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Train Wreck Leaves Several Tanker Cars Ablaze in Brooks, Kentucky; Baghdad University Bombing; Missouri Kidnapping Suspect to be Arraigned Thursday Morning

Aired January 16, 2007 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You're with CNN. You're informed.
I'm Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins.

Developments keep coming in to the NEWSROOM on this Tuesday, January 16th.

Here's what's on the rundown.

Furious fire in Kentucky. A train wreck leaves several tanker cars ablaze. Roads closed, a school evacuated, airline flights diverted.

HARRIS: Insurgents unleashing a wave of bloody attacks in Baghdad. Dozens are dead after bombings and shootings shake the Iraqi capital.

COLLINS: His hat's in the air. Will he toss it into the ring? Rising Democratic star Barack Obama looking presidential in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And quickly now, let's get you back to T.J. Holmes in the NEWSROOM. Take a look at these live pictures of this train derailment, Brooks, Kentucky.

T.J., give us the very latest.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We're going to reset this scene and give you the latest. But what you're looking at is a live picture on your left of what we've been seeing for the past two hours almost now.

This fire, a massive fire in Brooks, Kentucky, this is just south of Louisville, where there has been a train wreck. Several cars caught on fire, several tankers there that were on this train up in flames.

The firefighters have been unable to put this thing out. There was -- certainly seeing the black -- thick black smoke. Some earlier pictures on your right, live picture on your left.

The smoke was just unbelievable, the fire unbelievable, that black smoke. Knew there was something down there feeding this fire.

It took us a while -- and before officials finally confirmed to us that, sure enough, there was something hazardous being carried on this train. CSX, which operates this railroad line, operates this train, says, sure enough, there were hazardous materials on this train and that people now have been evacuated from the area. A school has been evacuated, as well, as a precaution because there's some kind of inhalation risk.

No injuries to report. That's a good thing at this point. But firefighters now are telling us that they have, in fact, after a couple of hours of trying to go after this fire and not making much ground, if any at all, have decided to now pull back, pull their people out, getting all the firefighters out of there and just letting this thing burn itself out.

People in the immediate area, like I said, have evacuated, but people in the distance who are even downwind from this fire are being -- it's recommended to stay inside. Put towels up against the windows. Don't let this smoke, don't let this stuff come into your home. Do not breathe it.

So we've been watching this for some time. The pictures have been unbelievable. This fire has been massive.

A number of cars, maybe up to 15 on this train, caught fire, several tankers down there. But again, it took us a while -- or at least we heard from an expert earlier who dealt with some of these investigations of train wrecks and whatnot who says they probably knew almost immediately or soon after what exactly was on the train, but firefighters, for the longest, were telling us at least that that word had not gotten to them, so they didn't know what hazardous material might have been -- what chemical might have been on this train.

So they were down there for an hour or so, almost two hours, fighting this right up there, dealing with the danger of the fire, but didn't know what danger in the air they were dealing with as well. You do see some of those fire trucks still -- still in the area there on the left side of your screen, but at this point they're not dousing this fire with water anymore.

We're being told they're going to go ahead and pull back, pull out, and let this thing burn itself out. And then they'll get back in there. And of course the investigation will ensue at that point.

But again, certainly important to note that no injuries reported here. Evacuations in place, but just going to let this thing go ahead and burn itself out -- guys.

HARRIS: T.J. Holmes for us in the NEWSROOM.

T.J., appreciate it. Thank you.

COLLINS: It has been a deadly day in Baghdad. A series of bombings claiming dozens of lives, two of the blasts at entrances to a university. At least 65 people killed, 138 wounded. In other parts of the city, attackers using car bombs and guns kill or wound dozens more.

Our Michael Holmes is in Baghdad now, where he's been tracking the violence -- Michael.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi.

Two bombs, as you said, outside the Mustansiriya University. That's in northeastern Baghdad.

A bizarre situation. One suicide bomber on foot detonating an explosives vest at the back entrance to the university as students and faculty members were leaving. Now, almost at the same time, at the front gate of the university, right outside, a massive car bomb went off.

Now, the latest figures we have are 65 people dead and 138 have been wounded. And as I've said to you before, Heidi, these numbers just keep on going up.

This -- faculty members of this university, interestingly, have been targeted before in sectarian violence as insurgents try to kill as many of the intellectual class here in Iraq to force others to leave and further destabilize the country. But this obviously a massive fare (ph) of bombings at this university. This comes in an area that's largely under the influence of the Mehdi army, which, of course, is itself controlled by the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Elsewhere, gunmen on motorcycles went into another Mehdi army- controlled area in eastern Baghdad, opening fire at random. They killed 10 people, wounded seven.

