Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Emotional Reunions For Families, Bus Crash Survivors In Atlanta; President Bush Visits Tornado Stricken Alabama, Georgia

Aired March 03, 2007 - 16:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm still waiting to wake up. Just, just -- I'm shocked. You don't expect something like that to happen, especially small-town Ohio. It's really rough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Waking up from a bad dream. We'll hear from the survivors of this deadly bus crash.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Out of this rubble will emerge a better tomorrow. And that's the commitment that I hear here in Enterprise. And the role of the government is to help to the extent that we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Touring the disaster zone. President Bush tours the tornado devastation with a promise in hand, help is on the way.

And look at these pictures, rocks, Molotov cocktails and teargas. We'll take you there live in about 10 minutes from now.

Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield, you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And we begin this hour with tears and relief amid a tragic bus crash in Atlanta. Anxious families arrived at hospitals today to see their loved ones who survived. Two are brothers, both members of Bluffton University's baseball team. Four teammates died in the crash. Nicole Lappin was at the hospital where the family reunited.

You had a chance to see them first hand. How are they doing?

NICOLE LAPPIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's one family specifically, Fred. It's the Ramthun family. They had two boys on this baseball team. Now, one of the boys just walked away from the crash. And we've heard from him in the past, A.J. Ramthun. Now the older brother, Mike, he's still in the hospital. So we were there when they all reunited in the hospital. Here's what it looked like, really raw, minimally edited, because we think it speaks for itself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE RAMTHUN, SURVIVED BUS CRASH: Look at all those people praying for us.

I just remember getting tossed around. Next thing I know, I was laying there and my leg was caught. And I think the reality that we just fell off an overpass, was you know, just shocked everyone. They didn't know what to do.

Two of my friends ran up to me and, you know, Mike, you're caught. We'll try to pick the bus up. I was laying there. It was dark. Couldn't see a whole lot. The first thing I thought was, you know, where's A.J., and I need to get a hold of my family right away and tell them that we were in a wreck. Because I figured it would be on TV, that bad of a wreck. And just tell them I was OK. All I could think about was where's my -- where's A.J.? I just didn't want to -- I don't know. I couldn't see myself going back to school without him.

I just got so scared. He came around that corner, and I saw him all beat up, and I knew -- and he was walking, so I was so happy. And I just gave him a big hug.

Baseball's kind of not -- far from our minds right now, just getting back home with family and friends is going to be a step in the right direction for all of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAPPIN: Mike Ramthun, the one you just saw right there, the bus literally fell on his leg. He's going to be OK. He's going to be in the hospital for a couple days. His brother, A.J., he's also going to be OK. He broke his arm. His face is still scraped up.

But listen to this, Fred, he was sitting right next to Cody Holp, one of his best buds, so he's next to the window, Cody's sitting right next to him, Cody dies, and he lives.

So, basically, what they're going through right now, why my buddy, and why not me? These guys are athletes. They are supposed to be strong. They're supposed to not cry. It really got to them today.

WHITFIELD: So what about their parents? Parents, who have finally come into town to see a lot of their kids? And that really must feel difficult, too, to celebrate that their kids are OK, yet at the same time, they're grieving for all of these other young guys who died.

LAPPIN: Absolutely. It's like a bittersweet celebration. They're almost in a daze because, after all, they are the lucky ones, we have to keep that in mind. Some parents not so lucky.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nicole Lappin, thanks so much for bringing us that.

LAPPIN: Sure.

WHITFIELD: Now investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board are combing over the site of the deadly bus crash, searching for a data recorder, which may reveal why the bus plunged off an overpass killing six people, including the driver and his wife. Randi Kaye shows us how the accident happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): At 4:30 a.m. Friday, the bus is cruising through Georgia. A new driver takes the wheel. One hour later, the driver exits Interstate 75, but fails to stop at the top of the ramp. The bus sails through a 2 1/2 foot tall concrete barrier and plunges on to the highway below.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You heard a big boom. I guess, when the bus hit the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We seen some boys laid out. We ran over there. That's when the bus had just went over, and the boys had fell out of the window of the bus.

A.J. RAMTHUN, SURVIVED BUS CRASH: I heard some guys crying, I'm stuck, I'm stuck.

