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Hawaii Earthquake; North Korea Threat; Insurgent Offer; GOP Troubles; Gerri's Top Tips

Aired October 16, 2006 - 10:00   ET

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

(WEATHER REPORT)
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Jittery nerves and rumbling aftershocks. Here is what we know right now about the earthquake that jolted Hawaii's Big Island on Sunday. The state's governor puts out a disaster declaration. It was the strongest quake since 1983 to hit the Big Island. Only minor injuries, though, that we know of. Some areas, though, did get hit with heavy damage to homes and roads.

We're going to get the very latest now from CNN's Chris Lawrence. He is joining us by phone from Waimea.

Chris, what are you seeing around you at this point?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, where I'm standing right now, I'm looking at a literal crack right on the roadway where you can see where the roads are suddenly just split and crackled and it -- the road is literally . . .

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Did we lose him?

COLLINS: I think it sounds like we lost Chris. We're going to continue to try to get back with him to find out -- but just to remind you of the situation there in Hawaii. A 6.6 earthquake, aftershocks that were coming after that, 5.8. So they were, you know, just a few minutes after that, a series of aftershocks. So people, obviously, very nervous there, I'm sure, after you get the big quake and aftershocks that follow. Very frightening.

HARRIS: That's right.

COLLINS: A lot of power has been restored. But as we've heard, roads and bridges a big, big issue as they try to get back to normal. Chris Lawrence joining us once again to tell us the rest of the story.

Chris.

LAWRENCE: Yes, we're at about -- I guess about 3,500 feet elevation, so we're pretty high up. The cell service kind of comes and goes. But I'm looking at a crack in the ground where part of the road literally is buckled. It's this jagged crack in the middle of the road and the work crews are pushing all the traffic off to the other side of that. A little bit down the ways, a bridge has partially started to crack and they have closed off access to that part of the road. But overall, driving up from Kona, I saw that most of the major road was fully intact. No major problems at all. Some of the work crews said that yesterday there had been huge boulders that had literally fallen down on to the road, but the crews quickly smashed those down and moved those rocks off the road.

So the road is open. Most of the power has been restored. And although we are hearing reports -- people have been telling us about some homes that suffered some pretty heavy damage, it's still about 4:00 in morning right now, really hard to see anything. But in the next couple of hours, as the sun comes up, we hope to get a better idea of exactly where some of the damage is.

Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Very good. Chris Lawrence calling us from Waimea, Hawaii. We will check back in with you as daylight approaches there. Chris, thank you.

HARRIS: North Korea facing new condemnation over its nuclear program. Sanctions approved by the U.N. Security Council over the weekend. The big question now, how will they be enforced? The issue, a major test for the Bush administration. More now from CNN White House correspondent Ed Henry.

Ed, good morning.

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

You're right. The White House closely monitoring the situation, making sure those tough sanctions the president was really hailing over the weekend, that they're actually enforced. That they're followed through upon.

A lot of concern about whether or not China is going to follow through in particular. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heading tomorrow to China, as well as Japan and South Korea, over the next few days to really shore up support, make sure these tough sanctions against North Korea actually stick. In fact, Secretary Rice was supposed to be here later this morning for an Oval Office meeting with the president, as well as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton, to talk about exactly how they are going to move forward on these sanctions. But, unfortunately, that's been rescheduled.

Ambassador Bolton now at the U.N. dealing with some business there, specifically whether or not there's going to be a vote on whether Venezuela should get a seat on the Security Council. The White House still hopeful they can get this meeting together this afternoon because there's deep concern about the fact over the weekend the Chinese ambassador to the U.N. suggested that China is not in favor of actually following through on inspections of cargo along the 880 mile border it shares with North Korea. A lot of concern about whether that means now China is backpedaling on these sanctions. But this morning on "American Morning," senior State Department official Nicholas Burns insisted China is moving forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICHOLAS BURNS, UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE: The Chinese are beginning now to stop trucks along the 800 mile borders and inspect all of them. That's a sign that China is going to implement the resolution it signed up to. And it would be extraordinary if in this day and age, given the importance of this issue, a leading member of the Security Council, a permanent member like China, did not implement a resolution that it agreed to two days ago. So we will continue to remind the Chinese that that's their obligation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now, Secretary Burns referring there apparently to an Associated Press report this morning suggesting at one border crossing, Chinese officials have started inspecting trucks coming in from North Korea, specifically opening up the back doors, taking a look inside. But that AP report also noting that Chinese officials are not looking inside bags and boxes that are in these trucks. That could, obviously, raise concerns about whether these are really tough inspections, whether or not it's really being followed.

