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CNN Live Sunday
Cheney Hunting Companion Recovering; Alabama Church Fire Determined to be Arson; Race Problems in Los Angeles County Jail; Abuse Allegations in British Video
Aired February 12, 2006 - 17:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, this is CNN LIVE SUNDAY, I'm Carol Lin. Straight ahead in this hour, a whopper of a storm hits the Northeast. And at this hour, it's not over yet. Air transportation is a mess, winds are compounding the problems, and CNN is everywhere to report how you are going to be affected.
The vice president shoots a friend in a hunting accident. How it happened and how the victim is doing.
And, searching for an arsonist. Now 10 Alabama Baptist churches up in flames. Investigators give new details about who they may be looking for.
Right now, topping the headlines, East Coasters woke up to a winter reality today, a foot of snow in Washington, more than twice that in New York, more than that in Boston. Current conditions and a full forecast in just a minute.
Tonight, investigators say the latest church fire in Alabama was deliberately set. They're going through what's left of the Beaverton Freewill Baptist Church. Yesterday's fire was the tenth church arson in Alabama this month.
And Michelle Kwan is out. The five-time world figure skating champion announced today that a groin injury will keep her from competing in Torino. She's 25-years-old and it probably is her last chance for an Olympic gold medal.
Our top story this hour. A man is recovering from shotgun wounds in Texas. It was a hunting accident, and the shooter? The vice president of the United States. New details are arriving every few minutes. CNN's Dana Bash is at the White House right now. Dana, when this story crossed over, we could hardly believe it.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That makes two of us and probably a lot more than that, Carol. This accident actually happened yesterday about this time, yesterday. But as you mentioned, we just found out about it a couple of hours ago and have been piecing together bits of information to try to get a full picture since then.
About 5:30 p.m. yesterday in Texas near Corpus Christi, the vice president was at the Armstrong Ranch, a place he often goes to go quail hunting. And there he was with a man named Harry Whittington. He had shot his quail, stayed back. Mr. Cheney and another member on the entourage went ahead and according to Katharine Armstrong who was a witness there, she said that the protocol when quail hunting is for somebody to announce themselves when they are going to catch back up.
Well apparently, according to Ms. Armstrong, Mr. Whittington did not do that. And when he walked up, Mr. Cheney had his gun cocked already and shot Mr. Whittington from about 30 yards away. Now it is -- shot him with bird spray and apparently, so apparently he was peppered from about his eye down past his shoulder, to his chest on the right side. He fell to the ground immediately. He did not lose consciousness, apparently.
And as you know, Carol, Mr. Cheney travels with quite an entourage. He travels with not only Secret Service detail, but medical help as well. And they all rushed to help Mr. Whittington. Mr. Cheney did as well. An ambulance came shortly after that and took him to the hospital.
And today, Mr. Cheney did meet with Mr. Whittington. A spokeswoman for the vice president's office just telling us that Mr. Cheney found him in good spirits. The hospital told us just awhile ago that he is in stable condition, but it sounds like the two had a conversation.
LIN: All right, maybe we'll learn more about that conversation when I talk with the hospital later in this hour. Dana, thank you.
BASH: Thank you.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching CNN, your severe weather headquarters.
LIN: A wintry blast has shut down Sunday routines and paralyzed travel from the Mid-Atlantic states all the way to Maine. A foot, in some places, two feet of snow blankets much of the region. From Washington to New York, from Philadelphia to Boston, gusty winds have created blizzard conditions and fears of coastal flooding. Thousands of people have lost electricity and major interstates are mostly deserted.
Now not surprisingly, the brutal conditions have also disrupted airline travel schedules. New York's JFK has just reopened, but with delays. The Martinsburg, West Virginia, and Essex County, New Jersey, airports are still shut down.
New York's La Guardia is expected to be closed until 6:00 a.m. tomorrow. Boy, what a rush hour then. Our correspondents, CNN correspondents are deployed across the region. They are tracking everything from flight delays to power outages. Our Chris Huntington is standing by in New York. Chief national correspondent John King is in Chatham, Massachusetts. Gary Nurenberg, on duty in Washington, and meteorologist Jacqui Jeras at the CNN Weather Center in Atlanta. Chris, let's start with you in New York, two feet of snow?
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, thanks a lot. Yes, it's calm now. It has stopped snowing, but a record-setting snowfall in Central Park, more than 26 inches -- excuse me, 24.9 I believe is the actual tally there. And I'm here in Brooklyn in Prospect Park. It's been a gnarly day all day Just until recently, as recently as about an hour or so ago, blizzard-conditions creating snarled traffic. We've seen buses tangled up, even the road crews, traffic road crews had a great deal of difficulty today keeping pace with the snowfall, and of course the drifting snow driven by very, very strong winds.
