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American Morning
Toxic Fire Burning Near Raleigh, North Carolina; Historic Church Destroyed in Memphis; Foley Investigation
Aired October 06, 2006 - 08:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A major fire burning in North Carolina right now with toxic fumes. It forced thousands of people to leave their homes. The danger could be increasing.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Speaker Hastert apologizes for the Foley scandal but says he isn't ready to agree.
I'm Andrea Koppel on Capitol Hill. What do the president and other Republicans say?
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Sean Callebs in Monroe, Louisiana.
The family of a page at the center of this ongoing controversy is speaking out for the first time, defending their son. And you may be surprised what they have to say.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The recent rash of school attacks making people rethink the safety of our kids. Is arming teachers the next step?
S. O'BRIEN: And Olivia Newton-John, performer and breast cancer survivor, she's here to share her new CD and her message of hope.
Those stories and much more on this AMERICAN MORNING.
M. O'BRIEN: Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.
S. O'BRIEN: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.
Two major fires we're going to tell you about this morning. The first is in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, a historic century-year-old church totally destroyed, burned to the ground. High winds helped spread the flames to two other buildings as well.
And then near Raleigh, North Carolina, a chemical fire is still burning out of control there. Up to 16,000 people so far have been forced to evacuate their homes.
Let's get an update on that story from Ann Forte from our affiliate News 14 Raleigh.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANN FORTE, REPORTER, NEWS 14 CAROLINA: Apex officials are calling this disaster the worst in town history. Now, more than 10,000 people have been evacuated. Officials have asked half the town's population of 32,000 to evacuate.
This all started at about 10:00 last night at a plant called EQ. And that's a business that takes -- disposes of hazardous materials.
Now, fire officials were called downtown at about 10:00 last night there. There was a plume of smoke over downtown Apex. That plume of smoke turned out to be chlorine gas. A fire subsequently started.
Now, that cloud of gas has expanded and moved, and that's why the evacuations are in order. Fire officials are waiting until this morning to really assess the fire and get an idea of how they're going to treat it. They tell us they can't use -- they can't use water or foam retardant on the fire because that could cause some chemical spilloff, which could be dangerous.
Now again, about 16,000 people have been evacuated to shelters in the area. They're told to get out of here. They say it's very dangerous to breathe in this chemical. We have reports that 10 police officers have had to be decontaminated and treated for some respiratory ailments, as well as one firefighter.
That's the latest from Apex. Ann Forte from CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN HEAP, REPORTER, WPTY: I'm Brian Heap in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, where firefighters are finally getting an upper hand on a chaotic situation in downtown Memphis that's been going on since 2:00 local time this morning.
Take a look back here. You can see that there are -- there is a small building here. Firefighters still attacking it pretty hard with the hoses.
That fire -- that building, rather, was completely engulfed in flames just a short time ago, about an hour ago. It was a fireball. And if we take you up here a little bit higher, you can see that there's a tower right next door. These two buildings actually are connected.
Now, a short time ago we could see some flames coming out of the upper floors there. Those flames are gone now. We believe there are some firefighters up there inside the building right now on about the 17th, 18th floors, putting out those flames. I was told just a few minutes ago by a fire chief they believe they are getting an upper hand on this situation.
Now, this all started about -- as I said, about 2:00 local time this morning, at a church a few blocks away here in downtown Memphis. It's an old church, been around since about 1890.
That church was an inferno. We could see it from blocks away. In fact, the fire going so badly that the steeple from the church actually broke off and fell into the street.
At this point, we know there was no one inside any of these buildings. That's the good news. We don't know at this time what the cause is. There have been, however, a few arsons in the area reported just in the last couple of days.
But again, firefighters still working on this, haven't gotten to that point of the investigation yet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: The House Ethics Committee is moving fast on its investigation into the Mark Foley scandal. They'll subpoena dozens of lawmakers and aides in a probe of the former congressman's contacts with teenage pages.
Congressional Correspondent Andrea Koppel live from Capitol Hill with more -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: Good morning, Miles.
Well, in all, the House Ethics Committee said it had approved about four dozen subpoenas, without tipping their hand as to who they might call to testify. The top Republican on the committee said that they would go wherever the evidence leads them.
Now, at the same time, the embattled House speaker, Dennis Hastert, got a pick-me-up from President Bush, who for the first time since this scandal broke last week called to offer his support to Dennis Hastert. The speaker also, in a very public apology, said that the buck stopped with him, but at the same time he had a measure of defiance when he said that he had no intention of resigning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: Could we have done it better? Could the Page Board have handled it better? In retrospect, probably yes. But at that time what we knew and what we acted upon was what we had.
Ultimately, any time that a person has to as a leader be on the hot seat and he is a detriment to the party, you know, there ought to be a change. I became speaker in a situation like that. I don't think that's the case. I said I haven't done anything wrong, obviously.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: Now, Speaker Hastert also got much-needed support from several House and Senate Republican leaders, Bill Frist, the majority leader in the Senate, as well as the top two Republicans under Dennis Hastert. The majority leader and the majority whip said that they wanted Dennis speaker (sic) to stay -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Andrea Koppel at -- on Capitol Hill.