I asked Tony Snow, the White House press secretary, a few moments ago about that. He said the White House is still confident that China will move forward. That it's only been a couple of days since these sanctions were passed and that everyone has to give it a little bit of time to take effect.

Tony.

HARRIS: Hey, Ed, quickly, what's this about a new development on the Iraq war front? Some concerns being voiced by Iraq's prime minister.

HENRY: Very interesting. Prime Minister Maliki this morning, in a 15 minute phone conversation with President Bush, we're told by Tony Snow, Prime Minister Maliki raised concern about rumors he's picking up over in Iraq that the U.S. may be setting some sort of a deadline of just two more months of a commitment to the Iraqi government. That, obviously, a great concern to the Iraqi government. President Bush not usually in the business of shooting down rumors. But in this case, Tony Snow says, he quickly assured the Iraqi prime minister that the U.S. government is solidly behind the Iraqi government

Tony.

HARRIS: White House correspondent Ed Henry for us. Ed, thank you.

HENRY: Thank you.

HARRIS: It's an offer he hopes the U.S. won't refuse. A spokesman for an Iraqi insurgent groups calls for talks. CNN's Michael Ware has a story you'll see only on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Amidst a wave of guerilla attacks for the holy month of Ramadan, and a spiraling American death toll, one of Iraq's most significant insurgent groups has reiterated its willingness to negotiate with U.S. forces. The renewed offer of dialogue comes from the Islamic Army of Iraq. A leading member of one of the most powerful factions within the insurgency, using known Islamic army insurgent channels, questions were passed to the network's leadership.

Their response to CNN came in a professionally produced video which obscured the speaker's face. That speaker is purported to be Ibrahim al Shimaree (ph), the group's official spokesman. While his identity cannot be confirmed, the voice is consistent with audio statements released previously on the Internet. In the interview, the spokesman gives what is possibly the most articulate address to a western audience to emerge from the Iraq War. Displaying a keen understanding of domestic politics in America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We in the Islamic army, as we have announced many times, do not reject the principle of negotiations with the Americans. But only if the Americans are serious.

WARE: In the wide-ranging question and answer, he canvases the group's relationship with al Qaeda, the state of the sectarian conflict, and one of the greatest motivations driving many Sunni insurgent groups, combating Iranian influence in Iraq, which he says amounts to a dual occupation of the country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): America and Iran have occupied Iraq. America is a disease that caused the infection, which is the Iranian occupation. But now, the infection has become even more dangerous than the disease.

WARE: Speaking directly to the American public, he urges people to question President Bush's record on Iraq. Vowing the will of the insurgence is far from broken. A promise this war has a long way to go.

Michael Ware, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: You're watching CNN, your severe weather headquarters.

COLLINS: When you don't have power, life is tough. Just ask the people in Buffalo, New York. More than 200,000 people there still without electricity after last week's record snow storm. Schools are closed. Several suburban districts have cancel classes for the entire week. Downed power lines and fallen trees make it pretty tough to get around. Power for much of the region is not expected to be back on until the weekend. President Bush has declared a state of emergency.

HARRIS: All right. Let's go more on the situation in Hawaii right now. On the line with us is Lanny Nakano. Lanny, good morning to you.

LANNY NAKANO, ASST. CIVIL DEFENSE ADMIN., HAWAII CO.: Good morning.

HARRIS: Lanny, give us a sense of, first of all, when is first light where you are?

NAKANO: OK. Well, right now it's just about 12 after 4:00 and just about 6:00, 6:30, you know, the sun will be coming up.

HARRIS: OK. Give us kind of an assessment of where things stood last evening as the sun went down and nightfall descended. Give us a sense of what the situation was like on the ground.

