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Virginia Tech Shootings; Blue Angel Crash; Severe Weather in the Midwest
Aired April 22, 2007 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Back to class. Students return to Virginia Tech almost a week after the massacre on campus.
High winds, hail and even a tornado. Severe storms hit the heartland and there could be more in store.
And a display of aerial acrobatics goes horribly wrong. What caused one of the Navy's Blue Angels to crash? The news unfolding live this Sunday, April 22nd. I'm Fredericka Whitfield and you are in THE NEWSROOM.
At this hour we are awaiting identification of that Blue Angels pilot who crashed yesterday. A formal announcement is expected in the next few minutes.
And as we await that, we're joined by Joshua Levs who has been looking into the investigation out of Beaufort, South Carolina.
JOSHUA LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. It's really tough news for a lot of people. And everyone always look forward to. They were expecting as many as 100,000 people to be there yesterday and, unfortunately, many became witness to this tragedy.
As Fred said we don't know his name yet. We do know that the pilot involved here, we're told he was with the Navy for 11 years, and he's been with the Blue Angels for two years, and also this marks the first time since 1999 that a member of the Blue Angels has had a fatal crash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS (voice-over): The missing man formation marking the loss of a Navy pilot who had joined its elite aerial demonstration team. The ceremony comes as investigators try to piece together what happened.
The air show Saturday appeared to be going beautifully. The Blue Angels were in perfect formation putting on the kind of demonstration that's made them legendary for over 50 years and then near the end of the show, this.
In CNN I-Report video sent to us by a spectator Theresa Richardson you see one of the six jets topple through the air and spiral downward and then a huge plume of smoke rising to the sky. People from another vantage point saw something very bright.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I seen this big old fireball going across the sky and I said, hey, that ain't in the show.
LEVS: Buzz Henry (ph) ended up finding and leading authorities to the pilot's body near a pond. Chunks of the F-18 Hornet had crashed into homes. Officials say eight structures were damaged and some people were hurt.
CAPT. SARAH KANSTEINER, U.S. MARINE CORPS: According to officials on scene, eight individuals were injured. According to the best of our knowledge these injuries can be described as non-life-threatening.
LEVS: How did it happen? We can't see it but a military source says the jet clipped a pine spree during a sharp turn at the end of the exhibition. Officials have no public comment while an investigation is conducted.
KANSTEINER: I can't confirm anything about the cause of the crash at this time.
WILLIAM WINN, BEAUFORT COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: This is difficult for us. Beaufort County is a close-knit community with our military friends and neighbors.
LEVS: Authorities decided the show must go on but without the blue angels, and it did, giving spectators a chance to celebrate the magic of flight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS (on camera): And as I mentioned earlier, this is the first time since 1999 that there's been any fatal crash involving any member of the Blue Angels, but actually, Fred, that was in a training session. It's been since 1985 that there's been a crash during an aerial show.
WHITFIELD: They have an incredible track record and in the meantime we understand this pilot, even though we're awaiting the official notification of his identity, that his family was in the audience.
LEVS: They were there along with the spectators. That much we do know. We are allowed to say already, that his family was there.
Remember, they go to a lot of these shows and these tricks that they do are called death-defying. We're talking about some of the best pilots that there are and what that means is that there's always going to be risks and yeah, Fred, very often you have the families there watching, and it means sometimes they will be there, unfortunately, to witness this happening.
WHITFIELD: So sad, a huge community in mourning still. Thanks so much, Josh.
LEVS: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: Well, millions of people have watched the Blue Angels. The elite team was born at the end of World War II and shows no signs of slowing down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD (voice-over): Fifty-one years, that's how long the Navy's elite aerial demonstration team has been thrilling air show crowds around the world, looping, rolling, roaring in formation, inches apart, just over the heads of 15 million thrilled air show fans a year.
Remarkably, though, given the difficulty and danger of these stunts, the number of Blue Angel crashes is low. Before Saturday's crash in South Carolina, the last Blue Angel fatal accident happened almost eight years ago during a training flight in Georgia. The last fatal crash during an air show, 1985, 27 years ago.