As you pointed out, Heidi, there have been other bombings in the city. Today, 20 people dead, 80 wounded. And I'll tell you, about 30 seconds before you came to me, there was a large explosion not so far from here. We're looking into that one, too, but it was certainly loud. We felt it here -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Boy. And Michael, I know you've been embedded with troops for several days there now on the ground. I imagine they are beginning to attempt to implement some of President Bush's new plan for Iraq.

Tell us a little bit about what you've seen.

M. HOLMES: Yes, until those 21,000, 22,000 new troops get here, it's really baby steps. But it is significant that both steps are now being taken.

What we saw in the suburb of Dora (ph), in the southern part of the city, was interesting. A massive show of force by a Stryker brigade. They're elements of the 2nd Infantry, driving some fairly fearsome vehicles. And 120 of them or so going into Dora (ph) to carry out a search, a clearing operation looking for insurgents.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

M. HOLMES (voice over): Apache helicopters overhead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's up? We're there.

M. HOLMES: Hundreds of U.S. troops on the ground. Among the first steps in the Iraqi and U.S. government's new plan to save Baghdad.

In reality, however, it's an evolution of the old plan, Operation Together Forward. The first incarnation was clear: hold and rebuild. Although none of those things happened or lasted.

Today these Stryker units lead the way on the main streets of Dora (ph), in the south of the capital, doing the clearing. Others, according to the new plan, will follow to hold and rebuild.

(on camera): This area is one of the major fault lines in Baghdad's bloody sectarian war. About a half a miles that way, mainly Sunni, including insurgent elements. Half a mile that way, mainly Shia, including elements of the Mehdi army. And here in the middle the two mix, often not well.

It's on these streets that many of Baghdad's murdered and tortured bodies are found.

(voice over): This new plan calls for the holding phase to be for the first time a truly combined effort. Iraqi army, national police, Iraqi police and U.S. soldiers working together in a single chain of command.

LT. COL. BRUCE ANTONIO, U.S. ARMY: I think when we say we can't fail, it's true. We can't fail. If we fail here, the fight's going to be in the United States. The fight's going to be all over the world.

M. HOLMES: Where they went was into hundreds of houses looking for weapons, insurgents, and just as importantly, information.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ask them if they've seen any men with guns running around the neighborhood.

M. HOLMES (on camera): Is it hard to get people to talk?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is. They're scared, and there's a lot of intimidation by the local sectarian groups.

M. HOLMES (voice over): But some do talk.

Here, troops search the home of a man others accused of being a local leader of the Mehdi army. Nothing was found.

Eventually, here and elsewhere in the capital joint security stations will be set up among the local population, manned 24/7, designed to stop the insurgents returning when the troops leave. Some neighborhoods may even be walled off, one way in, one way out. The idea, to make locals feel more secure, disrupt insurgent activities, and win back the trust of the people. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's where we need to go to no now.

M. HOLMES: This day, some weapons caches were found, a few arrests were made. But some locals decided it was time to talk and gave information that will be followed up on in the days ahead.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. HOLMES: We left the troops out there, Heidi. They're at it again this evening. The crucial thing, of course, is going to be whether, as Mr. Bush has demanded, the Iraqis step in now and do their part -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. We know you'll continue to follow it for us.

Michael Holmes live from Baghdad today.

Thank you, Michael.

HARRIS: Let's get you to Chad Myers now in the severe weather center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: We have an update now on the case of two kidnapped boys in Missouri. CNN has learned the suspect is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday morning.

Let's get the very latest now from CNN's Sean Callebs.

Sean, good morning to you.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

Indeed, 41-year-old Michael Devlin expected to be arraigned, scheduled to be arraigned 8:30 Central Time in Franklin County. That's 9:30 East Coast.

He is facing at least one count, first-degree kidnapping. The litany of investigators, the county, state, federal authorities, have indicated more charges could be coming.

We know this about the arraignment -- it is going to be a video arraignment. He's being held in the town of Union, in a jail there. He is going to appear before a judge in the case via video.

We know that the media is going to be allowed to watch that. Still unclear if we're going to be allowed to take pictures of the monitor, bring you any kind of interaction between the judge in the case and the suspect in the case, the 300-pound former pizza parlor manage.

Again, he's being held on $1 million bail in this case, and scheduled to appear at 8:30 Central Time, $1 million bail. That's about all the information we have at this time. We do know that the judge in this case -- an interesting note, Heidi -- Judge Tobin (ph), was just sworn in January 1st. So he is going to get an introduction in to the bench in a very public way.

