Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Disaster Declaration in Hawaii; Big Blow to North Korea

Aired October 15, 2006 - 22:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything was shaking and it felt like ride at one of the theme parks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Damaged homes and broken bones, a disaster declaration in Hawaii. The latest on the strongest quake to hit the islands in more than 20 years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BOLTON: The ball is really in North Korea's court to see what direction we go in here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: A big blow to North Korea, but will its nearest neighbor enforce the sanctions?

They call it Liberty Sunday. Conservatives in Boston send out a message to millions of Christians, reminding voters what they stand for.

And an empty bedroom, a troubled mother. The bottom line, she wants to unadopt her child. Does she have the right? A live debate, ahead.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM, your connection to the world, the web, and what's happening right now. I'm Carol Lin. You've been busy today, so let's get you plugged in.

Beginning with the headlines. It's now 4:00 p.m. in Honolulu, about nine hours since a magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck the Hawaiian island. Our coverage begins in just two minutes. So far, there's no word of any fatalities, but there are power outages, landslides, and damaged buildings across the state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a little eerie because the stairwells are pretty small. And you've got people going down. And some are coming up. So it was kind of spooky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: More on this story in just a moment.

In the meantime, the resolution passed. Now what? U.S. officials say new U.N. sanctions against North Korea must be enforced, but China is already backing away from enforcing parts of the resolution. Secretary of State Rice heads to Asia Tuesday to find what more can be done.

Six car bomb explosions, four in just 30 minutes. That's just part of the deadly toll in Iraq today. The car blast killed eight and injured 40 others in the northern city of Kirkuk. Police say they found 83 other bodies across Iraq over the weekend, most riddled with bullets.

A startling reminder that New York is still vulnerable. That is what Senator Charles Schumer said about this week's small plane crash into a high-rise. The crash killed Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor. Schumer says the government should refocus its air safety efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: It's about time for the FAA to become part of the 21st century, look at our skies with a critical eye, and do a top to bottom review of our skies in terms of terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: A French foreign nun who arrived in Indiana 166 years ago is now a saint. Pope Benedict today canonized the woman, along with three other people. She worked to provide a Catholic education for pioneers on the Indiana frontier despite the objections of a local bishop.

Our top story now. People from all over the world flock to Hawaii for its natural wonders. Well, today, nature showed them a violent side. A strong earthquake shook the islands about nine hours ago. It hit just after 7:00 in the morning local time.

Power is out much across the state of Hawaii. And the Governor Linda Lingle has issued a disaster declaration for the entire state. People looking to buy supplies have been lining up outside of stores. Mahea Richardson from affiliate KITV is at a gas station in Honolulu.

MAHEA RICHARDSON, KITV NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Carol. Speaking of lines, there are long lines here at this gas station. And that's because the power is out.

But here at this gas station, it's one of the few that has a generator. So people have been lining up trying to get gas. And many people are running on E. They've had to wait anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour to get gas here.

Now besides the island-wide power outage here on Oahu, the main epicenter of the earthquake was in Kona, which is on the western side of the big island. And that really rattled some nerves over there where people felt the buildings shake. They saw televisions fall off the shelves and also some shattered glass.

Now there was damage on the big island. Two major highways were damaged because of landslides. Also, a hospital was damaged so it had to be evacuated.

Then moving on to the island of Maui, an entire community on the eastern side of Maui was cut off because a major highway leading there was also damaged from landslides.

So the good news is that there were no fatalities and no major injuries, but a lot of damage on the big island, on Maui. And here in Honolulu, there's still an island wide blackout. And only pockets of the island are just starting to come back up. Carol?

LIN: Mahea, I'm just wondering. It's a little after 4:00 your time out there. Soon it's going to be sundown. With all of these power outages, is there extra security out? Is there any concern about looting or what might happen after dark tonight?

RICHARDSON: Well, at this point, we haven't heard about any concern about looting. In fact, the biggest problem here at this gas station is people cutting in line.

But there is a police presence. And I can show you that because the police are out here, they've been directing traffic because a lot of those stoplights have been out of power. But again, no major problems in terms of looting. So the biggest problem is the damage on the big island and the problems of the power outage here on Oahu. Carol?

LIN: All right, Mahea, did you feel it this morning? I'm just wondering?

RICHARDSON: Oh, yes. I was sleeping this morning. I live in a condominium. And it was 7:08 this morning. We felt a huge shake. And I felt earthquakes on the mainland. And it was pretty strong.