KAYE: 18-year-old A.J. Ramthun is jolted awake as the bus flies off the overpass. He breaks his collarbone in the fall.

RAMTHUN: I wanted to give my heartfelt -- to the families, to the baseball players involved, my teammates. I just wanted to say -- I just wish there was something I could do to the families, who lost their loved ones. This is something that's not going to leave the guys who were on that bus this morning. This is going to be with us forever.

KAYE: Minutes after the crash, 5:35 a.m., Mike Morris is on his way to work. He and others stop to help.

MIKE MORRIS, "ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION": Guys started climbing out of the emergency hatch. All of them were covered with blood. Most of them, their faces were real bloody.

KAYE: At 6:00 a.m., Bluffton University Assistant Football Coach Steve Rogers is working out with the university's football team. Like many others, he learns about the crash on television. Around that same time, Atlanta resident Ed Kay gets a phone call from his son, Tim. A junior at Bluffton and a pitcher for the team.

ED KAY, SON INJURED: My son called from the accident scene about 6:00 a.m. this morning. I was sleeping at the time, and I hadn't gotten up for work yet. The kids were passing some cell phones around to let all the parents know what had happened.

KAYE: By 7:00 a.m., eight people, six of them dead, are cut from the wreckage. 10:00 a.m., a tow truck hauls the bus away. Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A much-needed boost for thousands of storm victims. President Bush traveled south to Alabama and Georgia to buck up spirits after the wave of killer tornados. In southern Alabama, Mr. Bush toured Enterprise High School, where eight students died when a twister roared through on Thursday.

Then it was on to Americus, Georgia, where two people died and hundreds of homes were either damaged or destroyed. Mr. Bush implored private citizens to help rebuild.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Some citizens that, you know, we can't let fall through the cracks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sir.

BUSH: We met some of them today. And they probably don't have insurance and they are going to get some federal help, but the best help they can get is when a citizen comes and builds them a house.

I asked the Red Cross man. He said they got all they need down here. The minute you find out you don't have what you need, if you put out a call to the country, this country will respond.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Our Allan Chernoff witnessed the president roll through Americus. We'll have a report from him. But first back to Enterprise, Alabama. CNN's Susan Roesgen was there during the president's visit, and has also had a chance to talk to a number of people there who are trying to recover. Susan?

SUSAN ROESGEN, ENTERPRISE, ALABAMA: Fredricka, we've seen the damage both inside the high school and outside, and around it, but these are some of the cars that were in the school parking lot.

And can you imagine what might have happened if some of the students had gotten in these cars to try to outrun the tornado, or if parents had come and picked them up or been in the school busses here? That was some of the criticism very early on that maybe the school should have let the kids go home before the tornado actually struck.

But as you can tell from looking at these cars, they could have been in a lot more danger. They thought that this high school, made out of concrete and brick, would be the safest place to be. No one anticipated it would take a direct hit.

Today President Bush did come for himself and take a look inside this high school. He walked the same hallways where the students were huddled at 1:00 on Thursday afternoon, and he saw the one hallway where the eight students all died together.

There were state officials, and local officials, with the president, but also the White House had invited four local students. I talked to one of the students, Megan Parks, who said that she really appreciated the president's concern.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MEGAN PARKS, SURVIVED TORNADO: You reach out your hand to shake his hand, and he shakes your hand, but he gives you a hug. He gives you a real hug, too. And you know, that -- he actually thanked us for coming to see him when I just couldn't believe that. I was like thank you for coming to see us. And for thinking about us.

Just -- I just want to say like everybody in the country who's praying for us, I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for all your prayers, because that's probably the best thing that we could ask everyone to do for us right now, is just to pray for our town and our city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROESGEN: Megan told me she actually left the school, Fredricka, a few hours before the tornado struck, before they even knew there was going to be a tornado warning. If she hadn't, she would have been back inside there in that same one hallway where eight of her fellow classmates died, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Wow, remarkable stories coming out of there. Meantime, the president, when he did visit, he talked about how, you know, so important for everyone to pull together. And he praised the school administrators for making the decisions that they did. What about federal help? What kind of promises can be made, are being made from say, FEMA?