Of course this attention -- this case has the attention of the entire nation. The two boys involved in the kidnapping, 15-year-old Shawn Hornbeck, who had been missing for more than four years, and 13- year-old Ben Ownby who had been missing for four days.

Investigators still unclear if we're going to find out any more about the case, if there will be any kind of probable cause in the paperwork that usually comes with an arraignment. Still unclear if we're going to have that. But as you mentioned, the Franklin County prosecutor and sheriff's office now telling us that Devlin will be arraigned on Thursday morning, a couple of days from now -- Heidi.

COLLINS: OK. Quickly, Sean, you may not have an answer to this, but as far as the charges, you said that it's one count of Class A felony kidnapping. There has been some talk about federal charges.

How does that happen? Has there been more information released about where Devlin may have taken these kids across state lines? I'm not sure about the federal charges.

CALLEBS: Well, I think that just because of the kidnapping charge involved in all of this, the FBI has been involved in all this. They have been, of course, very tight-lipped about this.

We did have a chance to talk with investigators yesterday who talked with both the Ownby boy and Hornbeck over the weekend. And the way the investigator spelled it out to us, he thought at first it would be the county officials bringing charges, and then later the federal charges being brought.

COLLINS: All right. Sean Callebs coming to us live from Kirkwood, Missouri, today.

Sean, thanks.

HARRIS: And still to come, a Katrina rescue mission you may have missed, saving those not yet born when the storm hit.

Ahead in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: A house party -- reputations ruined, a prosecutor's career in question. Rape charges against Duke lacrosse players fall apart. Where the case stands now in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: A coach's comeback. He went from diagramming his teams plays to relearning life's basics, like lifting a fork or giving a hug.

His story in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Newcomers and old favorites strike gold. The Globes, winners and wannabes. We're going Hollywood -- we just couldn't resist -- in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A month of major developments in the Duke lacrosse case. Rape charges dropped. The district attorney bows out. And the North Carolina attorney general takes it from here.

Joining me to talk about these developments is criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor B.J. Bernstein.

I want to begin -- not to confuse the audience at home, but we have gotten some new information about Michael Devlin and the situation in Missouri with the two children that were kidnapped there, allegedly, by Michael Devlin. He's going to be arraigned on Thursday.

There is a little bit of talk about federal charges, as we have just heard from our correspondent, Sean Callebs. What will it take to charge him with federal counts?

B.J. BERNSTEIN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, it depends what they're finding. If you'll remember, they've been -- excuse me -- they're searching is house and looking at that computer.

COLLINS: Right.

BERNSTEIN: And depending on what's on that computer, if there's any sort of pornography, any context with boys, those are the kind of things that make it into a federal offense.

COLLINS: And you had mentioned to me when we were talking about this just moments ago, it would be interstate commerce. So it's not necessarily -- and this is sort of the way I have always thought about it -- geographically, if the children, or whatever the case may be, are taken across state lines, then you have possible federal charges, but that's not the only case.

BERNSTEIN: That's not the only case. Depending on the communications items used. Anything that we use, like phones, or the mail, or anything that puts it into interstate commerce, can move it from a state case to a federal case.

COLLINS: Got it. OK.

Let's move on now to the Duke lacrosse case, then.

As we know, Nifong has stepped down from this case -- D.A. Nifong, I should say. What kind of move is that for him professionally? And there was quite consternation about whether or not he was going to do that.

BERNSTEIN: Well, for him professionally, he's got some problems. The state bar is looking at him. In fact, in some ways a lot of us have said, why didn't he make this move sooner?

COLLINS: Right. BERNSTEIN: It was very clear. So, professionally, he's got something to fight, and he's had to hire his own lawyer. And that's part of the reason why now absolutely the attorney general's office had to step in.

COLLINS: OK. Let me go ahead and show you this now.

The parents of the accused players appeared on "60 Minutes" this past weekend. And I want to share with you a quote from Kathy Seligmann. She is, of course, the mother of Reade Seligmann, and this is what she said.

"Every mother of a son in this country should be scared to death that this was so easy to perpetrate. All that is -- it's based on a woman's word, and she's changed that story seven, eight, nine times. And we still sit here. Our families have been held hostage by this D.A., by this woman, by the police department."

So how much trouble is new prosecution actually going to have making anything that this defendant -- I'm sorry -- the woman in the case -- anything that she says, how are they going to make it stick?

BERNSTEIN: And that's going to be the very problem. I mean, these new lawyers that have been assigned to look at this case are going to have to now deal not only with juts what was said at the beginning, but what's happened during this entire time period, and deal with the problems created by Nifong delaying the interview of her, the changes in her statements. Those are all things that should be properly considered as to whether to go forward or not.