The word from the mayor's office is that all should be cleared for the bulk of the commute tomorrow morning and same also for the mass transit systems. As you mentioned, the airports are a mess. They have not been flying all day. There are flights backed up all across the country, expecting to get into New York and indeed already we're hearing about cancellations for tomorrow morning.
But frankly, it happened on a Sunday which is good, so that made for lighter traffic. And also, a lot of people had the day off. And many, many New Yorkers, in particular, Brooklyn Heights where we are, enjoyed the winter weather. And the sledding was terrific earlier this afternoon here in Prospect Park. Hundreds of people making the best of a record-setting blizzard. Carol?
LIN: Wow, just these pictures are amazing. It's good to see some people are getting some fun out of this, too. Chris, thank you.
Well, the blizzard has brought a dramatic end to this season's unusually mild weather. Now in Rhode Island, the governor has declared a state of emergency. That makes it easier to mobilize emergency operations teams. There are no reports of major power outages in Rhode Island. And the lack of commuters on Sunday means roads and highways are mostly empty. Now seven inches had fallen in downtown Providence by late morning. More than 21 inches had fallen in Hartford, Connecticut.
It's a similar story next door in Massachusetts, blizzard conditions are battering the Bay State. Our chief national correspondent John King is standing by for us in Chatham, Massachusetts. Knee-deep, John?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: About knee deep where I'm standing, Carol. Out here on the seashore, it's getting dark, visibility tough all day. Even tougher now because of course, it is the nighttime now.
But the snow is continuing to fall. We have about four more hours here in Cape Cod under blizzard warning. The snow expected to continue until some time after midnight. It is continuing to accumulate, we're up past a foot right now, yet no major disappointment here, no major crises here.
Many of the hearty souls who live on Cape Cod year-round, not just for the beach in the summertime, they view this as a challenge, but by no means a crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING (voice-over): Day break at the Chatham lighthouse, a struggle to raise the flag as much a message as the flag itself: storm warning. Blizzard conditions are trouble enough, a foot of snow in some places more, means a day-long battle in white-out conditions. To clear the way, only to see the storm and the wind-blown drifts block it again. But Chatham's location on the elbow of Cape Cod adds a second worry, there's water everywhere and a mean winter storm is a recipe for flooding.
CHIEF MARK PAWLINA, CHATHAM MASS. POLICE: Being surrounded on three sides by water makes it an interesting police.
KING: Mark Pawlina became Chatham police chief just four weeks ago. Things seem OK here at the fish pier. His biggest worry is the flooding across town. Much of this parking lot is already under water, an hour before high tide. The main road through town, just a few steps away.
PAWLINA: If the water does breach the road, then, of course, we'll have to close it off.
KING: Shelters are stocked and ready, but no power outages reported. Summer seems far, far away on a day like this. Swirling snows limiting the famous views that turned Chatham from a town of 7,000 in the winter to more than 30,000 in the summer.
Holy Redeemer Church normally draws about 200 for the morning mass. Only 10 hearty souls in the pews this day. No work for the lobster and fishing boats means no samples dockside. But at Chatham Village Cafe, open seven days means open seven days. Rich (ph) and Michelle Crean enjoying their first winter storm since buying the business.
MICHELLE CREAN, BUSINESS OWNER: A lot of the guys that are doing plowing are swinging by.
KING: Michelle initially slept in, came to work when she realized Rich (ph) was busy. The cafe, the only place in town open.
CREAN: Ten, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. Thank you.
KING: That's Michelle counting the change, but she could just as well be measuring the growing depth of this winter's biggest storm.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: And again, a blizzard warning in place here for another four hours. Intense snow at the moment, it sort of ebbs in flows, different bands coming through and the swirling winds. But remarkably, no major property damage reported here in Chatham at all. We've checked in up the cape, all the way up to Provincetown. We're getting similar reports tonight.
Also called authorities out on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, they say a lot of snowfall but no major problems to report just yet. Carol, so far so good is the bottom line here on Cape Cod and pretty much throughout Massachusetts, the normal delays. But I have to tell you, as the snow continues to fall, we'll keep tracking any problems. But for now, it is just spectacularly beautiful. Most of the folks here say it's February, it's supposed to snow.
LIN: Tough stuff there. And John, we're getting calls here at the CNN Center, everybody is wanting to know where your hat is, so please stay warm out there, OK?
KING: I'm not a hat person, Carol, thanks.
LIN: Tough stuff, John King, there you go. All right, we're going to hear from Gary Nurenberg, who's going to give us the big picture out of Washington D.C., but first, let's check in with Jacqui Jeras at the CNN Weather Center. Jacqui, it still looks pretty tough out there.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, really is, especially where John King is. And my mom always said, sometimes, it's just too cold to be cute. So I have to pass that along to John, you want to bundle up if you're going to be outside today.
