. And Barry Bonds reportedly started using steroids because he was jealous of Mark McGwire. It's one of the claims in a new book against the slugger. Two San Francisco "Chronicle" reports claim Bonds used a wide range of performance-enhancing drugs beginning back in 1998. An excerpt from the book, "Game of Shadows," appears in this week's issue of "Sports Illustrated." And if you're wondering what Bonds has to say about it, he says he's not even going to look at the book. He doesn't care. But, you know, baseball could have something to say about it, Miles.
[Miles O'brien:] I have a feeling he'll look at the book. That's just my take on it. Yes.
[Costello:] I don't know, but maybe baseball will look at the book. And if they find...
[Miles O'brien:] You think?
[Costello:] Yes. Absolutely.
[Miles O'brien:] I think so. I think so. This is just the beginning, I think, of another chapter in the Bonds story. Thank you, Carol. President Bush due in New Orleans just about two hours from now. It's now been more than six months since Katrina hit there. The storm of controversy over how the administration handled things doesn't seem to want to dissipate. Live now to the CNN Gulf Coast bureau, our Correspondent Susan Roesgen is there. Good morning, Susan. What is the president going to see today?
[Susan Roesgen, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Miles. We're really not sure yet what his agenda is going to be. We assume that he may be looking at some of the levees in New Orleans and he'll be talking about a new $20 billion proposal to help the Gulf Coast recover. Now this particular place where I'm at this morning. This is a little coffee shop and candy store. We don't expect to see the president here this morning. He could step in for a cup of coffee but we don't expect to see him here. And yet the shop owner says that the government has made some promises that she would like the president to keep.
[Roesgen:] Lined up on wax paper, these blobs of sugar and butter and pecans are a New Orleans favorite. They're pralines, only Yankees say praline, made by Loretta Harrison from a recipe passed down to her from her grandmother. Since the hurricane, Loretta's praline business is back up and running, but she says she's struggling to make end's meet.
[Loretta Harrison, Business Owner:] I'm willing to roll up my sleeves and get to work and all we ask is that the federal government will send in the money that we're promised so that each and every one of us can do the same thing, roll up our sleeves and move forward.
[Roesgen:] Loretta was with a group of small business owners who met with President Bush the last time he was in New Orleans, almost two months ago. Back then, she was waiting to get approved for a government loan of $250,000. Now she's gotten the approval, but she says the government only releases the money in drips and drabs, less than she needs each month to pay a handful of employees and keep the business going.
[Harrison:] This is the mixture for the original pralines that we make here.
[Roesgen:] That you still make even after the hurricane. But there's something else in this kitchen that I want you to see. Not just butter and sugar and pecans, other foods are being prepared in this kitchen now. Another way that Loretta is surviving after the hurricane. While New Orleans doesn't have many tourists these days to buy pralines, Loretta found that a lot of locals just need a place to eat. So the candy maker became a cafe owner, serving hot lunches.
[Pierre Charbonnet, Customer:] She's local. She's trying to get her business back. So and I live here and I want to see her get it back, so we come and support her and it's good. It's real good.
[Roesgen:] By being flexible, Loretta Harrison has been able to keep her business and part of New Orleans food culture alive. And if she were to meet the president again, she'd offer him a praline and a piece of her mind.
[Harrison:] If you just continue to tell us what's going to happen, that's one thing. But when the revenue and the money coming to do it, that's another thing. That's what we need to see. We need to see the monies come in so that the people can decide what they want to do.
[Roesgen:] This is Loretta Harrison's 26th year in business, Miles, and she does not intend for it to be her last.
[Miles O'brien:] How is Loretta's house, Susan?
[Roesgen:] That's a question everybody asks in New Orleans, how's your house? Her house was destroyed by the hurricane, as were the homes of eight of her brothers and sisters and her mother. Some of her brothers and sisters live above the shop, they live in this area. They're all back in New Orleans. They're all trying to make a go of it again.
[Miles O'brien:] Susan Roesgen, New Orleans, thank you very much. Another positive step to tell you about in the recovery process for New Orleans. Tonight the New Orleans Arena plays host to the first pro sporting event in the city since Hurricane Katrina. It will be the first real home game of the season for the NBA's New Orleans Hornets as they take on the L.A. Lakers. They've been forced to play in Oklahoma City since Katrina damaged the arena. Welcome home, guys. Let's hope for a win tonight.
[Soledad O'brien:] Yes, that would be nice.
[Miles O'brien:] Just being there is a win, right?
[Soledad O'brien:] Yes.
[Miles O'brien:] Yes.
