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Hazardous Fire; Foley Scandal; Foley Fallout; Minimum Wage; Victory Celebration

Aired October 06, 2006 - 10:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. From the NEWSROOM in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins.

HARRIS: Watch events unfold live in the NEWSROOM on this Friday, the sixth day of October.

COLLINS: An industrial fire cooks up a toxic stew. It drives thousands of North Carolinians from their homes.

HARRIS: The speaker of the House apologizes, but he won't quit over the capital page scandal. House investigators ready to hand out dozens of subpoenas.

COLLINS: And he says, he says. Do you have to pay alimony when your ex changes sex. Hmm, something to think about. Think about that. You're in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Half the people in a North Carolina town on the move this morning. Sixteen thousand people in Apex taking cover from noxious fumes. Fire in a hazardous waste plant is spewing toxins into the air. The blaze erupted last night. No deaths have been reported, but at least 10 police officers have been treated for nausea and breathing problems. Nine other people are being treated for respiratory complications. The blaze comes a half year after the chemical disposal company was cited for six safety violations, but two inspections late last month turned up nothing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR KEITH WEATHERLY, APEX, NORTH CAROLINA: There was an assessment of -- by the hazardous waste division of (INAUDIBLE) earlier this year. But the company is required under applicable law to be inspected four times a month. And the most recent inspection was done on September 28th and September 29th with no violations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Joining us now on the phone, John Rukavina. He is director of the Wake County Department of Public Safety.

Thanks for being here, sir. Can you give us an update on the state of the evacuations and any injuries that you know of at this point? JOHN RUKAVINA, PUBLIC SAFETY DIRECTOR, WAKE COUNTY: At this point in time, more than 100 people were hospitalized, but a substantial number of those were people who were residents of a nursing home that was evacuated. So they needed to be in a hospital- type environment in order to stay safe.

At this point in time, the hazardous materials team on scene is still developing its strategy to make entry. They have not made entry and they're still working on determining exactly what the products of combustion were in that fire that started about 10:00 last night.

COLLINS: Wow. So at this point we still don't know exactly what kind of chemicals we're dealing with?

RUKAVINA: No. as a matter of fact, this type of situation is probably the worst thing a hazardous materials technician can encounter because there are so many possibility about what kind of chemical compounds can form in a situation like this. You might say this is a cousin to the 9/11 incident where you had a fire in a collapsed structure at the scene of the 9/11 tragedy and people on the scene were breathing materials and it was very difficult at the time to tell what that was. The people in this case are trying to use every possible precaution. That's one of the reasons the evacuation was declared by the officials of Apex, and that was they wanted to try to take every precaution to make sure that we've had no more serious injuries than we have.

COLLINS: John, I just want to let you know, we are getting something here at CNN that is saying that there are some preliminary air quality tests that have been done and they have apparently found nothing alarming -- have not found anything alarming according to state officials. Your thoughts on that?

RUKAVINA: Yes, I'm aware that they were making a presentation at the incident scene. I'm at the emergency operation center now, so I haven't got that information. But I understand that presentation was going to be made. So I guess that's good news at one level. Bur since we did have hazardous materials involved, I'm sure that as they get closer to the actual scene, they'll begin to detect traces of probably some of the classes of materials that we know were there. There were oxidizers present. We understand there were some pesticides. There was chlorine there. So, again, that mix in a combination with fire can create a risk for people in the area.

COLLINS: Yes. Is there any information, in fact, on that of what may have started this fire in the fist place?

RUKAVINA: No. The latest information I have is we don't know what caused the fire. That's probably something that will be difficult to determine until firefighters can make entry with hazardous materials technicians into the fire site itself. I just know that nothing has been ruled out at this point in time.

COLLINS: Right. Right. All right. Well, John Rukavina, director of Wake County, North Carolina, Public Safety, we appreciate your time here as we wait to hear more once those hazmat teams and fire crews get inside the actual building. Thank you so much.

HARRIS: And, Heidi, another fire. This one at an historic church in downtown Memphis, Tennessee. Firefighters say the century- old First United Methodist Church is totally gutted. Two buildings a couple of blocks away also burned, possibly ignited by embers from the church. One of the buildings is the Lincoln American Tower, one of the city's tallest skyscrapers.