ROESGEN: Well, FEMA is offering to do everything it can. The Director David Paulison was here today. That sends a big signal that FEMA is very much involved in the recovery. And President Bush, besides encouraging the people here, he did the one thing that they really need, which is he declared this a major disaster area, freeing up federal funds to come down here.

There has been a sense that after Hurricane Katrina, they want the response to other natural disasters to be much quicker and much better.

WHITFIELD: Susan, where will a lot of these displaced people go?

ROESGEN: Well, you know, between 100 and 150 homes were either damaged or destroyed. There are various shelters set up. Also, one of the parents here said they're not sure about where the kids are going to go to school now.

I have actually walked through this school, walked in the hallways, seen how utterly destroyed it is inside. What they're saying now is that perhaps some students will take night classes, or some students will be farmed out to different high schools. But parents are against that. They want to try to keep this group of now traumatized students, about 1200 students from this high school, together, and not split them up.

WHITFIELD: All right. Susan Roesgen, thanks so much. After his stop in Alabama, the president walked the streets of Americus, Georgia, where a twister pummeled hundreds of homes there. With that part of the story, now CNN's Allan Chernoff -- Alan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, the president really did get a very good look at some of the devastation here, seeing some of the homes that were just crushed by falling trees, by the winds. As a matter of fact, it was just in that neighborhood beyond.

And if you look, you see the family, one person in a yellow shirt there, sitting. That is a family actually sitting right now by its destroyed home. Everyone in the family, all four people, survived by staying in a closet right in the middle of the home, and they're just fine. They are just so thankful that they survived.

The president met people just like that. And, of course, there were two people who did die in the town in the home, but other than that, everyone made it out OK. That's really, I have to say, from looking around, really, truly a miracle.

Now, the president, afterwards did speak with the county sheriff, all the government officials here, and the county sheriff, Pete Smith, said to the president, we've got to get the people help. He said we're doing everything we can but we need some assistance from the federal government. The president responded by saying, well, the state is going to make a request, and we'll turn it around very quickly and get the help back here.

He said, the president did, "I would like to see Habitat For Humanity come down here." The sheriff responded, well, Mr. President, they are based right here in Americus. So the president said, hey, nothing better than having people come around the corner and help to build some homes for their neighbors. That really, truly would be the greatest help that anyone can have -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So, Allan, I wonder is there any response from say, Habitat For Humanity, who is saying yes, we are willing to commit to what would be a huge colossal project?

CHERNOFF: Fredricka, I've been trying to reach them through the day. Ad I have not been able to reach them. Their business offices are closed today. They're just volunteers on the phones taking pledges, but that pledges is for any type of rebuilding.

(CROSS TALK)

WHITFIELD: Right. Of course, communication rather --

CHERNOFF: There are many people here involved with the group.

WHITFIELD: Communication rather challenging at this juncture, too, after tornados have passed through the area.

CHERNOFF: Precisely.

WHITFIELD: Completely understandable. All right, Allan Chernoff, thanks so much from Americus, Georgia.

How about this, some major clashes between police and protesters in Copenhagen, Denmark. CNN's Paula Hancocks is there.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes? Yes? OK.

I am here at the Conservative Political Action Conference here in Washington. Where about 1500 conservative activists, took a straw poll, who is the conservative favorite? We'll have the results in just a few minutes. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Picture the right now of violent protests taking place in all of places Copenhagen, Denmark. We'll have a live report coming from Paula Hancocks, in a moment.

Meantime, it is time to go global, with more headlines from around the world. We begin in Russia, where another protest pits demonstrators against police.

This is St. Petersburg, Russia's second largest city, and hometown of President Vladimir Putin. The demonstrations, the targets, protesters feel the Kremlin has tightened its grip on power, harming democracy in the country. Police say they detained about 100 people.

In Indonesia, rescue crews are digging for any survivors of two huge mudslides. At least 77 people were killed and more victims are believed buried under mud. Days of heavy rains triggered the slide.

From England, word of actress Elizabeth Hurley secretly marrying her fiance, an Indian businessman. Guests thought they would witness the happy event tonight. Instead, Hurley and Arun Mayar held a small, private ceremony yesterday.

On the guest list for the reception, Hurley's former name, actor Hugh Grant.