All of these thrills, these risky maneuvers, these death-defying stunts, they have one main purpose, recruiting. Air shows bring people, lots of them, watching the navy's coolest pilots, flying the coolest jets, in hopes of a rush on recruiting offices.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD (on camera): And according to the U.S. Navy, the Blue Angels have performed for more than 420 million fans -- rather, they have performed in front of more than 420 million fans over the past few years.
Well, memorials were held over the weekend for some of the other victims, this time Virginia Tech victims. About 1,800 people packed the church in Chantilly, Virginia to remember Reema Samaha, an 18- year-old killed sitting in French class in Norris Hall. She was remembered as a graceful and talented dancer.
And members of the Virginia Tech marching band played at a memorial in Georgia yesterday for band mate Ryan Clark. He was one of the first people shot. Clark's funeral will be held tomorrow in Augusta.
The investigation into the Virginia Tech massacre is turning to the Internet and to eBay now. Sources say the gunman Seung-Hui Cho may have used online resources to help carry out his deadly rampage. CNN's Brianna Keilar joins us now from the Virginia Tech campus with more details on that.
Brianna?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hi there, Fred.
Court records show that investigators are seeking records connected to an e-mail account and also an eBay account U.S. that may have been used by Seung-Hui Cho to purchase ammunition online.
Now a CNN search of a transaction info connected to this eBay account I.D, blazers5505 shows a March 22 purchase of two standard ten-round magazines for a .22 caliber handgun that matches exactly one of the handguns Cho used in the shooting here on Norris Hall on Monday.
Now that eBay profile information shows the user of blazers5505 listed at the residence at Blacksburg, Virginia. Meanwhile, here on campus and also across that nation, of course, but right here at Virginia Tech people continue to mourn today.
Today hundreds of students gathered for a nondenominational Christian service here on campus at the Student Center and one of the topics that they discussed was the need to reach out to the family of Seung- Hui Cho.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATIE PEPIOT, VIRGINIA TECH STUDENT: His family didn't tell him to go do this. Like this is a choice that this person has made, and I think for us not to love his family is just a huge error. I think we need to be there for them, and I know it hurts to think about forgiveness so soon, and I don't know that people are ready to talk about forgiveness quite yet but I think what Chris said up front about we need to make our decision right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Many students told me they are really looking forward to going back to school tomorrow when classes reconvene even though they know it's going to be very difficult. They say being around each other and going to this Sunday service like they do most weekends has really meant a lot and has really been able to help them recover and even though things aren't normal, that say it's good for them to be doing normal things and that includes going back to school tomorrow. Fred?
WHITFIELD: And at that memorial service, I understand, Brianna, there were some special guests today.
KEILAR: That's right. There were. There were three students from Columbine High School. Really when we asked them why they were there and the message they were trying to send, they said when you're in the midst of something like this, you have a feeling that you are not going to be able to get out of it and they were there to show these students that they are a living testament to the fact that there's light at the end of the tunnel and they can persevere and get through this.
WHITFIELD: All right. Brianna Keilar. Thanks so much, at Virginia Tech.
Meantime tragedy upon tragedy. Virginia Tech freshman Jeff Soriano survived the massacre at Virginia Tech only to die in a car accident over the weekend. Soriano was killed Friday when his car struck another vehicle in Norfolk.
Soriano's father says he was almost hit in the campus shootings and was lucky to escape, but he was so shaken up by the incident he asked his parents to come pick him up and take him home and then this.
The annual White House correspondents' dinner is usually full of fun and laughs but President Bush tock a more somber tone last night because of the Virginia Tech tragedy. Coming up in about seven minutes from now Elaine Quijano will join us with more details on that. And you can see also Tony Snow made his appearance, too. He's still undergoing treatment for his cancer.
Meantime, later, tonight CNN is honoring the students and instructors killed at Virginia Tech. Beginning at 7:00 p.m. Eastern AMERICAN MORNING's Kieran Chetry will host 32 lives to remember, a look back at the victims of the worst campus shooting in U.S. history.
And from Texas to South Dakota they are cleaning up from some pretty stormy weekend weather.
