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Kidnapped Texas Baby Found; Bush in Colombia
Aired March 11, 2007 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clovis P.D. located Baby Mychael at a residence there in Clovis in the company of an adult female.
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FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Joy and relief in Texas tonight. A stolen newborn found safe.
Hello and welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We'll get to that reunion in a moment.
But first, a raucous welcome for the United States president as he touches down in Bogota, Colombia, ground zero in the war on drugs. Just a mile away from President Bush's meeting with Colombia's president, hundreds of demonstrators clashed violently with police. Are such rallies in Latin American a distraction to Mr. Bush's five- nation tour?
White House correspondent Elaine Quijano will join us momentarily on Mr. Bush's objectives. First in the middle of the demonstration, CNN's Karl Penhaul.
Karl, how did this planned rally get so heated?
Karl, are you able to hear me now?
All right, it looks like we're having some audio problems with Karl trying to hear us. Obviously it's very loud there at those demonstrations taking place just a mile away from the presidential palace. When we reestablish that line, we'll be able to get back to Karl, hopefully.
Meantime the focus of Mr. Bush's trip to Colombia's capital is twofold. To show support to his ally President Alvaro Uribe and his war against narcoterrorists. But are president bush's plans being overshadowed by the angry protests?
With that part of the story, CNN's Elaine Quijano will be joining us live momentarily.
Let's get to the security measures in place for the demonstrations, as well as the president's meeting. Here's Karl Penhaul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Swooping over Bogota, capital of the country with one of the most violent reputations in Latin American. City police chief General Daniel Castiblanco is on high alert for potential attacks by ruthless cocaine cartels or powerful communist rebels.
"We're gathering a lot of electronic and human intelligence and carrying out operations is necessary. Right now there's no problem for President Bush's visit," he says.
Castiblanco believes neither the drug mobs nor the guerrillas are as dangerous as they once were.
"The government and security forces have hit narcotrafficking and subversive groups hard. We can control them and prevent any kind of an attack," he explains.
Not all Colombians oppose Bush's trip. "We know a lot of people don't agree with this. But we live in an age of globalization and I think it's good for us," this sales representative says.
"We should give them a big welcome. He's an important person and maybe our country will need to ask him for a loan some day," she tells me, as she sells corn to feed the pigeons.
General Castiblanco is scouring the skyline for any sign of trouble.
"It's a tremendous personal and professional challenge to guarantee peace and security for the president of the United States, he says. But he's confident President Bush is in safe hands. Karl Penhaul, CNN, Bogota.
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WHITFIELD: And now we hope to have reestablished our connection with Karl Penhaul, there, live in Bogota, in the middle of all the demonstrations taking place just a mile away from the presidential palace. And Karl, if you can hear me now, give me an idea of how this rally got so out of hand, considering it was planned.
All right that didn't work. We lost that again. We will try to establish that connection a little bit later.
Meantime, back in this country, after a nightmarish 24 hours for a Texas mom, today some joyous news. Her missing baby has been found in New Mexico. And now baby girl Mychael is back in momma's arms. The woman accused of snatching the newborn is in police custody. For more on how all of this unfolded, let's go to our Keith Oppenheim in Lubbock. Keith?
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Back in daddy's arms, too, I'll add. I'm in the basement of the Covenant Medical Center in Lubbock. Somewhere in the hospital, a four-day-old baby, Mychael Dawodu is her name is back with her mother and father after being kidnapped for more than a day. It was around midnight last night that Lubbock police got a tip call which said that a woman who had been caught on surveillance cameras in the hospital, a woman suspected of taking the baby away, that she was spotted about 100 miles away in Clovis, New Mexico.
And in the middle of the night, Clovis police found the suspect and the baby in two separate locations. We're going to hear now from Lieutenant Scott Hudgins (ph) from the Lubbock Police Department, who talked about how Baby Mychael was doing when she was found.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Baby Mychael was found to be in good condition and Clovis P.D. arranged transport to the Clovis Community Medical Center for evaluation. And all indications are that the baby's in fine health and doing well.
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OPPENHEIM: Earlier today, Baby Mychael was flown back from Clovis to Lubbock to be reunited with her parents. Police are telling us that they expect in a couple of days that the suspect will be extradited from New Mexico to Texas. And tomorrow in this newsroom, this news conference room, we're expected to have - to see the reunion ourselves, Fredricka. Mom, dad, and the baby. We'll get to see the reunion right in front of our cameras.