COLLINS: Right. And perhaps more importantly -- and you know as being a former prosecutor -- I mean, it is hard to prosecute a rape case. Is it not always a he said-she said scenario?

BERNSTEIN: Exactly. I mean, when it gets down to it, even in this day and age of DNA and all this other technical evidence, you do have that component, and that's where the really difficulty for the prosecutor is going to be, whoever it is, because if this woman is still very strongly maintaining -- remember, we've heard from everyone else, but we haven't heard from her directly.

Is she pushing this? Is she the one who's saying absolutely that this has to go forward? And that's always a difficult job of the prosecutor, is, yes, you are an advocate for the victim and you want to look out for women, because women are clearly, clearly hurt in this country on a daily basis. But at the same time, you have to weigh it out with the objective facts that are there, the things that are said, and the other evidence that supports it.

And so that's why, no matter what, before this became a mess in the media by Nifong's actions, why it was already a difficult case from the get-go.

COLLINS: Yes. No question about that.

B.J. Bernstein, former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney. Appreciate your time here, as always.

Also, this question: What role did race play in the Duke lacrosse race? Paula Zahn is taking a closer look at that in a special edition of "PAULA ZAHN NOW," "Out in the Open," live in Durham, North Carolina.

That will be tonight, 8:00 Eastern.

HARRIS: The supermodel wore stilettos. Naomi Campbell comes clean in court. She admits she beamed the maid, guilty as charged, in the NEWSROOM.

The bold, the beautiful, the "Dreamgirls." Hollywood hands out the prestigious Golden Globe players and pretenders -- in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: More news, bringing it to you as it happens. This just now in to CNN.

According to Andrea Koppel, our congressional correspondent, she is learning that Capitol Hill Police have issued an evacuation order -- that's right, an evacuation order -- for the Longworth House Building.

You see the map on your screen there. These are the building houses, congressional offices there.

And -- actually, we don't see an exact location. But once again, this is the Longworth House Building.

Capitol Hill Police have issued an evacuation order. We are not sure what the circumstances are that may have brought that about, but this is a building that houses congressional offices.

The middle building on the side of the House buildings there that we just sold, the middle building on the side of the House buildings, I am told, is the Longworth House Building. So, according to Andrea Koppel, our congressional correspondent there, Capitol Hill Police issuing an evacuation order.

We are working to get more information as to what precipitated that. We will bring it to you just as soon as we have it.

HARRIS: And right now let's get to our congressional correspondent, Dana Bash.

And Ana, I understand you have more information on the presidential plans of Illinois senator Barack Obama.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Tony.

I think what we have is the ability to hear Senator Obama speak for himself. He announced that he is taking the first step in running for president. He did that on the Web this morning. And he put up a video just straight to camera explaining why he's taking these steps.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS: As many of you know, over the last few months I've been thinking hard about my plans for 2008. Running for the presidency is a profound decision, a decision no one should make on the basis of media hype or personal ambition alone. And so before I committed myself and my family to this race, I wanted to be sure that this was right for us and, more importantly, right for the country. And I'll be filing papers today to create a presidential exploratory committee.

For the next several weeks I'm going to talk with people from around the country, listening and learning more about the challenges we face as a nation, the opportunities that lie before us, and the role that a presidential campaign might play in bringing our country together. And on February 10th, at the end of these discussions, and in my home state of Illinois, I'll share my plans with my friends, neighbors and fellow Americans.

In the meantime, I want to thank all of you for your time, your suggestions, your encouragement and your prayers. And I look forward to continuing our conversation in the weeks and months to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So there you heard it. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois officially saying that he is taking the first steps to see whether or not it makes sense for him to run for president. He's giving himself an out, some wiggle room of a date of February 10th, saying that he will make an official decision to go forward then, but in talking to people who are closest to Senator Obama, talking to Democrats sort of in the political world, most of them expect him to go forward even after that.

You know, Tony, this is significant for several reasons, but first of all, basically because what we have seen so far from Senator Obama, the buzz has been about a Senator, who quite frankly is a Senator as celebrity. Somebody who draws very big crowds and is somebody who basically has a kind of what he says a sizzle and not a lot of people know about whether or not he's got the meat or the steak behind it.

Well, this is going to be the first test as to whether he can turn the Barack Obama, the celebrity, into a real presidential campaign, to somebody who people can look to for real questions about substance, about the Iraq war, about domestic policy, about things like that.

