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Rescuers Search for Stranded Hikers; Avalanches Pose Dangers; Coordinated Attack Kills Two U.S. Soldiers; Ultra-Light Pilot Crashes Into A Lonely Tree In A Big Open Area

Aired February 19, 2007 - 13:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Kyra Phillips today.

Stranded on Mt. Hood. Bad weather forces searchers to ask fast. We're going to talking to one of the lead rescuers trying to save three missing climbers.

LEMON: Avalanche danger high. AT least six people have died over the weekend. If you're in a danger zone, what can you do to increase your chances of survival?

NGUYEN: Osama Bin Laden and al Qaeda. A disturbing report says they may be getting stronger. How's that happening, and what's being done to stop it? We have those details right now live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Three climbers huddling with their dog for warmth. Rescuers on a dogged search, even though they can hardly see in front of them. The weather is bad and only getting worse on Oregon's Mt. Hood where climbers plunged into an icy canyon yesterday.

Rescue teams are getting closer, but the snow keeps falling, the wind keeps blowing, and the avalanche threat keeps rising.

CNN's Dan Simon is at Mt. Hood with the very latest for us -- Dan.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, as you can probably gather, we're dealing with some extremely challenging conditions out here, but it really doesn't compare to what those three stranded climbers going through. We are told by the search and rescue crews they are less than an hour away from reaching them.

They're able to pinpoint their location, based upon some cell phone communication, and also some mountain locator units. These units emit an electronic signal. It's a beacon. And it's allowing the crews to figure out their exact whereabouts.

I'm going to letting Jim, our photographer, pan off here, and you can really get a sense as to the whiteout conditions, very poor visibility, in terms of how those three are coping up there. We're told that they have sleeping bags and they're huddling together. Don as you mentioned, there's also a Labrador dog that is with them. They have some food. They are experienced outdoors people, but you can really only tolerate these conditions for so long.

Don, just to give you a little background how this all unfolded. This started with eight people climbing the south side of Mt. Hood. This began on Saturday. They didn't quite summit. The weather was getting lousy. They decided to -- they decided to go down yesterday.

That's when they encountered a problem. Three of them, they basically stepped over a ledge. They slid down. They took about a 200- or 300-foot spill. No serious injuries.

We did, however, talk to Rocky Henderson with the Portland Mountain Rescue. He did speak to one of those climbers who is still up there. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROCKY HENDERSON, PORTLAND MOUNTAIN RESCUE: He's cold. He's concerned. His spirits have been good every time I've talked to him. He understands that, you know, he's in a pretty tough situation, he thinks they're going to deal with it.

SIMON: How crucial is it you get to these three people today?

HENDERSON: It's very crucial. Conditions are going to get worse this afternoon, and it's going to make it even more difficult for us to get there. So we're working very, very diligently to get there this morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: It is still the morning here, just after 10 a.m. local time. Again, crews a little less than an hour away from reaching those three stranded climbers. The weather continues to be an issue. The weather conditions supposed to deteriorate over the next 24 hours. So really, they're dealing with what they believe is a narrow window to get those three climbers -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Dan Simon, thank you.

And of course, we'll talk to one of the lead rescuers looking for those climbers coming up in this hour in the CNN NEWSROOM -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Well, this just in to CNN. We have a large pileup to tell you about in Miami. Want to take a look at the pictures that are coming into CNN. It's a seven car pileup. Here's some new video. You see part of it right there.

Seven vehicles all westbound lanes are shut down, and two eastbound lanes are closed. This is on State Road 836, which is just west of northwest 57th Avenue, if you're familiar with the area. You see an ambulance on the scene, and for good reason, nine people have been injured and transported to the hospital because of this. Seven with minor injuries, one with a more serious one and one with a trauma alert. And there are five people also being treated on the scene. But look at the backup in this video. It's going to cause a lot of problems today. Again this is on State Road 836 in Miami, just west of Northwest 57th Avenue. Boy, what a traffic nightmare this is going to be. There all of those lanes just a parking lot at this point. But again, nine people injured. We'll stay on top of this if it causes any more problems.