And with the winds howling as strong as they are, you really want to just cover up any exposed skin possible. Maybe just, you know, have your eye show if you absolutely have to be out and walk the dog or something tonight. But best to stay in throughout the northeastern corridor.
Now we have seen some dramatic improvements, say from Connecticut on southward. We're going to zoom in here and show you New York City. It's over and done with. We still have some decent winds to content with, but those are going to continue to weaken and all the snow has left everything except for eastern parts of Long Island.
We'll head you a little bit farther on up to the north, still coming down pretty heavy in the Providence area. And then as you extend on up into Boston, you can see a heavier snow band pushing through here. But I think this is going to be your last band of the night.
There you can see the sustained winds, down considerably. We've been seeing 30 mile-per-hour winds sustained, very common throughout much of the afternoon. So things are getting a little bit better here into the northeastern corner. And out on the Cape, Hyannis has been seeing 30 mile-per-hour winds too, and that's starting to drop down a little bit. You're down to 25, 26 miles-per-hour at this time.
What about some of the snowfall amounts that we've been seeing, quite incredible. The record all-time heavy snow event for New York City, 26.9 inches, Boston 13.5; 12 inches, exactly a foot in Philadelphia. And we'll watch for those numbers to continue to roll in for tonight.
On the backside of this system, some very cold air. I just want to show you this big view from the Great Lakes extending all the way down to the Southeast. That cold air bringing in some scattered snowshowers all the way into the deep south.
LIN: We're all looking for spring, Jacqui.
JERAS: It's February.
LIN: I know, I know, a couple more months. Thanks very much. So please join me tonight at 10:00 p.m. for the very latest. We're going to help you wake up to complete coverage of the storm. Airport closings, travel delays, and everything else related to the snow will impact your Monday morning. "AMERICAN MORNING" beginning at 6:00 a.m. Eastern, also, only on CNN.
And stay with CNN throughout the evening for updates on the weather and how it's affecting your travel.
Meantime, investigators say the latest Alabama fire is arson. That means six of the 10 recent church fires in the state were intentionally set. The rest are suspected to be arson. Now, the officials want to know if someone is sending a message. Rusty Dornin is in Beaverton, Alabama right now. Rusty, the scene behind you, the latest church burning?
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Carol, and investigators of course have been swarming all over this church last night and all of today. It was only a couple of hours ago that they dropped the crime tape. They've pretty much finished here.
Just to give you a look at some of the devastation here, you can just see that the walls really are the only thing that's left here at the Beaverton Freewill Baptist Church. We took a little walk with the pastor earlier, Dwight Bailey, he's been just -- it's been a very difficult experience for him. But he says he will get through it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DWIGHT BAILEY, REVEREND, BEAVERTON FREEWILL BAPTIST CHURCH: I'm just devastated, that's been part of my life for a little over 10 years and it's just -- to me, it was just like a death in the family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Now the fact that there was an alarm at this church and firefighters were able to get here, they said that there is a lot of evidence that they've been able to find here, a lot of good forensic evidence.
In the meantime, arson investigators are asking -- they're giving a plea to the arsonists to call them. They believe it's two white men who are very young, they're very agile because they've been able to get out of some very risky situations and say that many friends might recognize their behavior.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM CAVANAUGH, ATF SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: When people see these two guys, they're going to say, you always see them together. They're Frick and Frack. Anytime you see one, there's the other. That's the way I think the neighbors or relatives would view them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: They say they've got a lot of solid leads in this case. They do believe that it is solvable. They're just hoping that someone will call in and they're actually hoping the arsonist will call in saying, "Look, if you've got a message, we will listen to you. If you're having trouble in your life, we will listen to you, we understand that no one has been injured in any of these fires, call us."
They actually gave out a phone number and e-mail number and a post office box. And they want them to call in. They're saying that these men, they believe, are from the local area, so they don't want to release it to the national media. They want it just for the local media, hoping they'll see that and they will call in. Carol?
LIN: Interesting, Rusty, thank you. Well, a man hunt is on. Six inmates escaped from a Illinois jail after throwing hot water on a guard. Two are caught, but four are still out there. Are the nation's jails just getting out of control?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh yes, oh yes, you're going to get it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Brutal beatings caught on tape, British soldiers kicking, dragging and punching Iraqi youths. The dramatic and disturbing video straight ahead.
Plus this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is no random beating. It's an initiation ritual called jumping in. Initiates have to endure a pounding from gang members for no less than 13 seconds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: It is the most dangerous gang in the world. Is MS-13 somewhere near you? You're watching CNN LIVE SUNDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Chicago jailbreak, these four men are still on the run. Six inmates busted out of a top-security jail in Cook County, but two of them were recaptured. The men broke out around midnight after overpowering guards. CNN's Keith Oppenheim is following those developments. Keith?