Take a look at this. This is Randall County, Texas yesterday. One minute there was golf-ball sized hill and the next funnel clouds. The National Weather Service has sent out teams to confirm how many tornadoes hit the panhandle.
And a twister also hit western Nebraska Friday night, ripping up some farm communities and injuring several people.
Two small Texas towns took the brunt of the bad weather last night. Tulia and Cactus, Texas are both near Amarillo and you're about to see video of a tornado touching down in Cactus where at last report some 50 people were still unaccounted for. Fourteen people were reported injured, two of them seriously.
Later in Tulia the storm blew into town there destroying a dozen homes and businesses and about 300 people took cover in shelters. Local officials say they are worried about the condition of low-income housing after the storm.
A huge wildfire in South Georgia has burned 10,000 acres in just the last 24 hours alone. Officials say the blaze has consumed more than 45,000 acres in all, and it's only 35 percent contained.
Lighter winds are pushing the fire away from the town of Waycross, but residents in two smaller communities are now in its path, and they have been put on alert for possible evacuations.
Let's check in with Jacqui Jeras for severe weather all across the map. Either too much wind, too much rain, too much wind, certainly too dry in other areas.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: All right. We're bracing for that. Thanks so much, Jacqui.
Well, in Washington, DC, the annual White House correspondents' dinner was held last night. Our Elaine Quijano was there.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy, it was a more reflective tone at this year's annual dinner. I'm Elaine Quijano live at the White House. I'll have details coming up. WHITFIELD: Also ahead, a former Bush insider in the hot seat. New revelations and even more pressure on Paul Wolfowitz to step down as World Bank chief.
And you'd better not mess with this lady here. A former Miss America. Well she is packing heat and she's not afraid to use it. Find out more in 10 minutes from now.
You're in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Live pictures right now of the White House or at least a second ago. Well, last night it was dinner, celebrity-filled crowd and plenty of jokes. Well, that's usually the typical rundown at the White House correspondents' dinner, but it also was tinged with a little bit of a somber moment or two as well. Elaine Quijano was among the guests who were there dining. Elaine, what was it like?
QUIJANO: Hello to you, Fredricka. It really started sort of at the outset of the dinner. Once everyone was seated there was actually a moment of silence right at the outset in memory of the victims of the Virginia Tech tragedy, so everyone took pause right off the top, and then the editor of the Virginia Tech school student newspaper actually came out on the dais and her name is Amie Steele.
She had only been on the job three weeks when the shootings happened and the Correspondents' Association, by the way, gave the paper a $5,000 grant. Well, Amie Steele went ahead and led us all in a chant, a "Let's go Hokies" chant, it was quite a nice moment.
There were some lighter moments as well. Comedian David Letterman actually sent a videotaped message, this was a lot of fun, it was top 10 George W. Bush moments and Letterman himself said he couldn't make it because, of course, Saturdays are yoga nights for him so he couldn't make it and comedian Rich Little was also there, he of course was the featured entertainer. He got some laughs for his impersonations, but President Bush decided that he would not tell any jokes himself.
The president said that in light of how tough a week it was emotionally he decided that he wouldn't do that. There really was certainly a different feel to the event this year, Fredericka, than in past years.
WHITFIELD: And oftentimes what makes these dinners so special, too, are the guests that are there in attendance along with the correspondents, and this time the folks were really super pleased to see at least one guest that walked in.
QUIJANO: Yeah, absolutely, that's right. For the first time since his surgery last month White House press secretary Tony Snow surprised the crowd. Snow came in, his first public appearance coming out on to the dais there and for as rough and tumble as Washington politics can be, everybody basically united and jumped to their feet and gave Tony Snow a standing ovation. He, of course, learned last month that his cancer has returned, but he took a few moments to speak at the podium. He thanked people for all their support. He urged people to lend a hand to others who need help, and he said that he is looking forward to getting back behind a podium in a briefing room.
He didn't say when, but certainly I know my colleagues and I share in that. We would love to see him back perhaps and engage in some sparring once again.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, he looks good. He looks strong. That's encouraging. Elaine, thanks so much.
QUIJANO: Mm-hmm.