LEMON: And let's go back to Mt. Hood and the weather. The threat of avalanche growing as we speak on Oregon's Mt. Hood. But in three other states this weekend, that threat became a reality. Snow slides in Utah, Montana, and Idaho killed six people. In one case, a survivor had to travel 15 to 20 miles to get help, first by snowmobile and then by foot when the machine got stuck.

NGUYEN: Well, buried alive, the chances of dying growing by the minute. Rescuers still trying to beat the odds, the weather and the clock, and time is definitely not on your side if you're caught in an avalanche.

Our Rob Marciano found out first hand in Colorado.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVE HILL, ROUTT COUNTY SEARCH AND RESCUE: Make a conscious decision whether or not it is safe to ski a particular slope or not. And if it's not safe, pick another slope and pick another day.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Because you don't want to get the call?

HILL: Absolutely.

MARCIANO (voice-over): Dave Hill is with Routt County Search and Rescue. He gets the call when someone is buried in an avalanche, and in his business time is everything.

HILL: If we can get to you in the first 15 minutes you'd have about an 85 percent of surviving. That chance begins to drop off drastically after that. By the time we hit 30 minutes you have a 50/50 chance of being alive when we get to you.

MARCIANO: In essence the people you're with are your best chance of survival. So it's crucial that they carry the proper equipment and know how to use it. A probe, a shovel, and most importantly, an avalanche beacon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm getting a signal.

MARCIANO: The beacon transmits and receives a signal from others in your group. Here a beacon has been hidden in the snow. This searcher hones in on it in seconds.

(on camera) Some winter clothing companies are even sewing devices right into their jackets, like this deflector. It helps rescuers in the area find the victim more quickly when they have the proper radar. But still, experts urge there is no substitute for an avalanche beacon.

(voice-over) Even so...

HILL: Absolutely. One of the oldest pieces of avalanche technology we have and still one of the best.

MARCIANO: Search dogs can smell a human buried deep in the snow.

HILL: The whole idea is that somebody is out there in the snow, and they need to go and find them.

MARCIANO (on camera): Want to find me.

(voice-over) It's time to hide in the snow cave for a little demonstration.

HILL: Do you have the radio so you can talk to us and let us know what's going on? And then we'll start the exercise and let the dog find you.

MARCIANO (voice-over): Tell them to hurry.

HILL: Got it. And Rob, this is Dave with a radio check. How do you hear me?

MARCIANO: Loud and clear.

HILL: OK then.

He's working around the pile right now, trying to find a good spot where the odor comes through. We're going to go ahead and help the dog out a little bit. Still use them for the primary search. We're going to make it easier for them to confirm what they've already done.

MARCIANO (voice-over): For rescue dogs, it's merely a game, but for those stuck deep under an avalanche of snow, it could be a lifesaver.

(on camera) Good boy. Thanks for rescuing me.

(voice-over) Rob Marciano, CNN, Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: That's really why they're a man's best friend.

The weather is not making it any easier for rescuers on Mt. Hood, and it's making avalanche conditions worse across much of the west.

CNN's Jacqui Jeras is in the weather center, and it seems to be going from bad to worse, Jacqui.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: Thanks, Jacqui and Tony. NGUYEN: It is called Operation Imposing Law. But a new U.S.-led security crackdown in Baghdad suffered more blows today, and more American families are getting the worst possible news after a brazen insurgent attack just outside the Iraqi capital.

CNN's Arwa Damon joins me. What can you tell us about the attack on the U.S. base this morning?

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, the military is calling it a coordinated attack. It was initiated by a suicide car bomb, the attack taking place against a U.S. military combat outpost north of Baghdad, killing at least two U.S. soldiers and wounding another 17.