And people got out of bed. They were wondering what was going on. And then just few minutes after that, there was another large shake. And the U.S. Geological Survey says there were about 20 aftershocks after the two major earthquakes. Carol?

LIN: How quickly after that were you at work?

RICHARDSON: Well, we had to catch our bearings first. And then we called in and tried to figure out what was going on. At first, we were hearing of no major damage on Oahu, because it was just a power outage. But then, once we started hearing of the damage on the big island, that's when all the crews went in. Carol?

LIN: Mahea Richardson, thank you. You're doing a terrific job today.

RICHARDSON: Thank you. LIN: We appreciate the coverage out of KITV, which we've been carrying pretty much all afternoon. Appreciate it.

Joining me now by telephone from Hilo on the big island is Darryl Oliveira. He is the fire chief for the county of Hawaii.

Chief, good to have you again. When you and I were talking about an hour and a half ago, rescue crews were still surveying the damage, getting an idea of how badly the roads were damaged, and if there were any more injured out there who needed help. Can you bring us up to speed?

DARRYL OLIVEIRA, FIRE CHIEF, COUNTY OF HAWAII: Sure. We're continuing to do our assessments of the damage in the community, as well as the utility companies and the other county and state and federal agencies trying to correct some of the problems, and clean up after the earthquake.

Something that I had failed to mention earlier is that we did have two hospitals affected on the island. And patients were moved from within the hospital to the other locations in the building that weren't affected or damaged. And we are also coordinating with one of the hospitals in Kona with moving patients to a hospital in Hilo. And that's mainly just to put them in a more structurally sound building that has all the utilities functioning.

LIN: Right. I talked with a representative of the Kona community hospital with some of those long-term care patients. That is a really tough job to try to move those patients safely and keeping them calm. So hats off to them.

Chief, what do you think is the most difficult thing you're going to have to deal with now, now that you're just a few hours away from sundown?

OLIVEIRA: It will be continuing the assessment of the damage. Right now, I think most of the power has been restored in the community. We may have just one small community that's without power at this time. We still have a few that are without water. We're trying to get that corrected. A lot of the water failure and water system shutdown was attributed to the power outage. So as we restore power, we'll restoring the water.

And it's just making things livable for people as they get into the evening hours that they do have power and water. That's going to be the biggest challenge.

I think the road cleanup will continue through the evening and into tomorrow. And from there, I'm sure our state officials and county officials will be assessing the damage on some of the roadways and the bridges.

LIN: Chief, what about some of the big hotels? Do you know how they fared? Any of them uninhabitable at this point?

OLIVEIRA: I'm not aware of the exact assessment as far as the damage. I am aware that two of the hotels have relocated their guests either into other parts of their hotel or to their neighbor hotels.

LIN: Do you know which ones, chief?

OLIVEIRA: It would be the Monakea Beach and the Hapuna Prince Hotels on our south Kohala coast.

LIN: That's right. Those are the two that are adjacent. The Monakea one of the older hotels...

OLIVEIRA: Correct.

LIN: ...on the island.

OLIVEIRA: Yes.

LIN: All right. Chief, so through the night, do you expect that there are going to be any problems related to some of the power outages?

OLIVEIRA: Well, we hope not and don't foresee any right now. As long as they continue to restore power. And like I said, just one community presently without power. So if they can get that up, we should have power to the entire island.

And with that, also the water service restored. And in the event anything should happen, the EOC or Emergency Operations Center at civil defense will be manned around the clock.

LIN: Darryl Oliveira, chief on the island -- the fire chief on the island of Hawaii, appreciate it.

OLIVEIRA: Thank you.

LIN: Coming to us from their command center there.

Now viewers have been sharing some dramatic images of the earthquake through CNN's "I" report. For example, this is one that Jerry Lab sent us. He captured this rock slide near his neighbor's house on the island of Maui - woop, sorry, that's the international airport in Honolulu. Actually, one of the airport employees sent us that one. And it was a terrific view into what tourists were having to deal with at the airport.

The international airport in Honolulu was shut down to outbound flights. So that left a lot of tourists stranded. There simply wasn't enough electricity to operate both outbound flights as well as prepare for incoming flights.

Now this is just some of the road damage that you're seeing out there. I was just talking with the fire chief on the big island of Hawaii. And he was saying earlier, just about an hour and a half ago, that this was one of the biggest problems. They were warning people don't leave your homes, don't drive because you don't know what you're going to encounter out there.

And some of the roads and bridges are still in a very fragile or damaged state.