Want to get you the latest now in the Foley scandal. The Louisiana teenager, who first reported the congressman, is still in the shadows this morning, but his family is speaking out about the young man and the e-mails he described as sick. CNN's Sean Callebs is in the teenager's hometown of Monroe, Louisiana.

Sean, good morning.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

We've known for some time that a page, who was sponsored by Congressman Alexander, has really been at the center of this ongoing controversy. The family has remained quiet throughout the week, but yesterday released a five paragraph statement. And in it they called their son a hero. Someone who had the integrity to question the intention of the e-mails he received as a 16-year-old page last summer from then Congressman Foley.

I want to read you just a bit from the prepared text as well. They go on to praise Congressman Alexander for doing what he could to keep the name of the page and his family private, out of the media. The text says, "in the fall of 2005, as soon as Congressman Alexander became aware of the e-mails received by our son, he called us. He explained that his office had been made aware of these e-mails by our son and that while he thought the e-mails were overly friendly, he did not think, nor did we think, that they were offensive enough to warrant an investigation. Rather, we asked him to see that Congressman Foley stop e-mailing or contacting our son and to otherwise drop the matter in order to avoid a media frenzy." And at that point, all contact between Foley and the page ceased. No electronic communication. No communication of any kind.

Now this statement goes on to say, if the family would have known about the IM, those instant messages that we've all seen, the very lurid, explicit instant messages, the family says they would have handled this much differently.

Tony.

HARRIS: Sean, in a scandal where we're still not exactly sure of who knew what when and who did what when, it sounds like this family holds Congressman Alexander in high regard.

CALLEBS: Yes. I think that's fair to say from this release that came from the family. The way the timeline spilled out, the young man first sent the e-mails to Alexander's office. Once a reporter asked Alexander about these e-mails, then he went to the speaker's office. Now, then a few months later, another media inquiry at that time, he went to Tom Reynolds' office. All that has been spelled out very well.

But what this family has been concerned about, simply their privacy. They feel that they've been in the cross-hairs of the media for some time. They want the name of the family kept out of the media. We know the family's name. We're going to abide by their wishes. As someone told me the other day, this young man is only guilty of being a 16-year-old page.

HARRIS: And to the extent that we know this, what's the community's reaction been to the story and maybe, second, what's the reaction to the moving circus, that is the media, descending upon that city?

CALLEBS: Well, you know, it really hasn't been as oppressive as you might imagine. I know that, you know, all the networks are here. A number of newspapers are here. I know the family is sick of the media contacting both the now 17-year-old boy, as well as the family. The people here in this area, they're very curious about what unfolded. To them, you know, they find this very nauseating, like many people across the country do.

Now Alexander only sponsored one page during four years. So, you know, as difficult as it is to say for this family, it wouldn't be hard for people in this area to pinpoint exactly who the young man is at the center of all of this.

HARRIS: Yes, that makes sense. Sean Callebs for us in Monroe, Louisiana. Sean, thank you.

COLLINS: President Bush on the record now backing House Speaker Dennis Hastert. The president called the speaker last night just hours after Hastert spoke out about the scandal. For the latest public statements and other word on Capitol Hill pertaining to the Foley fallout, CNN congressional correspondent Andrea Koppel joins us.

Good morning, Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Heidi.

Well, we know that there are a couple of investigations going on right now. One, the House Ethics Committee just came out yesterday and said that they had issued about four dozen subpoenas that they had approved. They wouldn't say who was getting them. They were asked whether or not Speaker Hastert, other Republican leaders. They wouldn't go into specifics. But the Democratic leader did indicate that this is an investigation that they want to get done sooner rather than later. That it would take weeks, rather than months.

We also know that the Justice Department investigation, we still don't know if they have opened a criminal investigation, but that they sent earlier this week a letter to the house letting them know that they needed to secure all of congressman -- now former Congressman Foley's office effects, his computer, his files, et cetera. And we also know that Kirk Fordham, who, for many years, had been the chief of staff to Congressman Foley, is now just resigned from his current job working for a congressman in New York. He had said that he had told a senior member of Dennis Hastert's staff about this a few years ago.