And, you know, this is a senator who's only been in office for two years, and it's important to note that, that many Democrats look at him and say, you know, he certainly has what it takes in terms of what you see there, the ability to shake hands and to feel comfortable and pretty much at ease in any setting, but he's only been a senator for two years.

Before that he was a state legislator back in Illinois and before that a community activist. So that's one of the many things that people, especially Barack Obama's potential Democratic opponents are going to be talking more and more about as we go forward and see Senator Obama take more steps.

HARRIS: So, Dana, you traveled with Barack Obama on his first trip to Iowa. Tell us about that. Set that scene. What did you see, the reaction to the man, and what did you see from him? Did you see sizzle or substance?

BASH: Well, you know, that quote actually comes from him. I was with Senator Obama at a steak fry in September, in Iowa. It was the very first time her was there. And he joked about the fact that people see a lot of sizzle and maybe not some steak when they look at him, but, look, at that time especially, people had heard a lot about Senator Obama.

The very first time I think he really made a splash on the national page was back in 2004 when he gave a speech that got a lot of people looking and thinking about him. He gave the speech at the Democratic National Convention.

So at that point and even when you're looking at pictures now of Senator Obama in New Hampshire, his first trips to both of those states, those are very important, first tests.

Iowa of course is a caucus and New Hampshire is a primary of whether or not Democratic primary voters and caucus voters want him, really, to think that he has what it takes.

In both of those places, especially in Iowa where I was, he was still kind of a novelty. People wanted to check him out and see for themselves what all the buzz was about. There was a lot of buzz. What was remarkable is that you had older people, you had younger people, you had African-Americans, you had white, you had people from all different walks of life really coming to see Senator Obama.

And just in terms of his message, I think it's important to note that he did this in Iowa and New Hampshire and he does this in his web video today. What he is trying to put forward is the fact that he is a different kind of candidate and talks over and over again about the fact that he understands that people are hungry for something and that's why they're reaching out to him, hungry for the idea of ending partisanship in Washington, ending partisan politics.

That is the kind of theme you're going to continue to hear from him but if you look at his voting record, Tony, he has, it's pretty slim, because he's only been here for two years, but he has a pretty liberal voting record. So, that is certainly another thing that people are going to be looking at, his substance in his voting record versus the kind of message that he sends out.

HARRIS: Our congressional correspondent Dana Bash for us. Dana, thank you. COLLINS: A coach at the top of his game. Then illness strikes. Now he's back on the court looking to win the fight of his life.

CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has this report now from his series, "Saving your Life."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice-over): Mike Sutton was an energetic basketball coach with Tennessee Tech when his health took a stunning turn for the worse.

MIKE SUTTON, TENNESSEE TECH BASKETBALL COACH: My hands and feet ached and I was really tired, and collapsed in the parking lot, fell down on my suitcase.

GUPTA: With no warning, Sutton was struck with Guillain-Barre Syndrome or GBS. GBS causes the body's immune system to mistakenly attack and destroy the insulation protecting the nerves in your body. So in just a matter of days, Mike was paralyzed. He could barely move a muscle.

SUTTON: The thumb and index finger I could move just ever so slightly.

GUPTA: He needed a tracheotomy to breathe. He couldn't talk. He could just blink.

SUTTON: You have no way to communicate, and that's probably the most frustrating thing, is you have no way to tell people if there's pain.

GUPTA: That was almost two years ago. Today, coach Sutton is making a slow, and what many consider, an unbelievable comeback.

SUTTON: Talk your way through, it talk your way through it. Talk, Francis, talk Francis.

GUPTA: Sutton is helped a specially designed wheelchair, a walker, and support from his staff, as well as lots of hard work.

SUTTON: Last year, my hands were limp like this. I couldn't hold my hands up at all.

GUPTA: Three times a week, for two hours a session, he undergoes physical and occupational therapy, trying to train new nerves to do the job of the old ones destroyed by the disease.

SUTTON: These are things that, you know, work on to develop the finger dexterity.

GUPTA: He's having to relearn everything, from grasping a fork to eat to exercising leg muscles to walk. He says he couldn't have done this without his immediate and extended families who cheered him on. JONATHAN JONES, TENNESSEE TECH BASKETBALL PLAYER: Strong guy. He's always been our leader. He's always going to be our leader, and I know that disease isn't going to stop him at all.

SUTTON: Even though something unfortunate happened to me, I'm still blessed, you know, with my family and my lovely wife and I have a great group of kids on the basketball team, a wonderful staff and I work at a wonderful university.

CROWD: One, two, three. TCU!

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And for more information on this series, you can go to CNN.com/saving your life. It's a fantastic series, I should say. And also check out Dr. Gupta's special on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Eastern and Sunday 3:00 p.m. Eastern.