NAKANO: OK. As far as, you know, last evening, we have -- as far as the county of Hawaii, that's the island of Hawaii, most of the power had been restored. After the earthquake, most of the island was without power. And, as you know, Oahu was without power for a long time. But mainly our power outages were more on the leeward side, which affects all the resorts on the White Kailua (ph) side and in Kailua Kuna (ph), Captain Cook area, and also a couple of areas in the subdivisions, like Paradise Park, Kirdish Stony (ph) and the Puna (ph) district. And, of course, Hilo, most areas had power. It wasn't as bad as the other side.

COLLINS: Wow. Lanny, did you feel it?

NAKANO: Yes. Well, at the time I was walking my two dogs, and, you know, I just heard these trees, the leaves, you know, rattling and . . .

COLLINS: Did you have any idea what it was right when you felt that?

NAKANO: No. At first, you know, it was very strange. Plus, you know, I'm trying to teach my dogs how to do turns and whatnot. But then all of a sudden, you know, I felt this under my, you know, feet. And then I heard some of the neighbors started, you know, screaming and what not.

COLLINS: Wow.

NAKANO: So I thought this must be an earthquake then. The only way I could tell was I looked up and I saw all the power lines shaking.

COLLINS: Sure.

NAKANO: So I had to turn around and run home and come to work.

COLLINS: Yes, I was just going to say, Lanny, with your position as the assistant civil defense administrations office, I wonder if you can help us understand a little bit, as we look at these pictures and as we hear about this earthquake, which we know measured 6.6, I mean that's a pretty significant earthquake. What about the damage? I mean we usually hear about buildings collapsing and foundations giving way. And I just -- I haven't heard a whole lot about that. Can you speak on the architecture of some of these buildings?

NAKANO: Well, you know, we'll be doing our damage assessment comments in today. Needs assess and, you know, all the recovery activities. This is for post-impact. Yesterday we were just trying to, you know, get everything, you know, back on, like power, you know, water, so forth, because we have some areas without water.

But, you know, as far as structural damages, we do have some hotels that experience some damages, and we've got a couple of them that have closed. And all those guests have been, you know, relocated to other hotels. And we did have some old residents that did, you know, collapse. As far as like the hospitals, we had hospital in Kona that had to evacuate some people a And some of the patients, rather, and we got them to some of our public facilities. Then they were transferred to the Kiho (ph) Sheraton Convention Center. Its one of the hotels.

HARRIS: So, Lanny, do you have everything you need? You know, when disasters like this strike, we just sort of want to know what it is you need right now, or do you need to get to first light to get a better assessment?

NAKANO: OK. Well, you know, we're going to be working with our damage assessment teams and we already got the state civil defense have sent a team down with FEMA representatives. We got our Army Corps of Engineer rep also down here. And as far as the local government, you know, we have our public works inspectors that will be checking out public facilities and we are working also with the American Red Cross to do damage assessments to the residents.

HARRIS: OK. Lanny Nakano, thanks for your time. Assistant civil defense administrator for Hawaii county. Boy, still a mess.

COLLINS: Yes, it certainly is.

HARRIS: First light to get a real assessment on this, the second day, the day after.

COLLINS: Yes, that's right. We'll do that as soon as the sun comes up, of course.

Meanwhile, a family of five shot dead. That, of course, is chilling enough. But the suspect is a family member.

HARRIS: Key players in the Mark Foley page scandal in for a grilling today. The House Ethics Panel meeting again. We will go live to Capitol Hill.

COLLINS: And living in the shadow of a nuclear neighbor. Life in South Korea and the threat from the North. That's coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: First, Mark Foley's lurid e-mails, then a guilty plea from Bob Ney on bribery charges. Now allegations against another Republican. Did Congressman Curt Weldon steer contracts to his daughter's company? Democrats are trying to make the most of it. CNN's Dana Bash joining us now from Capitol Hill this morning.

All right, Dana, so another Republican in trouble. What exactly is the story here with Congressman Weldon?

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Potentially in trouble, Heidi.

The story, as far as we know it, is, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation, is that the Justice Department is looking into whether or not, as you said, Curt Weldon used his influence and his position to help his daughter, who is a lobbyist, secure contracts for clients. Now the Justice Department and FBI spokesman are not talking about this at all on the record. Sources do confirm, though, that this has been under investigation for several months now.