So he was just at the FBI or Justice Department yesterday. He didn't speak. His attorney did and said that his client had been -- continued to be very forthcoming and that they had a very productive conversation, Heidi. So there are two simultaneous investigations that are underway right now.

COLLINS: Boy, it's getting confusing, isn't it? We know that Dennis Hastert came forward and said he takes responsibility. He is sorry that this has happened. But where does that put him now? He has very clearly said he will not be resigning from his post.

KOPPEL: Right. There was a mixture of both defiance and apology in the speaker's comments yesterday at that press conference. He quoted former President Harry Truman and said that the buck stopped here. But at the same time made clear that he wasn't about to leave his job.

He got a big boost after that press conference. President Bush, for the first time since last week, actually reached out to him and called Dennis Hastert to offer his support, as did several top Republican leaders in the House and the Senate. Among them, Bill Frist, and two others who had actually distanced themselves from Speaker Hastert, both Roy Blunt, the number three, and John Boehner, the number two in the House, also kind of circled the wagon, which is a pretty good indicator, Heidi, that the immediate pressure, the valve has sort of been opened a little bit, some of the steam is coming out. But we know just from a recent poll that came out that two-thirds of Americans questioned say that not only are they aware of it, but that they feel that the Republicans have been involved in some kind of a cover-up. So this thing could come back to bite them still.

COLLINS: All right. Andrea Koppel, thanks so much for that. We'll see what happens over the weekend, I guess, on this one. Thanks.

And apparently we are talking up next about outrage over a party that hasn't really even happened. Millions of dollars to celebrate the end of wars that are not over yet. Details on that.

HARRIS: And still to come, she says she's a single mother of three struggling to stay afloat. Low pay, high anxiety. We focus on the minimum wage ahead in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: And world powers decide, what next? Iran refuses to stand down in the nuclear standoff. Live to the London talks. You are in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: And just a reminder for you that President Bush will have something to say about the economy this morning. Jobs reports are out. Employment numbers are out today. We will be learning what he has to say right here live on CNN. Expecting to hear from him around 11:10 Eastern Time. Meanwhile, minimum wage, maximum stress. Many families say their pay is just not enough. They want Congress to act. CNN's Lisa Sylvester on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Angel Bridgewater is a minimum wage earner. The single mother of three says it's difficult covering basic expenses.

ANGEL BRIDGEWATER, SINGLE MOTHER OF THREE: Trying to pay rent, lights, gas, water, telephone, and things like clothes that they need for the school year is very hard.

SYLVESTER: In Missouri, where Angel lives, the minimum wage is $5.15 an hour. That translates to only $10,712 a year, well below the poverty line. Congress has not raised the federal wage for low-income workers in 10 years, even though lawmakers have voted to give themselves nine pay raises during that time.

JULIE SMITH, ACORN VOLUNTEER: We, the people, decided that if our elected representatives in Congress and our state legislators won't do what we want and need them to do, we will do it ourselves.

SYLVESTER: This November there are ballot initiatives in Arizona, Ohio, Colorado, Missouri, Nevada, and Montana where voters will get to decide whether to increase the state minimum wage to as much as $6.85 an hour. Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia have already raised the threshold. Business groups have resisted the measures, arguing a minimum wage hike will hurt small companies. But the AFL-CIO says evidence has shown raising wages increases productivity and lowers employee turnover rates.

THEA LEE, AFL-CIO: There's very little evidence that increasing the minimum wage does hurt small businesses. And the last time we increased the federal minimum wage in 1996 and 1997, in fact, there was very little negative measured impact on small businesses or on businesses at all. SYLVESTER: Angel Bridgewater hopes the minimum wage is raised. In the meantime, to break the poverty cycle, she's taking classes to be a medical assistant.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Well, the irony of this is outrageous. Millions of your tax dollars earmarked to celebrate victories in Iraq. That's right, victories in Iraq and Afghanistan. CNN's Paula Zahn explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA ZAHN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Tucked inside the military spending bill just approved by Congress is a line that's getting lots of attention. It set aside $20 million to be spent next year on what the bill calls a commemoration of success in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lawmakers originally intended to spend the money this year, but things in Iraq and Afghanistan haven't quite worked out that way.