WHITFIELD: Meantime, memorials for Virginia Tech's victims seem to be spanning the globe. American and coalition soldiers in Afghanistan took a moment to remember the 32 lost lives. These are photos from the Farah (ph) Provincial Reconstruction Team that held a service Friday morning.
The team's commander is a graduate of Virginia Tech.
In memory of the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings cnn.com has created a tribute page. We invite you to share your thoughts, your pictures and your video. Friends of Ryan Clark say the 22-year-old student "was a gift in the lives of the people who met him."
In this video tribute a fellow band member said Ryan was one of those guys who was everyone's good friend. Graduate student Julia Pryde was interested in biological engineering. She traveled to Ecuador last summer to study water quality issues and a friend of her writes "she was all about making the earth a better place."
Daniel Perez Cueva loved soccer and swimming. He spoke four languages. A friend said "he had a beautiful smile that would brighten up anyone's day and a wonderful sense of humor."
That's Professor Kevin Granata, a former student sent this video of Granata teaching in Norris Hall in 2003. He was considered one of the top five biomechanics researchers in the country, working on movement dynamics and cerebral palsy.
And now the military has just released the name of the Blue Angels pilot killed in yesterday's crash. His name, Lieutenant Commander Kevin Davis. He joined the Blue Angels in September of 2005.
Davis also flew in the war in Iraq, and he is a graduate of the Navy's Top Gun flight school. We'll have much more on Lieutenant Commander Kevin Davis' his career and the crash a little bit later on in this newscast.
Meantime, some good news on New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine. He's finally able to talk with his family and the hospital staff. Doctors took out his breathing tube on Friday, eight days after Corzine was badly injured in a car accident. He remains in critical but stable condition.
And somebody is really sorry today for messing with the wrong lady.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I shot one, and it didn't go down. I heard it go whoosh and flatten out but it didn't do that. They are not made that way again so I shot it gun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Granny's got a gun, and she knows how to use it. All the details when we talk to her in about five minutes from now.
Plus a Mets fan might face prison time and a hefty fine for a not-so- bright idea. That full story still ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: News across America now.
A high note for musicians who lost nearly everything in Hurricane Katrina thanks in part to the band U-2 which donated a number of items for an auction that helped raise nearly $2.5 million. It will help many of those musicians recover a lot of what was lost.
Sunglasses signed by singer Bono pulled in $20,000, and an autographed guitar from U2's the Edge fetched nearly a quarter million dollars.
And new details in the crash of a small plane yesterday in the Florida Keys. Authorities say three people are dead after the plane they were in hit a guide wire for a government-owned blimp.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: Never again! Never again!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And counter-demonstrators outnumbered the organizers and participants of a neo-Nazi rally held in South Carolina's capital city yesterday. Illegal immigration was the focus of the march, and police report one man was arrested for allegedly throwing an egg.
The bright lights of the Big Apple take on a whole new meaning with the arrest of a Mets baseball man. Forty-year-old Frank Martinez is charged with interfering with a sporting event and reckless endangerment for allegedly shining a flashlight at two Atlanta Brave players during Friday night's game. He faces up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine if convicted.
Two men President Bush trusts now under a lot of pressure to resign. Can World Bank chief Paul Wolfowitz and attorney general Alberto Gonzales hold on to their posts? Our report in about 10 minutes from now.
Plus, a closer look at the aftermath of that Blue Angels crash yesterday straight ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back. I'm Fredericka Whitfield.