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. This is actually the third escape attempt at the Cook County Jail since June. So there are a lot of people asking questions. Let's take a look again at the four escapees who are still on the loose. Their names are Tyrone Everhart, Eric Bernard, Michael McIntosh. Up in the upper right-hand corner, you can see Francisco Romero. He is charged with murder.
Police say that the break out happened around midnight in a maximum-security area of the jail when an inmate named Patrell Doss (ph) threw hot soapy water on a jail guard in the shower area, held the guard at bay with a homemade knife, handcuffed the guard and opened the electronic jail cell doors to let six other inmates out. Doss (ph), the inmate who started it all, he tried to escape, but he was caught. But the six others, they set a small fire, according to police, overpowered guards, swiped some keys and then got out into the street.
Last June at the jail, there was an escape attempt. Last Friday, there was another. And while in both cases, the escapees were captured, the Cook County sheriff was being asked if there's a general security problem at the jail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL SHEAHAN, COOK COUNTY SHERIFF: You have to understand something. We have, sometimes we have 11,000 people in this jail. We have 4,000 people on alternative programs. So we have about 15,000 people. For 10 years, we've never had an escape. In the last 10 days, as far as I'm concerned, makes me sick, but we have to investigate and find out what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OPPENHEIM: Take another quick peek at the men who were captured, Arnold Joyner and David Earnest. Earnest is charged with murder. And they were picked up early this morning in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago where they were spotted by an alert police dispatcher. And the Cook County sheriff is telling us, Carol, that the main priority beyond fixing the problems at the jail is to find these guys.
LIN: You bet. All right, dangerous men on the loose. Keith, thank you.
Now, to the nation's biggest jail system, the one in Los Angeles County. A major race riot broke out there last week and 50 inmates were injured and one was killed. CNN's Peter Viles reports on the efforts to prevent further violence.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After a week of race riots and violence inside the Los Angeles County jails, the sheriff tried something unusual. He bussed in the media and religious leaders and opened up the jails.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I'm saying is, we've got to work with what we got and going this other way isn't working, we just need peace. We need to get word to your families that everything's peaceful. That's what we're talking about.
VILES: Inmates listened but they also talked. The message from this inmate, blacks and Latinos cannot and will not get along.
ERNESTO MORALES, INMATE: Segregation is the answer. We're very calm here, it's very quiet. You know, it's more peaceful this way.
VILES: And even the separation of black and Latino inmates has not stopped the violence. Not long after the cameras and preachers left, the fighting resumed.
SAM JONES, L.A. SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: We're understaffed as you can see. I mean, 70 deputies for 4,000 inmates, that's a terrible ratio. The violence that's brought in the jail from the street, animosities, overcrowding.
VILES: This dormitory style jail was not designed for violent criminals, but that's what it holds. And if the solution is more jails and more deputies, the public may not support that.
RAMONA RIPSTON, ACLU: We need a new jail. Is there political will to build a new jail? I don't think so. The public doesn't care. People who commit crimes are people that we don't care about.
VILES: Officials say the racial tension comes from the streets, from rival black and Latino gangs. Whatever the cause, it's real. One inmate has died in the violence, dozens have been injured, lines have been drawn.
MORALES: Everybody has different riles. Everybody has different ways, you know? We don't want no disrespect that comes towards us. We don't tolerate no disrespect.
VILES: Years ago in Los Angeles, Rodney King asked famously, "Can't we all get along?" The answer this week in L.A. jail, no, we can't. Peter Viles for CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Disturbing images caught on tape. British soldiers seen beating Iraqi youth. The pictures rattle everyone from generals to Tony Blair.
And they're calling for vengeance. In Turkey, protests against the Mohammed cartoons turns nasty. The pictures coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: New pictures of a familiar problem. A London newspaper obtains video of Iraqi civilians allegedly being assaulted by British forces. The victims appear to be Iraqi youths. Our Paula Newton is tracking the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The video, said to have been shot two years ago, begins as rioters are running away. But in pursuit, British soldiers. The tape then cuts to at least four Iraqi teenagers being dragged out of sight and into a scene of brutality.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes, oh, yes, you're going to get it.
NEWTON: The disturbing blow-by-blow narration of the camera is chilling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, military little boys. Yes, yes.
NEWTON: As the boys endure repeated blows and beg for mercy, again the mocking voice of the unidentified cameraman.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, please, don't hurt me.
NEWTON: Witnessing the entire scene, several other British soldiers who walk by and do nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You little (bleep), die.
NEWTON: The beatings seem to go on even as the boys are subdued. One is kicked in the genitals while another seems to have passed out. The British Ministry of Defense had no choice but to respond quickly.
BRIG. MARTIN RUTLEDGE, BRITISH ARMY: The images in this video amount to very serious allegations. They're extremely disturbing and are the subject of an urgent royal military police investigation.