Now, back to some pretty remarkable pictures coming out of Copenhagen, Denmark. Take a look at police getting pelted with Molotov cocktails. Thousands of youths began rioting Thursday to protest the eviction of a bunch of squatters from an abandoned building. CNN's Paula Hancocks is joining us live, by phone now, with the very latest.

What's at issue here?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, this violence in one of the most unlikely of places, Copenhagen in Denmark, actually revolves around just one piece of real estate. It all started because of one four-story building that was being used as a youth center, here, by many of the young people. It being taken from the squatters, who had been living in it for years, and actually being sold on to a Christian group.

So, it really is all just revolving around one building. The protests have turned violent. Miraculously there have been very few injuries, but there has been a lot of cars that have been burnt; 20 burnt in the early hours of Saturday.

Now at this point there is an extremely heavy presence of police on the streets. There are many -- two or three, I can see at the moment, helicopters in the air trying to keep the situation under control.

And over the last three days, more than 580 people have been arrested. Police saying they're trying to round up all the ring leaders so that this will not be an organized protest, as it has been over the past few days. What they're hoping is that they have arrested those troublemakers, and those elements, but certainly they're out in the hundreds this evening to try to make sure that the violence does not kick off once again -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Paula, this seems awfully extreme for the fact that there were some squatters who were removed from an abandoned building. Is there something more that is at play here?

HANCOCKS: Well, this youth center itself was -- is being described by many of the locals here as a cultural center. They had lots of concerts. The Icelandic singer, Biok (ph), the Australia Nick Cave, very big names actually played there. This is an area that the youth considered was their own, and now, of course, the government has sold it on.

They're feeling disillusioned there is no where for them to be able to congregate. Of course, as always happens in this kind of situation, there is an anarchist element, there is an element of those people who just would not want to miss a chance to throw a Molotov cocktail at the police -- are also, but hopefully the police think they have rounded the majority of those up.

WHITFIELD: Paula Hancocks in Copenhagen, thanks so much for that live report.

Coming up in the NEWSROOM, mourning the dead and mending the injured. An update on that horrible bus accident that killed six people in Atlanta. CNN's Don Lemon is standing by at the hospital here.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, those ball players visiting several of their injured teammates. How are they doing? Plus at this hour, investigators are holding a briefing. Are they any closer to a cause? Details coming up.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Let's go to the severe weather center and check in with Bonnie Schneider. This has been an incredible week of severe weather.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It sure has. I'm so glad to say things are looking a lot calmer for today and tomorrow over Alabama, and also into Georgia. We do have some light showers popping up in south Georgia right now, but really, very minimal at best. I think overall the forecast is improving. Well, now that we have more information, we can get a better idea of exactly where we stand on the tornado in Enterprise, Alabama. Here's a look at some of the facts to get a better idea. Right now the rating on this storm is EF-3, that's on the New Fujita Scale, meaning winds 136 to 165 miles per hour. The tornado was likely 200 yards wide and traveled over 10 miles. That's not uncommon to see a tornado travel that far, but a wide tornado like this certainly does cause a tremendous amount of damage.

As you can see here, the winds getting as strong as 165 miles per hour also, definitely a serious situation there. And one of the ways that this determination is made is actually by looking at the damage, interviewing witnesses. And taking a look, structure-by-structure of how much damage occurred and to what type of buildings the damage occurred. And that's how the National Weather Service team, when they go to one of these locations, come up with these findings.

Again, this is the New Fujita scale, so it may look a little different to you. This new scale was enacted last month. It's now fully in use. And that is the way we classify these storms.

Well, switching gears, we're also talking about another big event is that actually happening in just an hour's time. A lunar eclipse will be occurring between 5:30 to about 6:20; it occurs when the Moon is in the Earth's shadow. The sun light is filtered through the Earth's atmosphere casting a reddish hue on the Moon.

And if you're wondering what it looks like, this is the eclipse from October 27th, 2004. You can see that reddish color right along the moon.

So, you'll be seeing that again tonight. Quite the pretty show out there. Look towards the eastern sky, Fredricka. That's the best place to see it.

Our trivia question for you, regarding space, how many rings does Saturn have?

WHITFIELD: Oh look, my mic is not working.

(LAUGHTER)

I don't know.

SCHNEIDER: The answer is six.

WHITFIELD: You know, I was going to say, that was on the tip of my tongue.

SCHNEIDER: All right.

