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Brutal Weather Hampers Mount Hood Rescue Efforts; Rumsfeld's Send-off; Breast Cancer on the Decline; Return To Vidor, Texas

Aired December 15, 2006 - 15:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm T.J. Holmes.

PHILLIPS: A deadly storm strikes the Northwest -- fierce winds, pounding rains, more than a million people without power.

HOLMES: Then, there's the treacherous weather on Mount Hood -- the search for three missing climbers on hold, blizzard and avalanche warnings in place.

PHILLIPS: A city of two tales? A Texas town is bitterly divided over whether it has now or has ever been racist -- those stories this hour.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Top of the hour.

Fredricka Whitfield starts us off with details on a developing story -- Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the fire that is still burning just southeast of Seattle, Washington, in Sammamish -- and looking at these live pictures now, we're seeing that firefighters are on the scene.

They got their ladders up. And we also, just moments ago, before taking that shot, that were there some hoses on that fire. This apartment building is ablaze. Reynolds Wolf was reminding us, just in the last half-hour, that a number of people in that area have been without power because of some heavy windstorms and heavy rain that has swept through that area.

Last check, about a million people are still without power. Now, we don't know what exactly sparked this fire, but Reynolds was explaining to us that what could be very typical is, sometimes, people use their gas ovens or stoves, or maybe even space heaters. And, sometimes, it results in scenes like just that.

But, again, we don't know for sure the cause of this fire. But we continue to watch it -- watch this ongoing blaze, which is pretty sizable, in this garden apartment -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Fred, we will keep track of it. Thanks. HOLMES: And it's the worst windstorm in almost 14 years -- at least four people dead, hundreds of thousands without power? It's the Pacific northwest.

And reporter Katharine Barrett has been surveying damage in Seattle.

How are things, Katharine?

KATHARINE BARRETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are damaged, T.J.

A local meteorologist called this a once-in-a-decade storm -- after midnight last night, roaring winds, with gusts up to 70 miles an hour, lashing rain that had people bailing out their basements.

All of this has subsided now. There are patches of blue sky, and winds are much calmer, but all of it just to give a view of the disastrous storm's aftermath -- so far, as you mentioned, four deaths reported, three killed by falling trees, one woman who, sadly, drowned trapped in a flooding basement.

And there are about one million people without power today in the greater Seattle area. Puget Sound Energy says it could take four to five days to bring power back into many areas. Temperatures here are mild now. Of course, no power often means no heat, but temperatures are forecast to be dropping.

Dozens, if not hundreds of roads, are blocked by downed trees and downed power lines. And these, of course, aren't just any trees. The Northwest is known for these massive 100-foot Douglas Firs that drop like a ton of bricks. One, in fact, fell right across my next-door neighbor's driveway, which I saw when I looked out the window this morning.

Suburban traffic signals also affected by those power outages, snarling traffic. One of the two major arterial bridges over Lake Washington, from the eastern suburbs -- that's Highway 520 -- remains closed until at least noon today.

Most area public schools are closed. Many municipalities are urging people, if they can, to simply stay home until roads can be cleared and made safe.

But, today, the roar of that storm has given way, in a lot of cases, to the whine of chain saws, as people try to clear out, get out of their houses and neighborhoods, and through roads that are blocked by these huge timbers that have fallen down in the storm -- T.J., Kyra.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: Well, my goodness, a tough time for a lot of folks in the Northwest right now.

Katharine Barrett, reporting... BARRETT: It is.

HOLMES: ... for us, thank you so much. And good luck to you all there in Seattle.

BARRETT: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, blizzard conditions, avalanche warnings -- the ground search for three missing climbers on Mount Hood a near mission impossible. The rescuers are hoping to get off the ground shortly.

CNN's Chris Lawrence joins us now from Parkdale, Oregon, with more.

What's the latest, Chris?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, because of the bad weather, the rescue teams have had to regroup back here on the ground.

But, in just the next couple hours, authorities may get their best look yet at exactly what kind of conditions are going on up the mountain right now.

Up until this point, they have hit a brick wall because of the weather at about 6,000-feet elevation, even though they know that at least one of the climbers, Kelly James, is -- probably has been holed up at about 10,000-feet elevation. They have sent out these unmanned drones, but, because of the wind and precipitation, they haven't had much luck.