Now this is a picture I was just telling you about, Jerry Lab sent us. This is actually a little landslide in his neighborhood. And that is a friend and a neighbor who decided to take a photo opportunity to capture this moment in history there, but it gives you an idea of the landslides we've been reporting on. And you know, if that were on an open highway, how damaging that could be for oncoming traffic.

Now if you have pictures like these from an ongoing news story, especially out in Hawaii because we're just starting to get the most dramatic images in, all you have to go do is go to CNN.com/ireport. Send us what you've got. And you can join the world's most powerful news team.

Meantime, meteorologist Rob Marciano tracking the weather conditions in Hawaii. He is at the CNN Weather Center. Rob?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Carol. As luck would have it, there's some rainfall moving across the islands. A flood watch was in effect for almost - for all the islands with the exception of the big island today.

Now the National Weather Service out of Hawaii has expanded that flood watch to include the big island, because we have a slow-moving front that's moving across the island. It's raining right now in Molokai. It's moving across Oahu and through Maui.

And overnight and tomorrow, it will be draped across the big island and may very well stall. So there could be some heavier rain. So a flash flood is in effect until tomorrow night.

Where this earthquake occurred is on the northwest side of the island. That's typically the drier side of the island. Talking to seismologists and some folks in the University of Hawaii today, they mentioned that this earthquake, because it was so deep and away from the active volcanoes, it probably was not associated with the magma underneath those volcanoes.

Other good news with this is that a tsunami did not occur with this earthquake. Carol, back to you.

LIN: All right, Rob, that was good news indeed. Thank you.

MARCIANO: Yes, sure.

LIN: Three weeks and counting, religion and politics separate or simultaneous? One group sends its message this Sunday.

Plus not backing down, the U.S. and North Korea and the nuclear standoff heats up.

And spin control Indian style. One woman who wouldn't settle for anything less than music to her ears.

Also, more on the Hawaiian earthquake. And live coverage from our CNN affiliate KITV, who's been a tremendous asset to us as we bring you continuous live coverage from the region where a 6.6 earthquake hit about nine hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSE DIZON, HECO SPOKESPERSON: You know, they've had this stuff that's been sitting in the fridge. And the power's been out since 7:15 this morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What should people do?

DIZON: Well, hopefully, they haven't been opening their icebox too often. The food in the freezer might be OK in about 10 hours to 24 hours. From the freezer, you just got to be a little more careful. Eggs might be OK if they haven't been cracked. Milk usually lasts up to eight hours without power. If you have any meat, that was thawing out, if it's thawed out to room temperature, you should probably discard it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Here's what you're checking on on cnn.com tonight. He turned a schoolhouse into a deadly crime scene. And now the widow of the man who shot several Amish girls in Pennsylvania is thanking the community for forgiveness, grace, and mercy. She made the comments in a letter to Amish friends and neighbors and other area residents.

"Time" magazine explains why Senator Barak Obama could be the next president. It profiles the Democrat from Illinois in a cover story.

And police in Israel want the country's president charged with rape and other crimes against several women. Israel's attorney general will decide whether to put him on trial. The president is denying wrong doing. Visit CNN.com for more details on these and other stories.

The NEWSROOM returns with the big story out of Hawaii in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: All right, we still have more coming into the CNN NEWSROOM on the big earthquake out of Hawaii. And we really credit our local affiliate out there, KITV, with much of the live coverage we have been seeing coming out of the islands. Let's tune in to them for just a moment to see what they're checking on right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe tomorrow.

GREG KNUDSEN, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION: We will reserve judgment until we see how much of the island gets the power restored. But for now, we expect all schools to be open.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just touching on that further, if there is no power by tomorrow morning, then, it's safe for parents to assume that school will not be open, right, for their child?

KNUDSEN: No, not necessarily. They should assume the schools are open unless they hear specifically that their school is closed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

KNUDSEN: Sometimes we would have well, pretty much a guarantee that power might be restored early in the morning. And it wouldn't really disrupt the school day or preparation of lunches or anything. So...

LIN: Throughout this hour, we're going to be dipping in and out of their coverage to see what they're focusing on. They've been getting sound from around the region, reaction from people as to what happened when the earthquake hit as well as the latest out of the emergency response teams, who are combing through the island to make sure that the injured are being tended to. So stay with us for a lot of their terrific coverage.

In the meantime, we still have more coming in to the CNN NEWSROOM on America Votes. For this moment right now, we're going to focus on one of the big issues in the upcoming election. Now it turns out the fight against same-sex marriage is being used to rally the faithful. CNN's Dan Lothian is in Boston.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN BOSTON BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Even evangelicals, like so many others obviously see this upcoming midterm election is a crucial event. So much is at stake, like control of the House and Senate. And the concern is that some conservatives angry about recent scandals may just stay home on election day.