Thank you very much -- Soledad. S. O'BRIEN: The family of a former page who received e-mails from Congressman Mark Foley is speaking publicly for the first time about the scandal.
CNN's Sean Callebs is live for us in Monroe, Louisiana, this morning.
Hey, Sean.
CALLEBS: Good morning, Soledad.
Indeed, the family here very frustrated. They have been in the crosshairs of the media for the better part of a week since this story broke. But they are finally breaking their silence, talking about it.
In it, they are praising their son for his integrity, for having the courage to question "the intention" of the e-mails that the 16- year-old received from former congressman Foley. They go on to call their son a "hero".
They also have words of praise for Congressman Alexander. This is the congressman who sponsored the young man, who -- that led to him being a page.
This is what a part of this five-paragraph statement the family issued yesterday had to say...
"In the fall of 2005, as soon as Congressman Alexander became aware of 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."
Now, the family wants to make it clear these e-mails that came out were the kind of things of, "When is your birthday? What do you want for your birthday?" And "Could you send me a picture of yourself?" They were not the more lurid sexually explicit instant messages that Foley sent from an AOL account.
The family said had they known about the IMs, those instant messages that they said they did not know about, this would have been handled differently, perhaps they would have pushed for some kind of investigation or certainly taken some kind of different action -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Sean Callebs for us in Monroe, Louisiana.
Thank you, Sean.
Some new poll numbers out this morning offer plenty for the GOP to worry about. A "TIME" survey finds that only 16 percent of Americans approve of the GOP's handling of the scandal. Two-thirds believe Republican leaders tried to cover it up. A quarter of those who were polled say the scandal makes them less likely to vote for a Republican candidate come November. And overall, 54 percent say they are more likely to vote for a Democrat in the midterm election.
Plus, the poll says that Americans are split over whether Speaker Hastert should resign over his handling of the Foley matter.
Thousands of protesters around the country marching against the Bush administration policies. It was billed as a national day of protest on everything from global warming to the war in Iraq. It happened in New York yesterday. And the streets surrounding the United Nations were absolutely clogged, as you can see from -- well, not that picture, but the other. Yes, this picture.
In front of the White House, protesters held up yellow police tape for three blocks at a stretch. Can you imagine that? They were calling the Bush administration's policies criminal.
M. O'BRIEN: In London, a high-level summit to grapple with the Iranian nuclear threat. Diplomats from Europe, Russia, China and the U.S. split over how to tackle that issue.
CNN European Political Editor Robin Oakley joining us live from London with more -- Robin.
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR: Hello, Miles.
Well, they may have to swim into this conference the way it's going here in London, but a very important stage in the process of trying to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear enrichment program. They have tried the carrot, they have tried offering incentives to Iran, help into the World Trade Organization, a light water reactor, help with aircraft parts and things like that. The Iranians didn't buy that.
They have insisted on carrying on with their enrichment program. Now these six key powers have to decide whether or not to go for the stick. And, if so, how big a stick to replace the carrot. And that is where the difficulties come in, because while the U.S. and the U.K. are quite keen on having some fairly strong sanctions to push Iran in the right direction, you've got the French and the Germans still keen really, if they can, to maintain diplomatic contacts and keep the talking going, as has been done by Javier Solana, the EU's international policy chief.
Then the other end of the spectrum, you've got Russia and China, who are not keen on sanctions at all, who never have been keen on going down the sanctions route. They've got strong economic links with Iran. And it remains to be seen whether they can be persuaded to back any kind of sanctions program -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Is there any middle ground here, Robin? The U.S. says there will be no talks unless there's a suspension of enrichment of uranium by the Iranians. The Iranians say they will not do anything of the kind. And that is ultimately the goal of the U.S. negotiations, anyway.
Is there any way to finesse that issue?
OAKLEY: I don't think there is a very easy way of finessing the issue. We've got an absolute standoff here.
Basically, the six powers meeting here are saying, we won't start talking properly to Iran again without Iran first suspending that uranium enrichment. Iran is saying there is no way that it is going to suspend that uranium enrichment. They say they've only got a civil nuclear program, that they have the right under the nuclear nonproliferation treaty to do that, and that it is an infringement of their rights to try and stop them doing that. But at the same time, they're insisting, yes, of course they're happy to open talks, but on their conditions.
There's just no meeting point between the two sides at this point -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Robin Oakley in a rainy London.
Thank you very much -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Another troubling international nuclear issue to talk about. This one over North Korea's announcement that it plans to test a nuclear device.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld telling the international community it needs to step up on this one.
CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr is with us this morning.
Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.