But, in the next two hours, an even bigger aircraft will take its first flyover.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPTAIN CHRIS BERNARD, 304TH RESCUE SQUADRON, UNITED STATES AIR FORCE: Today, we have a C-130 aircraft from the 152nd Airlift Wing in Reno, Nevada. This C-130 is equipped with Scathe View technology, which is an intelligence platform with both day and night reconnaissance capabilities that's being offered up by Colonel Proehl for the mission today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE: With -- before the climbers set out on their climb, they left a note on their car a little bit south of here. They also stopped at this ranger station, and they left another note. It really detailed exactly how professional and how prepared they were before they started this climb.

It -- the note read -- reads, and it tells how -- the route that they were going to take up the mountain. It talks about the fact that they had food, fuel, a shovel, sleeping bags with them to keep them warm. And what it does is, that has given hope to some of the families that they are very prepared for what they may have faced up on the mountain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK JAMES, BROTHER OF KELLY JAMES: The note was very encouraging, because it does suggest, and as -- what I have said all along is that these are three professionals, in a sense. They're well-prepared, well-organized.

In fact, as I understand it, this note here -- ordinarily, climbers just go on without filling out the registration form. These three guys got -- dotted all of their I's and crossed all of their T's and made sure. Even when there wasn't a form there, they took the time to write this out in detail, their -- the list of equipment, their plans and so forth.

And I think that just, again, reiterates how prepared they were and intentional they were, to do all this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE: In no way are the rescue teams planning on giving up at any point right now.

In fact, when they go back on the mountain tomorrow, the families plan to get together to meet them and thank them, before they go back on the mountain -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Chris, we will keep tracking the search, of course.

Let's get to Reynolds Wolf.

What do you think about the conditions, Reynolds? It's supposed to get better, right?

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Things are going to get better, but we still have to get through the rest of the afternoon and into the evening, as well, Kyra.

And, from that time, until tomorrow, we could see another eight to 10 inches of snow fall on the highest peaks up near Mount Hood. In fact, here is the zoomed-in look that we have. Here's Portland. As we go a little bit more to the east, you have got Gresham. Then, here is Mount Hood.

And, as that moisture comes in from the Pacific, and goes up the side of the mountain, it gives -- interacts with cool air, some snow is beginning to form. And they could -- as I mentioned, could see about another five to 10 inches or so into tomorrow.

However, we are expecting better conditions. High pressure is going to be building into that region tomorrow -- still very breezy, though, in many of those places. And there is going to be the threat -- the threat of avalanches along Mount Hood. So, it's going to be really dangerous for people who are going out on foot tomorrow. I know they -- they mentioned they are going to have some drones going up to try to search for signs of life. It's certainly a good thing. But, tomorrow, at some point, they're going to have to get up there and go on foot. And that is going to be some treacherous climbing, no questions, with that threat of avalanches on Mount Hood.

That's the latest we have for you -- back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, Reynolds, thanks.

HOLMES: Well, the shiny brass and dress-right dress today at the Pentagon -- a full-honors send-off for the only man to serve twice as U.S. secretary of defense.

We want to head now to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, who was there for it all -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was quite a scene outside the Pentagon today, outside the Mall entrance.

It was quite a panorama. As you looked across, you could see the Washington Monument on one side, the rows of dignitaries, the president, the vice president, Donald Rumsfeld. The band's playing. It was quite a send-off, although, in some ways, it's not the way that Rumsfeld would have wanted to go, with a cloud hanging over him over him over the way the Iraq war has been going.

He got a rousing endorsement, though, from both the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the -- the vice president, Dick Cheney, who, of course, worked closely with Rumsfeld, and has known him for quite a long time, and the president, himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This man knows how to lead. And he did. And the country is better off for it.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Leadership is what Rumsfeld was known for. He was a very decisive leader. And the questions are about the decisions that he made. Were they the right ones in the end?

Rumsfeld today insisted that, with enough time and perspective, he believes that he did make the right decisions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Our country has taken on a bracing and difficult task. But let there be no doubt: It is neither hopeless, nor without purpose.

Leadership is not about doing what's easy. It's about doing what's right, even when it's hard -- especially when it's hard. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Rumsfeld has acknowledged that the war in Iraq is not the -- the success is not fast enough, and that there needs to be a change in strategy.