Military investigators are looking into yesterday's fatal Blue Angels plane crash in South Carolina. The jet was performing at an air show in Beaufort when it went down clipping a tree and spreading debris over a residential neighborhood.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM WINN, DIR. BEAUFORT CO. EMERGENCY UNIT: We are asking residents once again to please stay out of the area. Please do not pick up any of the debris as the investigation is beginning this morning and will continue throughout the day and into tomorrow morning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: I-reporter Theresa Richards captured these images of the air show. The jet in the highlighted circle appears to be the one that plummeted to the tree line. Despite the tragedy, the show is going on today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. SARAH KANSTEINER, MARINE CORPS PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER: After careful consideration and consultation with local officials and commanders and with the support of the Blue Angels, the 2007 MCA Beaufort Air Show will continue as scheduled today. However, the Blue Angels will not perform. We will begin today's air show with an appropriate tribute to the fallen pilot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN i-reporter Fred Yelenek captured these images of the planes wreckage. Several homes were damaged by the debris and several people were hurt as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KANSTEINER: According to officials on scene eight individuals were injured. According to reports and to the best of our knowledge these injuries can be characterized as non-life-threatening. Officials at the scene are reporting damage to eight total structures on the ground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And today we learned the name of the Blue angels pilot killed in the crash, Lieutenant Commander Kevin Davis, joined the team in September of 2005. The Massachusetts native received his initial pilot training at the naval air station in Corpus Christi, Texas and he picked up advanced flight training at the Naval Air Station in Meridian, Mississippi. Davis flew missions in the North Arabian Sea and in the war in Iraq. He is a graduate of the Navy's Fighter Weapons School made popular in the movie "Top Gun." He had accumulated more than 2,500 flight hours.
The accident stunned the thousands of spectators at the Blue Angels performance, and as we mentioned the air show resumed today, but the program was adjusted to pay tribute to Davis. Our Nicole Lapin brings us the latest from Beaufort.
NICOLE LAPIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm at the Beaufort County Air Show. The show went on but not quite as expected. There was a missing man formation, the first one for the Blue Angels in ten years and they played, "Taps," remembering one of their own, Lieutenant Commander Kevin Davis, a pilot that died in Saturday's crash, a an 11-year veteran of the navy and a member of the Blue Angels for two years. Thousands of people came out on the second day of the show. Many to enjoy those flips and those turns, and many more with a lot of questions about the day before when a six-plane formation tragically ended with just five. Military sources say the plane crashed after it clipped some trees on a sharp turn towards the end of their formation, but the investigation continues.
Nicole Lapin, CNN, Beaufort, South Carolina.
WHITFIELD: The top Democratic presidential candidates are zeroing in on a politically critical state, Iowa, which hosts the first caucuses of the 2008 primary season. Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and Former Senator John Edwards are all campaigning in the Hawkeye state this weekend.
Senator Clinton says if she is elected president, she would put her husband on the road. She says the former president would make a good roaming ambassador who can help patch up America's image. And GOP presidential hopefuls were courting Carolina this weekend. Republican parties in three South Carolina counties held conventions and conducted polls yesterday. In the straw poll in Richland County, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney finished first with more than 39 percent, followed by Kansas Senator Sam Brownback and Rudy Giuliani was next followed by Arizona Senator John McCain. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee tied McCain with just over 10 percent of the vote.
President Bush standing behind two old friends today. The question is can he stand his ground with his own Republicans tossing javelins?
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in hot water over those fired federal prosecutors. World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz under investigation for engineering a high-paying job for his girlfriend. One says he did nothing wrong, the other admits he did, but both are insisting they will not resign.
For now Wolfowitz appears to be hanging on, but that could all change. Our Zain Verjee reports on a new twist to that story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): More allegations of corruption against World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz. The former number two at the Pentagon is now accused of personally recommending his girlfriend, Shaha Rizza for a defense department contract in Iraq against bank rules. The Pentagon inspector general inquiry says Wolfowitz did nothing wrong but the World Bank board is investigating. It's only adding to the firestorm. Wolfowitz is already been accused of helping promote his girlfriend and giving her a plum salary. World Bank staffers, even one of his own top deputies want him out saying the scandal is a distraction and scars the bank's reputation
ALISON CAVE, WORLD BANK STAFF ASSN: We have to be an example. We can't go and preach one thing and do another, and so this is how we handle this crisis I think is going to affect our credibility in the years to come.
VERJEE: The crisis has exploded into an all-out indictment on Wolfowitz' leadership. Insiders say he froze out qualified staffers and used his own inexperienced advisors to make critical decisions. Wolfowitz is promising to change his management style, but the architect of the Iraq war seems to have lost the trust of his staff.