Well, new pictures now out of North Korea showing the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il now today apparently meeting with hundreds of his top military commanders in North Korea. Not sure what he has been saying to them, but he has told the world through his government that his government plans to conduct a nuclear test. And, of course, that now raising concerns in capitals around the globe. A good deal of pressure trying to be assembled through the United Nations to pressure the North Korean government not to conduct this test.
Now, yesterday, unexpectedly, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stopped on the steps of the Pentagon to talk to a group of assembled reporters to indicate how concerned he is about this possibility of a test and how closely he is watching.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I don't think I need to be in the speculation business. The intelligence community is gathering what information they're able to gather. At some point we'll know if it is words or actually a test, and it will speak for itself. (END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: Besides the obvious, the secretary said one of his major concerns is that North Korea, if they do such a test, will sell that technology to bad actors, if you will, around the world.
Now, so what is the intelligence community doing to watch for the possibility of a test, what Secretary Rumsfeld referred to? We want to show everyone a picture of an airplane. This is a U.S. Air Force airplane called the WC-135. Its nickname, the Constant Phoenix.
You are not going to hear a lot about this from the U.S. government. This is the only aircraft currently flying that has sophisticated sensors that can sniff for radioactive material in the air, in the atmosphere.
It is currently flying out in Asia, one of the many intelligence assets, along with satellites and other spy planes, now watching very carefully to see if there's any sign that North Korea is going to carry through on that threat to conduct its first nuclear test -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us.
Thanks, Barbara.
STARR: Sure.
S. O'BRIEN: Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Time for a check of the forecast now. Chad Myers off, Rob Marciano is in at the CNN Center.
Hello, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Miles.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come in the program, the volatile mix of sex and power in the workplace. It exploded in the Mark Foley scandal and it could happen to you. Some advice ahead.
And this morning we are a caricature of ourselves, literally, thanks to our friend Mike Luckovich, who is drawing under deadline pressure for us. We will ask him about his new book, "Four More Wars!" as well.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: We've seen how Congress is handling the Mark Foley e-mail scandal, but there are implications, maybe, for what happens in a typical office.
AMERICAN MORNING'S Dan Lothian takes a look for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It can happen in the tall towers of corporate America or in a small business just off Main Street, someone in a position of power like representative Mark Foley, caught in a steamy scandal involving a lower level staffer, and colleagues in the know are hesitant to address the problem or expose it.
DEBORAH KOLB, SIMMONS SCHOOL OF MGMT.: Often people who may be important in the organization in lots of ways, maybe they're rainmakers, really have an important account, they get a pass. They know that those kinds of things happen. It's also because of great performers. You don't want to lose them.
LOTHIAN: Deborah Kolb, a professor at the Simmons School of Management in Boston, says to make matters worse, sometimes news of a problem doesn't get to the very top because executives in the corners office are insulated.
KOLB: Sometimes that leader can be sending a message that says -- I've often heard this -- no news is good news.
LOTHIAN: The victim of the inappropriate behavior often lacks power and is afraid to speak up.
KOLB: They feel when they raise those issues there are going to be negative consequences. And guess what? There are negative consequences. People miss out on promotions, they find themselves stuck.
LOTHIAN (on camera): This happens even though most companies have policies that spell out workplace conduct, what will and will not be tolerated. But experts say what's on paper isn't always what's practiced.
(voice over): Consultant Natalie Camper is often called in to educate employees after inappropriate behavior gets way out of hand.
NATALIE CAMPER, CAMPER GROUP: And it keeps happening because many people never read the policy and procedures, for one thing. And it keeps happening because we live in a sexually saturated society.
LOTHIAN: And she says some employees don't check their personal baggage at the front door
CAMPER: When you walk in the door, that level of freedom is gone. The workplace is simply not a social club.
LOTHIAN: But when someone steps over the line, what should be done?
KOLB: People need to know what the policy is and there need to be consequences.
LOTHIAN: As for the victim?
KOLB: Is there a trusted person, somebody they trust who is a little bit higher up in the hierarchy who also has the ear of the person who's maybe the problem? And an ally can talk to that person.
LOTHIAN: Ultimately, leaving the desk or office for a trip to human resources may be the best recourse, potentially saving everyone involved and the company a lot of grief.
Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Much more ahead here on AMERICAN MORNING, including our favorite political cartoonist, Mike Luckovich. He's got a new book out. And as we speak, he's working on a special cartoon just for us.
Also this morning, Olivia Newton-John, her unique new CD is helping fight cancer. She beat breast cancer. She's now reaching out to help other women.
We'll have her story coming up.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Political cartoonist Mike Luckovich can make you laugh, cry, and every now and then really make you mad. And that means he's doing his job pretty darn well. The two-time Pulitzer winner is out with a new book entitled "Four More Wars!"
And he joins us now from his suite of offices at the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution". We're not even sure how we got past his people to get in there.
It's good to see you, Mike.
MIKE LUCKOVICH, POLITICAL CARTOONIST: It's good to see you, Miles. It's great to be here. And thank you for mentioning my book. It will make a great stocking stuffer.