NEWTON: That was echoed by a visibly shaken Prime Minister Tony Blair, now in South Africa.
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We take seriously any allegations of mistreatment. And those will be investigated very fully indeed.
NEWTON: The video was released by the British newspaper the "News of the World." Editors there say they received the video from a whistleblower whom they refuse to identify, but they insist they've done all they can to authenticate it.
STUART KUTTNER, MANAGING EDITOR, NEWS OF THE WORLD: We went to exhaustive lengths to be absolutely sure they are genuine, they're authentic. The footage is absolutely sound.
NEWTON: The newspaper claims the video was shot in Basra by a corporal in the British army, where most of the 8,000 British soldiers in Iraq are based. Iraqis who have seen the video have reacted with disgust and demands that foreign troops withdraw.
"Iraqis are asking for the removal of British forces," he says, "the removal of the invaders." The video is also playing prominently on Arab television networks like Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera, along with photos from the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal.
(on camera): No matter how quickly this investigation proceeds, no matter what it finds or any punishment it hands out, the damage here is already done. The war remains deeply unpopular in Britain and this will only complicate the government's objectives in Iraq. Paula Newton, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Outrage in Turkey this time, protests over the cartoons of Prophet Mohammed escalate. For the latest on that and the other big stories, let's go to this CNN's Anand Naidoo. Anand?
ANAND NAIDOO, CNN ANCHOR: Carol, anger over those cartoons is growing in Turkey. At least 30,000 protesters took to the streets. This happening in the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, that's in the southeast. It's Turkey's largest rally to date on this controversy. No violent incidents were reported there.
But now at the other end of the country in Istanbul, ultra- nationalists, they pelted the French Consulate with eggs. Other demonstrators hung a poster showing a man symbolizing the United States, using a dog wrapped a Danish and E.U. flags to attack the Muslim holy book, the Koran.
Now to the Pakistan/Afghan border. The "Associated Press" says another strike apparently from U.S. forces in Afghanistan hit a tent across the border in Pakistan. A.P. quotes Pakistan officials are saying that two women were killed, four children wounded. The U.S. military says a security person came under fire, first from the Pakistani side. They then returned fire. A U.S. spokesman said he has no report of any casualties on either side.
Now, moving to Iraq, political moves at the top. The United Iraqi alliances taps Ibrahim al-Jaafari as its candidate for prime minister. It's a post that he already holds, the alliance won the most seats in the December elections. And that makes al-Jaafari the favorite to hold that position. He won the party's nomination by just one vote. That's it for me, Carol.
LIN: Hey, Anand, any word when there is going to actually be a prime minister?
NAIDOO: Well, Carol, it's quite a process. What happens is that the legislature, which is now in place, has to select a president and two vice presidents, that's the presidential council. They will name a prime minister. He appoints a cabinet, that's the government, and that has to be approved again by the legislature. So we're looking at a few months here.
LIN: All right, Anand, thank you. Winter at its worst, that nor'easter lived up to its name. Find out how it's going to affect your travel tomorrow morning.
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Gary Nurenberg at Washington's Reagan National Airport, where it's becoming increasingly true that you can get there from here. More on the aftermath of the storm, coming up in a live report -- Carol.
LIN: And later, you want to stay in tip-top shape as you age, right? Well find out the foods that will keep you that way. You're watching CNN LIVE SUNDAY. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Winter makes a late but dramatic arrival in the northeast. About two feet of snow blankets much of the region from New England in the north to Virginia in the south. There's also a record for New York City, 26.9 inches of snow in Central Park. The storm has closed stores and stranded travelers and cancelled Sunday services. Now CNN is drawing on all of its resources to cover this storm and its impact on people across the region. We are also getting help from our local affiliate throughout the affected areas.
Let's get an update from our team at the CNN Weather Center, Meteorologists Dave Hennen and Jacqui Jeras standing by.
Hey, guys.
JERAS: Hi, Carol. We're going to get to Dave in just a second. He's going to have all the travel delays for us, particularly at the airports where it has been a real mess.
The snow is coming to an end. The worst is really over and done with for everybody, though conditions are still pretty nasty say from about the Providence area on northward. But even up into Boston, over towards Portland, those winds have started to die down quite a bit and we're looking at sustained winds about 15, maybe 20 miles per hour at the most, as opposed to some of the 30 to 35 mile per hour winds that we were seeing earlier today.
Many of the warnings have been expired now. Looking much better into New York City, but we still have those warnings in effect, including the Boston area, just until the top of the hour. Then that should be pulling out. And we'll watch for the rest of these advisories to expire by midnight for tonight.
Now coming in behind this system is some very cold air and that is going to be riding across the Great Lakes. You can see, we'll put this in motion, our future cast showing you that everything is out of here by tonight and then you can see that cold air beginning to move in.