Now, Heidi, Curt Weldon's chief of staff, Russ Caso (ph), tells CNN that neither the congressman nor any of his attorneys, nor anyone on his staff has been contacted at all about this matter. Now, Weldon has been in office for 20 years. He's one of several Republicans who should be and has been in recent history very secure in his seat, which is in the suburbs of Philadelphia. But this year, he is in a very tough race. He actually could lose his seat. But the subject so far there has been Iraq. That has been the thing that his constituents, according to polls, have cared most about. But right now this news about a federal probe does play into another narrative, as you mentioned, Heidi, another storyline that is hurting Republicans this election year, and that is corruption and potential scandal.

Now, again, as I mentioned, Curt Weldon's chief of staff, Russ Caso, says that the congressman did nothing wrong. And what he is saying is that this is the Democrats, that this is politics, three weeks before the election, the Democrats, even a liberal leaning watchdog group, they're playing into this, playing up the publicity of this so that it hurts the congressman in his already very tough re- election campaign

Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, we'll wait to see how that one turns out.

Meanwhile, the Ethics Committee investigation on Mark Foley still going on this week. Do we have any idea when John Boehner, the House majority, is actually going to testify?

BASH: We don't. We know that he is going to testify this coming week. That's according to his spokesman. But we don't know what day yet. We do know that today -- you're looking at a live picture of the closed door, which should tell you why we don't have a lot of information, because it's good to remind people that this all does happen behind closed doors and in secret. Today, though, we do expect the chief of staff to Congressman Rodney Alexander. Now why is he important? Rodney Alexander is the congressman who sponsored the page who had the e-mail exchange with Mark Foley at the end of 2005 that first rang alarm bells or raise red flag, I should say, among members of Congress here. That is the one incident that Republican leaders say that they knew about and actually confronted Mark Foley about in terms of his inappropriate conduct with the pages.

Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. We'll continue to watch the live shot of that closed door, see if it opens. Dana Bash, thank you.

HARRIS: Gerri Willis joins us now.

Gerri, we're looking at the situation in Hawaii and we're wondering how we can protect ourselves from the unpredictable.

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

You know, if that news from Hawaii has you feeling a little nervous, we'll tell you how to protect your home from an earthquake.

Tony.

HARRIS: And also this hour . . .

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go, Saints.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: An eight-year-old boy facing adversity, teaching other about life. That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Dow, 12,000? Maybe. Could be. Could happen today. So far, though, in the first hour of trading, the Dow up 6. The Nasdaq, absolutely flat.

Heidi.

COLLINS: We want to take you straight to Texas real quickly here, Tony, and look at some of these live pictures coming in from our affiliate KHOW. We've been telling you all morning long -- oh, sorry about that, KHOU out of Houston. Look at that. I mean, we've got water all the way up to the wheel wells. Above the wheel wells, actually, of this particular SUV. People trying to get out, which is going to probably prove to be a little bit challenging. A whole bunch of water, rainfall overnight, 10 inches within a couple of hours. More to come today. Chad Myers standing by to give us the very latest there. This is exactly what we were talking about earlier, Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: As we've seen in Hawaii, earthquakes can reduce homes and roads to rubble. But good planning may keep your most valued possessions virtually indestructible. Here now, CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis joining us from New York.

All right. So how do you protect yourself?

WILLIS: Hi there, Heidi. Good to see you.

Well, first off, you've got to check your insurance. Your standard homeowners policy does not cover earthquakes. You'll have to buy a separate policy and that's not a bad idea considering that about 90 percent of Americans live in areas that have seismic activity.

Now to gauge your area's risk of an earthquake, you can go to the U.S. Geological Survey. They have a website, earthquake.usgs.gov. Now, since the earthquake insurance is a type of catastrophic coverage, most policies carry a very high deductible, which is 10 to 15 percent of your coverage limit.

So, for example, if a home is insured at $200,000, you would have to pay 10,000 to 30,000 on damages before the insurance company ponies up to pay anything. Now, cars, you'll probably be curious about that, are covered for earthquake damage under the comprehensive part of your auto insurance policy.

Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. So we've heard about baby proofing, but what about quake proofing some of your rooms? I guess the kitchen is a pretty dangerous place.