M. O'BRIEN: Excellent. Excellent. We'll watch the Amazon rankings go up.
LUCKOVICH: Yes. Yes, that's right.
M. O'BRIEN: Hey, first of all, I've got to ask you about this current scandal that we've been talking about. Has this been good grist or not so...
LUCKOVICH: Scandal. Scandal.
M. O'BRIEN: You know how that is. I mean, that's...
LUCKOVICH: Refresh my mind.
M. O'BRIEN: There's one going on.
LUCKOVICH: Refresh my mind. Oh, OK. Yes. Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: Let me tell you about it, the e-mails and the Congress and the pages. It's kind of a tawdry affair.
LUCKOVICH: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: But is it good material for cartoonists?
LUCKOVICH: Oh, you know, Miles, it is a godsend. You know, here we have -- you know, we have a war going on, and it's going miserably. We've got corruption in Congress. But, you know, people don't really seem to get as involved unless there's sex -- unless there's a sexual aspect to it.
I wish that Republican congressmen would actually be in bed with an actual lobbyist, literally. Then the whole corruption scandal would take off, see?
M. O'BRIEN: It could be good for business.
LUCKOVICH: But this has been great.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Well, it doesn't -- it doesn't -- this first cartoon you have here, let's look over your shoulder there and the first one you have.
LUCKOVICH: Oh, yes.
M. O'BRIEN: This is from your book, "Four More Wars!"
LUCKOVICH: Right.
M. O'BRIEN: It doesn't take too much of a stretch to get from this scandal to this subject right here. And this...
LUCKOVICH: I know. I have been trying to work them in together.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
LUCKOVICH: Yes. Yes -- no, this...
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, you can probably come up with it. And why don't you explain this one?
LUCKOVICH: Well, OK.
The new pope wanted to -- wants to ban homosexual priests, so you are going to have to lose 80 percent of the priesthood if that happens. But -- so I've got a bishop here saying -- he's looking down at his vestments, and he's saying, "Does this make me look gay?"
M. O'BRIEN: It's -- well, you know, it is a fashion statement, isn't it? All right. And, of course...
LUCKOVICH: Yes. You know, I was thinking -- Miles, I was thinking about maybe making Denny Hastert maybe like an archbishop and somehow, you know, making the comparison that way. I'll let you know if that -- if that works out.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, OK. That sounds like dangerous turf, but I would like to see that one for sure.
LUCKOVICH: I know.
M. O'BRIEN: Let's go to the next one.
LUCKOVICH: All right.
M. O'BRIEN: Of course the Iraq war and its aftermath.
LUCKOVICH: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: The invasion is a big deal for you.
LUCKOVICH: Right.
M. O'BRIEN: You talk about this a lot. This is Saddam at his trial. What's the judge saying to him?
LUCKOVICH: Yes. The judge is saying, "For your crimes, you get Iraq back." You know, that's got to be the worst punishment.
M. O'BRIEN: It's hard to imagine anything worse than this.
LUCKOVICH: He's begging for death.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Now, we talked about how -- how sometimes you -- you make people sad, too, and this is...
LUCKOVICH: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: ... this next one here, the "Why?" cartoon.
LUCKOVICH: Well, this -- this made people sad and mad, and a lot of different emotions. I took -- when the American troops -- when we hit 2,000 killed in Iraq, I wrote all their names out and spelled out "Why?" last year.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. And...
LUCKOVICH: I still don't know why we're there.
M. O'BRIEN: And a lot of people were upset about it, a lot of people were saddened by it.
LUCKOVICH: Yes. Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: This is the one that you think probably cinched you for the Pulitzer Prize? LUCKOVICH: I think it was, yes. Yes. And, you know, they can't -- because sometimes when you are dealing with tragedies, you can't be humorous. And I really -- I really -- this is one of my favorite cartoons.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. And let's -- let's go to the next one now.
You have a tendency to give George Bush...
LUCKOVICH: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: ... big ears. And you address that. You manage to combine that with another story.
LUCKOVICH: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: Explain that.
LUCKOVICH: Right, yes. This is the -- on domestic snooping. He's got a piece of paper that says -- and the question is, "Why do cartoonists draw the president with big ears?" And the answer is he's -- he's listening to everybody.
M. O'BRIEN: There you go.
And then Bill Clinton in the news not too long ago.
LUCKOVICH: Now, OK.
M. O'BRIEN: This is good.
LUCKOVICH: Well, you know -- well -- and, Miles, let me first state, you know, this is a Republican administration, so people will call me up and they will say, "How come you ain't never done no cartoons on Bill Clinton when he was president?" That's how they actually talk.
M. O'BRIEN: And that's how they talk?
LUCKOVICH: Now -- yes. Yes. You know, I did so many cartoons on...
M. O'BRIEN: You say that with all due respect, of course.
(CROSSTALK)
LUCKOVICH: With all due respect, yes. I did so many cartoons on him during Monica. But, you know, I look back at that as a quaint period.