No problem. Congress simply moved the $20 million from this year's defense budget into next year's. Of course, while everyone's waiting for the commemoration to begin, the military could be spending the $20 million on other, more immediate needs. For example, based on U.S. army estimates, the $20 million will buy 12,500 bulletproof vests for our soldiers to wear or 55,555 fully padded helmets, or it could buy more than 80 fully armored Humvees for them to ride in.

$20 million would pay disability benefits for at least 454 wounded soldiers for one full year. At a time when the Bush administration is proposing cutting $13 million for research into artificial limbs, that $20 million could greatly improve the quality of life for soldiers returning home. The Defense Department estimates it's spending $100,000 a minute in the Iraq conflict. So $20 million would keep the war effort funded for only about three hours and 20 minutes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: A dispute over details. When her group turned over a congressman's computer messages, was something missing. A closer look at that in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And it is Friday. That means it's time for viewer e- mails with Gerri Willis.

Gerri, good morning.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Tony. Good to see you.

You know, high property taxes are on the minds of our viewers. We'll tell you how you can cut your tax bill. That's coming up next on "Top Tips."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Well, it's Friday, in case you haven't noticed. That can mean casual Friday at the office if you're lucky. Perhaps the promise of a lazy weekend. But for Gerri's Friday, it is a day to answer viewer questions. So here now, Gerri Willis, our personal finance editor.

Hey, Gerri. Let's get to this first one.

WILLIS: Hey, Heidi. Good to see you. I wondered where you were going with that.

COLLINS: Yes, I have a dress on, so I obviously missed casual Friday.

Needless to say, Patrick is writing this e-mail. "Should I trust online savings accounts?"

WILLIS: You know, I've got to tell you, yes. You know, your -- to your question, you'll probably find better deals too online since interest rates at online banks are higher. Security concerns should not keep you offline. Federal law limits your liability if someone steals your account information. But, of course, Heidi, it's up to us to keep our guard up. Don't give out personal information, including bank account numbers, passwords, Social Security numbers to anybody in an e-mail or over the phone.

COLLINS: OK. Now this one coming from New Jersey, which makes me chuckle a little bit. He says, "my taxes are nearly $12,000. That's nearly double from eight years ago. How can I get my taxes down?" Move, right?

WILLIS: Well, I've got to tell you, there is pain all across the country. Property tax collections are up 35 percent in the past four years for the whole country. The good news is, you can fight city hall, but have you to find an error in your home's assessment.

Now, statistics indicate that about 60 percent of homes have assessment mistakes. This is your opening. Dig out that report, make sure your home is listed with the right number of bedrooms, baths. Vigilance here with pay off. And I've got to tell you, Heidi, you think, so I can complain, what's going to happen? Seventy percent of homeowners who fight back walk away with a lower tax bill.

COLLINS: Yes, it's amazing. I saw a report on this a while back about how many mistakes are made. It's really worth fighting that one, it sounds like.

WILLIS: You bet.

COLLINS: And our last one here from Darryl. Gerri, "is this a good time to refinance? I want to lower my payments."

WILLIS: Well, the answer is, it depends. Interest rates have come down. Refinancing is a smart move if your credit is improved. If you're facing an adjustable rate mortgage reset, very important there. Or if you think you'll be in the house longer than you originally planned. Now, rates are lower, so you really want to do the work here. Figure out if it would be worth your while to pay the money to refinance, because it can cost thousands of dollars. Compare the costs and rates of at least three lenders. And there are calculators to do all of the math for you, which I love, at bankrate.com. And that will help you figure out whether or not you should refi.

Now I just want to mention, Heidi, the president will be speaking -- you mentioned this earlier -- about the economy in the next hour. And I'll be joining you again to analyze his speech and tell you what it means for consumers.

COLLINS: Yes, we got you on the docket. All right. Gerri Willis, we'll talk to you again next hour. Thanks.

WILLIS: Thank you, Heidi.

HARRIS: And still to come, a chemical fire, thousands evacuated. The latest from Apex, North Carolina, in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: And a dispute over details when her group turned over a congressman's computer messages. Was something missing. A closer look straight ahead. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And very quickly we want to take you to Stockbridge, Georgia, now. Still getting a lot of details on this. Don't know much about the scene that you're looking at right now. But we can tell you that there has been a small plane crash.