The U.S. military not disclosing any more details on the incident, saying that it is still under investigation. But Iraqi officials that we spoke to in that province are giving us a bit more details, saying that the location where it took place was a town that is located on the road between Baghdad and Samarra. This is a predominantly Sunni area. That it took place at the police headquarters there that was also being used as a U.S. military base. And that, in fact, there was three suicide bombers, followed by an attack by some 50 gunmen -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Let's just take a closer look at this violence, because on Saturday the Iraqi government said that this crackdown on violence is working, that in fact, violence has dropped 80 percent. But does it appear, in light of what we've seen in the last couple of days, that the insurgents just used the last two weeks to readjust to this new security plan?

DAMON: Well, Betty, I was just speaking with some military officials, senior officials earlier this morning, and they were, in fact, telling me that they wished that the Iraqi government hadn't come out with that sort of statement just yet, saying that it was too premature at this point to be making any sort of statements of success or lack thereof.

And in fact what we did see was that the day after the Iraqi government said that there was this 80 percent decrease in violence because of this crackdown in Baghdad, we saw one of the more devastating attacks of the last week, where 60 Iraqis were killed when two car bombs exploded in a crowded Baghdad neighborhood on a busy commercial street.

And just today, at least 20 Iraqis were killed throughout the entire country, and in Baghdad, Iraqi police found 20 unidentified bodies, Betty.

NGUYEN: CNN's Arwa Damon with the latest on the violence there in Iraq today. Arwa, thank you.

LEMON: Zero visibility, brutal winds and risks of avalanche. That's what rescuers are up against today in a bid to save three stranded climbers on Mt. Hood. We're tracking every move right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. NGUYEN: Plus, no time to spare. A New York teen rescues three boys from a freezing canal. An heroic story, ahead in the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Is the hydra growing new heads? Well, reports point to a comeback for al Qaeda. Details on new camps and growing influence, ahead right here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: An update on a developing story we told you about at the top of the hour in Miami.

T.J. Holmes checking it for us. What do you know, T.J.?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we're keeping an eye on this accident in Florida right now. This is Expressway 836, or rather Florida State Road 836, also known as the Dolphin Expressway, where there's a pretty large accident, where it's involved at least seven to 10 vehicles. You're looking at the news video here.

But we know at least nine people had to be taken to the hospital after this accident, which has shut down some lanes of that Dolphin Expressway. You can see people just creeping along, but of course, it's around lunch time is when this happened. They certainly call it a traffic nightmare. A lot of people probably on the cell phones trying to get into the boss and explain this one.

But at least nine people taken to the hospital. One of those people, we understand, is in pretty serious condition. There are also five other people who were treated at the scene.

But the westbound lanes is what we understood had to be shut down. That's probably the top -- the lanes you see there at the top of the screen. We're at the mercy here of kind of what the photographer is doing in this helicopter, but these are the pictures. If you'll bear with us we're showing you here.

But they had to shut down all the westbound lanes and a couple of the eastbound lanes, again, on the Dolphin Expressway, is what it's called. It runs from Sweetwater to Miami, a 13-mile tollway there, a very busy stretch that's causing some problems there today. We're keeping an eye on those injuries and just how serious it is. Also going to find out what was the cause of this accident, Don.

LEMON: All right. Thank you very much for that.

NGUYEN: In other news, stranded climbers, roving rescuers and a blinding blizzard. We are following a developing story out on Oregon's Mt. Hood where three climbers fell into a canyon yesterday. Rescuers think they know where the climbers are, but getting there gets tougher with every step.

So joining us now, live on the phone from Mt. Hood is rescue command officer Russell Gubele to provide some more information on exactly where this rescue effort is at this hour.

If you would please, I know that the rescuers started out a few hours ago. Where are they right now in proportion to the climbers?

RUSSELL GUBELE, MT. WAVE SEARCH AND RESCUE: We're getting closer all the time. We are in the White River Canyon, and we're in the area where the mountain locator units were received and translated. And we're in the process of trying to get our rescuers down to that area and provide some care for these folks.

NGUYEN: We're looking at video right now. The conditions just look tremendous there. Have they gotten worse? And are you looking at this in a time frame of just how much time you have left today to get some real progress made?

GUBELE: We want to get there to that location and get them out of here as soon as possible. The conditions have been pretty bad up here, near blizzard conditions. Very heavy snow, 14 inches in some -- overnight in some locations.