You know, the president lied about sex rather than war. But anyhoo, here's the cartoon.
This is when the Clinton Library opened. Someone is yelling, "The Clinton Library is opening!" And as you see, Bill is unzipping the library.
M. O'BRIEN: He's unzipping the library. All right.
Just a few of the cartoons you will see in the book.
LUCKOVICH: It's all in -- it's all in my damn -- it's al in my damn book. And there's stories as well in there. I was -- I was at the Pentagon with Rumsfeld, I flew on Air Force One with Clinton, different things like that.
Now, should we go to the drawings?
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, and now the unveiling, please. You drew for us. Show us what you have.
LUCKOVICH: OK. Well, let's show the crappy one first.
This -- this is -- I heard you liked to fly a plane, so -- you like to fly, so I have you on CNN's headquarters as -- dressed as a chicken, about to -- about make your leap.
M. O'BRIEN: Excellent.
LUCKOVICH: And now I know Soledad has four children, and she's trying to learn piano, and they kind of drive her nuts while she's doing that, so I did this cartoon. "Mom, please let us out."
S. O'BRIEN: Ooh, what a good idea. Trap them in the piano. Keep them...
LUCKOVICH: Isn't that a fabulous idea?
M. O'BRIEN: It will be great for social services later on that one.
LUCKOVICH: Now, finally...
M. O'BRIEN: I get two?
LUCKOVICH: Now finally, Miles, I know you are fond of NASA. Yes, yes, you do. A NASA spokesman or a NASA person saying, "Dammit, scrap the launch. Miles got his microphone tangled in the thruster."
And there's miles saying, "Oops. Oops."
M. O'BRIEN: That's good. That's very good.
LUCKOVICH: So...
M. O'BRIEN: And on deadline, too.
LUCKOVICH: Oh, thank you, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Mike Luckovich, thanks for your time.
LUCKOVICH: All right. M. O'BRIEN: Thanks for letting us intrude on your day. And I know...
LUCKOVICH: Thank you for -- thank you -- and Miles, you can get the book on ajc.com. That's my Web site.
M. O'BRIEN: AJC.com.
LUCKOVICH: So go there and it will be great.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. "Four More Wars!"
Mike Luckovich, thanks, as always -- Soledad.
LUCKOVICH: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, we'll take a look at our top stories, including that big fire in North Carolina near Raleigh. The burning hazardous waste site is spreading some dangerous toxic fumes right now. An update on that situation just ahead.
Plus, one lawmaker has a pretty radical plan to combat the recent rash of school shootings. He thinks you should arm the teachers. We'll talk to him ahead.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Let's take you now to Apex, North Carolina. That's where the big fire is burning, big chemical fire. This is the mayor, Keith Weatherly.
Let's listen in.
MYR. KEITH WEATHERLY, APEX, NORTH CAROLINA: There's more information on questions you are asking this morning about the citation or alleged violation of the company. They -- that there was an assessment of -- by the hazardous waste division of DENA (ph) 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.
Of September, exactly.
So, any additional information you would like to have on that can be followed through the Division of Hazardous Waste in DENA. They can comment further on that.
QUESTION: We had reports from the state that initial air-quality tests by the air-quality folks were showing nothing alarming. Can you confirm? Have you heard that as well?
WEATHERLY: No, I have not. That's news to me. I'm looking at our staff now, but that would be great news. QUESTION: What is the status of the evacuees, of when you're hoping to get people back? I know that it's a hard question to answer, but everybody wants to know when can I go back home? What would you tell them at this point?
WEATHERLY: Well, we would not change that evacuation order until we know it's all clear. We would err on the side of caution. And until we get the assessment from the site that the site is stabilized, there's no potential exposure from additional chemicals from the site, then -- and then our professionals with the police and the fire would make an assessment as to when that all-clear signal could go out, and I promise everyone that we will do that as expeditiously as is prudent to do so.
QUESTION: Now some of the concern obviously has been because of the wind and the shift in the cloud. It's been breezy here in the last hour or so. Tell us about those concerns and any updates on that.
WEATHERLY: Well, the last sighting, as you know from our previous briefing, was just down 64 from here, but from what I heard from the Division of Air Quality, that this rain is going to potentially dissipate the particulates in the air.
QUESTION: No change in its position since last...
WEATHERLY: We have not had a visual. I'm looking at our tower manager now. We have not had a citing, or the sniff test -- we've got people all over the street right now. We've got them all over every corner of Apex checking them out.
QUESTION: Do you believe it's cleared?
WEATHERLY: We have no reason to believe that -- either way right now, but frankly, the prognosis from the rain is an optimistic one as far as clearing the air. And then we'll wait for the HAZMAT people to give us an assessment of the site itself.
QUESTION: Give us a feel for what those HAZMAT people are doing. We saw four HAZMAT trucks drive away from here, presumably to the site within the last hour or so. What do they do to assess the site? And are they able to breathe the air, or are they using masks?