WHITFIELD: Learn something new every day. Thanks so much.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

WHITFIELD: I figured I would be honest and let you know, I just didn't know.

Well, look at these images. They are truly out of this world as well. NASA's Cassini Spacecraft snapped off these pictures. They show never before seen angles of the planet Saturn, high above. Below its stunning rings, maybe I should have looked at this first, and counted the rings so I had the answer. Cassini blasted off on its mission to study Saturn an decade ago.

And now speaking of images, new pictures that are coming in out of Enterprise, Alabama. You're looking at a number of students consoling one another after a tornado ripped through their area, killing many students there at the school, eight students.

Now you're looking at images of a number of students, and others who live in the community, who have come together, all of them managed to communicate with one another by text messaging, and then they all decided to hold this special vigil there right there in the town of Enterprise, Alabama, so they could comfort one another after so much, so much tragic loss this past week.

Reunions in the shadow of tragedy of another sort we'll go live to Atlanta's Grady Hospital for more on the awful bus accident that killed four college students.

And, lawsuits filed in the Cory Lidle plane crash. The Yankee pitcher's widow says his aircraft suffered a catastrophic failure. Much more on that to come in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back to the NEWSROOM, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We're about to reveal intriguing results of a new poll, gauging the most popular presidential pick among a key GOP voting block. But first, the latest on that catastrophic bus accident in Atlanta. Six people were killed and 29 injured when a charter bus carrying a college baseball team went off an overpass bridge and slammed on to the interstate below. Families are being reunited today with the survivors of that deadly crash. Four of the school's baseball players were killed. Surviving teammates are asking some pretty emotional questions today, wondering why they survived. CNN's Don Lemon is at Grady Hospital where some of the injured are being treated. Don?

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Fredricka, you bring up a very good point. Some are asking why did they survive, and also, you know, it's been a little bit more than 24 hours after that accident and it's just starting really to sink in to some of the players and family members after they've been reunited with their families and then realizing now that they will never see four of their fellow teammates again. We know that horrific accident happened yesterday and then today, just a short time ago, some of those players who had been released from the hospital here, had been visiting family and friends at a hotel here, they went to visit family members and friends at other hospitals today and their injured teammates. They showed up here at Grady Hospital a short time ago. And then also this morning, two of the players who were injured in that accident, who woke up, they said they were sleeping and they woke up when they were getting close to the ground or after they did hit the ground, they spoke to us and talked to us about their harrowing experience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG SIGG, BUS CRASH SURVIVOR: It's really hard to realize that this just happened, like all day. You're just like, is this really happening? You're just kind of waiting to wake up. But then you see your teammates and it's just -- you realize there's players not there and it just kind of hits you slowly and hits you hardest sometimes, and other times it just still feels unreal. I was asleep laying across the seats and then I remember the hit on the wall and then I remember a big hit when we hit the ground, but -- and the next thing I remember, I was standing in glass and started getting people out.

KURT SCHROEDER, BUS CRASH SURVIVOR: I'm still waiting to wake up. I'm just shocked. You don't expect something like that to happen, especially small town Ohio. It's really rough. We really appreciate it all and we just thank everyone. It's just been great support and just keep us in your prayers and continue to think about us this next few weeks and just keep us in your prayers.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Yeah, so a lot of those players still in shock. Fifteen of those players were released either late last night or early this morning. There were a total of 19 here at one time. Four are still in the hospital, two in critical condition, one in serious, one in fair. One who was in critical condition had to go back to surgery last night. It was touch and go for a little bit, but doctors say right now ok for the moment, but still in critical condition. And at this hour, the National Transportation Safety Board holding a briefing and hopefully within this newscast or coming up sometime today in the NEWSROOM we'll have some answers for you, whether they are any closer to a cause. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right, Don Lemon thanks so much in Atlanta at Grady Hospital.

Well as you can imagine, there is a profound sense of loss at the Bluffton University campus. Ohio residents joined students for a candlelight vigil there inside the school's gymnasium last night. Today is especially poignant for the families of the victims. It would have been the baseball team's first spring training game of the season.