KENNETH ROGOFF, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Had the incident over his girlfriend come to light earlier, he'd been more transparent and had he not been in such a weak position he might have weathered it, but when you put it all together, I don't think he really can survive this.
VERJEE: Wolfowitz says he has no plans to step down. He says he will welcome any decision the board makes.
Zain Verjee, CNN at the State Department.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Up until last week Venus Ramey's biggest claim to fame was her 1944 Miss America win, the first redhead to wear the crown, but the 82-year-old is now back in the spotlight, this time after she stopped a couple of suspected metal thieves with some cold hard lead of her own.
VENUS RAMEY, MISS AMERICA 1944: They said, oh, well, if you'll get out of our way we'll just leave and I said oh, no you won't and I shot two shots in one of their tires.
WHITFIELD: So Lincoln County, Kentucky deputies say they nabbed one of the burglars. The other got away, and this isn't the first time Venus Ramey has successfully defended her home and property. She stopped another would-be thief a couple years back, and we got such a kick out of this story that we had to talk to Miss Ramey so she joins us on the phone from her farm in beautiful Waynesburg, Kentucky. Ms. Ramey glad you could be with us.
RAMEY: I'm glad to be here.
WHITFIELD: You take no prisoners, and you reacted rather quickly. You were ready for anybody who was up to no good on your property.
RAMEY: Yes. I was raised to protect myself and I always have, but the first thing I would like to do is take the people all over the country for the encouragement and support they have given in this.
WHITFIELD: We love that things turned out in your favor. When you saw that these folks were on your property, what were your instincts telling you about what they were up to and why is it that you turned to get your gun right away?
RAMEY: Oh, I had a group of machinery that had -- that some of them were over 100 years old. They were used to manufacture things all during the 20th century. I wanted to make a museum out of it, so that young people could see what, you know, the ingenuity and innovation that 20th century people had, and they have been stealing from me for over a year. This is just the first time I've stopped them.
WHITFIELD: So were you packing a weapon in your walker?
RAMEY: No, the walker had nothing to do with it. I don't know how that got in. I was feeding my animals outside, my dogs, and they picked up their ears all of a sudden and ran over to this shop that is some distance from the house across the road so I went into the house and got my gun and got in my pickup truck and drove over there. Sure enough there was an SUV with the trailer in the back and I drove up close to it so they couldn't get out and I got out and said what are you people doing here and the man said he was taking apart one of the machineries and he said we're scrapping, and I said well you -- they said if you get your truck out of the way we'll go and I said oh, no you won't and I shot one of the tires and then I went and got the police and I backed to the highway and started flagging people down to see who had cell phones and I found three different cars.
WHITFIELD: Miss Ramey, weren't you worried about after shooting at their wheels, their tires, weren't you afraid of what they were capable of next, whether they would bring you any personal harm and what would you do with these guys?
RAMEY: I had the gun. I had the gun.
WHITFIELD: Oh, well, good point. So they were afraid of you, in other words?
RAMEY: Yes, they better be.
WHITFIELD: That's right. Then you were able to get some other help before the police came.
RAMEY: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Made an arrest of one but still one other guy got away.
RAMEY: There was a woman involved, too. I hadn't seen her. I saw the two men, one man and a woman abandoned them and they started walking down the street over another place and the police caught them though. Two people came and stayed with me. WHITFIELD: Okay.
RAMEY: They solved my problem. They parked with me and stayed there. One of them saw the people walking down the street and they told policemen when they came.
WHITFIELD: Miss Ramey, we're glad that you took matters into your own hands and nobody got hurt, just very frightened and they know who not to mess with next time.
RAMEY: I hope so.
WHITFIELD: That is right. You take care. Miss Venus Ramey thanks so much for joining us from Kentucky.
RAMEY: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Well also on this Earth Day weekend our Bonnie Schneider is putting a green spin on home improvements.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm Bonnie Schneider. If you're looking to renovate your home, now you can make changes that are not only good for the environment but they can also save you money. I'll show you how coming up on CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Time now to go global with headlines from around the world. That sound of gunfire is still in the streets of Somalia's capital. Somali insurgents are battling it out with Ethiopian troops backing Somali government forces. The fight has been raging for five days now. A human rights group says at least 47 people were killed today, and that brings the total death toll in the last two weeks to 212 there.