WEATHERLY: Yes, I'll let Bruce Radford (ph), our town manager, who got a direct briefing on their protocol, and I'm not familiar with it but I will let Mr...
QUESTION: What are the HAZMAT crews doing? Are they wearing masks? What are they finding initially?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're wearing what's called a type-A hazardous-response suit. It is the most effective hazardous material suit, as impermeable as any kind of response suit that you could have. They are not many of these kinds of suits about, so obviously the Raleigh hazardous materials teams is doing that. They have staged over at Apex High School. They will be leaving there in just a very few minutes to go over and do a perimeter survey of the entire facility.
WEATHERLY: You've been listening to what's been happening this morning in Apex, North Carolina. That's very close to Raleigh, North Carolina. It's a suburb, and they've had that chemical fire. We've been showing you some of the pictures all morning. You heard the mayor there just a moment ago, saying that they are grateful for the rain, because it sort of cleans out the air. He got a question about when those evacuees which are estimated between 10,000 and 16,000, when they'd be able to return, and he basically said they really don't have any idea. The HAZMAT teams have to do their assessments, and they have to kind of figure out what kind of circumstance they're working with before he can make that kind of a call.
So that's what's happening in Apex, North Carolina. Obviously we continue to watch that story for you -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Also happening this morning in downtown Memphis, more than half of the city's firefighters called to fires in several buildings. They're finally getting them under control this morning. It started in a historic church which was completely destroyed. The cause of it is unknown -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: With three school shootings in just over a week, some kind of action is called for, but is the answer letting teachers and other personnel carrying concealed weapons in schools? Well, a Wisconsin state legislature thinks so, plans to introduce legislation in his state where just last week a 15-year-old was arrested in the shooting death of his principal.
Frank Lasee is in Chicago this morning. Nice to see you, sir. Thanks for talking with us.
FRANK LASEE (R), WISCONSIN: Good morning. Thanks for having me on.
S. O'BRIEN: Spell out your plan for me. Who would be armed? How would it work?
LASEE: Any school personnel who had the desire and went through a certification process, which would include training, and I think more extensive than training for a concealed carry permit, because they are in schools with children in a closed environment, when they would use the weapon, how they would use it would be included in that. A background check, psychological review would all be included.
I don't envision at all ever where they would be carrying it around in open display or on their hip. And for this to work and be the best, what it really needs to have is for, for this element of surprise, and not knowing if there's one, or none or five, you know, school personnel who have a gun that could meet and put up resistance for someone who wants to harm our children.
S. O'BRIEN: So the theory would be it's a disincentive. If you know that somebody in the school is armed, you wouldn't go ahead and attack a school in the first place. Is that the theory? LASEE: Well it's both disincentive in that respect, and I think people who do this, if their children are often bullies, and bullies are ultimately cowards, so that will be a strong disincentive. And also to unarm and disarm someone who's come in with a gun, and to be able to confront them and stop them from shooting children who are unarmed in any way -- if they have to, fire upon them so that they stop hurting kids. That's what this is about.
S. O'BRIEN: As you well know, there are many critics of your plan, and some of those critics say, listen, just by having a gun in the classroom, you actually put the kids in the classroom at even more risk.
LASEE: Well, some people equate more guns to more violence, and it's as if pencils causing misspellings. Guns don't cause violence; it's the people that use them. This is a response to what's going on. I wish we lived in a world where we didn't have to consider this. I wish we lived in a world where our schools are safe, but I wish we lived in a world where this wasn't a viable option. But it is. We have school -- gun-free zones around schools, and yet we have people who bring guns to school and want to do harm to kids. So this is a way for people to protect themselves.
S. O'BRIEN: When you look at the -- forgive me for tripping on you there. When you look at the actual numbers...
LASEE: I'm sorry.
S. O'BRIEN: No, no, my mistake.
When you look at the actual numbers, while these stories become front page and headline stories, the actual numbers of people who die inside school are low, are very low. I mean, there are many other, you know, causes of death that are far greater. Aren't you kind of going overboard?
LASEE: Well, there certainly are, but this is a safe proposal. Prior to the federal law, we knew that there were teachers with concealed-carry permits and brought guns to school. In my research, I've uncovered at least nine instances, and they have not been put out by the media. One instance in Mississippi where a teacher that -- someone came in, started shooting children. A teacher ran out to his car, was more than a thousand feet away, so he's obeying the law, opened his trunk, took the gun out, ran back into the school and disarmed that person before he could shoot more kids. So it has provided safety, and that's what this is about.
It's another option. This isn't the silver bullet. It's not the only answer. It's a piece in the puzzle of making our schools even safer.
S. O'BRIEN: I know you've pointed to the system in Israel as sort of a model of what could happen here in the United States. But there are many people who say, well, yes, but everybody in Israel -- you know, trains in the military. And you're talking about teachers who would be coming into potentially a hostage situation, not just sort of shooting at a shooting range, but really may not be qualified, even with training, to handle a situation like that. I mean, it's really -- the training a SWAT team member would need.