So what does that mean for your travel plans? Are we going to be OK for tomorrow? Well, we've already seen some improvements tonight, Dave. A couple of the airports have opened up. What's the latest situation there?
DAVE HENNEN, METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Jacqui, we had about eight earlier. About three this afternoon. About eight airports closed. Now we are looking at only about two airports closed. If we take a look at the graphic behind me one, one of them, a major airport though, La Guardia still closed. And La Guardia, according to the FAA, going to remain closed all night long and opening tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. So don't expect to get through La Guardia.
Nantucket, our other airport, the snow beginning to taper off there. But still that airport closed. An unknown opening time for that. I would suspect that would be sometime tomorrow as well. Let me take you to our flight explorer. This tracks how many flights are in the air at any one given moment. About 5,000 airplanes right now are in the air. Normally, at this time, we would have somewhere around 6,000 or 7,000. So about 1,500 planes less the normal in the northeast.
And here's the reason why. I mean we're still only seeing several airplanes around the Boston area. That's where the snow is still falling. But notice further to the south here, you get down to La Guardia, you get back down into Philadelphia, back down into D.C., and we're getting back to normal. I guess as normal as you can be as flights begin to take off.
And, Carol, this is normally a very busy time. A lot of business travelers trying to get to their destination to start business meetings tomorrow morning.
LIN: You bet.
HENNEN: That is not going to be the case today.
Carol.
LIN: You bet. And, frankly, I wouldn't want to be at La Guardia at 6:00 a.m. when it reopens . . .
HENNEN: Yes, exactly.
LIN: Because, you know, all these people are trying to travel this weekend. Forget it.
HENNEN: That's a good point, Carol, it's going to be backed up for much of the morning tomorrow just because you have this volume of people trying to get out. So call ahead tomorrow morning too.
LIN: Yes. All right. Thanks, Dave.
HENNEN: OK.
LIN: Well, thousands of homes in the Washington area are still without power. Crews there have spent the day clearing streets. The snow emergency was lifted this afternoon. CNN's Gary Nurenberg is live at Reagan National Airport.
So, Gary, what's the situation there? Has it reopened?
NURENBERG: It has, several hours ago. Some good news and bad news on those departure/arrival boards that we checked just a few minutes ago. Most flights to and from Boston and New York cancelled. An increasing number of flights to and from other places in the countries now have signs that say "on time," something you couldn't have seen here just a few hours ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NURENBERG (voice over): Snowfall varied from about eight to 20 inches in the Washington/Baltimore area, closing Washington's Reagan National Airport for about five hours Sunday morning, making wait thousands of passengers with warmer destinations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Phoenix, Arizona. Got the golf clubs packed. So definitely hoping that this happens.
NURENBERG: Crews had cleared runways by late morning and flights resumed at about 11 a.m. Heavy snows caused branches to fall on power lines leaving about 120,000 Washington area customers without power Sunday morning. The city declared a snow emergency. For a time, buses only traveled main thoroughfares. Downtown streets were cleared quirkily. Taxi drivers could charge double the normal fare which surprised some tourists.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I asked how we know, we as out of towners, that that policy even exists. He smiled, a very nice guy, and said, you've got to trust us.
NURENBERG: People used mountain bikes to . . .
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Enjoy the scenery and get some exercise.
NURENBERG: Others tried to get by, go figure, without shirts. As the storm lessened, the national mall became a gathering place for snow buff whose took pictures and built snowmen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a very happy snowman for a very happy day. I think Washington is beautiful with all this snow.
NURENBERG: But we also talked to some people today who just don't understand what all the fuss is all about.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm from northern Michigan, so this is kid stuff. This is absolutely kid stuff.
NURENBERG: But the storm does have the distinction of being the city's worse this year -- so far.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NURENBERG: A quick footnote on power outages. Pepco, one of the area's largest supplier of electricity, on its website is now saying it hopes to have most customers reconnected by midnight tonight. It hopes to have nearly all connected by tomorrow. But it admits it could be days for some others.
Carol.
LIN: Oh, boy. Gary, thank you.
CNN is your severe weather headquarters. So keep us and cnn.com close for the latest severe weather alerts.
All right. We've got more on our top story right now. A shot fired by Vice President Dick Cheney hits a companion. It happened during a hunting trip in South Texas. Harry Whittington was hit by bird shot yesterday. The attorney from Austin, Texas, was one of several people on the quail hunting trip with the vice president. On the telephone from Corpus Christi, Texas, the administrator of the hospital treating Harry Whittington, Peter Banko.
Mr. Banko, good to have you. How is Mr. Whittington doing?
PETER BANKO, CHRISTUS SPOHN HOSPITAL: He's doing well. He's in our trauma ICU unit in stable condition.