And now to the scene of another human tragedy. The aftermath of killer tornados in the south. Today President Bush visited the hard-hit town of Enterprise, Alabama. Eight high school students there died when a twister ripped through their school on Thursday. Mr. Bush has declared the area a federal disaster area, a move that helps free up federal aid. From Enterprise, the president headed to Americus, Georgia. Tornados killed two people there and destroyed more than 500 homes. President Bush talked to some of the victims. The twisters killed a total of 20 people in Georgia, Alabama and Missouri. The Republican Party's conservative base meets in Washington and a new straw poll is about to be released. CNN's Bill Schneider has it all.

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALAYST: Fredricka, I'm here at the Conservative Political Action Committee. The answer is, we don't know yet, but in a minute we'll get the results of that straw poll of conservative activists and we'll be able to tell you, do conservatives have a favorite for '08?

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll get it first and that means you, too, at home will hear it first.

Also coming up, debating the value of vitamins. A new study says they may not have all the benefits that you or anybody else thought. Our Dr. Lloyd has the scoop straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Winning the hearts and minds of the conservative base, that's the goal of Republican presidential candidates gathered at a huge political conference in Washington. But one top tiered candidate is a no show. How will that affect the results of a highly- anticipated straw poll that we now have the results to. CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider is at the conference. So, what's the poll say?

SCHNEIDER: The poll says that the winner is Mitt Romney with 21 percent of the votes.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

SCHNEIDER: He has a large delegation here, 21 percent for Mitt Romney. Second place, close behind him, Rudy Giuliani, 17 percent. He spoke yesterday at this conference. Third, Sam Brownback, the senator from Kansas, 15 percent, fourth, Newt Gingrich who has not yet said whether he'll get into the race. In fifth place, John McCain, 12 percent, he was the no-show at this conference and ended up coming in fifth. Seventeen-hundred and five participants voted, the largest in this organization's history, from 49 states. Here's something else interesting from this straw poll, 79 percent of the participants describe themselves as Ronald Reagan Republicans, only three percent call themselves George W. Bush Republicans. Fred?

WHITFIELD: So, if you are Giuliani, Romney or Brownback, what do you do with this information? How does this help you or give you better posture as you continue to campaign out there?

SCHNEIDER: Publicity. The conservatives are looking for a candidate, Mitt Romney can claim he has the support of more than anyone else of the conservative movement, which is the activist meeting here. These are grassroots conservatives. Although notice, he only ended up with 21 percent of the vote, which means there's a lot of division among the conservatives.

WHITFIELD: So if you don't show you don't get the votes. John McCain conspicuously absent. I guess he was sending a message, too though, right, by not being there. Perhaps it's not really meaningful for him to be there?

SCHNEIDER: I can't quite hear you. Can you --

WHITFIELD: Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now? Let's talk about John McCain, that he's not there, I guess he doesn't care too much about where he would show up on this straw poll?

SCHNEIDER: Right. He did not come, and a lot of conservatives that I spoke to said they felt dissed by John McCain because he didn't show up. Even though he's been trying to mend fences with conservatives in the Republican Party, they felt as if he was disregarding them by not showing up for this straw vote. And as I indicated, he came in, in fifth place.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right, Bill Schneider, thanks so much, at a very noisy conference there of the CPA there in Washington, D.C. Thanks so much.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

WHITFIELD: All right, well how about changing chairs? It could cause a row for some reporters. What's that all about?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can shout from any place.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Helen Thomas moves back and we are to blame. That's in 10 minutes right here in the NEWSROOM.

And the man in the moon gets to take a break today. The total lunar eclipse countdown is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Much more of the NEWSROOM straight ahead with Rick Sanchez. What you got?

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Big story in the news this week that I think affects a lot of people and we should all care an awful lot about this. The government kept insisting that there were 30 to 40,000 troops affected as a result of both Afghanistan and Iraq. The latest numbers now show that 200,000 members of the military who have either been in Iraq or in Afghanistan have sought treatment for injuries that they received in those wars. And the problem as you probably saw this week, the V.A. hospitals just aren't stepping up and getting the job done. It's too much, too much post-op. You know Walter Reed, obviously the fiasco that's gone on there that's led now to the secretary of the army literally being let go. That's a serious huge problem. So we're going to delve into that.