That in part is why - what is being called Liberty Sunday is taking place here in Boston tonight. The focus opposition to gay marriage.

The controversial issue energized conservatives in the 2004 presidential race. Now this event organized by the Family Research Council will target an audience of millions, with satellite connection to churches across the country, Christian television and radio stations and on the Internet.

High profile evangelicals and even Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, a potential candidate for president in 2008, will use this platform to argue that legalizing same-sex marriage is threatening the religious rights of all citizens.

RAY PENDLETON, PASTOR, TREMONT TEMPLE/BAPTIST CHURCH: To remind people of what their responsibilities are. And really, I think, from my point of view to get people to think it through. That's the thing. We want them to be thoughtful and respectful, but to have a consistency between what they believe and what they do in the polling place.

LOTHIAN (on camera): Eight states will be voting on constitutional amendments that would bar same-sex marriage, but some liberal groups and supporters of same-sex marriage see tonight's event as a desperate Hail Mary act. And they don't believe that this issue carries the same fiery weight that it did in 2004. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Our Dan Lothian in Boston.

And you can get all the election 2006 information you need any time. All you have to do is click over to CNN.com/ticker.

Well, cracks in the coalition. China backs down. The U.S. steps up. The showdown over North Korea's nuclear program isn't over.

And it's been nearly 12 hours since a strong earthquake rocked paradise. More from Hawaii coming up in 10 minutes. CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: I want to show you some pictures that we're getting out of the quake zone in Hawaii. You are looking at damage to a house in Honolulu after a 6.6 earthquake struck about a little over nine hours ago today.

Things fell off the shelves. There was damage to the house. Nobody injured. And this you're looking at is -- well, scenes from the Honolulu International Airport, which is essentially closed to tourists who are trying to leave the island. They simply don't have enough electricity to power the ticketing machines and get the jetways to the airplanes to allow those passengers to take off.

All right, just appreciating a lot of the damage there. We're going to be dipping into our local affiliate there, KITV throughout this hour for live coverage right from the quake zone as they talk to many of the people who were so deeply affected by this.

In the meantime, we want to bring you up to speed on what's happening in the story about the North Korean nuclear standoff. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads to Asia this week. And topping her agenda, how to enforce the new U.N. sanctions on North Korea. Here's our White House correspondent Ed Henry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The White House is celebrating a diplomatic victory at the United Nations and vowing to turn up the heat even more if North Korea fails to end its nuclear program.

JOHN BOLTON, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: The sanctions could be increased, modified, suspended, or lifted, so that we've left open all of the possibilities depending on how North Korea itself behaves. That's why the ball is really in North Korea's court.

HENRY: But the celebration may be short lived because already there are cracks in the coalition.

WANG GUANGYA, CHINESE AMB. TO U.N.: For China, our political position is we are not in favor of inspections.

HENRY: China immediately suggesting it will not enforce a critical part of the sanctions, inspections of cargo along the 880 mile border it shares with North Korea.

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D) MICHIGAN: Without total Chinese support, there's no way a sanctioned regime can work.

HENRY: U.S. Ambassador John Bolton says the burden is on China to follow through on a resolution that passes the U.N. unanimously.

BOLTON: I wouldn't want to think within just hours after the resolution that China was saying that it wasn't going to abide by what it had just voted for.

HENRY: Some Republicans are backing Democrats and saying the only way to solve this nuclear crisis is for the White House to engage North Korea in one on one talks like the Clinton administration did.

SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R), NEBRASKA: We have got to get to the core of the issue. If we do not do that, then we are going to find the world daily in a far more dangerous situation.

LEVIN: The Clinton administration succeeded at least partially. They succeeded in keeping the plutonium canned under inspection so it could not be used. Compare that to the total failure of the Bush administration relative to North Korean policy.

HENRY: President Bush has flatly rejected that charge, firing back that it was the Clinton approach that allowed Pyongyang to move forward on a weapons program.

BOLTON: When President Bush came into office, he found increasing evidence that the North Koreans were violating an agreement that they had struck in 1994, in fact had probably been violating it almost before the ink was dry.

HENRY (on camera): That's why the Bush administration has refused one on one negotiations in favor of the six-party talks. This week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice travels to Asia with stops in three of the six nations -- China, Japan, and South Korea to try and figure out how to make the sanctions stick.