WHITFIELD: Well, we all look forward to that. Glad it's a happy ending, thanks so much. Keith Oppenheim in Lubbock, Texas.
Meantime, this just in, new video that we're just now getting in out of York, Pennsylvania. Frightening moments yesterday. Last night, four homes in that town simply exploded.
The explosion took place from a suspected natural gas leak. Incredibly no one was killed. Rescue crews say they plucked five people from the rubble all with only minor injuries. Glad to hear that. Two row houses were leveled in the blast. The other two were damaged to the point where they had to be razed. That new video just in.
Meantime, take you back to Colombia. One stop on Mr. Bush's Latin American tour. Just a mile away from the meeting place where he will be with the president of Colombia there are a number of demonstrators, about 1,500 that have all converged there.
Is this at all a distraction for the president's visit? Our Elaine Quijano is in Bogota with more on that. So is it at least embarrassing if not a distraction for the president?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Really it's hard to say, but just to keep things in perspective, Fredricka, you're talking about 1500 demonstrators in a city of 7 million people. So that right there gives you a sense, certainly demonstrations are nothing new to President Bush. U.S. presidents in general, it's not uncommon to see demonstrations anywhere the president travels. But President Bush today is really spending just a brief period of time here because of some security concerns. He'll be here in Bogota, Colombia for less than seven hours.
President Bush, though, with this visit is trying to underscore U.S. support for Colombia and also for its President Alvaro Uribe. President Uribe's image has been tarnished by accusations that some of his supporters have been linked to paramilitary groups.
That scandal has led to skepticism among U.S. lawmakers in Washington, at a time when Mr. Bush is pushing for a free trade agreement, as well as additional aid for Colombia. This country is the largest recipient of U.S. aid in Latin American. More than $4 billion since 2000. Most of that money going to anti-drug and counterinsurgency operations and by coming specifically here to Bogota, President Bush wants to send the message that progress is being made here with U.S. help. Progress on the security and the economic fronts.
He's asking Congress for additional funding. Nearly $4 billion over the next six years. And this trip in large part is meant to make the case that Congress should keep that aid money flowing, to ensure continued progress for a democracy that is a strong U.S. ally in this region. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Elaine Quijano there in Bogota.
Also in Bogota, we are going to try it one more time to see if we can connect with Karl Penhaul, who is at those demonstrations that Elaine was speaking of. So, Karl, while you can hear me hopefully, give me an idea of exactly ...
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka -- Fredricka, while I can hear you, once again, things here at the protest have died down. It seems to be starting up again a little bit. A few more rounds of tear gas have gone off just to my right. It seems once again the protesters, the numbers have dwindled significantly, but were building back up again and once again they're trying to break through police lines.
What happened earlier about an hour and a half ago, more or less exactly the same time that President Bush was meeting his Colombian counterpart, protests here turned violent. And so crowd of about 1,500 protesters started fighting the riot police with rocks. And even with the metal barricades that were put in place to try to contain them.
The police then responded with water cannons and with tear gas and the balance so far, according to the spokesman for Bogota police are 35 protesters who are being detained and two protesters were injured. As was one policeman. We don't know the extent of their injuries, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Karl Penhaul, thanks so much for that update from Bogota.
Straight ahead in the NEWSROOM, new coalition commander in Iraq on his first field trip in the new job. General David Petraeus tours Iraq's wild west and we're with him. A CNN exclusive in about four minutes from now.
Plus this ...
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When my grandma called me this morning and said they found my daddy alive, I was just so happy.
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WHITFIELD: Overjoyed to have his father back after nine days of missing. The rescue on the bayou in about 20 minutes. And ...
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm 101 years old. How are you going to run after a mugger?
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WHITFIELD: A feisty 101 years old. Two elderly women brutally attacked in New York. The manhunt continues in the Big Apple. We go live to New York City in about 10 minutes from now. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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WHITFIELD: Let's go straight to the weather center and Jacqui Jeras. Some fire sweeping parts of California?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, the Santa Ana winds really blowing today. That combined with near-record heat and also extremely low humidity, we've gott a very high risk of fire danger across Southern California.