But he will not be around to preside over that change of strategy. Come Monday, former CIA Director Robert Gates will be sworn in. And Gates said in his Senate testimony that one of the first things he wants to do, once he takes office, is to go to Iraq and meet with U.S. military commanders directly to talk to them about what they should do in the weeks and months ahead.

I have to tell you that there is increasing momentum building inside the Pentagon for this idea of sending a large amount of U.S. troops. But what military commanders have told President Bush is, if you send those -- a big increase of troops into Iraq, they need -- that has to be linked to a political strategy to get some sort of settlement on the ground. Otherwise, six months from now, Iraq will still be where it is today -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right, our Jamie McIntyre from the Pentagon -- Jamie, thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: His crimes are a more than century old, but his nickname still stands for murder. The specter of Jack the Ripper returns, amid a new series of brutal murders in Britain -- a killer history lesson next from the CNN NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: And a researcher calls our next story better than a cure for breast cancer -- details that could affect millions of women, up next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: A steep drop in new cases of breast cancer -- researchers are poring over some very welcome numbers, and crediting one single factor for the dramatic change.

Here now, CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's good to report some good news every now and then. And we do have some of that about breast cancer -- some numbers going down, actually, as you pointed out, a 7 percent decrease overall in breast cancer incidents for 2003.

This is especially good news if you consider that breast cancer incidence has actually gone up from 1975 to 2000 , sort of steadily. Researchers have been trying to pinpoint exactly what's causing this decrease. And they strongly believe that it probably has to do with the fact that hormone replacement therapy had so much negative publicity surrounding it that the number of hormone replacement therapy prescriptions, or HRT prescriptions, have started to decrease. In fact, when HRT prescriptions decreased initially, you started to see some trickle-down of breast cancer incidents, but now you're getting some definitive data looking at this. And, in women who are over 50, who may have had an estrogen-positive type of breast cancer, the most common type of breast cancer, the numbers have actually gone down about 14 percent -- so, decreased hormone replacement therapy leading to some decreased breast cancer rates.

It is only one year's worth of data, so, it is hard to say that it's a trend by any means at this point, but certainly some very encouraging data.

A lot of women out there asking themselves, so, what now? There's about 13 million women who still take hormone replacement therapy, and they take it because of the debilitating symptoms of menopause.

Talk to your doctor about trying to take the smallest doses that you possibly can for the shortest amount of time. That is still the best advice.

We will keep you posted as more details come on in, but a very important story about breast cancer -- back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, the Taco Bell E. coli scares seems to be over. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports says that reports of Taco Bell customers getting sick have peaked.

At least 71 people were stricken after eating at Taco Bells in the Northeast. Contaminated lettuce is now believed to be the culprit. And, as a precaution, the chain says it switched to a new produce supplier.

HOLMES: Nine months and one day after an alleged rape at a house party attended by the Duke University lacrosse team, the accuser is in a North Carolina hospital, reportedly about to give birth.

Today, a judge in Durham ordered a paternity test, at the request of lawyers reporting three Duke athletes charged with rape, kidnapping and sexual offense. Prosecuted are not suggesting the pregnancy resulted from the alleged rape.

PHILLIPS: Facing the fury of Mother Nature.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a biting cold. It's hard to see. In fact, it's downright painful. The question now is, if you're stuck in these conditions, what do you do? How do you survive?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: CNN's Rick Sanchez finds out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Want to get to the newsroom again and Fredricka Whitfield, watching a breaking story.

This time out of Florida, is it?

WHITFIELD: Well, T.J., remember the case of that one-month-old baby that the parents say was taken at knifepoint out of Fort Myers, Florida? You're looking at the videotape shortly thereafter the birth of the child, baby Bryan Dos Santos Gomez.

The parents at the time said that maybe there would be a connection to the fact that they owed a -- a human smuggling ring a couple of hundred dollars. But police were unable to confirm whether there was, indeed, a connection.

Well, now police are saying that they have a person of interest, this man, Valter Coehlo. He is a known player in a human smuggling ring. We don't know anything more than the fact that police are labeling him a person of interest. That could simply mean that they're just talking to him, or perhaps they think that he knows somebody else who may have information, but not that he is an actual suspect in the case.