WILLIS: One of the most dangerous areas of your home, in fact, so you'll want to keep your cleaning products at floor level. Install childproof latches on your cabinets in the kitchen, in the bathroom. Now these latches will prevent dishes and heavy objects from falling out.

Also, take a look at your bedroom and be sure to move your bed away from the window. There shouldn't be any pictures or mirrors mounted on the wall. And finally, you want to keep a pair of shoes and a flashlight right underneath your bed so you can protect your feet from broken glass or debris if a quake does happen at night.

COLLINS: And this next one I love because it could be for any type of natural disaster, labeling your utilities.

WILLIS: Yes, this doesn't occur to you first off but you really need to think about it. Before an earthquake strikes, make sure you know where your gas, electric and water shutoff is located. Then you should paint them white or flourescent so the area will be visible when it's smoky. Keep a wrench next to your gas shutoff and call your local gas company to find out exactly how to turn off that gas. And, of course, you shouldn't turn the gas valves back on unless a professional has checked for gas leaks. That's very important.

And, Heidi, I just want to mention, as always, if you have any questions, send them to us at toptips@cnn.com. We love hearing from you.

COLLINS: All right. Gerri Willis, thanks for that earthquake protection today, reacting to what happened in Hawaii. We appreciate it.

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins and Tony Harris.

HARRIS: Blue skies overhead, danger underfoot. And many Hawaiians today staring down the damage from a powerful earthquake. Only minor injuries that we know of. But damage is said to be heavy in spots. The quake hit Hawaii's Big Island just before dawn Sunday, the jolt bigger than any cup of coffee.

Here's CNN's Soledad O'Brien.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The windows shook. The bed was shaking, because I was still in bed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When it came, they just shook. I mean totally shook. And I just kind of like jumped out of bed and I said, what is that? And he said, it's an earthquake. I said, oh, my God!

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): It was quite a wake-up call. A strong 6.6 magnitude earthquake jolting tourists and residents on Hawaii's Big Island on Sunday morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We felt the tremor and stuff and then it started swaying and we just grabbed what we could and ran down the stairs.

O'BRIEN: Dozens of tremors followed the initial quake, including a 5.8 aftershock. The power outages were widespread and there was significant structural damage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And there was a cloud of smoke and everything outside, you know, and you'd have like 9/11 when the building goes down, all that concrete turns into dust. So a little mini 9/11, if you will, was outside there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's been damage to the hospital building. Ceiling tiles have come down in our patient care areas and things have fallen off shelves and racks. We don't know about structural damage yet. We have evacuated patients off of our medical surgical unit and off of our -- out of our skilled nursing unit.

O'BRIEN: Hawaii's governor has declared the entire state a disaster area. The quake, and it's aftershocks, set off fears of a Pacific-wide tsunami. But it didn't happen. And so far there have been no reports of deaths from the quake.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A gorgeous, gorgeous place. I mean, it is paradise, right up until this happened.

O'BRIEN: Soledad O'Brien, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Living in the shadow of a nuclear neighbor. Life in South Korea and a threat from the North.

HARRIS: And his birth in 1967. An American milestone. Soon, he'll be just one in 300 million. We will explain in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: I want to take you to Florida now. Palm Beach County. Reports are that the vehicle you are looking at right now that is on that hauler may, in fact, be the vehicle owned by the family of four that was shot to death on Friday. The family headed up by Jose Escobedo. His wife also killed, Yessica. Their two young sons as well.

More information coming in just a moment. We're reaching out to CNN's Susan Candiotti. But right now, reports are that this, may, in fact, be that Jeep, that four-door Jeep Cherokee, that was owned by the family that was killed on Friday. We'll continue to follow this story and bring you more information as soon as we can reach Susan Candiotti.

COLLINS: Onto North Korea now, staring at new sanctions today over its nuclear test. The test still not confirmed. The sanctions package cleared the Security Council over the weekend. The vote was unanimous, after a major push from the United States. The key issue now, though, enforcement.

A U.S. diplomat talked about the sanctions on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICHOLAS BURNS, CNN UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE: I think you'll see that China -- that North Korea is isolated because of this action. And it's going to impose on countries like China and Russia, South Korea, ourselves, Japan, the necessity of making sure that all of us are stopping trade in nuclear items. We're banning visits by North Korean officials to our countries. And we do have the ability, if there is suspicious cargo on ships, to stop those ships and to search them. That is a resolution with real teeth. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The White House, of course, watching how things play out very closely. President Bush hopes to sit down with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.S. ambassador to the U.N., John Bolton. This as Rice sets off tomorrow for a trip to Asia.