And then we have a story at 10:00 that everyone is going to be talking about as well. And this is really interesting. Ann Coulter, she used the "f" word when referring to a presidential candidate. She's talking about John Edwards and she called him something that you know, you hear our kids use this word all the time, you tell them not to use it because it's not a very nice word, it's a word that's often used when referring to homosexuals. And she just blurted it out, referring to him that way. And it makes you start to wonder whether she perhaps thinks that it's ok and her base thinks it's ok to speak that way. We're going to look at it from different perspectives, from those who like Ann Coulter and those who don't.

WHITFIELD: Right, we'll be watching.

SANCHEZ: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: Thanks Rick.

Well, talk about defying conventional wisdom. A new study suggests certain vitamins and dietary supplements may not, repeat not, help you live longer after all. Dr. Bill Lloyd joins us live from San Antonio with more on that. Ok, so a lot of us thought you take a little extra vitamin C, vitamin E, beta carotene, and now, no, don't do it?

DR. BILL LLOYD, SURGEON: It sounds like no, Fredricka. What we know now is that millions of Americans every day make dietary choices that add plenty of antioxidants to their diet because they want to improve the health of their heart, they want to protect themselves from cancer, they want to improve their vision, maybe protect themselves from Alzheimer's disease in the future. But now this new research which was published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association says hold on. We looked at 230,000 people that took lots of antioxidants and you know what, not only did they not live longer, they actually died earlier.

WHITFIELD: Oh, gosh. So, wait a minute, does this mean that anyone who is taking these extra things, that anyone who is taking these extra things, really should cut it out altogether? Are we talking about certain candidates -

LLOYD: They did what's called a meta analysis. They looked at 68 different scientific randomized studies, they divided them into categories of good scientific studies and junk studies. The well performed objective scientific studies, they were very concerned that there was a death rate increase, 5 percent. You died 5 percent earlier if you were taking the antioxidants.

WHITFIELD: What?

LLOYD: If you were taking the antioxidants versus the junk studies that were funded by the makers of a lot of these nutritional supplements that they claim that actually the death rates decreased by 9 percent. So now there's great confusion about the role of antioxidants, do they really help us in the long run.

WHITFIELD: Wow, that's pretty frightening. So then I wonder if that's going to be expanded out to, you know, all supplements? LLOYD: We're now in the era of evidence-based medicine. You're going to hear more and more about these so-called meta analysis where you might think they're mixing apples and pears. But they're taking groups of large studies and they're going back and looking at the data. Not just one study but in this case, 68 studies involving a quarter of a million people and they said when we add all the numbers together, we're not so sure this is good, as that very first study said it might be.

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh, so are we saying the bottom line is, you need to have a balanced diet, eat well, forget any kind of dietary supplements?

LLOYD: Well, if you want the dietary supplements get them from Mother Nature. Go for fresh fruits, produce, vegetables, etcetera. Go for green tea. Chocolate with 60 percent cocoa and allow yourself a little red wine, get those natural antioxidants and stay away from the pill form and save yourself some money.

WHITFIELD: All right, I like the idea of chocolate being the answer. When all else fails, chocolate.

LLOYD: And a little red wine.

WHITFIELD: Ok, that sounds good too. Nice combination. Dr. Bill Lloyd, thanks so much, always good to see you.

LLOYD: We'll talk again soon.

WHITFIELD: The White House press corps playing musical chairs these days. How come? Who's no longer front and center? And who is to blame? That's straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So, a look now at the most popular videos on cnn.com. A surprise birth in California. A 420-pound woman gives birth without even knowing she was pregnant. Find out how by clicking on cnn.com. And look skyward tonight, it's a lunar eclipse. Many of you are watching CNN's meteorologist Reynolds Wolf's report on how to best view it and you're also seeing apparently some live pictures right now of a lunar eclipse from the point of view if you were in Iraq. And curiosity about conversations with no clothes on. A very popular video details a political debate at a nudist colony in Florida. And many of you are also interested in the aftermath of those deadly tornados in the south. CNN's Susan Roesgen reports on the heroic efforts of survivors and the victims.

And now, two stories you don't hear every day. One involves a hot Hollywood filmmaker in possession of a hot painting, but first, trying to hit the lottery by scoring a hit on the lottery. And Boston police say the man seen on this surveillance tape is changing clothes after stuffing thousands of dollars from a lottery kiosk into his pocket. The suspect was arrested after being identified by a witness who says he knocked off a kiosk at the city's airport less than an hour earlier.