LASEE: Well, this is not the only answer. And, of course, if it was a hostage situation, you'd wait for reinforcements, you would wait for the SWAT team to get there, all of those things would be in place. But this is for when someone walks into a school with a gun, they're walking down the hall, they decide to take hostages, you can confront them then, they come into your classroom and your kids are sitting ducks.
I want those kids to be protected. And that's -- again, that's what this is about. You know, in Israel, this was in response to Palestinian terrorists. They did it in Thailand again in response to Muslim extremists.
This isn't about terrorists. And heaven forbid, I hope it never happens, but that's a real possibility in today's world. They've done it in other countries, besides the two that I have mentioned. So we should start being prepared for this. I wish we didn't live in a dangerous world. I wish that it was safer. And I feel as if it's getting more dangerous, not less dangerous.
S. O'BRIEN: Wisconsin state representative Frank Lasee. Thanks for talking with us. We certainly appreciate it.
LASEE: Thanks for having me on.
M. O'BRIEN: I'm sorry. Still to come, enormous risks under incredibly difficult conditions. Serving refugees in Darfur, an up close look at that.
Plus, you've heard her songs, you've seen her act. And now Olivia Newton-John tells you how she took on breast cancer and came out a survivor. She's talking with Soledad after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
S. O'BRIEN: October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Olivia Newton-John is a breast cancer survivor. She's got a new CD out. It's called "Grace and Gratitude." And on it, she sings about love and hope and healing. It's a very personal CD. Olivia Newton John joins us this morning.
It's so nice to see you. Thanks for talking with you.
OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN, "GRACE AND GRATITUDE": Thank you. Nice to be here.
S. O'BRIEN: What's the title, "Grace and Gratitude"? I have to imagine, as a breast cancer survivor, the gratitude part is just being alive.
NEWTON-JOHN: Going through anything, I think, you know, if you go through something difficult, something good comes out of it. And I think if you give thanks for what you do have, it creates a feeling of well-being. So, this whole album is kind of an inner journey. My relationship with myself, with others and with my higher self. And I hope that it gives other people some peace. I think music is a wonderful way of calming the body and healing the spirit.
S. O'BRIEN: It's a very different album. I mean, for people who think they're going to get a pop album from Olivia Newton-John, that's not what they're going to get. Let's listen just to a little bit for a second.
NEWTON-JOHN: OK, sure.
(MUSIC)
S. O'BRIEN: Very spiritual, very sort of -- the kind of music you might want to just listen to in the background and sort of to center yourself for something. Is this music for you or is this for other women?
NEWTON-JOHN: I made it for me, but I think that it will help a lot of people. It doesn't matter what you're going through. I think this music is nurturing and spiritual, and we take -- some of the songs have lyrics from other traditions, from Tibetan Buddhism, from Muslim, from Hebrew, from Roman Catholic. We have a song from St. Francis of Asissi. So I've kind of covered the whole spectrum.
And Walgreen's are partnering with me with the CD and my breast self-exam kit and a breast health supplement. So it's a women's wellness product, and the music is the heart of that. Because I believe that music is part of feeling good, and it can help heal the soul and the spirit.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the other parts of it. You've got this breast self-exam, as well. And they don't come together, but they're sort of all together so you can get them all at the same time. Open this up for me. There's a sort of a gel-like self-exam, a breast self-exam kit.
NEWTON-JOHN: Yes, this is wonderful. This is the...
S. O'BRIEN: I don't think I've ever seen this.
NEWTON-JOHN: ... Olivia Aid. And the idea of it is that I'm trying to encourage women to do regular self-exams, because early detection if you have breast cancer is the best thing. If you detect cancer early, your chances of being cured are so much better. So I want to encourage women to self-exam on a regular basis.
S. O'BRIEN: If you use this, you could really feel...
NEWTON-JOHN: Yes, it's like a magnifying glass for your fingers. It makes everything feel ten times better. If we had some salt, if you put salt underneath it, it would feel ten times bigger than a grain of salt. And you can feel any changes. And you know, every woman is different and her breasts are unique and she needs to learn what's normal for her. And if there are any changes in it, you will feel it with my self-exam kit. It's a wonderful thing and a wonderful thing to get into the habit of doing.
S. O'BRIEN: Would this kit have made a difference in how your breast cancer was diagnosed, back in '92, right?
NEWTON-JOHN: Well, I was lucky, I was already doing a lot of self-exams. But I notice a lot of women, particularly in my age group and younger, don't do it. They don't do it, either because they're afraid to or they don't know how to. With this kit, there's a little booklet inside that shows you exactly how to do it. You should be lying down. You do little circles. And just get in the habit of doing it every month. And we should get our daughters into the habit, too.