We're already seeing the truth of that. We've got video to show you out of Anaheim Hills, California, where a brushfire started this morning. About 150 acres have burned now. There are 200 personnel deploying to the scene, along with two choppers trying to fight this.
Orange County fire authorities say that one neighborhood is now being evacuated. The temperature at this hour in Anaheim Hills, 94 degrees. Winds are out at the northeast at 15 miles per hour. And the relative humidity, down it five percent so it is just terrible conditions there for the firefighters trying to put out this fire right now. And we are concerned that more could be developing across the area. So we go back to the maps, I will show you where those winds are coming in across the region.
The winds sustained right now, not too bad into the teens but the gusts have been incredible. Look at some of these from earlier this morning. Laguna Peak at 73 miles per hour. Forty-six at Malibu Hills and Point Mugu at 31 miles per hour.
The temperatures extremely warm. You saw some of those 90s. That's everybody in the dark red here in Southern California. More as we get more information.
WHITFIELD: All right Jacqui, thanks so much.
Other news happening right now.
Police say a newborn kidnapped from a Texas hospital yesterday has been found and has been reunited with her parents. Officers acting on a tip discovered the baby about 100 miles away in New Mexico. A 21-year-old woman is now in custody. She's expected to be arrested on aggravated kidnapping charges shortly.
And President Bush is in Colombia, the third stop of his Latin American tour. Trade and the drug war topped the agenda. Mr. Bush is about to hold a news conference with the president of Colombia. We'll bring that to you live as it happens.
More marching order for U.S. troops. President Bush approves a request to deploy 4,400 additional troops to Iraq. Officials say the top American military commander in Iraq made the request. The new deployment is in addition to the 21,500 troops already being deployed.
Meantime, in Baghdad, insurgents on the attack, despite an intense security crackdown. Today, at least 58 people were killed and 75 wounded in attacks across the country. The deadliest, a car bomb that targeted a minibus packed with Shiite pilgrims. At least 31 people were killed. Another car bomb in a busy commercial area of Baghdad left three people dead.
Trying to get a handle on all the violence. The new coalition commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus. CNN's Jennifer Eccelston went with the general as he visited a relatively safe town of one of Iraq's most dangerous regions. Here's Jennifer with this exclusive story.
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ENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's back, but this time he's the man in charge, now as the top commander in Iraq. He's revisiting troops and studying what is an ever-evolving battlefield. General David Petraeus, commander of Multi-National Forces, has a daunting task to secure this country and it all starts here, and the rest of Anbar Province, a major fault line in the fight to secure Iraq, a major front in the fight to secure its capital.
GEN DAVID PETRAEUS, CMDR MULTI-NATIONAL FORCES, IRAQ: Anbar Province has been a terrorist route from Syria all the way into Baghdad. In fact, it's almost a dagger pointed at Baghdad.
ECCLESTON: A route not only for terrorists, but for weapons too, smuggled across the border, ending up in Ramadi, Fallujah, and Baghdad. In the past, American and Iraqi operations cleared Hit and other cities of insurgents, often fighting street by street. When they were secure, coalition forces moved out, and insurgents moved back in. The local population suffered.
PETRAEUS: The insurgents have killed their sheikhs, their sons, their brothers and they've had enough of that.
ECCLESTON: That game of cat and mouse, according to American forces, has come to an end. Iraqi police and army, American soldiers and marines, increase their presence on the streets, create a firm basis, a permanent presence in and around the city.
PETRAEUS: It's nice.
ECCLESTON: A signal to residents that they are here for the long run.
PETRAEUS: That it makes all Iraqis feel they have a stake in the success of this new Iraq and that's absolutely vital. And again, we will certainly try to help provide the opportunity for them to do that without worrying about whether they can get to work that day or their child will be kidnapped on the way to school or something like that.
ECCLESTON: A plan so simple that it's now become a model for all of Anbar.
PETRAEUS: But you stayed.
ECCLESTON: The same model that General Petraeus now wants to replicate nationwide. Part of being the new man in charge means providing a simple connection, showing that boots onto ground matter.
PETRAEUS: It's an honor for me.
ECCLESTON: Getting out and meeting with those that are influential in the communities, like Sheikh Hikmahd, who also happens to be the mayor of Hit.