Ed Henry, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: We are monitoring new reports coming out of Hawaii after this morning's strong earthquake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This huge noise, which was this thing falling. And you know, all my family started coming out of the rooms because we were all - you know, they were all asleep except me. So I came out here, and I could not believe this. And there was smoke everywhere I guess from the concrete and everything. It was filled with it. And the rooms are totally dusty with all the stuff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: That was a three-story chimney. A Hawaiian family hosting friends from the mainland as well. Her home provided shelter, but now they're all seeking safety.

And now this woman no longer wants to adopt her son. Does she have the right to give him back after five years? Stay with us in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The NEWSROOM is where you can find tomorrow's headlines.

Now, it's 4:30 p.m. in Honolulu right now. Almost 10 hours ago the strongest earthquake to hit the big island in years jolted people out of bed. It had a magnitude of 6.6. At least 20 aftershocks followed. There is a lot of damage, but nobody died.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When it came, it just shook. I mean, it totally shook, and I just kind of like jumped out of bed.

I said, "What is that?" And he said, "It's an earthquake." And I said, "Oh, my god." But, you know, we took it with a grain of salt, we checked our house and everything, and then we got up and ready to go to church. And we started out at church.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: The U.N. steps up and China backs down just one day after the Security Council unanimously backed sanctions against North Korea. China says it won't carry out cargo inspections to and from the north. The U.S. says it's confident China will come around.

Israel's president, Moshe Katsav, could face charges of rape, fraud and other crimes. Israel's attorney general is reviewing the matter after a request from police. A former employee says Katsav forced her to have sex with him or else lose her job. Katsav says he's innocent.

A videotaped message with an apparent olive branch. CNN obtained the footage today. It's supposed to be from one of Iraq's most visible Sunni insurgent groups. The speaker, face covered, lays out some terms for talks between his group and the U.S. Among them, a timetable for U.S. forces to leave Iraq.

We've been following developments in Hawaii all day after a strong earthquake hit, and here is what we know so far. The quake measured 6.6 and was felt on several islands. And there have been at least 20 aftershocks, some of them extremely powerful. The strongest measured 5.8.

Also, air traffic has been disrupted and power is out on the island of Oahu. It is slowly being restored elsewhere.

Not very entertaining. E! News correspondent Giuliana DePandi got into Maui last night. She lives in L.A. and knew exactly what was happening when the quake started. She joins us by phone from her hotel.

Giuliana, you know, you've experienced earthquakes if you've lived any time in Los Angeles. What was it like when it happened?

GIULIANA DEPANDI, E! NEWS ANCHOR: Well, you know what's so amazing, Carol? Is we got in yesterday, and last night we were a little tired, so we watched TV. And we were watching a special -- you won't even believe this -- on earthquakes and tsunamis.

LIN: Wow! What a coincidence.

DEPANDI: I know. I know. And my boyfriend and I were discussing how, you know, it's so scary, we felt them in Los Angeles. But we were saying, gosh, you know, I think Hawaii doesn't get earthquakes, do they? Just coincidentally we're talking about it.

So this morning, shortly after 7:00 a.m., the bed started shaking uncontrollably, and I have experienced some earthquakes in Los Angeles. Nothing as strong as this. And it just got progressively worse.

And I thought there is no way -- from seeing that special the night before I thought, this isn't an earthquake, this is worse, there's got to be a tsunami, something's going on. And people -- you know, before long there were people in the hallways yelling and saying, "Oh, my god, it could be a tsunami coming,"

And it was just -- that was really what the big fear was...

LIN: Sure.

DEPANDI: ... was that a tsunami was shortly going to follow.

LIN: Sure. So what did you do next? Was there any guidance from the hotel?

DEPANDI: You know, they were completely clueless, I have to be honest, because these poor people who live here, they've never experienced this. It's very rare, earthquakes in Hawaii. They don't get these, you know.

And so I believe that there was one maybe in the late '70s, early '80s. This is the hardest Maui has ever been hit. And so they had no idea what to do. So they were telling everyone to come down to the lobby, and we said forget that, you know, because we were thinking there was going to be a tsunami. And we were on the sixth floor. And so we were right in front of the ocean, facing the ocean, and we said -- and you're just helpless. You have no idea what to do.

And so we stayed put. We were under a doorway, and we felt an aftershock about five minutes after.

LIN: Right -- 5.8.

DEPANDI: Yes. And it was -- it was -- I've got to be honest, it was very scary. And I thought, oh my gosh, I can't believe an earthquake hit Maui. And then I find out it was the big island and we were just -- you know, so they were -- they really had got it hard, and we didn't get it nearly as hard as they did.