S. O'BRIEN: You have had a tough year-plus, when your boyfriend disappeared in a sailing incident. I mean, no one really knows what exactly happened. He's presumed dead, I know, by many authorities. How do you get through -- I mean, to have breast cancer, be a survivor, then get through another wallop like that. How do you manage it?
NEWTON-JOHN: Well, you know, pain is pain, and there's no -- you can't avoid it. You have to go through it. You have to go through the fire, and out of that, I've -- you know, the pain will always be there. I'll always miss him. I love him, I miss him, but you know, I can't do anything about it. We don't know what happened, and I don't know if I ever will know what happened.
But I've tried to go forward and do something positive with it by creating music for myself and hopefully for others, and creating these wellness products for women so that it makes me feel good to give back. And Walgreen's and I are going to be giving money to the City of Hope, and to Y-Me, which I would love to tell you about, because they're a wonderful organization.
S. O'BRIEN: I'm going to encourage people to go to the Web site, because we don't have time to talk about it.
NEWTON-JOHN: Oh, OK.
S. O'BRIEN: But you're right. I know a lot about Y-Me, and it's a really good organization. So everybody should Google that and check it out. And also, it's true, you know, you got to get a breast self- exam. It's the best way to try to catch breast cancer early. It could save your life. So nice to see you.
NEWTON-JOHN: Thank you so much.
S. O'BRIEN: A million people have been e-mailing me all morning to tell me they love you, and so I have to pass that along from each and every one of them.
NEWTON-JOHN: Thanks so much.
S. O'BRIEN: Thanks for talking with us. NEWTON-JOHN: You're welcome.
S. O'BRIEN: Olivia Newton-John. The CD is called "Grace and Gratitude." if you want more information on how to detect breast cancer or if you've been diagnosed and you want more information, the URL for Y-Me is y-me.org. It's the letter "Y," dash "me," dot "org." So y/me.org. Right there. We're showing it right there. Write that down.
NEWTON-JOHN: Great.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles?
NEWTON-JOHN: All right. CNN NEWSROOM is just minutes away. Heidi Collins is at the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead.
Hello, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, Miles.
Yes, go ahead and join us in the NEWSROOM. We have a lot more on all the top stories today, including the House speaker, who says he takes responsibility and he is sorry, but he will not be quitting. House investigators are preparing some four dozen subpoenas now in the page scandal. They do promise a quick investigation.
And thousands chased out of their homes this morning in North Carolina because of those flames. A toxic cloud causing great concern in the Raleigh area.
And his ex-wife is now a man. Should he have to pay alimony to him? An odd legal case from Florida. We will be talking about, Tony Harris and me, in the NEWSROOM, coming up at the top of the hour -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. We'll be back with one more look at the top stories in just a moment. Stay with us.
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S. O'BRIEN: Making their mark for us this week, foreign aid workers in war-torn Darfur, their lives are constantly at risk, their vehicles stolen, their drivers kidnapped, even killed. So why are they there?
CNN's Jeff Koinange has more on their courage under fire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They have come from comfortable surroundings far away at enormous risk to themselves. Anne Cecille Mellet and Balginder Heer are part of a fast-disappearing breed in this region -- foreign aid workers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to continue the treatment. KOINANGE: Six months ago, Malay was a pediatric nurse, making the rounds in one of Paris's leading hospitals, when she was offered an overseas assignment. She said yes, even before she learned her destination would be Darfur.
ANNE CECILLE MELLET, ACTION AGAINST HUNGER: From my side it was a beginning, to all my life change completely.
KOINANGE: In her native French, she comforts a young malnourished girl named Yasmina (ph). Don't worry, she tells Yasmina and her mother, it won't hurt. Yasmina is 13 months old, and weighs just 15 pounds. That's what six-month-old babies should weigh. What Yasmina really needs is an intravenous drip to build her up. The best they've got here is some high protein milk and an old plastic cup.
And then there's the constant danger lurking both within and outside the refugee camps.
(on camera): Here's an interesting statistic for you. Ever since a peace deal was signed five months ago, 12 aid workers have been killed, all of them Sudanese nationals. That's more aid workers than in the entire history of this conflict. The foreigners, too, are feeling vulnerable, that they could very well be next.
(voice-over): Thirty-one-year-old Balginder Heer was a researcher into tropical children's diseases for nearly a decade in London. She wanted to put her research into practice, and she chose to do it here. Her parents tried to talk her out of it.
BALGINDER HEER, ACTION AGAINST HUNGER: This is a conflict zone. It is dangerous. It's not as bad as people may imagine. It can be just as dangerous, if not worse, in some of the major capitals around the world, like New York or London.
KOINANGE: She's also constantly aware that women here face an unusually great risk of being raped. She spends her nights in a protected compound, a 20-minute drive away.
There are more than 14,000 aid workers in Darfur alone, and only 1,000 of them are foreigners. The risks are huge. So are the rewards.
Jeff Koinange, CNN, Abushock (ph) Refugee Camp in north Darfur.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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