And very severe avalanche danger. So we have to be careful of the avalanche and make sure that everybody in the field going after these people is safe, and we're doing that.

And so we -- like I say, we have teams coming in from all directions, from down blow up above and on the side. And so we're very optimistic that we'll have somebody with them soon.

NGUYEN: Hopefully, they will be rescued today. Let me ask you this, though. You've been in contact with the climbers, I understood a little bit earlier, every hour. What are they saying to you? And is anyone injured?

GUBELE: They're saying that they're cold. That's the main complaint. And there was a couple of bumps that two of them sustained when they fell. They did walk for a distance. They walked for 40 minutes after they fell. And so, we don't think that the injuries are going to be life threatening, but we would -- love to get to them as soon as we can and get them some food and warm them up and then, of course, evacuate them off the mountain.

NGUYEN: And you think at some point they will be able to come out of the canyon where they are and meet the rescuers? They can actually aid in their own rescue?

GUBELE: I think they might be able to aid in their own rescue, but we've asked them to stay put so we can find them. It is hard to track somebody when they're moving. It is hard enough when they're standing still. We asked them to stand still and we'll come to them.

They may be able to aid themselves in getting out. We'll have our paramedics, our medical personnel look at them and make sure that it's appropriate to do and see what their injuries are and decide how we're going to get them out of there when we get a medical assessment.

NGUYEN: Hopefully, it'll be a successful operation today, and you can get them down today.

Commander Officer Russell Gubele, thank you so much for your information.

GUBELE: Thank you, Betty.

LEMON: Is the hydra growing new heads? Well, a report points to a comeback for al Qaeda. Details on new camps and growing influence, that's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

NGUYEN: Also, he is third in line for England's throne but aiming for the front line in Iraq. Prince Harry wants to put his military training to the test, but his subjects aren't so sure. Reporting for duty, ahead in the NEWSROOM.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz in New York. The snow and ice here are nearly gone, but the cancellations for JetBlue are not. I'll have the numbers when the NEWSROOM return.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Oh, boy. That JetBlue snafu that stranded thousands of passengers in New York last week, well, it's now raising thousands of comments in Washington.

Susan Lisovicz is in New York with details on the political snowstorm -- Susan

LISOVICZ: Hi, Don.

Yes, it's been five days now, and JetBlue is still reeling from the extraordinary flight delays of last week's snow and ice storm in the northeast. The delays stranded passengers on about nine JetBlue flights for at least six hours at New York's JFK Airport last Wednesday. And the problems have snowballed ever since.

To get back on track, JetBlue has canceled about a quarter of its 600 flights today, including all flights at 11 airports. It says it expects to be 100 percent operational by Wednesday. That would be one week later.

JetBlue CEO David Neeleman tells the "New York Times" that he is, quote, "humiliated and mortified" by last week's events and will work hard to regain customers' trust.

LEMON: That trust, that's going to be hard. It sounds like it won't be easy to get that trust back.

LISOVICZ: Well, it's the service business, and you know, I think that we've all become accustomed to doing without a lot of things. But you know, to quote Mr. Neeleman, it was really unacceptable the kind of delays that we saw: people, children, diabetics who were cooped up on the tarmac for hours.

So no question about it. It's a setback to the company. And it's even raising red flags on Capitol Hill. There's talk of legislation to place limits on the amount of time passengers can legally be kept on a plane that's just sitting on the runway. Some politicians are calling for a mandatory three-hour cap on wait times, along with rules about providing basic provisions like food and water.

But we should not that, up until last week, JetBlue actually had one of the best reputations in the industry. It was really a darling in aviation. It make its stock market debut shortly after the 2001 terror attacks, did really well a few years ago. But on Friday close, little change from its initial stock price back in 2002.

JetBlue has posted losses for the past two years. No question about it: it will take a hit in its most recent quarter, given the delays, the cancellations and that passage of a bill of rights that JetBlue is going to announce tomorrow.