The camera actually zoomed out a bit, but I'm sure it will zoom in again and give you a closer look at the scene. There we go. Great. Thanks, Michael. A tape of the scene from just moments ago. Thanks to our affiliate WXIA here in Atlanta.

A small plane crash. And, boy, as you look at the debris there, that does not look good at all. Stockbridge, Georgia, is just a little south and east of Atlanta. Maybe 25 minutes or so east of Atlanta, Georgia. We will continue to follow this story and get you more information. I don't know of injuries. But as you can see with your own two eyes there, that does not look good at all. We'll continue to follow it.

Thousands of residents of a North Carolina town told to get out. A massive fire overnight at a hazardous waste material plant sends dangerous fumes over the area. The blaze comes a half year after the company was cited for six safety violations. Ashley Smith of CNN affiliate News 14 Carolina joins us live from the scene in Apex, North Carolina, outside Raleigh.

And, Ashley, I guess I want to start by asking you to give us a bit of an update on the evacuations of the area and give us a sense of how many people have needed some kind of medical attention -- residents and firefighters.

ASHLEY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, right now what we're looking at is 17,000 people in the town of Apex, which is population of about 32,000 people, have been asked to leave their homes and they've been evacuated to area schools. As far as injuries go, hospitals say that they have treated as many as 18 people. And of those, 10 are law enforcement and there was one firefighter who complained of respiratory problems.

We have learned from an update from the major briefly that those people are doing just fine. Basically, what's going on now is four HAZMAT crews have been dispatched to the site. And what they're doing now is assessing the location to see what the situation looks like now. It's basically been a fire that's been burning overnight, and they couldn't get to it until day broke. And that's what they're doing now, and we're waiting for the results of that.

HARRIS: OK, and Ashley, have the firefighters actually been able to gain access to the facility itself? Because there was some reporting earlier that perhaps the firefighters don't even know what chemicals they're going to be asked to respond to.

SMITH: Well, right now, the firefighting portion of it has been put on hold. What they're doing right now is just having the HAZMAT crews look at the area, try to figure out what chemicals are involved. I know preliminary reports were talking about some chlorine, some sulfur oxide, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizer, all mixed in one big cloud.

HARRIS: And what about the safety history of this plant? What have you learned?

SMITH: Well, we have found out that they have been cited for several violations, but what the mayor just briefed us on was that the last -- the last safety check that they had occurred in September -- September 28th and 29th, and they were -- they were approved.

HARRIS: OK. Ashley Smith of our CNN affiliate, News 14 Carolina. Ashley, appreciate it. Thank you.

SMITH: Thanks.

HARRIS: Heidi.

COLLINS: And we are over here with Rob Marciano now, our meteorologist, telling us a little bit more about air quality. We've been reporting that these preliminary tests in North Carolina are indicating that there is nothing too hazardous in the air. Tell me what that means.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOIGST: Well...

COLLINS: You hear about pesticides and all these things, you...

MARCIANO: Well, anything noxious, anything that's a chlorine type of deal, is not good for you. But what happened this morning and one of the things they were worried about were the shifting winds, and we had an actually -- a storm that was developing there. But that same storm brought a tremendous amount of rain, which will typically flush just about anything out of the atmosphere.

Show you a couple of interesting things on the Google Earth here. We'll take from you North Carolina, and zoom you into the Raleigh area, and just south and west of Raleigh is Apex, and just to the south and east of Apex is that chemical fire. This is where you have mostly your populated areas to the west of the chemical fire. And there's downtown Apex.

And then this seems to be an industrial park here. This is actually the building that they think that blew up in flames. And then around that building there are other buildings and then tanks that have gotten -- at one point this morning, the wind was going this way, into the populated area.

COLLINS: Updating, 17,000 people now evacuating.

MARCIANO: So now the winds are blowing more to the south rather than north. So -- and that's a less populated area, but there are still people that live down there.

COLLINS: Yes.

MARCIANO: But as you mentioned there, the good news is that the rain has pretty much flushed that stuff out of the system. And they're going to -- actually, pretty much -- pretty intense storm system for this time of year. It's really our first nor'easter of the season, and it developed right over this fire, and people...

COLLINS: That is terrific news. We'll take it, right?

MARCIANO: Yes, we'll take it.

COLLINS: Right? Any time we can.