Want to follow up now very quickly on the situation here, a live shot of Capitol Hill. We've been telling you that the Longworth House office building on Capitol Hill was evacuated, but we learned the reason. Tony, there's a water problem. Water problem.

HARRIS: A pipe burst or something.

COLLINS: Here's my question. Is the clock ticking while the water is running. Not sure. So, listen. New York has its stink and the nation's Capitol has its water leak.

HARRIS: Well, it's an old building.

COLLINS: There you have it. It's an old building.

HARRIS: Yes, water pipe problems.

COLLINS: All right. There you go. So many jokes being made. We're not going to make them here.

HARRIS: Tiny rescues, big dreams, a mother giving birth thanks to a special post-Katrina mission.

CNN's Susan Roesgen has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For days after the hurricane, rescuers navigated the flood to find survivors, but what this group was searching for could save as many as 1,400 babies who weren't even born then.

Rebekah Markham is about to give birth to one of them. Rebekah and her husband Glen have a two-year-old son conceived by in vitro fertilization. Now they're going to have their second in vitro baby, born from a frozen embryo. It's an embryo that came from a storage tank like this one filled with super cold liquid nitrogen. If the tank warms up too much, the frozen embryos are destroyed. After Katrina when the fertility clinic lost power and air conditioning, the call went out to the state police to rescue the embryos in the nitrogen tanks.

DR. SISSY SARTOR, FERTILITY DOCTOR: They were still submerged in the liquid nitrogen. The level had dropped down some, but they were safe. Perhaps a few more days or another week and they would not have been.

ROESGEN: This is home video of the nitrogen tanks being carried out of the flooded clinic.

LT. JOHN KISTLER, LOUISIANA STATE POLICE: Literally like you were carrying eggs. You treated them very gently. You didn't want to tip them over, rock them. We treated them with very special care.

ROESGEN: State police lieutenant John Kistler was one of the rescuers.

KISTLER: I think first responders anywhere, you're used to car crashes or fires, or any sort of emergencies that you kind of handle like that, but the embryos, I think everybody thought that was a special mission.

REBEKAH MARKHAM, MOTHER: You know, Katrina's a huge part of history now, and this baby lived throw it without being born and it was amazing to me that they did that.

ROESGEN: Now the tape of the embryo rescue will be added to Rebekah and Glenn's new baby videos. A reminder of something good to come out of a disaster.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Suzie Roesgen joins us now. Suzie, good morning to you. OK, here we go. Here we go, we need a big drum roll for this.

This morning we have a successful c-section, so mom and dad have a healthy baby ...

ROESGEN (on camera): A happy healthy baby boy, Tony.

HARRIS: A baby boy.

ROESGEN: An 8-pound, 7 ounce baby boy -- healthy, beautiful, squealing pink, giggling, squealing, good lungs on this baby boy. 19 inches long. A beautiful baby boy, a brother to two-year-old Whit. And Tony, do you know what the name is?

HARRIS: No. I'd like to, I'd like to.

ROESGEN: OK, try. What do you think?

HARRIS: Michael. ROESGEN: No. The name is Noah. Get it?

HARRIS: Noah.

ROESGEN: Like Noah's flood. Isn't that beautiful?

HARRIS: That's great. That's great. If I had thought for half a second. Hey, Suzie, that is a great story.

ROESGEN: I have to tell you. It is a great story Tony and this is just one of eight pregnancies to come out of those 1,400 rescued frozen embryos. Already eight pregnancies and who knows how many more since they were all saved.

HARRIS: That's a wonderful story. Suzie, thanks for bringing it to us. Susan Roesgen for us.

ROESGEN: You bet.

HARRIS: Thanks.

COLLINS: "Borat," just one of the winners and one actress wins playing a pair of queens, two movies for her. It all happened at the Golden Globes. And Sibila Vargas has the very latest.

Hey, Sibila.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, it was a virtual lovefest at Hollywood's biggest party. I'll give you the sights and sounds of this year's Golden Globe, when CNN's NEWSROOM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Back to our story quickly here, still developing in Kentucky.

Take a look at these pictures of the train derailment there.

Boy, it's still burning pretty fiercely. This happened I would say nearly two hours ago or so. We've been watching it all morning long, trying to learn first and foremost what is inside some of those tanker cars. We have learned from CSX, the train operator, that that train was indeed carrying hazardous materials, some of them, according to CSX, were carrying liquid propane. So on the line now with me is Jason Keller. He's the deputy director of the Kentucky Department of Emergency Management.

Jason, thanks for being with us. Tell us what you know at this point and how the situation is being handled on the ground.