North Korea's nuclear threat a serious concern to its neighbors, of course. CNN's Sohn Ji-Ae us what things are like now in South Korea's bustling capital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the start of the country's civil defense drills, done now on this scale twice a year. Police direct cars to the side of the road and passers-by are directed to get off the streets, into buildings or underground passes and subway stations.

In Seoul's city hall, employees do an emergency escape drill. Single file, they are led into a nearby subway station. Government officials confirm that today's drill is a regularly planned event and has nothing to do with the rising tensions in the Korean Peninsula. But for many South Koreans, the feeling today was different.

"When I heard the sirens, I suddenly wanted to go home to be with my family," says this housewife.

"I found myself standing on the street imagining what it would be like if this was for real," says this gym trainer.

With Seoul being within artillery range of the million man North Korean army amassed on the border, these regular air and defense drills have long been a part of the country's civil defense program.

(on camera): Now that the drill has stopped most of the cars on Seoul's usually very busy streets, you have a very good opportunity to see how concentrated the city is and just how exposed it is to any type of outside attack.

You see to the right of me Korea Telecom, the country's main telecommunications company. Besides Korea Telecom is the U.S. embassy. Towards the mountains, beside the U.S. embassy, is the South Korean presidential palace. To the right of the presidential palace, on the right side of this street, to the end, is one of the main government complexes which houses, among the other ministries, the foreign ministry. All within about a two-mile radius.

(voice-over): But in recent years, as relations between South and North Korea grew warmer, the importance of various civil defense measures has waned. Only about 24 underground shelters exist nationwide which can withstand heavy artillery fire.

Yung Ja Sung (ph) of Seoul's Chingu (ph) District says most air drill bunkers have long disappeared from his district. These days, the government encourages the use of basements or underground parking lots of major buildings for shelters in case of an emergency.

And as for the drills...

"We used to hold the emergency drills every month. But now, they are held only twice a year," he says. "I think this has a lot to do with the fact that citizens don't feel as threatened as they used to."

Something that could all change depending on what happens next in the North Korea nuclear weapons crisis.

Sohn Jie-Ae, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And CNN's Susan Candiotti is with us now. And, Susan, you are, of course, following the story, this horrible story of this family, the Escobedo family, murdered on Friday. And describe the pictures that we're looking at now. Is this, in fact, the jeep that the family owned?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, of course, that's what authorities want to know. And as we understand it, from West Palm Beach Police, this vehicle was discovered -- it does appear to match the description, at least on the outside, a 1998, older model four- door Jeep Cherokee, black in color.

Now remember, the authorities have the VIN number that they're looking for, because this car was owned by the family that was murdered, according to police. So they'll match up the VIN number. Whether or not the temporary tag is in there won't be important.

So, St. Lucie County Sheriff's office has been notified by the Palm Beach sheriff's office, West Palm Beach, and they'll be going down to take a look at this vehicle. The reason this could be critical, naturally, is that they can look for any possible forensic evidence that might be inside that vehicle, because authorities have said it's their belief that the suspected attacker was in that car with the family when they were driven to what turned out to be their deaths.

HARRIS: Well...

CANDIOTTI: To remind, everyone -- yes, go ahead.

HARRIS: Well, Susan, I was just hoping that perhaps we'll get a wider shot from our affiliate there, WPTV, to get a better sense of the area where the jeep has been located. But I think you were going into the area that I was going to ask you about, just to update folks on the investigation and what happened on Friday.

CANDIOTTI: I will. Ad just to give you an idea of this area, according -- the police tell me that this is in an industrial area. And Palm Beach County, which is roughly -- roughly 70 miles or so from the spot off the Florida Turnpike, southbound, just south of the Fort Pierce, Florida exit in St. Lucie County where those bodies were discovered by a passing motorist. And now To remind everyone, this horrific scene was discovered, again, by someone driving by in the Florida Turnpike, about 8:00 or so in the morning on Friday. Authorities believe what happened was -- is that this jeep was driven off the side of the road sometime between 1:30 in the morning Friday and 3:00 in the morning. They know this because someone heard some gunshots that lives in the neighborhood. But the family was made to get out of the vehicle, and they were shot multiple times, police say, aimed at.