LIN: So you're OK, though?

DEPANDI: Yes, we're OK, and everyone's OK here at the hotel. And I think just -- you know, the streets are closed. You know, we can't really get off the premises.

There's debris in the streets. And, you know, I hear the other side of the island's a little worse. You know, Maui is broken up into basically two sides. There's Wailea, the side we're on -- that's where the Four Seasons is and the Grand Wailea, some of the big resorts. And the other side is where the Ritz Carlton is...

LIN: All right.

DEPANDI: ... some of the other resorts, which is the wetter side of the island.

LIN: All right. Well, let's hope that you can make something of this vacation, Giuliana, and, you know, hopefully it won't be a big story on E! entertainment -- E! news. But you never know. You never know. You might bump into some celebrities.

DEPANDI: Exactly -- unless Angelina is here...

LIN: Yes, I bet.

DEPANDI: Yes, it's probably not going to make E! News, but thank you, Carol.

LIN: Giuliana, thank you.

Giuliana DePandi of E! News. All right -- on vacation.

Now let's check for some more earthquake images coming in to CNN's i-Report.

Check out the hillside there way out in the distance. You can see the effects of a landslide in this image taken by Michael Cox. It looks like a stripe down the middle. He was standing about 16 miles from the quake's epicenter on the Kona coast on the island of Hawaii.

Now, if you have earthquake photos, all you have to do is go to cnn.com/ireport and send us what you've got. And you can join the world's most powerful news team.

Now, air traffic is a mess anywhere around Hawaii, and many of you are probably wondering if that's going to affect flights all across the country tomorrow.

Rob Marciano now with a flight tracker report -- Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Carol, some decent weather heading across Texas this afternoon and evening, and that has caused some heavy rain to fall. And this system heading into the southeast will likely cause some delays if you're doing some travel tomorrow.

The Northeast, though, looks to be all great. I mean, we've got beautiful weather, a good crisp fall day. And it should be relatively fog free in the morning.

So maybe some delays across parts of St. Louis and O'Hare, also Memphis, Atlanta. Houston, eastward might see some delays. Seattle will see a couple of rain showers. San Francisco may see the typical delays for this time of year, but all in all temperatures there will be in the 60s.

Heavy rain from Houston over towards New Orleans, 79 to 82 degrees. It will be 59 degrees in New York City. Again, a good looking day there for travel or just to hang out.

Chicago will probably get some rain showers in the afternoon, as will Atlanta, with a high of about 73.

If you are traveling tomorrow, travel safe.

Carol, back to you.

LIN: All right. We will. Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: You bet.

LIN: Now, blending in. How one woman put expectations aside and found her own American dream.

But first, from foster mom to full-time mom. Now this woman doesn't want to be a woman at all. A live debate next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

It's mid afternoon in Hawaii, where nine hours ago a 6.6 earthquake hit. There are major power outages right now. In fact, we've been talking about how 95 percent of Oahu was without power at one point today.

Now, for you parents it might seem, well, frankly unthinkable. A Virginia woman wants to unadopt her child. The extenuating circumstances are serious, but is unadoption ever ethical?

Well, in a minute two guests will join me to debate this emotional issue. But first, Deborah Feyerick has the full story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a small, simple room, but Helen Briggs says to the boy she adopted at age nine, a child who had nothing, this room was everything.

(on camera): You would catch him standing right here.

HELEN BRIGGS, ADOPTIVE MOM: Standing right here looking at his room, being so happy, so grateful that this was his room.

FEYERICK (voice-over): Briggs, who was a full-time foster mom, says the boy was different from the dozens of other children she had cared for over the years.

BRIGGS: I just wanted to give him more.

FEYERICK: The problems began three years ago, when her adopted son turned 12.

BRIGGS: I got calls from the school that he was drawing pictures on the wall, and that he was grabbing at little girls, and they wanted me -- they asked me, do you know what's wrong with him? No, I sure don't.

FEYERICK: Briggs says she had been told by case workers the boy was hyperactive and needed to take special medication. But when her adopted son was arrested for sexually molesting two small children, she realized the problems were far deeper.

BRIGGS: Not until he was incarcerated and I found a whole lot of things that he talked to me about. He told about he had been abused.

FEYERICK: So now Briggs and her husband James want out. Six years after becoming the boy's legal parents, the couple from Fairfax, Virginia, claim they were deceived and are fighting to terminate the adoption.