(on camera): Do you have a good feeling about the future?
SHEIKH HIKMAHD, HIT MAYOR: I hope, yeah. I hope. I hope.
PETRAEUS: I think the -- one of the crucial factors, as we discussed, is in fact the tribes. They have just have had it. So, you have the right circumstances, where the right commander with the right unit, with the right mind-set with good Iraqi partners can all of a sudden achieve a breakthrough.
ECCLESTON (voice-over): A public relations breakthrough today, but for the Iraqi public, they hope perhaps a long-term partnership in the making.
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WHITFIELD: Also in Iraq, a mother and son being held hostage. Now German officials are analyzing the extremely disturbing video of the pair. . The tape shows the German hostages pleading for their lives as masked Iraqi militants threatened to kill them within 10 days unless Germany withdraws 3,000 troops from Afghanistan. German officials say they'll do everything they can to secure their release.
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FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER, GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER: For the past four and a half weeks, the crisis management group has been working at trying to find a solution to free the kidnapped Germans but this hasn't yet been successful.
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WHITFIELD: The two hostages have been missing in Iraq for five weeks now.
And who wasn't outraged by this? Assaults on two elderly woman in New York, to the New York mugger out there who assaulted the 101- year-old mugger, be warned, the victim is angry.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got a little angry, you know? And I said oh that so-and-so, I hope you get caught.
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WHITFIELD: And everyone hopes he gets caught. We're following this heartless assault. And we'll go live to New York in just a few minutes.
Plus ...
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Out pops this guy. And he said, oh my God. Thank, y'all. Y'all saved my life.
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WHITFIELD: Missing for nine days. A fisherman turns up alive after two boaters spot him in a swamp. The story and an interview with the man's son about 10 minutes from now.
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WHITFIELD: The grainy security video shows one of the crimes in all its disturbing detail. A 101-year-old woman savagely attacked, right there, just steps from her Queens' apartment.
And she isn't the only elderly woman assaulted. New York police are searching for a mugger who preys on the elderly and the victims are speaking out to Sandra Bookman with our affiliate WABC now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ROSE MORAT, 101 YEAR OLD MUGGING VICTIM: I'm 101 years old. How are you going to run after a mugger?
SANDRA BOOKMAN, WABC-TV (voice-over): Rose Morat's face is battered and bruised after a violent struggle with a mugger in the lobby of her Queens apartment building. The assault was caught on videotape, in disturbing detail. You can see Rose on her way to church with the help of her walker. The young man, she thought was opening the door, turns on her, punching her repeatedly before taking her purse and rummaging through her pockets. Bleeding profusely, the century-old woman musters the strength to try to get her purse back and that's when this thief knocks her and her walker to the ground.
MORAT: I got a little -- a little angry, you know? And I said, oh that so-and-so, I hope you get caught.
BOOKMAN: As Rose's neighbors rushed to her aid, police say her attacker jumped on his pink bike and peddled over to the Common Light Tower on 170th Street and found his second victim.
Eighty-five year old Solange Elizee who suffers from Parkinson's and also uses a walker. The same suspect rode the elevator up with her, got off one floor below and ran up to Salange's door before she could get inside.
SOLANGE ELIZEE, 85-YEAR-OLD MUGGING VICTIM: He beat me, beat me in my face. A lot. And a lot of blood coming out of my mouth.
BOOKMAN: Solange's chin and arm were injured in the attack. But perhaps most upsetting, the suspect stole this widow's wedding ring that she has worn for 60 years. The suspect is being described as male in his 30s.
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WHITFIELD: Reporting from WABC.
Well, New York's top cop says his department is pulling out all of the stops to find this mugger. CNN's Jim Acosta joins us now from New York. So, Jim, this has outraged a lot of people, hasn't it?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It really has, Fredricka. It's not every day a local crime scene in New York gains national attention. The attacker who mugged those two elderly women has been dubbed public enemy number one by one city paper.
And today the city's police commissioner, Ray Kelly said, we want to stop him before he strikes again. So police have beefed up their presence in the Queens neighborhood where 101-year-old Rose Morat was mugged in the entry to her apartment last week.
The brutal attack left Morat with a fractured cheekbone while the mugger walked away with $33.