All right, Tony, back over to you.

HARRIS: Okay, Heidi, just a moment ago, we showed you pictures out of Stockbridge, Georgia, of this small plane crash. Getting more information now. This plane went down with four people aboard, and it crashed very near an airfield here in Georgia. We are now getting reports that three people -- three of the four people on board the small plane were killed, one seriously injured.

And we can tell thaw, once again, this is in Stockbridge, Georgia, which is just about, I would say, about 25 minutes or so south and east of Atlanta. As you see, the plane went down in a residential neighborhood. Homes around the site of this crash.

And, well, you can see it for yourself, the first pictures from this scene. This was not a good-looking scene at all. And now it's been confirmed that three of the four people onboard this small plane have been killed. We'll continue to follow this story and bring you the latest developments.

And we are also following developments in the Mark Foley email scandal. We've heard from the family of a teenager who reported the congressman's computer messages. They are asking the media to let the boy remain anonymous. The Louisiana parents say their son bravely reported what's described as sick messages from Foley, and in their statement, they quote "honor our son as a hero."

Meanwhile, President Bush phones his support for the embattled speaker of the House. Dennis Hastert says as House leader he takes responsibility for the handling of the case. He says he won't resign. The House Ethics Committee is investigating. The panel has approved nearly four dozen subpoenas for witnesses and documents.

COLLINS: Her group came forward with emails in the Mark Foley case. But the FBI says the group did not deliver the details. The dispute behind the investigation. Drew Griffin takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): According to government sources, the FBI says the now infamous exchange between a Congressman and a page didn't rise to the level of a crime. And those sources say the FBI investigation was hampered because the group that provided it the email on July 21st of this year wouldn't name the page and edited the messages.

That group's president, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Melanie Sloan says the FBI is wrong.

MELANIE SLOAN, CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS: I would call that a lie, in fact. On July 21, 2006, I sent to the FBI the emails. They were not redacted in any way like they're claiming now. The kid's name is on the email. His full name and his email address, as well as the name of the Congressional staffer to whom he was sending the emails.

GRIFFIN: Sloan is president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a group that has been criticized for being anti- Republican. Conservatives charge that crew and it's Democratic supporters held back the memo until just before November's elections.

Sloan, a former prosecutor, says she sent the email to the FBI as soon as she got it because she was concerned for the safety of the pages.

Did this rise to the level of something you thought needed to be investigated?

SLOAN: It absolutely did. The statement that the emails themselves didn't contain criminal activity right on the face of them, that's true. There's nothing sexually explicit in the emails themselves. The problem with the email is that they suggest criminal activity. They suggest that this is man who might be involved in making improper sexual advances towards minors.

We thought it was very important that the FBI take a look at these and start investigating. But then we found out this past Monday, because the FBI announced it was going start a preliminary investigation that they must not have engaged in any investigation over the past couple of months.

GRIFFIN: CNN asked other law enforcement agencies what action they might have taken based on the initial emails.

The New York police told CNN, "In principle, a complaint such as the one that was lodged against Representative Foley -- for example, from a parent -- would result in an online investigation. That might have included having a police officer pose as a minor to set up a sting online.

The Peachtree City Police Department in suburban Atlanta specializes in tracking down suspicious e-mails adults send to children, aiming to arrest would-be predators.

CHIEF JIM MURRAY, PEACHTREE CITY POLICE: We issue subpoenas for their email address and who they are and who they're registered with. And then we find them. GRIFFIN: The FBI declined comment on camera to CNN, but government sources tell CNN the email was sent to three separate FBI squads, including the cyber squad. And CRE President Melanie Sloan says there was no follow up with her.

(On camera): Did you send it to some inbox that you knew would not get attended to?

SLOAN: No. And I'm going to tell you for the first time exactly who I sent it to because now that the FBI has been deciding to lie about what I sent and what they received, I sent it to an agent, a special agent in the Washington field office.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Melanie Sloan gave us the name, and we called that FBI agent in question. So far she has not returned our call.

Drew Griffin, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: World powers decide what next. Iran refuses to stand down in the nuclear stand-off. Are sanctions the way to go? Live to the London talks, next in the NEWSROOM.