LIN: Does it look like he'll be able to leave the hospital tonight?
BANKO: I'm not wear of his prognosis or when the doctors plan on releasing him for the hospital.
LIN: But he's still in the emergency room?
BANKO: No, he's in our trauma intensive care unit.
LIN: OK, the ICU. All right.
So is it true that the vice president had a chance to stop by to give his best wishes to Mr. Whittington?
BANKO: He was here for a brief period earlier this afternoon to meet with Mr. Whittington, yes.
LIN: And could you describe his demeanor at the time of his visit?
BANKO: You know, I've never got to see the president or vice president up close, so I really only got to see the back of his head. And I really wasn't interested in what his demeanor was. It was quite an experience for us down here to have the vice president at our hospital.
LIN: I'm sure. But clearly it's big news when you have a hunting accident that involves the vice president. And he is visiting his friend to see what the update is. Do you know how much time they were able to spend together?
BANKO: I think it was about a 15 or 20-minute period of time together.
LIN: All right. Thank you, Mr. Banko. Our best wishes to Mr. Whittington and hope that he gets better soon.
All right, time for a fresh take with Carlos Watson where you always get something new on the big stories. Carlos joins me now from Mountain View, California.
Hey, Carlos.
CARLOS WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol.
LIN: When I called you this afternoon to let you know that the vice president was involved in a hinting accident, you didn't believe me initially.
WATSON: I didn't. Although I should have because a vice president in office had shot someone once before. Although, in that case, it wasn't an accident. It was a duel over 200 years ago in 1804. Then silting Vice President Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a famous duel and that essentially ended his career. But I think no one expects that that will be the case here.
And maybe more importantly, from a larger political perspective with Republicans being in control of all the major branches, the House, the Senate and the presidency, the gun issue hasn't been as hot in the last five or six years as it was during the '90s when you had Bill Clinton on one side, a Republican Congress on another and this kind of incident would have provoked yet another outcry and debate over gun policy here in the U.S.
LIN: Even though it was an accident.
Well, the vice president also managed to make some news this past week, saying that the wiretapping issue should be an important issue in the upcoming 2006 elections. You also have some Republicans getting nervous about this issue. So what do you think is going to be the political impact of this?
WATSON: Well, I think in really, in many cases, won't be a big issue as we get towards the 2006 election in terms of it helping Democrats significantly. Because on one hand, while a majority of Americans in polls say that they oppose wiretapping, generally when you ask the question differently and say, do you support going after terrorists and catching them through wiretapping, then they say yes. So I think it washes a little bit.
But here's where I think is could be significant, Carol. Within the Republican Party, this could be the beginning of a new and important schism between, if you will, so called libertarian conservatives and President Bush and, if you will, compassionate conservatives. Those who don't like things like wiretapping, who don't like eminent domain where the government can seize land, who are also opposed, frankly, on issues like assisted suicide who may say they want more freedom from government. This may add further fuel to the fire, those who say keep government out, even republicans out, and could become a new intermural flash point within the party.
LIN: Interesting.
Hey, Carlos, we're going to have to leave it there. We've got some developing news just in.
WATSON: Fair enough.
LIN: Thank you, Carlos.
We just got word and have now confirmation that the author Peter Benchley, whose novel "Jaws" terrorized millions of swimmers, even as the author himself became this big advocate for the conservation of sharks. He has died now at the age of 65. An interview that the Associated Press did with his widow, Wendy Benchley, who was married to Peter Benchley for 41 years, said that he died Saturday night in their home in Princeton, New Jersey. He had something called an idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which is a progressive and fatal scarring of the lungs. So Peter Benchley, famous author, dead at the age of 65.
Well still ahead, I look inside one of the most dangerous gangs in the world. The woman behind a new documentary. Lisa Ling is going to join me live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA LING, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL'S "EXPLORER": Midnight in El Salvador, S.W.A.T. teams prepare a counterattack against the notorious gang MS-13.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: It has been called the world's most dangerous gang, even compared to other gangs. MS-13 is notorious for its violence. The National Geographic Channel is airing a documentary on MS-13 tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern. Correspondent Lisa Link is here to tell us about some of the chilling sights that she and her crew saw while filming it.
Lisa, great to have you and great work.
LISA LING, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL'S "EXPLORER": Thanks for having me.
LIN: This gang. I mean, when you talk about the power and influence of them, how many states are they in? How many countries?
LING: Well, according to law enforcement, MS-13 is now in 33 states in the United States and in about five or six countries around the world. It has, over the last couple of years, in fact, become the biggest gang. It started out as a very small gang in the streets of Los Angeles in the 1980s. But over the last couple of years just spread like wildfire.
LIN: And what kind of crimes are we talking about? Because some people might write off gang activity as, well, look, it's going to be brown on brown crime or black on black crime in those -- isolated to those communities. What are these guys up to?