(on camera): Did they tell you he had been in foster care five times?

BRIGGS: No.

FEYERICK: Did they tell you he had been abused in any way?

BRIGGS: No.

FEYERICK: Did they tell you that there was evidence that perhaps he had even suffered some sort of brain trauma?

BRIGGS: No. FEYERICK: Foster care agencies in Virginia do not discuss specific cases. By law, they're supposed to tell prospective parents everything about a child. That would have included the boy's alleged history of psychiatric problems.

BRIGGS: I call it fraud. Not giving information is fraud, not telling a person everything, is fraud.

FEYERICK: But there's also the question of money, though the couple says it's not about that. The state was paying the Briggs approximately $350 month. Now the family is paying the state $440 to may maintain the child in a state institution, a sum they can ill afford.

BRIGGS: That's a car payment, OK? That's more than a car payment in some places.

FEYERICK (on camera): There are some people who are going to look at this, and they're going to say, look, when you become a parent, you don't know whether you've got a good penny or a bad penny.

BRIGGS: It's not about bad pennies or good pennies. The point is he's not my biological penny.

FEYERICK: Under Virginia law, the only way an adoption can be dissolved is if the child says OK and so far it seems the boy has said he wants to stay with his adopted mom and dad.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: So joining me to talk about this is Virginia delegate Dave Albo. The mother in the story approached Albow to help her terminate her parental rights.

Also, policy director for the National Council for Adoption, Lee Allen.

Good to have both of you.

Lee, let me begin with you. You say in no instance should anyone be allowed to unadopt. Why?

LEE ALLEN, NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR ADOPTION: Well, this is absolutely a very tragic story.

LIN: Well, yes.

ALLEN: And this -- this family, in our opinion, should draw closer. And sure, the child should not be in the home, but should he be removed from his family? We don't think so.

LIN: But why should she now instead of getting, you know, a few hundred dollars from the state to help in raising this adopted child, she now has to pay 400-odd dollars to have him treated? I mean, this is not the responsibility -- and she says she was lied to.

ALLEN: Well, it's not clear what she was told or what she wasn't told. But what is clear is that she does have a responsibility.

Adoptive families like biological families do have rights and privileges, but they also have a responsibility. And a financial responsibility is one of those very important responsibilities. And this -- this child needs a family more now than ever.

LIN: All right.

Well Dave, you're sympathetic to Helen Briggs. Why? I mean, she talked about him like "this is not my biological penny," as in it's a bad penny. You know?

I mean, some people might find that rather callous.

DELEGATE DAVE ALBO (R), FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA: Well, the reason I helped her is because she's my constituent. And I actually ran across Helen prior to this because she has received numerous awards for all the wonderful work she has done as a foster parent.

This isn't just somebody who just got a kid and wanted to raise him. This lady has a history of taking the kids that no one loves and caring for. She is just a wonderful, wonderful lady.

LIN: Right. But we're talking about this particular child. I mean, to whom she has nurtured for now four or five years. I mean, you're an adoptive parent. Under what circumstances would you unadopt your adopted child?

ALBO: Well, there would be no circumstances that I'd ever unadopt my child, but, I mean...

LIN: So why should she by allowed to?

ALBO: Well, because it's possible. I'm not saying it happened, but what if she -- the social services purposely withheld this information from her? In other words, what if her claim of fraud is actually true?

One thing I can say, I've been in the house of delegates for 14 years, I'm chairman of the judiciary committee. There's one thing that can never, ever, ever be tolerated in government, and that's lying.

LIN: But why should this kid suffer for that? I mean, he won't sign off on allowing her to unadopt him. But yet the institution won't allow her to see him.

ALBO: Well, I mean, you've got to -- look, this is a very, very difficult situation, because the kid has a lot of problems. But also remember, look at it from her standpoint. They gave her a child who was a -- who is now classified as a sexual predator, and that child was ended up -- brought into her own home, putting her own kids in danger. I mean, this is just outrageous. Now, I'm hoping and praying that it was basically someone just dropped the ball and didn't give her the information.

LIN: Well, even if they did, let's see, Lee, what is the solution? I mean, is the -- is the system broken?

ALLEN: Well, you said it best, Carol. The child shouldn't have to pay. And I'm really hopeful that we can find a solution for this issue without dissolving the family.

LIN: All right. We'll see what happens. We'll be following the case closely.

Gentlemen, thank you very much.

ALBO: Thank you.

LIN: Dave Albo, Lee Allen.

ALLEN: Thank you, Carol.