CHERYL CASONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Cheryl Casone at the New York Stock Exchange. The jobs report has been on investor's minds all week. I'm going to have the numbers, and I'll tell you how Wall Street is reacting. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Just want to update the breaking news into CNN a short time ago. This coming out of Stockbridge, Georgia. A small plane has gone down, killing three of the four people onboard. And we're just learning that a 5-year-old child, the fourth person on that plane, has been airlifted to a local hospital. The plane taking off from Berry Hill Airport. Of course a private plane. And again, three of the four people on board confirmed dead. A fourth passenger, a 5-year-old child, has been airlifted to the local hospital. Not sure of the extent of the injuries.

But as you can see, local officials are on the scene, starting to assess the situation on the scene. And, Heidi, you know something about how these crash scenes are handled and we're overlook it right there.

COLLINS: Yes, I'm looking at the foam there. Moments ago, we had no other people in the shot. We couldn't see these emergency crews, fire crews, police, investigators in that shot at all. We had just the plane with the foam. So I was just kind of deducing that they had been there to spray down that accident site. It's upsetting, to say the least.

HARRIS: Absolutely. And clearly, this is in a residential neighborhood, as can you see from the wider views. Homes in the immediate vicinity of where this plane went down so, you can imagine this was a very tense moment as this plane came down for folks who might have been home in the neighborhood at the time.

COLLINS: Yes, it looks as though he may have tried to put it down on the road, a little bit bigger road. You can see a two-way sort of highway, if you will, outside of those driveways. So that may have been his intended landing target. We, of course, will continue to follow it. Live pictures now coming to us from affiliate here in Atlanta WAGA. We'll try to find out more just as soon as we can.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

COLLINS: Major powers gathering in London this morning to decide their next steps on Iran. CNN's Robin Oakley watching for developments in this news story.

Robin, if, in fact, sanctions are the way that these decisionmakers decide to go, what sort of shape might they take?

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, sanctions would certainly start at a pretty low level. If they do agree here to go for the stick rather than the carrot, which they've been implying up until now, these six powers, I think, at the U.N. Security Council next week, might shape something that would involve, perhaps, Visa restrictions, encouragement for companies not to loan money or do deals with Iran, a certain amount of freezing of assets held by Iranian officials abroad, that kind of thing.

The idea would be, I believe, to start with lower-grade sanctions and see what kind of results they got with those, because there certainly not going to be able to get people like the Russians and the Chinese here. They've been opposed really all along to the idea of sanctions. They're not going to be able to get them to go along with anything too punitive at this stage -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Robin, tell us, what sort difference made these talks? You know, what changes could be made if, in fact, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice does not make it? I know that she is on her way, or was supposed to be on her way, from Iraq, to these talks in London.

OAKLEY: Well, I believe that the Chinese are not going to be necessarily represented by their foreign minister here either, so there will be other officials here, political directors, and people like that who are going to have to take on the detailed work after this meeting anyway. It's unlikely that the foreign ministers, even if they include Condoleezza Rice, are going to be able to take big final decisions here on all the details of a sanctions package. That would go forward to the lower officials anyway, so even if she doesn't make it, I think, we're still going to see the same kind of flavor come out of this meeting. But I've certainly not heard that she's unlikely to get here. They say that she may be only participating in the talks, but not in the media conference afterwards -- Heidi.

COLLINS: OK, understood. Your best assessment, Robin, will there be a winner in this diplomatic war? OAKLEY: Well, I think so far you'd have to say the Iranians have won this diplomatic war. They've kept playing the long game. They've kept insisting that they were willing to go on talking, but they wouldn't accept any preconditions. They know that the six are split in terms of how much they're prepared to wave the big stick at them. They know that Americans are very tied up in Iraq. They know that the world is nervous about oil prices and that they can play a role in that if there are any sanctions against them. So they've played a long game. They've kept stringing out the talks, and they've gone on, in the meantime, with their uranium-enrichment program. So you'd have to call the Iranians the winners so far -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. All right, Robin Oakley live from London this morning. Thanks, Robin.

An alimony dispute. This isn't your usual case of he said, she said, though.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you can't be married to a man legally, how can you legally pay alimony to a man?