The baby, still missing, now -- has been missing for 15 days now. The parents had put out a tearful plea, asking for anyone with information about time, at the time, one-month-old baby to step forward. And this is where the investigation is right now -- police saying in Fort Myers, Florida, that they have a person of interest, the pictured man of Valter Coehlo.

We don't anything -- don't know anything more about him, except that he is believed to be a player in human smuggling, as they know it.

So, that's all the information we have right now -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right, Fredricka, thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: Well, could you survive a financial setback? I don't mean a stock market crash or a catastrophic illness. I mean a transmission problem on your car, a busted water heater.

CNN has a special coming up tomorrow night on the fragility of American family finances.

Carol Lin is here to talk to us about it.

You kind of came together with your team and came up with this idea, right?

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

You know, it -- this really was the birth of an idea by Tanesha Abernathy (ph), a passion during the holidays. She's the executive producer of our prime-time weekends. And, when she told the team about it, everybody really embraced it, because we realize, we all know somebody who is actually in these circumstances, people you would never suspect. You know, this is not about the drug-addicted or the mentally ill or the people who end up on the streets. That, in and of itself, is an important, but different, problem.

We're focusing on people we all know, people with a job, even two jobs, who are one paycheck away from not being able to pay the bills. Now, we got a report this week that says that 30 percent of the country's homeless are families with children.

So, after doing some digging, Kyra, we learned that one mishap -- you know, that car that you were talking about that breaks down, or getting hurt on the job -- was enough to send these families into a financial tailspin.

So, tomorrow night, at 10:00 Eastern, we're going to dive into this. Plus, we will not only show you the struggles, but the ways to survive.

Also, have you seen the previews for the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness"? Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL SMITH, ACTOR: Chris Gardner. How are you?

Good morning. Chris Gardner. Chris Gardner. Good to see you again.

Chris Gardner. Pleasure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Will Smith plays Chris Gardner, who went from homeless to Wall Street. The real Chris Gardner joins us for one of his few prime-time interviews.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS GARDNER, GARDNER RICH & COMPANY: I found a business, fortunately. I found something that I absolutely love. Now, that's something that I'm stressing to people everywhere I go: Do something that you feel passionately about, something you feel strongly about, and forget about money. Do something that you would do for free, because you enjoy it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Easy to say now, because he was homeless when he got that job on Wall Street.

I hope you join me for "A Paycheck Away," tomorrow night at 10:00 Eastern, right here -- right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

He is an amazing story.

PHILLIPS: Well, that's the talk of the town right now, that movie, "Pursuit of Happyness..."

LIN: Uh-huh.

PHILLIPS: ... the book, number-one best seller.

Tell me a little bit more about Chris Gardner.

LIN: All right, so, the scene that you were watching there was when he got arrested and put in jail for past parking tickets. He had this big interview at Dean Witter to get this internship that might land him a job on Wall Street.

So, what does he do? He ran all the way from the jail to that interview. He was wearing an undershirt, and a jacket over. And one of those executives said to him: All right, "Well, what would you say if I hired a man who showed up at a job interview, you know, in a T- shirt and with paint in his hair?"

Chris Gardner says, "I bet you would say he had a really nice pair of pants on."

(LAUGHTER)

LIN: You know, he was such a positive thinker. And, at that -- this time, he was sleeping in subway stations in San Francisco with his little boy. He didn't have enough money.

He had lost the apartment. He had lost his job selling medical equipment. And he had this dream. You know, he had this dream. He happened to be occupying a parking space that a stockbroker in a sports car wanted. So, Chris Gardner said, "I will give you the parking space, if you tell me what you do and how you do it."

PHILLIPS: Wow.

LIN: That's a scene in the movie, based on a true story. Fabulous guy.

PHILLIPS: Can't wait to see the rest of the interview.

LIN: Yes.

PHILLIPS: I mean, just imagine. I mean, there are so many of us that complain about the most ridiculous things. You see somebody like that, and it -- that's what it's all about.

LIN: Yes. We're so blessed.

(CROSSTALK)

LIN: And we are going to be offering people solutions to get out of that paycheck-to-paycheck cycle, too.

PHILLIPS: Sounds great.

Thanks, Carol.

LIN: Sure.

HOLMES: Nintendo Wii have a problem.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: The gaming system maker launches a massive recall.

Susan Lisovicz, at the New York Stock Exchange, upset, because she is going to have to take...

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: ... her Nintendo Wii and get it worked on.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I know.