LING: Well, these guys are trafficking every kind of drug imaginable. Coke, crack, rock, pot. Every kind of drug. There are allegations of human trafficking and extortion. And it would be one thing if these gangs were just preying on each other and battling each other. The problem is, because it's gotten so big and because there's such a huge presence in like the American heartland, for example, people who live in those communities are also severely affected.
LIN: Why do you think some of these gang members chose to talk to you and tell their story?
LING: It's very interesting you ask because people are shocked at how candid a lot of these gang members were with me. But somehow I convinced them that a lot of young people would be seeing these shows and they could actually make a positive impact. A lot of these gangsters are young, like in their 20s, early 20s, but they have kids. And when I asked them, do you want your own kids to become part of this gang, they said absolutely not.
LIN: Really?
LING: Yes.
LIN: And yet they're recruiting eight-year-olds.
LING: That's right. Even though they're proud of the fact that they're considered to be the world's most dangerous gang, they don't want their own kids. And they don't force kids to get into the gang. But if you say you want to be part of the gang, they will gladly accept.
LIN: And it's part of the culture in which they grow up.
Lisa, I'm going to ask you the question that I know my mom would die to ask you, what is a nice Chinese girl like you doing into a prison talking with gang bangers and going to war zones and, you know, what motivates you? Why have you chosen this for your work?
LING: You know what, Carol, I've been doing is for so long. I've been working as a journalist for almost 15 years now. And for me, I feel really privileged to have the opportunity to immerse myself in these words. And, you know, as you probably have experienced, once you go and you witness things going on around the world, it's hard not to want to be there and then to report back and try and raise the consciousness in America about it.
LIN: Yes, it is irresistible. There is a draw because so many of what conventional media can report is not, you know, when you go there is what you see. So your message is so powerful in your work, Lisa. We're all really proud of you.
LING: Thanks, Carol.
LIN: Good luck with the documentary.
LING: Thank you so much.
LIN: Well, coming up, if you want to age well, have you to eat well. We are going to tell you what your body needs to stay in tip- top shape. That's next.
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LIN: The old saying "you are what you eat" may actually have some truth to it. Science is finding that what you eat has a big effect on health. And as Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen explains, your age should also play a role in determining your diet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR ANDREW WEIL, INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE PROGRAM: You saw the orange cauliflowers?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Beautiful. I was wondering about that.
WEIL: Yes, they've got a high beta-carotene in them. And then this is -- these are two varieties of kale. This is red Russian kale and this is Italian black kale. They can't be any fresher than getting them out of your own garden.
COHEN: Studies show it time and time again, a healthy diet helps prevent hard disease, cancer and a whole host of other diseases. But are certain foods, certain nutrients especially important at certain times of your life? We asked author Dr. Andrew Weil, head of the University of Arizona s Integrative Medicine Program.
WEIL: It's pretty stuff.
COHEN: He says your 30s, or even earlier, is the ideal time to eat well, to keep diseases at bay in the decades to come.
WEIL: This is some salmon that we broiled last night and leftovers.
COHEN: For example, less salt to prevent hypertension. Less fat to prevent heart disease. And women especially need to start thinking now about osteoporosis.
WEIL: Women can't just suddenly wake up at age 50 and say, I better start worrying about my bones and take calcium now. Your bone health is really determined by how you've lived mostly up to your mid 30s. You know, that's when you build bone.
COHEN: Then once you hit 40, your chances of hypertension go way up.
WEIL: Avoid eating or reduce consumption of processed and refined foods, which are often high in sodium, and to eat more fruits and vegetables, which are high in potassium. That has an opposite, relaxant effect on blood vessels. Calcium and magnesium can also help lower blood pressure somewhat.
COHEN: By your 50s, Weil suggests eating lots of magnesium-rich foods to keep your heart healthy. Leafy greens, whole grains, seeds and fish are high in magnesium.
WEIL: It has a protective effect on heart rhythm. It stabilizes the heart electrically. So for people who are prone to heart arrhythmias, I always recommend that they add magnesium to their diet.
COHEN: And your 50s is a good time to think about preventing Alzheimer's disease. The omega 3 fatty acids in some fish have been shown to possibly help stave off Alzheimer's.
Weil offers this tip for all ages, colorize your diet.
WEIL: I think a simple rule to follow is, you want to try to eat across the color spectrum every day. So you really want to think about, you know, where did you get your purple thing today and where did you get your red thing? The more colors you have in your diet on a regular basis, the healthier you are.
COHEN: And while supplements can sometimes be helpful, experts agree that getting your nutrients through fresh food is the best approach.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: All right. There's much more ahead on CNN this evening. An update on that massive snowstorm blanketing the northeast is coming up at the top of the hour. So stay right there.
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