To remind the viewers again, there was a husband, a wife, and two little boys. The mother was found face down with the two little boys clutched under her arms as if to use her body to shield them from what was to come. The police tell us those children were aimed at, as well as the mother and father. The father was found lying face up. Police say the attacker, or attackers, got back into the Jeep Cherokee that belonged to the family and kept on driving southbound.

Now, obviously they need to determine for sure whether this is the car or one that simply looks like it, but they do have the VIN number to try to match it up.

CANDIOTTI: I see.

HARRIS: So it should not be too difficult to do that.

HARRIS: So, Susan, investigators, we understand, have been looking at surveillance video from tollbooth plazas. Is it possible -- first of all, have they learned anything that might be helpful in the investigation? Second of all, is it possible that through looking at that surveillance video, they were able to locate the jeep?

CANDIOTTI: Well, that is possible. We don't know precisely what led anyone to find this car in Palm Beach County, not yet, because this is just happening. But we do know they were going through nearly 500 hours worth of tape, of all cars going through tollbooth plazas, and there is a tollbooth that they would have had to have gone through, if I'm not mistaken, between those two spots on the Florida Turnpike.

Those are all the questions we've been trying to find out over the weekend, whether they were making any headway. But police would not tell us anything.

HARRIS: OK. CNN's Susan Candiotti for us. Susan, thank you.

CANDIOTTI: You're welcome.

COLLINS: We want to take you another live picture, look at this, back to Houston, from our affiliate KHOU. We just watched sort of a bit of a rescue going on. We had showed you moments ago a white SUV, and it was nearly submerged all the way. You can see there, the water up at least to the halfway point of that vehicle. Very difficult to get out when you're in that situation. So rescuers went on over there and helped the people out that were in that SUV.

This has been going on, I believe, for most of the morning, trying to get people out of vehicles who, unfortunately, found themselves in situations that they clearly did not expect because of all of the rain, torrential rains, in fact; we're reporting ten inches or so in just a matter of hours. More today. There are schools closed.

Here's another live picture of someone else who, I believe, was taken out of the vehicle, now riding along a flatbed truck there to safety. And you can get a good idea from the wake that it left behind by that vehicle, which is huge, in comparison to a regular car or an SUV you might be driving, as to how deep it is. And what a bad idea it is to be trying to drive through it unless you are in anything other than a vehicle like that.

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HARRIS: And still to come, his birth in 1967, an American milestone. Soon he will just be one in 300 million. We'll explain in the NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: And very quickly, want to take you back to Palm Beach County, Florida. As you see, the hauler taking away the Jeep, described there as a four-door Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Just to let you know that the sheriff's department has confirmed that this is the vehicle that belonged to the Escobedo family that was killed on Friday. Jose Escobedo, his wife Yessica and their two young boys. Clearly, investigators will go over this Jeep with a fine tooth comb to learn anything they can that will help them in the investigation to find out who the killer or killers were responsible for this horrible crime that took place on Friday.

COLLINS: Also want to give this information to you just now, coming into CNN. We are going to be hearing from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice around 1:30 today. She'll be briefing reporters prior to her trip to Asia. She is going to be leaving tomorrow, pretty much talked up as a travel day, but will be meeting with leaders of Japan, South Korea and China during those visits. Expected to be there and doing that on Wednesday.

Of course, this is all response to the sanctions against North Korea that were voted on this weekend. U.N. resolution was voted on, unanimously, 15-0, talking more about what will be done by way of inspections and ships coming and going into that country and into other countries. So we will be watching that and bring it to you right here on CNN.

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HARRIS: We'll take a quick break here. When we come back -- just moments ago we told you a key piece of evidence has been found that will help investigators learn new information in the death of that Florida family on Friday. You're looking at it right here. The family's four-door Jeep Cherokee. More information when we come back. COLLINS: And also to Houston, watching the situation there as people are being rescued out of vehicles that drove through waters that they just frankly didn't know were so deep. Ten inches of rain in a couple of hours. More to come. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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