HOLMES: What is going on?

(LAUGHTER)

LISOVICZ: I mean, "Super Mario" and "Donkey Kong," all those titles that I loved from the past. It's a "Wii-lly" big recall, OK?

Nintendo recalling more than three million controller straps for its new Wii game system. The company has received reports of straps breaking, causing controllers to fly out of the hands of players, and damage windows, TV sets, and even some fellow players.

Fortunately, Miles O'Brien, a known gamer himself, not one of those casualties. Here, he is having a little fun with the control wand. The wand is used to mimic the motions of things like tennis rackets, golf clubs, swords, depending on the game.

Customers can go to the Nintendo service centers to get new straps that are twice as thick as the old ones. They can also order them through Nintendo's Web site. Or they just can simply refrain from going crazy with the wand, which sometimes results in these damages and injuries -- T.J.

HOLMES: Oh, you mean going crazy like Miles was just doing in that video? Is that what you were meaning, going crazy with the wand?

(LAUGHTER)

LISOVICZ: Yes. I think, yes, let the player and his friends beware.

HOLMES: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: All right. Well, this certainly seems like it should be a bad thing, a negative for Nintendo, but they are saying -- putting a positive spin on it, I guess.

LISOVICZ: Well, that's what companies do.

And, you know, and the fact is, it is a big hit. The recall is expected to cost Nintendo several million dollars. But a company like Nintendo says, with its profits, it won't hurt the bottom line.

Nintendo introduced the unique controller to set it apart from some other products we have been talking a lot about lately, Sony's recently released PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360, which was released last year.

A market research group estimates that gamers snapped up nearly half-a-million Wii systems in the two weeks following its launch last month. That's twice as many as the PlayStation 3, which has been hurt by shortages. It's also much less expensive than the PlayStation 3, or the PS3, for, you know, gamer lingo.

HOLMES: Yes, gamer lingo. I know you're a gamer. It's all right. Let it out, Susan. Let it out.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: Short on PS3s.

Also, short on inflation last month -- how are investors taking that news?

LISOVICZ: Well, that's why we have got game on Wall Street today.

By the way, "The Pursuit of Happyness" is certainly going to be a big movie on Wall Street, too, because that is where it took place in real life.

A relief rally, you could say, T.J., is under way today. A government report out ahead of the open showed consumer prices were flat in November -- stripping out volatile food and energy costs, the core rate unchanged as well. Investors like that a lot, because it's reinforcing hopes that the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates, possibly as soon as the spring.

So, what are we seeing? Well, we are seeing more highs, all-time highs, for the Dow Jones industrials, which closed at a record high yesterday. Right now, we're up off our highs for the day, up 33 points. So, 12448 is the level. The NASDAQ composite is up about five points -- by the way, this rally coming despite the fact that oil jumping by nearly $1 today. It has been on the rise this week, as well.

And that is the latest from Wall Street. I will be back in about 30 minutes with a wrap-up of the trading day.

But, first, a successful career in Hollywood is a tough thing to walk away from, but, over 12 years ago, Phoebe Cates did just that.

To find out why and what she is doing now, here is Ali Velshi with today's "Life After Work."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH")

PHOEBE CATES, ACTRESS: Hi, Brad. You know how cute I always thought you were.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Far from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" or facing down Gremlins, Phoebe Cates is playing a very different role these days.

CATES: I really wanted to work again. And so, acting was not going to be the choice for me. The hours are too long. The travel is to much, and I just felt like I had kind of done it.

VELSHI: Cates quit acting 12 years ago to stay at home with her two kids and her husband, actor Kevin Kline.

But, last year, she came out of retirement to open a store in New York, called Blue Tree.

CATES: Hi.

Blue Tree is department boutique. And that's really what it is. It's a two-story store that offers little departments for everything, from home to kids, toys, gifts, clothing.

VELSHI: Blue Tree is Cates' idea of a neighborhood general store.

CATES: Little vintage bronze dinosaurs, stress balls from Japan.

VELSHI: And she's every bit the hands-on boss, from managing her staff...

CATES: Jot down things when you can, especially if you know it was, like, your sale. .

VELSHI: ... to meeting with vendors.

CATES: Pablo (ph), that's a good question. The girls want to know how much...

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'm...