[Soledad O'brien:] Would that be a nice way to kind of kick it off. Let's tell you about this story out of California. It's really a follow-up. A sheriff's deputy in California expected to surrender to police today facing charges in the shooting of an unarmed Iraq War veteran. You might remember all of it was caught on tape. Listen.
[Unidentified Male:] Get up. OK, I'm going to get up.
[Soledad O'brien:] That was Air Force Security Officer Elio Carrion being told to get up. And then when he tries to comply, he's shot three times. Carrion survived. He's recovering. The police officer now is facing attempted voluntary manslaughter charges. This morning we're talking to the San Bernardino District Attorney Michael Ramos. Nice to talk to you. Thank you very much for being with us.
[Michael Ramos, San Bernardino District Attorney:] Good morning. Thank you for having me.
[Soledad O'brien:] It's our pleasure. I understand that you've been looking at this tape very closely and really an enhanced version of the tape. What does the enhanced version show that we're not able to see is?
[Ramos:] Well, as you can see, it's very dark and grainy and we were able to work, along with the FBI, and they were able to clarify that. But even more important than that is the audio portion of the videotape. We were able to really bring out the audio regarding the various individuals, whether it was the deputy involved or Mr. Carrion, or even the driver, and just to make sure what we heard and what you heard on national TV is what's on the video.
[Soledad O'brien:] We thought we heard was the deputy saying "get up. Get up." And when Mr. Carrion tries to get up, he's shot three times. Is that, at the end of the day, what you heard?
[Ramos:] That's at the end of the day what we heard but we want to make sure. You know any time we're going to prosecute an individual, I don't care who it is, and especially a law enforcement officer, we want to make sure that we have the right facts before we proceed down, you know, in filing charges and that's what we heard, "get up."
[Soledad O'brien:] The charges, attempted voluntary manslaughter. Can you explain what that means?
[Ramos:] That's right. Sure. Attempted voluntary manslaughter is that Deputy Webb used his gun, as you know, and he intended to kill him. But he intended to kill him and he felt what he was doing was reasonable. But there's that element that says, in reality, it was unreasonable that a normal peace officer in that situation would not of acted like Deputy Webb and would not have fired his weapon in those circumstances.
[Soledad O'brien:] As well know the family members say, OK, given exactly that, what you've just explained, why aren't you going with the attempted murder charges? That's what they want to see.
[Ramos:] Sure. And there's a difference. I mean with the attempted murder, and I can understand the family and their concern. If you just view the officer in the videotape and what he's doing when he fires his weapon, you could argue attempted murder. However, we looked at the totality of the circumstances. Prior to that there was a chase, a felony evading. A vehicle going almost a hundred miles an hour. The deputy got involved in the chase. And then there were other factors that you can't see on the video that occurred. And all of those things came into the mind, we believe, of the deputy in this case, and he felt that he was in danger at the time. He wasn't sure who these people were. And so, therefore, we felt instead of attempted murder, when you look at all of the facts, the ethical charge would be to file an attempted voluntary manslaughter. And that's a serious charge. You're talking about a deputy with no prior record. We filed a gun enhancement and great bodily injury enhancement and that's he's looking at 18 years and six months in prison.
[Soledad O'brien:] Yes, that's a lot of time.
[Ramos:] It is.
[Soledad O'brien:] Let's talk about the driver because, of course, Mr. Carrion was actually the passenger in the car. What happens to the driver? As you mentioned, there was a chase, 100 miles an hour is what I've read some of the speeds in this chase.
[Ramos:] Right. And we wanted to hold him responsible as well. We filed felony evading a peace officer charge, along with driving under the influence, and he will be looking at a little over three years in state prison because, as we all know, but for his actions and behavior, we wouldn't be here today.
[Soledad O'brien:] Yes, but do you need him to testify? Do you need him to get on the stand and tell his side of the story?
[Ramos:] You know, we would like that. We did a legal analysis and we really don't need his testimony because of other witnesses and other facts that we have. However, if he is going to testify, that would help the case as well. But we can proceed without him. But I think it's really important that he's held responsible as well.
[Soledad O'brien:] Michael Ramos is the San Bernardino district attorney. Nice to talk to you. Thanks for being with us.
[Ramos:] Thank you for having me this morning.
[Soledad O'brien:] Our pleasure. Miles.
[Miles O'brien:] Another check of the weather. Chad Myers at the Weather Center. Chad.
[Soledad O'brien:] Andy's "Minding Your Business" just ahead. What have you got coming up?
[Andy Serwer, Cnn Correspondent:] Soledad, Google seems to be stumbling and bumbling lately. How will these latest developments affect the stock? We'll let you know coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.