LIN: Now, we're going to also update the earthquake in Hawaii next.

And culture crossover. So many people and so many ideas. One woman's story of blending into society next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: This new video just in to the CNN Center. If you look there, that is a dust cloud from a landslide on the big island of Hawaii along the Kealakekua peninsula.

You can see the dust. That is dust floating over the water.

All right. A number of landslides reported, and that's why local officials are asking people not to drive, not to get on the roads, because it is a fragile and dangerous situation out there. A dust cloud. Remarkable.

Now, you probably won't even notice it, but Tuesday morning at about 7:46 a.m. experts say the U.S. population will reach 300 million people. It's been a rapid climb from 1967, when the U.S. population stood at 200 million. And in case you're wondering, the U.S. is the third most populous country in the world behind China and India.

Well, much of America's growth has been fueled by immigration, and that means cultures are blending from around the world.

Jason Carroll has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As a child growing up in New York, Rekha Malhotra's parents pictured her becoming what they say many South Asian children aspire to become, a lawyer or doctor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought probably being a lawyer was good for her.

CARROLL: Then they say traditionally most get married.

SATIA MALHOTRA, REKHA'S MOTHER: Of course being a mother I was just wishing her to look for a boy.

CARROLL: But Rekha told her parens she had other plans.

REKHA MALHOTRA, DEEJAY: I left because I think it took them a while to get used to it.

CARROLL: Rekha is a deejay, a profession dominated by men. She may not have found her soul mate...

R. MALHOTRA: Check, one, two. Coming to you live from New York City.

CARROLL: ... but she did find her soul by putting her spin on a traditional style of Indian music called Bhangra.

R. MALHOTRA: My mom brought me back a tape when I was a teenager and I just fell in love with it.

Make some (INAUDIBLE), make some noise!

Bhangra is a form of -- originally a form of folk music that comes from the region of Punjabi, an area divided by India and Pakistan.

CARROLL: It's basically South Asian folk music produced with hip-hop and dance hall beats from the West. A cultural metaphor in the kind of neighborhood where Rekha was raised.

R. MALHOTRA: It was suburbia, but, you know, with an African- American population, a second generation Caribbean-American population. You know, Italians. Just a mix.

CARROLL: Rekha says being part of the new generation of South Asians in America gave her opportunities to be whatever she wanted, even though her traditional first-generation parents from India still resisted.

S. MALHOTRA: It was not that easy being a mother -- Indian mother to accept that, because, you know, people don't -- looks you down. "Oh, she's a deejay?"

R. MALHOTRA: I've had to reckon with my identity. Identity is to me a shifting idea, where I think identity, especially with immigrants, we are always struggling with our identity.

CARROLL: Rekha kept spinning and using Bhangra music to break down barriers. Her dance floor draws a diverse crowd, something she says America needs more of. R. MALHOTRA: It's a place where working hard is rewarded, but I also feel that it's also a very sometimes self-segregated place. You can grow up in this city or in this country and not ever socialize outside of your color line.

CARROLL: "New York Magazine" nominated her best deejay. "The New York Times" named her one of the most influential South Asians in the United States. And Rekha says some South Asians are relieved to see her breaking the mold.

R. MALHOTRA: A south Asian person will be like, "Wow, that's -- I can't believe it. Like, you're here." I'm like, "Yes, and I'm here to stay. We're here to stay. I'm not going anywhere."

And I think that's -- that's exciting for people.

CARROLL: Especially when they hear she'll be releasing a CD next spring. Even her parens are coming around.

SATPAL MALHOTRA, REKHA'S FATHER: That's a very big thing, you know? We were really very proud of her. And, you know, like all normal parents we brag here and there, too. You know?

CARROLL: Finally props from those who mean the most.

DJ Rekha, a woman with an untraditional profession, but someone who has found her perfect mix of pop and traditional culture through music.

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Well, melting pot or meltdown? That is the focus of a special "ANDERSON COOPER 360" tomorrow night. Anderson counts down to the 300 millionth American.

And for even more information you can check out CNN.com. Read some users' recollections of 1967.

Now, we've been brining you earthquake coverage from Hawaii all day, and we have our local affiliate out there, KITV, to thank for much of their live coverage. They did a terrific job, and we want to thank them.

And we also want you to know that we're going to keep an eye on Hawaii throughout the night. We have much more coverage coming.

A quick break and a check of the headlines, and then "CNN PRESENTS," "Shoot to Kill," an investigation into whether some New Orleans police officers went too far in the aftermath of Katrina.

Stay with CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com