And now to that Hollywood director, Steven Spielberg, to be exact. The FBI says a stolen Norman Rockwell painting worth nearly a million dollars has been found in Spielberg's art collection. Officials say the filmmaker bought the piece from a legitimate dealer back in 1989, and that he didn't know it was stolen.

She's been questioning presidents for more than four decades now. But a change in the pecking order means that soon White House icon Helen Thomas may have to speak a little louder to be heard. Our Jeanne Moos explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From celebs in courtside seats to the front row at fashion shows, editors may hide behind sunglasses.

BUSH: Helen.

MOOS: But Helen Thomas isn't hiding on the front row of history.

HELEN THOMAS, HEARST COLUMNIST: My question is, why did you really want to go to war?

MOOS: It's not as if she didn't warn the president against calling on her.

THOMAS: You're going to be sorry.

MOOS: And often, they were.

BUSH: Hold on for a second. Excuse me for a second, please. Excuse me for a second. Helen, excuse me.

MOOS: She's used to putting them on the hot seat, but now it's her seat that's hot. The legendary reporter turned columnist is losing her front row perch. The White House briefing room is closed for renovations, but when it reopens Helen will be relegated to the second room. So who had the nerve to bump Helen Thomas from the front row? Well actually it's us. CNN and Fox News, both the networks want to move up and the only way for that to happen is for Helen to move back. Since CNN has seniority we would probably have gotten a front row seat anyway, but for FOX to also get one, Helen had to move. After more than three decades in the front row, is Helen livid?

THOMAS: What I'd like to know is why am I the story? There's a war going on.

MOOS: And she doesn't mean a war over her seat.

THOMAS: Are all these stories untrue?

BUSH: Let me finish. Ma'am, please let me finish the question.

I can't thank the president enough for his hospitality. He didn't need to do this. THOMAS: Yes, he did.

MOOS: She's used to challenging authority, not seating charts.

THOMAS: I don't belong there in the front row. I can shout from any place.

MOOS: One of Helen's books might need a new title, "Second Row at the White House." The White House Correspondents Association determines the seating, and its president declares, "We love her and we'll take care of her."

THOMAS: Wowee!

MOOS: She's the only person to have a plaque with her name attached to her seat. President Bush once said of sparring with Helen.

BUSH: It's kind of like dancing together, isn't it?

MOOS: She's danced with nine different presidents and made a cameo in a funny video Bill Clinton made for a press dinner.

BILL CLINTON: Any questions? Helen?

THOMAS: Are you still here?

MOOS: She'll still be here, probably causing a row from two rows away. This cookie --

THOMAS: I put my cookie down here.

MOOS: Doesn't crumble. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Yes, something tells me Helen will be heard no matter where she is in the room. Rick, how about you? I think I can hear you no matter where you are in the room too.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Listen, I'm no Helen Thomas.

WHITFIELD: I mean that affectionately.

SANCHEZ: There's only one.

WHITFIELD: There's only one Helen.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, take care.

SANCHEZ: Here's what we have coming on tap here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm very confused. I lost one of my best friends. I lost four of my best friends, four of my teammates. But yet, my brother and I survived.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Victims of the deadly bus crash carrying the Bluffton baseball team ponder the question that a lot of survivors often ask, why did I survive?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BUSH: The heart of a community like Enterprise, Alabama, is the schools, and today I have walked through devastation that's hard to describe.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Also, the devastation as the president does so aptly puts it, it's the one that the president had to see for himself today.

And hello again everybody, I'm Rick Sanchez, you are now in the NEWSROOM and we're going to begin with the latest on that deadly bus crash in Atlanta that claimed the lives of four college baseball players, the driver and his wife. Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board are combing the scene right now. They're searching for a data recorder that they hope will try and reveal to them why the bus took an exit ramp to an overpass and then plunged over to the other side. We've got some animation and you can see as you watch the animation the driver most likely thought he was still on the highway when suddenly, boom, he hit the embankment and then went over the side. Here are the people who as a result died. Tyler Williams, David Betts, Scott Harmon and Cody Holp. They were all members of the Bluffton University baseball team, all killed in that crash.

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