VELSHI: Phoebe Cates is basically your typical small business owner. CATES: I think the thing I learned the most was that I underestimated my own ability to run the actual business side of it, because I actually like it. I'm surprised, but I -- I like it.

VELSHI: And, after being open a year, Cates says her customers are liking it too. She expects to turn her first profit at the end of the holiday season. She looks happy, but does she ever miss acting?

CATES: I did do a reading, just as a favor, to hear a screenplay aloud, and really didn't enjoy it. I just kept thinking, like, I have got to get back to my customers.

(LAUGHTER)

CATES: So, yes, I guess the answer is, no, I don't really miss it.

VELSHI: Ali Velshi, CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, at CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in today for Don Lemon.

A Texas town confronts its racist past, but, by facing the questions, Vidor residents are now embroiled in bitter arguments about present day attitudes.

But first, this latest storm slammed into the Northwest overnight, killing at least four people and knocking out power to more than a million homes and businesses in Oregon and Washington. The winds were so fierce, they actually ripped bricks off houses. And they almost caused some major issues for this plane that was coming in at the Seattle airport. You see there, the shaking back and forth. The pilot managed to abort that landing before landing safely on a second try. That video there is just some scary stuff, Reynolds.

WOLF: That's the kind of thing that makes you hold on to the suit cushions a little hard. Look at that again. Cross winds just deceivingly strong there. Right at Sea-Tac airport, they actually had window damage in the terminal due to the strong winds, some of those as strong as a Category 2 force hurricane. Just really, really, blistering winds rolling through there.

WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: Like mamma used to say, can't win for losing. Thanks so much.

Waiting and hoping for a break in that weather. Winds as strong as a hundred miles an hour preventing most rescuers from venturing out, much less up Mt. Hood in search of three missing climbers. The men set out eight days ago for a two-day climb. A rescue team that went out yesterday is said to be holed up in a remote lodge riding out the storm.

Of course, you can talk about it, read about it and watch it on TV news reports, but climbing two miles up a mountain in December is one of those things you can't really understand until you try it. CNN's Rick Sanchez tried it. He did it at Loveland Pass, Colorado.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ (voice-over): From a distance, Rocky Mountain summits seem to melt into the clouds. As we get closer, though, they reveal their danger. That cut is called Seven Sisters. See the seven parallel paths? Each one is a known avalanche zone, where skiers and mountaineers have been trapped or killed.

(on camera): You're not going to be able to get out of the way once that thing gets rolling?

MICHAEL ALKAITIS, AMERICAN MOUNTAIN GUIDES ASSN.: Oh, no, no, you'll be right in it.

SANCHEZ: Really?

ALKAITIS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Chances of surviving?

ALKAITIS: I couldn't say. Not very good.

SANCHEZ: Not good?

ALKAITIS: Yes.

(voice-over): As we drive higher, we're met by a sudden ground blizzard. I expected it would be extreme, but this is unimaginable.

(on camera): There are places on earth where you feel god's fury, but I can't imagine any of them being any worse than this. What I'm feeling right now, we're about -- almost 12,000 feet. This is the Continental Divide. I've been in enough hurricanes to know what hurricane force gusts, if not winds, feel like. This is easily at least 60-mile-an-hour gusts that are blowing through here. At times, it's difficult to stand up.

It's a biting cold. It's hard to see. In fact, it's downright painful. The question now is, if you are stuck in these conditions, what do you do? How do you survive?

(voice-over): We've elicited the help of two renowned mountaineering experts, who teach, the first order of business is to build a snow cave. Without it, you will not survive.

ALKAITIS: We would just get in there, into that cave, get on our packs to insulate ourselves from the snow, and stay warm, huddled close together all night.

SANCHEZ: Even in a snow cave, you can still get slammed by an avalanche, but experienced mountaineers avoid it by taking into account both slope and snow density when figuring out where to camp.

(on camera): We can't see the top of that peak. Look straight up there. Because of this wind, you can't see it, but could that start an avalanche at any time?

ALKAITIS: It's not tall enough...

SANCHEZ: I see.

ALKAITIS: ... right now to start an avalanche. If it did fly, it has no energy.

SANCHEZ (voice-over): But, by far, the biggest killer is the weather itself. Within hours of being exposed, mountaineers can suffer hypothermia, which causes them to become strangely delusional.