Now, I can't give you an update on JetBlue's stocks today, of course, because the financial markets are closed for the Presidents' Day holiday. I'm here in the studio not the New York Stock Exchange. But I'll be back down there tomorrow.

In the next hour, I'll tell you why betting on Atlantic City might not have the best odds. I'll have details coming up.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN Headquarters in Atlanta.

NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Kyra Phillips today.

Just a few months ago President Bush said Al Qaeda is on the run, but now evidence the terror network is rebuilding. We're going to go live to the Pentagon for the latest. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM

First up, though, we do have some breaking news to tell you about, let's take you straight to T.J. Holmes, in the CNN NEWSROOM, with the latest on a paraglider who has lost his way.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Yes, you could say that. We don't want to make light here, but the guy appears to be OK. We'll show you how you get stuck 30 feet up in a tree. And we believe this is an ultra-light planes, the shot we're going to show you, Betty -- of a guy in Cameron, North Carolina -- if we can get that picture up for you. There we go.

That's the tree there, and you see pretty wide open space here. That we believe an ultra -- you know, one of these ultra-light aircraft that a lot of people fly on their own. They build them on their own, even. Well, a guy got stuck up in a tree in Cameron, North Carolina.

This guy was coming to the rescue. These folks had to come to his rescue. We were just looking at this picture a short time ago. We can see the guy was moving, he appears to be OK, at least. But you see a stretcher there, is waiting for him. Probably going to be checked out, don't know how bad a shape he's in.

The strange thing about the shot is, there appears to be not much he could have hit except for that tree. There doesn't seem to be much in the area, wide open space. Don't know how he ended up running into the tree, but some 30 feet up. In what we believe, again, these are recreational little planes. These ultra-lights planes is what they're called. People build them on their own, put them together. Kind of a one-seater little aircraft that people do for recreation.

And as that shot pulls out now, you're seeing what I'm talking about. There was not much he could have hit. Don't know if he was aiming for that tree, probably not. But he got stuck in that little tree there. But he appears to be OK.

NGUYEN: Ouch.

HOLMES: We're going to try to get more info about exactly what was going on and what happened. and certainly his condition.

NGUYEN: That's amazing. Just looking at the shot. That's the only thing that is sticking up is the tree. There is hardly anything else around him. The chances of him hitting the tree, of all things.

HOLMES: You would have to be aiming for it, Betty.

NGUYEN: Hopefully he's OK.

There again, you're looking at what is left of the paraglider and the rescue crews on the ground. He's there on the ground, to a stretcher, that is waiting nearby. Hopefully he doesn't have any major injuries. But yeah, if we can take a wide shot, you can see. That's all that is there is that one tree. And, unfortunately, he hit that tree and got stuck. All right, we'll be following it.

Thank you, T.J.

HOLMES: All right.

LEMON: Five years into the war on terror, Osama bin Laden is still on the loose and now the Bush administration is rethinking claims that Al Qaeda's inner core is on the ropes. Let's go now to the Pentagon and CNN's Barbara Starr.

Barbara, how did this happen?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, you know, time goes on, things change, but not much may have changed for Al Qaeda or not as much as the U.S. intelligence community had hoped. For years we've hearing Al Qaeda is on the run. They're disorganized, their top leaders -- most of them, except for Osama bin Laden and his number two caught, Al Qaeda in disarray.

Now a little bit of rethinking about all of that. U.S. intelligence officials say over the last several months they noticed that new training camps are springing up in Pakistan along that remote border, mountainous region, with Afghanistan. Training camps that are a bit smaller than they have seen in the past, but nonetheless, one official describing those training camps as full, meaning full attendance. They're really under way at this point.

What is really going on officials say, is they believe that core Al Qaeda has found essentially a permanent safe haven in that remote mountain area of Pakistan. The Pakistani government simply doesn't interact in this tribal area very much. The tribes are pretty much left alone by the Pakistani military, except for some occasional operations, and so Al Qaeda has dug it in, and it is something that concerns the U.S. a great deal -- Don.

LEMON: OK, so Barbara, we know where these camps are. Correct? If we know where they are, what is the Pentagon doing, or anyone doing in an effort to eliminate them?