But that was just his first of two attacks on elderly women. Morat's neighbor, 85 year old Solage Elizee says she was also beaten and robbed by the same man. Elizee says her assailant walked away with $45, and of all things her wedding ring.
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ELIZEE: I closing my door. And he pushed me. Began to beat me on my face. And he say, I get you.
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ACOSTA: And New York police say they are asking people in the city to be on the lookout for the man in this grainy image from the security camera footage. And if they have any information, they're urged, to as they say in this town, call the cops. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right, Jim, thanks so much. We hope people find and recognize that person and then call police, indeed.
ACOSTA: That's right.
WHITFIELD: Another stop on President Bush's Latin American tour. Another round of violent protests. An update on Mr. Bush's visit to Colombia coming up in the NEWSROOM.
Plus, survival in of all places the swamp. After nine days missing and feared dead, a Louisiana man is now home safe. His amazing rescue straight ahead on CNN the most trusted name news.
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FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN THE NEWSROOM: Back now to Lubbock, Texas for some new developments in the case of that days old baby that was snatched from the hospital and then finally returned to her parents. Keith Oppenheim is there. Keith.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are getting some new information. First of all I am at the hospital where the baby Makayle Duwaut (ph) who has been reunited with her mother and father and it was at midnight last night when Lubbock police got a tip that there was a suspect, the suspect could be in Clovis, New Mexico. Clovis, New Mexico police went on a search for the suspect and found what they believe is the suspect who kidnapped the child and also found the baby in another location.
Police also so far Fredricka have not released the name of the suspect but when CNN asked or inmates who were recently booked. The Clerk County Detention Center in New Mexico told us that 21-year-old Rayshaun Parson is being held as a fugitive for kidnapping. So far, again, police have not released a name but that information came when we spoke to the detention center.
We're also being told that in a couple of days, they are expecting that the suspect in this case will be extradited back to Texas from New Mexico.
Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. So Keith Lubbock, Texas police won't confirm that Rayshaun Parson is a suspect but New Mexico authorities in Clovis are saying this is the suspect.
OPPENHEIM: Not exactly. We're getting our information from the detention center. The Clovis police and the Lubbock police are not naming a suspect but when we called the detention center, we got that information in an exchange with someone we spoke to there.
WHITFIELD: All right. Keith Oppenheim thanks so much, out of Lubbock, Texas. Again press conference tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. Eastern involving the parents of that little girl.
And meantime you're seeing live pictures right now of some of the cabinet members, as well as the spokesperson Tony Snow. You're seeing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and a moment ago you also saw the Secretary of State Deputy Keith Hadley, also walking into the presidential palace there in Bogotá, Colombia. Momentarily we should see President Bush as well as the Colombian President Uribe who will both be having a press conference there in Bogotá about their meeting there, while a mile away, there are demonstrators who have converged, protesting President Bush's presence there in Bogotá. More on that when we get it.
Meantime, now I think we're going to be moving straight ahead to a harrowing ordeal in the backwaters of Louisiana. Lost for over a week and feared dead, Billy Adam's family didn't know what had happened to him, until fate or perhaps something more, lead two fisherman right to the missing man. Katie Moore with CNN affiliate WWL picks up the story from there.
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KATIE MOORE, WWL: Fishing camps lined the Whiskey Canal including one Billy Adams called home.
KEITH ADAMS, MISSING BOATER'S SON: He got to live his dream. That was the dream it live on the water.
MOORE: Adam's camp named "Never a Dull Moment," the understatement of a lifetime. And until now, overshadowed by this sign, about a missing boater, Adam himself.
K. ADAMS: We fear for the worst and hope for the best.
MOORE: Searchers from two different sheriff's offices combed the canals for more than a week. The Coast Guard called off their search. But Saturday morning.
CHUCK KOBER, FISHERMAN: We got out there and we were fishing and we seen something yellow about 100 yards away and it moved every once in awhile.
MOORE: Chuck Kober and a friend decided to try and fish in nearby Davis Pond. Once they approached the yellow rain jacket they thought was floating on the water.
KOBER: And out pops this guy and he said, oh my god, thank you, y'all. Y'all saved my life. K. ADAMS: Remarkably, some fisherman was out there found him and we thank him so very much.