ALKAITIS: And you'd eventually become euphoric, think that the snow is really warm and soft and lay down and go to sleep forever.

SANCHEZ: It is why some victims are found disrobed. They actually believe it's warm in freezing weather. Experts, who recommend not going into these conditions without a shovel, a backpack, a head lamp, a compact stove to melt water in and at least a sleeping bag, say even with these items, under extreme conditions, you'll still only be able to hold on for so long.

Rick Sanchez, CNN, Loveland Pass, Colorado.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Let's go straight to the newsroom -- Fredricka Whitfield working details on a developing story.

What's happening, Fred?

WHITFIELD: This time, it's an Olive Garden restaurant that is being linked to the illness of about 300 people. The Olive Garden restaurant, out of Indianapolis, now, is hearing from a number of people who ate at that particular restaurant between Saturday and Wednesday and have reported symptoms of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, even fever.

And so now the restaurant is still trying to determine exactly what all these folks may have had in common, what did they all eat to bring them to this level of sickness. They're still trying to investigate that. They've only pinpointed now that they believe most of these people ate these meals, whether they were in the restaurant or at home from take-outs between Saturday and Wednesday. So still trying to get to the bottom of that, but about 300 people right now reporting these common illnesses.

PHILLIPS: All right, well, keep tracking it. Thanks, Fred.

HOLMES: His crimes are more than a century old, but his nickname still stands for murder. The specter of Jack the Ripper returns amid a new series of brutal murders in Britain. A killer history lesson -- that's next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: We now know the names of all five women in Ipswich, England who appear to be the victims of a serial murderer.

PHILLIPS: The last to be identified is 29-year-old Annette Nichols, a prostitute last seen alive December 5th. Her nude body was found a week later in a countryside. A post mortem failed to show how she died, but police assume her death is linked to those of four other young prostitutes all found naked except for jewelry with no obvious signs of trauma.

Reports are referring to the killer as the Ipswich Ripper, a reference to a much earlier crime spree, also targeting prostitutes that terrorized London years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): He wasn't the first serial killer. He was far from the deadliest, but as soon as the news broke about the Ipswich slayings, many of us thought about Jack the Ripper.

Nearly 120 years after he's said to have stalked the streets of London, Jack the Ripper still holds us enthralled in his murderous grip. We've seen it played out again and again in dozens of movies. The gas-light streets of Victorian, England.

A sinister figure emerging from the night. The scream. A struggle. Then silence. Except maybe for the footsteps of a killer disappearing into the London fog.

It may be part of our collective memory. But we really know very little. From 1888 to 1891, 11 prostitutes died gruesome deaths on the streets of White Chapel, in London's gritty east end.

It's generally believed that four, five, maybe six of them were victims of a single killer who may or may not have called himself Jack the Ripper.

A letter that made its way to Scotland Yard carried that signature and regardless of whether it was written by the actual killer, that brutally vivid nickname is one reason we still remember the White Chapel murders.

There are others. The newspaper industry was growing and despite everything you've heard about Victorian morals, lurid stories about prostitution and murders sold papers, not just in London, but all over the world.

Police investigated the murder spree under intense public scrutiny, but never solved it -- another reason for our enduring fascination. For well over a century, amateur sleuths have walked the streets of White Chapel, speculating about Jack the Ripper's true identity. Was he a laborer? A doctor? Maybe even royalty? There's been speculation that one of Queen Victoria's grandsons was the ripper. No one knows. Aided by modern forensic scientists, today Scotland Yard detectives may well discover the identity of the Ipswich killer, but Jack the Ripper, nearly 121 years later, his true identity is still shrouded in the London fog.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Right now investigators are in Ipswich analyzing video from surveillance cameras -- a handy little technique they didn't have in Jack the Ripper's day.

HOLMES: Vidor, Texas, once considered a sundown town -- a place where blacks didn't venture out after dark. Has Vidor shaken that image? That story is ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Vidor, Texas, a small town with a bad reputation for racism. It used to be known as a sundown town where blacks didn't dare go out at night.

This week, CNN's Keith Oppenheim went to Vidor to see whether and how things have changed. His report prompted strong reactions as he found out in his follow-up report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOANN FOSTER, VIDOR RESIDENT: We are not racists.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): I got an earful from Joann Foster and her brother Bill as we sat in a Vidor cafe.