STARR: Well, that's always the question in these cases. Why not send in a Tomahawk missile? A Hellfire missile? Why not launch an air strike? It is a very dicey proposition, in some cases these may be near civilian populations. That is something that, of course, concerns the United States.

But hitting targets inside Pakistan? The U.S. doesn't, of course, send ground troops in. It would be an air strike and that puts Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, always in a very tough position, in terms of maintaining his -- loyalty of some of the more militant population. The U.S. doesn't want to put him in that position, unless they have to. They know he's in a tough spot, so it is a tradeoff, Don.

LEMON: All right. Thanks for answering that question, clearing it up for us. Thank you very much, Barbara Starr.

And next hour we'll further explore the resurgence of Al Qaeda with terrorism expert, Peter Bergen, that's at 2:30 Eastern. Right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

NGUYEN: The British army calls him Troop Leader Wales. His comrades reportedly call him a bullet magnet. You know him as Prince Harry, third in line to the British throne, latest member of the royal family to wear his country' uniform.

It seems likely Harry's regiment will ship out to Iraq this spring and it won't leave the young prince behind. CNN's Paula Hancocks joins me from London with much more on this.

Hi, there Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Betty. That's true. Prince Harry has always, since he ever decided to join the armed forces, said he wanted to be treated like one of the boys and he wanted to do what everyone else was doing.

But, of course, when you are a prince and are third in the line to the thrown, it makes it far more tricky. But he said he wanted to go to Iraq all along, and it looks like at this point as though he's going to get his wish. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS (voice over): This is Prince Harry, aged eight, inspecting the troops with his mother, the late Princess Diana, and clearly enjoying playing soldier.

And 14 years later, Troop Leader Wales, third in line to the British throne, has trained for service in Iraq, and it looks as though he may be going. Military sources tell CNN that at this moment Prince Harry is expected to head for active duty in Iraq in April or May, but that could still change.

No public confirmation from military or royal officials.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Incoming!

HANCOCKS: This footage shows what life in Basra can be like. These British soldiers taking cover from a mortar attack.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take cover!

HANCOCKS: And 101 British soldiers have been killed in action in Iraq since March 2003. But Harry has long insisted he wants to see action to fulfill his role as an officer. Even reportedly threatening to resign if is he stopped from deploying for security reasons.

PRINCE HARRY, TROOP LEADER WALES: The last thing I want to do is have my soldiers sent away to Iraq, or wherever, like that, and for me to be held back home twiddling my thumbs, thinking, what about David? What about Derek, you know, whoever?

HANCOCKS: Harry would not be the first royal to fight in a war. His uncle, Prince Andrew, served as a helicopter pilot during the 1982 Falklands war. There are fears that Harry's presence in Iraq could make him, and his unit, a trophy target for insurgents.

No word on how close to the frontline Harry would be allowed. One thing is clear, though. His brother, Prince William, is unlikely to ever see fighting in his army career. A second in line to the throne and the Prince of Wales' first son, he is widely expected to eventually become king. Paula Hancocks, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Paula, has it been determined how much of an additional risk it would be for the prince to serve with his unit in Iraq?

HANCOCKS: There has been absolutely no specific details coming out from the ministry of defense. We're expecting in maybe a week or two, they'll announce he's going in fact. But any details will not be released. It is going to be incredibly tricky to protect a prince in a war zone. When he's over here he has 24-hour protection.

He has metropolitan police officers following him every where, but, of course, these police officers won't be trained for a war zone. And it is pretty much impossible to protect just one person from just one roadside bomb, so it is a security nightmare for those who have the task of keeping the prince safe.

NGUYEN: It's going to be very interesting. We'll see how it plays out between now and deployment. Paula Hancocks, thank you for that.

LEMON: What if you died and no one noticed? Well, an incredible story from New York ponders that very real-life question.

NGUYEN: With no time to spare a New York teen rescues not one but three boys from a freezing canal. The heroic story, ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Look at them teasing us, back there in the control room, with those brownies. Here's why. Because you may prefer to forget that chocolate that you devoured on Valentine's Day. But it may actually have helped you remember.