JASON KELLER, DIR., KENTUCKY DEPT. EMERG. MGMT.: Good morning, Heidi.

At this time, we have a number of local and state emergency personnel who have responded to the scene. We currently have 14 cars on fire. Some of those are containing chemicals, and we have asked residents within a one-mile radius of the area to evacuate the area. We have also asked residents of Bullock County, where the accident took place, to stay inside, close all windows and doors, close all vents to the outside, and to bring in their pets. This time we've also closed down Interstate 65 in both directions.

COLLINS: OK. So quickly, I want to make sure I understand, no injuries at this point?

KELLER: That is correct. We do not have any reported injuries at this point.

COLLINS: Jason, let me back up for just a minute, if I could, quickly. We had an interview earlier with someone who works for Conrail, which has, as you know, been purchased by CSX. What he did was investigate train derailments. One of the points he made was that typically a company like CSX who would be operating a train would know within five minutes because of their computer system what type of chemicals, if any, what type of cargo would be on a particular train. And his concern was, as we have since learned, that some of that could be explosives, i.e., the liquid propane that we have learned about. How quickly does information like that get to the first responders on the site?

KELLER: It actually gets there very quickly, Heidi. We know now that a chemical called cyclohexine is currently burning. It is flammable vapor. It is explosive. And it is an inhalation hazard. But at this time that is the only chemical that we are of on the train that is currently burning.

COLLINS: So nobody got too close too quickly.

KELLER: That is correct.

COLLINS: All right, very good. We appreciate your time here today. Jason Keller, deputy director of the Kentucky Department of Emergency Management. Thanks, again, Jason.

HARRIS: And still to come, the bold, the beautiful, the dream girl, Hollywood hands out the prestigious Golden Globes. Players and pretenders coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You know, it may sound like babble to some, but there was a king, a pair of queens, and girls from a dream.

COLLINS: Even a fake Kazahstanian.

HARRIS: Kazakh.

COLLINS: Kazakh.

Named "Borat." I didn't see it, OK, I'm so sorry. Joins the winners at the Golden Globes.

There's Ugly Betty, but so not ugly. HARRIS: Right.

COLLINS: Here now an update from entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the Golden Globes, a film that spanned the globe earned one of the night's most coveted honors. Babel, which was shot in four countries and in five languages, won best picture drama, an award presented by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Babel's Mexican director, Alejando Gonzalez Inarritu had a quip for Schwarzenegger as he accepted the award.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I swear I have my papers in order, governor. I swear.

VARGAS: The night's other top honor, best picture, musical or comedy, went as expected to "Dreamgirls." The film won two other awards, supporting actor for Eddie Murphy and supporting actress for newcomer Jennifer Hudson.

JENNIFER HUDSON, ACTRESS: You do not know how much this does for my confidence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FORREST WHITAKER, ACTOR: Why didn't you say so?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VARGAS: It was also a night when royalty was crowned. For his work in "The Last King of Scotland," Forrest Whitaker won best actor drama, and Helen Mirren won best actress drama for playing Queen Elizabeth II in "The Queen."

Earlier in the evening Mirren won in the TV movie category for playing her royal highness in "Elizabeth I."

HELEN MIRREN, ACTRESS: Elizabeth I took everything that I had, and it was a very, very challenging role.

VARGAS: Comedy acting honors went to Meryl Streep for "The Devil Wears Prada," and to "Borat's" Sasha Baron Cohen.

The best foreign language film category normally doesn't generate intense interests, but this year was a little different, with Mel Gibson and Clint Eastwood in the running.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Letters From Iwo Jima."

VARGAS: It was Eastwood who won out for his Japanese-language drama "Letters From Iwo Jima." In the TV categories, it was a beautiful night for "Ugly Betty." the freshman series won best comedy, and star America Ferrera won best actress in a TV comedy.

AMERICA FERRERA, GOLDEN GLOBE WINNER: To be part of something that is not only entertaining, but meaningful is what's most important.

VARGAS: Best TV drama went to the medical show "Grey's Anatomy."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Sibila Vargas joining us now live.

Sibila, you know, we always have to ask, I mean, the awards are great and all of that, but who looked good, and who looked bad.

I think from what I saw, two thumbs up for Reese Witherspoon, two thumbs down for Cameron. Man, what was she thinking?

VARGAS: I don't know what she was thinking, you know.

You know, after a breakup. After a breakup, you want to look your best. You want to make the guy jealous or whatever. But I don't think she was -- I got to say, she usually does a great job. This time she just missed it. Just missed it.