J. FOSTER: You need to move here and live our lives, because you're reporting on something you know absolutely nothing about.

OPPENHEIM: Our story on Vidor, Texas, depicted a place with very few African-American residents, a place that, in the '50s and '60s, was known as sundown town, where African-Americans were warned not to be caught after dark.

The piece also looked at Vidor's past reputation as a haven for the Ku Klux Klan. Some said those days are long gone.

BILL FOSTER, RESIDENT OF VIDOR, TEXAS: You know, when the Klan came in, the citizens literally chased them out. There is no Klan in Vidor.

OPPENHEIM: And our story included perceptions currently held by some blacks that Vidor is unwelcoming.

Bill Foster said media stories like ours perpetuate a myth.

B. FOSTER: But you have people who have never been to Vidor, but they are scared of Vidor, because of ancient stories from years ago that are no longer applicable to this town. OPPENHEIM: What got some residents particularly mad was an interview in our story with a Vidor resident who said she wanted separation from blacks.

PEGGY FRUGE, VIDOR RESIDENT: But as far as mingling and eating with them and all that kind of stuff, I mean, that's where I draw the line.

BEAMON MINTON, ORANGE CO., TEXAS COMMISSIONER: That lady was not the typical Vidorian. I don't know how many other people you interviewed, but that was played up. That was a very negative approach to Vidor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To me, I thought it was pretty reasonable.

OPPENHEIM: Brenda Hamm (ph) says, she has lived in Vidor for six years, and agreed with my reporting. She and other area residents, both black and white, said our story was an accurate portrayal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I don't see what you all did was wrong.

OPPENHEIM: Henry Lowe lives near Vidor, in Orange, Texas.

HENRY LOWE, RESIDENT OF ORANGE COUNTY, TEXAS: Vidor may feel like it was picked on, but its past gave a legitimate reason to come back and see if things have changed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And Paula Zahn will have much more about U.S. race relations in an encore presentation of her special "SKIN-DEEP: RACISM IN AMERICA." That is tonight at 8:00 p.m. and that's right here on CNN.

PHILLIPS: Her conception and birth were such a huge deal, it's no wonder people are all worked up about her name. No, we're not talking about Suri Cruise here so don't be bamboozled. That's a little hint. Details straight ahead from the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the newest star at Zoo Atlanta is now an Atlanta beauty. At an elaborate ceremony this morning, the zoo's 100-day-old baby panda was officially named Mei Lan, "Atlanta beauty" in Mandarin Chinese.

Mei Lan was the top choice in an online naming contest that drew 53,000 votes. She's the only panda born outside of China this year. Mei Lan is expected to make her first public appearance in just a few days. I was hoping for Blitzer.

HOLMES: I don't know how Wolf would have felt about that.

PHILLIPS: I think he kind of would have dug it.

HOLMES: Wolf?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf? What about Wolf? That would have been a cute name.

PHILLIPS: All right, a panda named Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes, sure.

PHILLIPS: That makes sense.

Hi, Wolf.

BLITZER: Hi, guys. Thanks very much. We have a lot coming up at the top of the hour. An end of an era, Donald Rumsfeld's last day -- Dick Cheney says Rumsfeld is the finest secretary of defense this nation has ever had. We're going to take a closer look at the Pentagon's lightning rod.

Plus, "The Purpose-Driven Life," Pastor Rick Warren here in "THE SITUATION ROOM" to discuss religion, politics and Barack Obama.

Also, Castro, life after death. U.S. officials are preparing for some worst case scenarios.

And public private disconnect? President Bush weighing in now on the vice president's daughter having a baby. All that coming up right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

Back to you guys.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Wolf.

HOLMES: All right, thanks so much.

Wolf, we've got one piece of video here we really need to show you. You got to see this to believe it. Check out my man, Sam McGuffy (ph). One tackler in his way. What did he do. Oh, see you! Take care! Hope your mama wasn't at the game watching that, because that's embarrassing.

A high school running back took a giant leap up and over. Oh, that poor kid! This guy actually scored eight touchdowns. That was his seventh. Thanks to that guy right there, the coach for the other team called it the "dadgummenest (ph) thing I've ever seen."

PHILLIPS: He's now joining the track team. He's forgetting football. He is joining the track team! Susan Lisovicz standing by at the New York Stock Exchange.

(MARKET REPORT)

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