That's right. Researchers say an anti-oxidant found in cocoa beans can boosts blood flow to the brain, and make it work better. They suggest it could have some use in treating dementia. But don't rush to the candy store, just yet, Don. The anti-oxidant is removed from most cocoa because it is bitter. Another thing to consider, the candy maker Mars paid for some of that research.

LEMON: Ah, always a catch to it.

Bird flu is not new to Russia, but the latest cases are centered, for the first time, on the outskirts of Moscow. Authorities are scrambling to prevent the spread to humans. CNN's Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INT'L. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The latest outbreak of bird flu in it's most deadly strain. Russian health officials confirming the dangerous H5N1 virus has now been detected in at least five areas close to the Russian capital.

NIKOLAI VLASOV, AGRICULTURE CONTROL SERVICE (through translator): Both the administrations of Moscow City, and the larger Moscow region, clearly understand the seriousness of this threat.

CHANCE: But authorities aren't taking any chances. This, the smoke from incinerators, where carcasses of contaminated birds are being destroyed.

(On camera): Areas like this around Moscow have now been quarantined in an effort to contain this potentially lethal outbreak. Russia has so far recorded no human deaths because of the bird flu, but the fact that the virus has spread here, so close to the Russian capital is now provoking wide concern.

(Voice over): This is where the latest outbreak has been traced. A pet market on the outskirts of Moscow, now under quarantine. Officials say birds bought here may have been H5N1 carriers.

The spread of bird flu in Russia could have devastating implications. As yet there's no wide scale slaughter but hundreds of thousands of domestic chickens and farms around the capital are being closely monitored, as the risk to humans is assessed. Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Well, the neighbors are trying to make sense of it, a 70-year-old man found mummified inside his house on New York's Long Island. Here's the story.

Police say the man had been dead for more than a year, sitting in front of a blaring television. They discovered his remains when they went to check out a burst water pipe. The death apparently was natural, and the home's low humidity preserved the body. Who knew? The neighbors said they assumed the man had moved to a long-term care facility.

Very interesting.

LEMON: Wow.

NGUYEN: Puzzling, actually.

LEMON: Yeah.

Well, no time to spare, a New York teen rescues three boys from a freezing canal. The story straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Hey, Jacqui.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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LEMON: A dangerous shortcut, a dramatic rescue, three brothers pulled from an icy canal in New York. Thank goodness the rescuer woke up in time. Details from Christine Insigna (ph), of our affiliate News 12 Long Island.

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CHRISTINE INSIGNA, REPORTER, NEWS 12 LONG ISLAND (voice over): Tom Fortunato says the frozen canal behind his house has been a hot spot for kids during these bitter cold days. So Sunday morning he and his two little brothers decided to slide their way to the store just up the block. But they learned quickly that was a huge mistake.

THOMAS FORTUNATO, RESCUED FROM ICY WATER: We all fell through. Everyone was going nuts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We thought we were going to die.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were screaming help, help, help. INSIGNA: Maryann Rosati saw it all from her back deck.

MARYANN ROSATI, CALLED 911: He went down for the second count, I was already on the phone with the police. And I was screaming.

INSIGNA: Her 18-year-old son, Tommy, heard the commotion from his room.

TOMMY ROSATI, RESCUED BROTHERS: I woke up. I was like still half asleep. I don't know -- my mom said, they are drowning!

INSIGNA: Without a second thought, Tommy said that's when he bolted out his back door went down these two flights of stairs, jumped over this fence. Went around the dock, that's where he found the boys.

T. ROSATI: I laid on my stomach on, like, the dock right there. And I just pulled them out.

INSIGNIA (ph): With shorts and no shoes on he got the frozen and scared boys out in a matter of minutes and tried to put them at ease.

T. ROSATI: I'm like, you're not going to die, just come inside. My mom got blankets for them and stuff.

FORTUNATO: Thank that guy so much, because if he wasn't there, we'd be screwed right now.