MICHEKE ADAMS, MISSING BOATER'S SISTER: And so I immediately went running to my parents' bedroom door and started banging on the door. They found Billy. My parents and Billy -- what?
MOORE: After nine days in the swamp, Billy Adams is found alive. Severely dehydrated to where he couldn't stand. Laying on a mud flat with a bad rash and bug bites all over his body and days after drinking swamp water.
KOBER: We gave him some water and Sprite. He was grateful for the Sprite.
MOORE: This is the area where Adams was found, very remote, only accessible by boat but it's an area that duck hunters know well.
KOBER: We absolutely never fished here before. We had duck hunted there one time and we just decided to go back to that spot.
MOORE: Adams told family members that strong winds Thursday morning pushed his flat-bottom boat into shallow swamp water, leaving the boat stuck in the mud. Sheriff's deputies say he floated on an empty gas tank to the area where fisherman found him.
K. ADAMS: Exhausting every lead that we come up with and track him down and just praying that he was found. And when my grandma called me this morning and said, they found my daddy, alive, I was just so happy.
MOORE: Now friends change the sign outside of Adam's camp to "Boater found" and this fisherman reflects on a trip like no another.
KOBER: That made our fishing trip; I have to admit that is going to be one of the best fishing trips ever.
MOORE: Even without ever catching a single fish.
In St. Charles Parrish, Katie Moore, eyewitness news, Nightwatch.
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WHITFIELD: Well Billy Adams son Keith whom you saw on that piece now joins us on the phone from Liling, Louisiana. Keith, you're all breathing a sigh of relief. How is your dad doing?
KEITH ADAMS, BILLY ADAMS SON, (via telephone): Doing wonderful. Mentally he's a 100 percent, physically, he's getting back, he's lost a lot of weight and -- but he's ready to go back home. And when I say home, that's out on the canal on Whiskey Canal.
WHITFIELD: Why did I think you were going to say that? That he still has an interest of getting out and fishing again?
K. ADAMS: That's his house. That's his home. He's dreamed his whole life to live on the water and he's living his dream.
WHITFIELD: Wow, so in that piece, we heard that he had to drink swamp water in order to stay alive. What else is he telling you about how he managed to stay alive for nine days lost?
K. ADAMS: All he had left was in his boat at the time, some people -- weeks before took a few things. He took a screwdriver and broke out of the deck and the bottom of the boat, burnt it during the cold nights. He had a rain jacket to keep the moisture, rain off of him. And pictures, he had a few of pictures of the family and just -- and the family kept him going, he said.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
K. ADAMS: Kept him alive and we really -- we want to thank Roland David and Chuck Kober out of Canon, Louisiana. They're heroes, they're my heroes. They saved my father. We want to thank St. Charles Parrish Hospital, they are wonderful, and they got my daddy back.
WHITFIELD: It is remarkable. The fishermen helped spot him and get him to safety. So come on, Keith, be real with me. Was there a moment when you thought there is no way nobody will find my dad alive?
K. ADAMS: I never lost doubt.
WHITFIELD: No.
K. ADAMS: I never lost doubt. We have leads. He had a previous head injury. We thought he might make it to where he was headed and he hit his head. No one found the boat. So we always thought something happened but people spotted a guy who looked like him. I talked to a dozen of people in the last week. From the flyers they passed out, we were tracking leads down. We thought it was him just wandering around, didn't know who he was; he has a previous head injury like I said. And actually he was ten, 15 minutes from his house. When no one was, I guess, should say looking. Because I just don't know why. We all tried, everyone. I think everyone out there that looked for him and it was god. God brought him back to us. It was a miracle.
WHITFIELD: Well Keith Adams, we're so happy for you and your dad and the rest of the family. And speedy recovery to your dad, Billy Adams. Keith Adams, thanks for your time and all the best.
K. ADAMS: Thank you very much. Thank you. Bye.
WHITFIELD: We want to bring you some live pictures right now heading very far south, south of America in Bogotá, Colombia, where right now you're seeing new images that we're just getting in of the protest between or the clashes that is between demonstrators who were expected to hold peaceful demonstrations just about a mile away from the presidential palace where President Bush as well as the Columbian President Uribe would be meeting but you see it didn't turn out to be a very peaceful protest. It ended up with demonstrators clashing with police there.