But I've got to tell you about some really beautiful people who looked great was J.Lo. Did you get to see J.Lo in this beautiful black dress. She looked stunning. There she is. Look at that. You know, this woman has got the pose.

COLLINS: What's going on, Tony? What's going on over there?

VARGAS: I tell you she had two exes. She came with Marc Anthony, her husband, but she had two exes, Ben Affleck and Sean Combs, who, by the way, I spoke to on the red carpet. He's not going Sean Combs, not Puffy, not Diddy, not P. Diddy, but Sean Combs.

COLLINS: That's an improvement.

VARGAS: Yes, because, you know, it's going to help him with his acting career because he wants to go in that direction.

Also I've got to talk about Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Did you get a load at them? Look at that. Wow. When they walked in, they looked stunning. You would feel as if royalty was walking in; it was the king and queen of the red carpet.

One interesting note, though -- as they were walking into the red carpet, usually the big stars, they wait till the very end to walk in, because they want -- they don't really want to talk to the press that much, so they run in, and...

COLLINS: They look like they want to hurt someone, though.

HARRIS: She's a little intense there, isn't she?

VARGAS: What's that?

HARRIS: She's a little intense right there in that moment.

VARGAS: Oh, she is definitely intense. They wanted to be seen. They didn't want to talk much, but they wanted to be seen, that's for sure. They didn't run. They didn't run to get in there.

HARRIS: This is not Billy Bob Thornton with the blood vial, is it?

COLLINS: All right, how about Cameron, Sibila?

VARGAS: Cameron, getting back to Cameron. There she goes. I don't know. What can we say about that?

HARRIS: What is that? I'm sorry.

VARGAS: It's looks like Toole (ph) or something. I'm not sure who the designer is. We've got to find out. You know, I don't know. And what do you think about her black hair?

COLLINS: Not her best. Beautiful gal, though.

Sibila Vargas, we appreciate your time and the breakdown here.

HARRIS: It was great. Thanks, Sibila.

To T.J. Holmes now, following some breaking news, a developing story in San Francisco -- T.J.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, this is outside, in the Bay Area, but in Pinole, California, this is I guess about 20 minutes or so north of Oakland, where we have a situation at a Safeway grocery store. This is some video we've been showing you of that Safeway, where there's been a possible robbery here, and reportedly shots possibly fired inside of this Safeway is the word we're getting.

This is, again, off Highway 80, if you're familiar with the area, a very busy, certainly well traveled in the morning. You see the highway there, Highway 80, a major thoroughfare there, for people getting to the Bay Area, getting in and out of there.

But a possible robbery and possible shots fired at a Safeway. We do know that there are several officers, police cars, surrounding the Safeway store, and also that SWAT team members are there as well. So heavily armed and a big police presence at this Safeway store.

Without knowing exactly, what exactly's going on there, we're trying to work this story, trying to figure out what's going on there.

So our eyes are on it. And when we get it, we'll bring it to you guys.

HARRIS: Thank you, T.J. COLLINS: And quickly, we want to buzz up the story we've been telling you about on Capitol Hill. As you remember, the Longworth Office Building had been evacuated because of water problems we learned, and now we have also learned that the all-clear has been given. Once again, a brief evacuation there. All clear has been given at the Longworth House Office building. A live shot there. Things looking OK. 

HARRIS: We'll be right. You're in the NEWSROOM right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Kyra Phillips joining us now to tell us more about what will be coming up in the NEWSROOM p.m. edition.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. Hi, guys.

Well, four years for one, four days for the other. Although Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby have been reunited with their families it's way too early to call their rescue a completely happy ending in Missouri. Disturbing questions linger. How did accused kidnapper Michael Devlin allegedly keep the boys captive? And why didn't anyone notice? We're following up on the story that has worried a lot of parent.

And this -- you may have heard the gripping story of fallen Marine Jason Dunham. He sacrificed himself to save his men from an Iraqi grenade, an act that earned the Medal of Honor from the president. Today in the NEWSROOM, we're going the talk with the psychologist who was with Jason as he fought to survive. She says it was the worst part, and yet the best part of her experiences in Iraq. You won't want to miss her story.

CNN NEWSROOM gets started today at 1:00 Eastern.

HARRIS: Thank you, Kyra.

COLLINS: All right, Kyra, thanks very much for that.

And also as we continue to follow this story in Kentucky, which I'm sure you guys will be doing too, we're learning that the governor of Kentucky is going to holding a press conference coming up probably in the noon hour. We will continue to follow that story. There, again, the live shot still burning. Train derailment in Brooks, Kentucky.

HARRIS: "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is next with news happening across the globe and here at home. I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins. Have a good day, everybody.

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