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COLLINS: His ex changes sex. Now he wants out of his alimony check. Coming up, more Dr. Seuss in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: And an update now on our breaking news story. A small plane has gone down in Stockbridge, Georgia. On the phone with us now is Lieutenant Jason Bolton of the Henry County Police Department.

Jason, thanks for your time.

LT. JASON BOLTON, HENRY COUNTY POLICE DEPT: Yes, sir. No problem.

HARRIS: Jason, tell this crash, what you know at this time.

BOLTON: We received a phone call, our dispatchers did, around 9:45 this morning in reference to this incident, that a small plane had gone down just west of the Berry Hill Airport. And we're actually on the scene right now awaiting the arrival. We contacted the FAA as well as NTSB, who are going to be on the way to investigate the incident.

HARRIS: And Jason, how close is the airport to the crash site?

BOLTON: It's probably about 200 or 300 yards. The site is west of the airport.

HARRIS: And right in a residential neighborhood, correct?

BOLTON: Yes, sir. That is correct. It is -- went down along the street and partially in a front yard in a small neighborhood just west of that location.

HARRIS: Did the pilot have an opportunity to communicate with air traffic control of any problems?

BOLTON: I have not been given any information along those lines. I do not know.

HARRIS: And this clearly went down quickly and we understand it may have clipped some power lines as well?

BOLTON: We could have some downed lines in the neighborhood. That is correct.

HARRIS: And confirm for us -- we've been reporting that three people were killed.

BOLTON: Yes, sir. Unfortunately, that is the case. I believe there were four on board. There were three that were killed, and the fourth was seriously injured and is being transported by air to a hospital.

HARRIS: A moment ago, you mentioned that you received the call at about 9:45 of this. Did it come from the airport or from residents in that community?

BOLTON: That I do not know. I haven't been given those details yet. That's just when the call was received by our dispatchers. But I do not know who made that call.

HARRIS: OK, Lieutenant Jason Bolton of the Henry County Police Department on the line with us. Jason, we appreciate your time. Thank you.

COLLINS: Chasing ghosts. U.S. troops on the trail of snipers in Iraq. Inside their mission, straight ahead.

HARRIS: And she says she's a single mother of three struggling to stay afloat.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trying to pay rent, lights, gas, water, telephone and things like clothes they need for school year, is very hard.

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HARRIS: Low pay, high anxiety. We focus on the minimum wage ahead in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: A reminder. President Bush will have some discussion about the economy this morning.

HARRIS: And you can watch it live right here in the NEWSROOM. We're expecting to hear from the president shortly after the top of the hour. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Jobs, the markets, your money. We will put them in perspective as we wait to hear President Bush's take on the economy. That is straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: But first, paying alimony, a dreaded duty for some people. A Florida man says writing his monthly check is simply unbearable, since his ex-wife made a major life change. And when we say major, we really mean it.

Here's Summer Smith from our affiliate Bay News 9.

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SUMMER SMITH, BAY NEWS 9 REPORTER (voice-over): Lawrence Roach of Seminole says he's fighting a battle he finds hard to believe at times.

LAWRENCE ROACH, FIGHTING ALIMONY: This is just not right. It's humiliating to me, degrading and really, you know -- I'm a man, and I don't want to be paying alimony to a man.

SMITH: Roach and his ex-wife, who we're not identifying, divorced a year and a half ago after being married for more than 17 years. After the divorce, Roach was forced to pay more than $1,200 a month to his ex-wife in alimony -- a pain that he wants to stop.

ROACH: If you can't be married to a man legally, how can you legally pay alimony to a man?

SMITH: Roach says his ex-wife has had a sex change and is now living as a man with a new identity. He says he feels he should no longer have to make alimony payments, because his ex-wife is no longer the person he married.

(on camera): However, according to legal experts, sex change or not, he or she, Roach is legally bound to pay alimony payments to his ex-wife.

JOE EPISCOPO, LEGAL ANALYST: His divorce decree is basically a contract that he's going to have to follow. Alimony is based on their relationship while they were married, not after the marriage is over.

SMITH (voice-over): Bay News 9 legal analyst Joe Episcopo says unless Roach's ex-wife remarries or one of them dies, he's required by law to pay alimony for life; a law Roach says he feels is unfair and is now trying to change.

In Pinellas County, Summer Smith, Bay News 9.

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