Now just a mile away, you're now seeing live pictures of the two presidents there meeting and apparently the topic of conversation were to be about the continual trade agreements between the U.S. and Colombia as well as President Bush would be applauding President Uribe on their efforts to try to curb narcotics and narcotic's terrorism taking place there in Colombia, a huge colossal undertaking. We'll continue to dip in as soon as anymore information becomes available.
Meantime, a short time ago, French President Jacques Chirac announced he will not run for a third term in office. The 74-year-old Chirac has been a thorn in President Bush's side. Refusing to send French troops to Iraq and generally serving as a global lightning rod against Bush administration policies. CNN's Richard Roth looks back at the rocky relationship.
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RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A political voila for Jacques Chirac after 12 years in office the president of France told his nation in a prime-time speech he will not run again.
JACQUES CHIRAC, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (via translator): The moments have come from me to serve you in a different way. I am not going to stand again for president. With a different way but with the same enthusiasm and with the same passion that I have. I will continue to fight for justice, for progress, for peace and for the (INAUDIBLE) of France.
ROTH: Americans will best remember Chirac for his refusal to join the U.S. against Saddam Hussein in 2003. Chirac said Iraq did not pose an immediate threat. Few on this side of the Atlantic agreed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This wine represents never spilled for freedom.
ROTH: And who could forget freedom fries? Astronomic fiery aimed at a French leader who once served up (INAUDIBLE) at a Howard Johnson in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1953. Relations were icy for a while with President Bush.
SIMON SERFATY, CTR. FOR STRATEGIC AND INTL. STUDIES: Both of them were sure of themselves, dominant and potentially domineering, which brought about this kind of a clash, which was a clash of the personalities.
ROTH: Quite a change from the harmony between France and the U.S. after 9/11. When a French newspaper said, today we're all Americans.
CHIRAC: I had a lot of things in my house to be saved for the solidarity with the Americans and the New Yorkers. Thank you.
ROTH: These days, some of that solidarity has returned with posing nuclear terrorism and nuclear arms.
JOHN BOLTON, FMR. U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N: There were plenty of occasions however where we were able to work together with the French under Chirac because of another French characteristic and that's a cold-blooded realism when critical French interests were at stake.
ROTH: A man of hearty appetites Chirac was known as the bulldozer but he wasn't able to overcome criticism at home.
The two presidents now have something else in common; they're both riding extremely low in public approval polls.
Richard Roth, CNN, New York.
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WHITFIELD: And now also in New York, the fallout from 9/11, serious illnesses seen in New Yorkers who return to dusty apartments after the terror attacks.
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WHITFIELD: And this just in, we're keeping an eye on the situation at Los Angeles International Airport. You're looking at live pictures right there as officials there on the ground, await a Boeing 737 that might have some problems with its flaps. It was scheduled to land in San Diego and then apparently it was diverted to LAX. Now we understand that it has successfully landed there at LAX. It's obviously not in our purview right now but we're continuing to work on any kind of pictures about that emergency landing-taking place. But so far as we know, it turned out to be a successful landing. That's good news. We'll keep you posted.
Meantime, post 9/11, there was a big push to get residents to move back to lower Manhattan. Well many did and now some are complaining about health issues.
Jim Acosta explores what is that issue.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How has your breathing been?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Augusto Melendez can pinpoint the day his breathing troubles began. It was the day he was caught in a dust cloud on 9/11. The shock to his lungs left him with persistent coughing fits.
AUGUSTO MELENDEZ, LOWER MANHATTAN RESIDENT: When I start coughing, I feel like I'm going to pass out.
ACOSTA: But he's finally getting treatment at New York's Bellevue Hospital in a fast-growing program devoted to World Trade Center related illnesses. Unlike studies on police officers and firefighters, the Bellevue initiative zeros in on residents and workers who returned to dusty apartments and offices after 9/11. Since city officials pumped millions of dollars into the program last fall, the number of patients has doubled to 1,000, with another 400 a waiting list.
DR. JOAN REIBMAN, WTC ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH CTR: The program is growing because we had a program that was not funded for many years.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So this is an image of a cat scan .
ACOSTA: The director of the WTC Environmental Health Center, Dr. Joan Reibman showed us an image of a lung that was exposed to the toxic dust and the abnormality therein white that followed. An extreme case of a problem that doctors are still trying to understand.