INSIGNA: Now the Fortunatos are calling the neighbor they never knew a hero, a term he's not too comfortable with.

R. ROSATI: I don't know. I'm just glad they're all right, you know?

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LEMON: That report from Christine Insigna of News 12 Long Island.

NGUYEN: We have more news on that paraglider who that got stuck in a tree. T.J. Holmes is on this story. We've been watching it for a little while.

What have you learned so far, T.J.?

HOLMES: Well, what I've learned here? Let's go right to this video, actually. We can tell you that the pilot of that ultra-light plane, he's been taken on to this -- a piece of aircraft, a helicopter, that is going to take him to the hospital, to be taken, to be checked out. He was taken down from that tree. He appears to be OK. He was moving, but they certainly put him on a stretcher and so they want to check him out.

There is the video from a short time ago. This was an ultra-light aircraft. This is one of those, you've seen these them before. You can sit in them and pilot them. A lot of people build these on their own, and use them as recreation. But there was a wide-open area, this is Cameron, North Carolina, which was in Moore County, northwest of Fayetteville, to give you a sense of direction here.

He crashed this thing. According to the sheriff, there were strong winds in the area, this was a kind of a wide open field. We were seeing the picture there. This tree that he actually hit and landed in, is the only thing he could have hit. Nothing else was kind of around. It is strange you seem like you would have to be aiming for it.

These are some of the earlier pictures of that rescue. Some 30 feet up in the air he was stranded. He couldn't find his way down. Couldn't make his way down, couldn't make his way down. We're trying to get more information.

There you go -- we were talking about, appeared to be moving, appeared to be OK, at the top of the screen. Trying to get more information on his condition. He's down, headed to the hospital. So hopefully, he'll be OK. As we see the helicopter that will transport him now to a hospital to be checked out -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Yes, it doesn't seem like anything else around. Which makes you wonder, how do you call for help? Maybe he had a cell phone on him or something. Hopefully he's OK. T.J. thanks for that update.

A rainy day in Southern California and with it, the threat of mud slides. CNN's Jacqui Jeras keeps watch. She is in our Weather Center.

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LEMON: Well, they're the bits and pieces that made up a life's work and a community's history. A look at treasure trove of black Americana. That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

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Mayme Clayton was a librarian, collecting, storing, archiving were second nature, Clayton's true life work lay unrecognized for decades. Peter Viles has more on the historical treasures that may someday be shared with the world.

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PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): You'd never know it from looking at the house, but for 40 years the woman who lived here was doing something absolutely amazing. Mayme was building a collection in every nook and cranny of her home, that major museums would envy.

AVERY CLAYTON, MAYME CLAYTON'S SON: This is a first edition of the work of the narrative of life of Frederick Douglas. It was published in 1845. "American Anti-Slavery Almanac" from 1843.

VILES: A massive, eclectic jumble of black American history.

CLAYTON: One of the original prints of Martin Luther King's "Letter from A Birmingham Jail".

VILES: Some of it is politically incorrect or even racist -- "Black Sambo"

CLAYTON: This is Sambo's testimonial of Pear soap.

They tell you everything you want to know about putting on minstrel show, from how to apply the black face make-up.

VILES: But Mayme's son Avery believes all of it is worth saving.

CLAYTON: Well, you know, my mom had a saying, she said, "You can't know where you're going unless you know where you've been." You know, so you can't have a revisionist history.

VILES: Mayme Clayton was a librarian, who died in October, her son never considered donating the collection, or selling it. He wants to build a cultural center around it.

CLAYTON: This is an American treasure and it belongs to the American people. It is that part of American history that got has forgotten.

VILES: He raised $40,000 so far, enough to bring in archivists to sort through it.

I'm amazed. I can be going through and I find a receipt for a payment, and then a bill, then a little flyer -- and then something from 1850. It just -- each handful, I pick up, I uncover something that could be unique.

VILES: Tens of thousands of books and papers had to be frozen to kill bugs, then moved into a vacant courthouse where Avery hopes to share the treasure that his mother spent a lifetime collecting. Peter Viles, for CNN, Culver City, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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