REIBMAN: There is no World Trade Center tests, so we can't be absolutely sure but when we see clusters of people who were presenting with similar-type symptoms it make it's it suggests that there's a relationship or an association.
ACOSTA: Despite a growing need to know more, 5 1/2 years later, New York has yet to receive any federal funding to research these illnesses and city residents. Residents note it was the Environmental Protection Agency that said just days just after 9/11, the air was safe to breathe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, if there is any good news out of all of this, it is everything that we've tested for, which includes asbestos, lead and VOCs have been below any level of concern for the general public health.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We trusted what she said.
ACOSTA: After two bouts of pneumonia, lower Manhattan resident Tom Goodkind tapes over the vents in his apartment because he worries his building's ventilation system still needs to be scrubbed clean. Washington he says must do more.
TOM GOODKIND, LOWER MANHATTAN RESIDENT: And we're looking for somebody to put on his or her hands around the entire area and say, darn it, go and get tested and want you to be continually get test throughout your lives because of -- because of what occurred on 9/11.
ACOSTA: The EPA is offering a test and clean program for lower Manhattan residents to check their buildings for contaminants but people like Goodkind say it's not enough. It's about better understanding the effects of 9/11. That are still leading New Yorkers to seek help all these years later.
Jim Acosta, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Straight ahead, wildfires in southern California. Jacqui Jeras is watching them.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, the fire conditions very bad, Fredricka, with strong winds and very low humidity and near record heat. We'll have the latest on that.
And also flooding problems, just the opposite in the Pacific Northwest, the forecast is coming up.
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WHITFIELD: Not convinced what Santa Ana winds and fire can do? Take a look at these pictures just now coming in out of Orange County. You are looking at the backyard of a house that is now being threatened by serious flames right there with firefighters doing their darndest to try to protect the home. Jacqui Jeras is in the Weather Center. Orange County we're talking about, right?
JERAS: Anaheim Hills area and this is right here in the highway if you know that area. This one neighborhood has been evacuated from what we understand from the Orange County fire authority and there you can see those pictures. And look at those flames just shooting up there and you can see the debris. Some ashes and maybe parts of some of the trees and bushes coming out of there from the strong winds that are really fanning the flames. We have a combination of weather factors really driving the fires today. Not only the Santa Ana winds but also its very not southern California today. In fact in Anaheim Hills, 94 degrees is the temperature on the thermometer at this hour. The humidity, at critical levels is only 5 percent, that's nothing. That's like having just there's no moisture in the air whatsoever. And with that fire and those strong winds that just sucks up any moisture available at all.
The winds have been strong throughout the day. Hear here you can see the location of the fire there, you can see the Los Angeles area here. The winds are coming out of the north and east and to the teens now. But we're seeing gusts beyond that up to 30 miles per hour. So at this hour, the gusts this morning was much, much stronger. They were even up strong, almost hurricane strength in fact, up to 73 miles per hour. The highest wind gusts that we've seen so far this morning. So with winds like that and the vegetation's all dried out. You get any kind of little spark. We know at least 150 acres have burned thus far. Expecting more of that, at least 200 personnel on the scene. They're fighting this, on the ground if you could see those firefighters there. But also by air, there's at least two choppers dropping the chemical retardant and trying to put out the flames today so tough going. We're very concerned that that fire threat continuing throughout the day. Not just today but throughout tomorrow. All the red that you see on the map here is where temperatures are in the 80s and the 90s. Temperatures are way above average and near records, maybe even some records broken here this afternoon.
And that is going to continue to be a concern over the next couple of days. We've got high pressure, a big dome of it covering much of the southwestern United States and until that high-pressure ridge budges, we're going to continue to see this problem throughout the week. In fact our weather pattern doesn't look like it is going to be bringing in any moisture. This is also an area that's very deprived in terms of the rainfall. In fact downtown Los Angeles, their driest rain season thus far. They have only seen about 2.5 inches, Fredricka, since July 1st.
WHITFIELD: My gosh.
JERAS: That's just incredible.
WHITFIELD: Very, very dry. Together with that heat, oh boy. All right, thanks so much, Jacqui.
Much more of THE NEWSROOM straight ahead.
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