The top U.S. commander in Iraq is giving a mixed report on the administration's new war strategy. In the "Washington Post" General David Petraeus says the recent troop surge in Iraq is achieving, quote, modest progress, but he says there are also setbacks, particularly a dramatic increase in the number of suicide bombings.
And Australian officials have called off the search for three men missing off the Great Barrier Reef. Their catamaran was found Wednesday with no one on board. Police believe the men were swept off the boat when it hit rough seas a week ago. Experts say there's little to no chance that the men are still alive.
And France's presidential race is now down to just two candidates, and they are on complete opposite sides of the political fence. Conservative Candidate Nicolas Sarkozy has finished first and socialist Segolene Royal came in second. The two will face off in a runoff election May 6.
In honor of Earth Day, we're looking at ways people are improving the environment close to home and more and more homeowners are going green to lower their utility bills. Here now is Bonnie Schneider with some tips.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHNEIDER (voice over): Brenda Gallagher says her family was considering a move but was caught in a weak housing market.
BRENDA GALLAGHER, HOME OWNER: We noticed that a couple houses in the neighborhood didn't sell for quite as much as they thought they would.
SCHNEIDER: Instead of selling their home they decided to fix the place up. She hired contractor Matt Hoots to weather seal her doors and windows and re-insulate the crawl space below her house.
GALLAGHER: This room was freezing cold and once the insulation went up it was amazing how air balanced out in the house.
SCHNEIDER: Matt specializes in earth friendly and energy efficient homes and he says buying all new windows is usually where homeowners wants to begin.
MATT HOOTS, CONTRACTOR: This can be one of the most expensive items to replace when you could just modify the windows and use weather stripping to work with your existing windows.
SCHNEIDER: He also says if you want hardwood floors consider switching to bamboo, cork or recycled wood.
HOOTS: You're not using new fresh wood and the second thing is this is not going to be in a landfill. Forty five percent of landfills are filled with waste debris from construction sites.
DAVID ELLIS, GREATER ATLANTA HOME BUILDERS ASSOCIATION: A lot of people think those types of improvements are really exotic or really expensive.
SCHNEIDER: David Ellis of the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association says making your house green is becoming mainstream and more cost effective.
ELLIS: I recently did more work on my house because we upgraded our heating and air system to a higher system we actually got $800 back through a state program.
SCHNEIDER: Many states across the country offer tax incentives for green home improvements. When you're renovating your home to make it more energy-efficient, the people in your family who may feel the difference first are those who suffer from asthma, allergies or tend to catch the common cold.
GALLAGHER: The air smells cleaner and I don't wake up in the morning with sinus problems, watery eyes and runny nose, which was a morning problem for me almost consistently. I mean for me and the kids don't have as many runny noses either.
SCHNEIDER: Contractors who study building techniques say the green home will soon become the standard and not the upgrade. ELLIS: I believe in the next five to ten years are just going to be how we do it because people are going to want that, they are going to need that to make their home an energy-efficient and also very special place to live.
SCHNEIDER: Bonnie Schneider, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: How can a dinner filled with politicians, pundits and media types be fun? Well, invite David Letterman and his infamous top ten list.
DAVID LETTERMAN, "LATE SHOW" HOST: Number seven --
WHITFIELD: Oh, that's bad, favorite George Bush moments. We'll show you what else made the list coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JACQUI JERAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello everyone, I'm Jacqui Jeras with today's allergy report. We have got a lot of allergies suffers out there from the Pacific Northwest extending through the western high Plains, down into parts of the south, even into the deep south and then yes sneaking into up the eastern sea board. Everywhere you see orange that is high pollen count and very high right up there into the northwestern tip of Washington State.
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WHITFIELD: A little glitz, a little glamour and some good-natured humor, it was all part of the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner, last night in Washington, and look at that, a nice surprise guest in the form of the White House press secretary Tony Snow who got a warm reception after surprising a lot of people there. It's his first public appearance since reviewing that he is battling cancer again. Mean time comedian Rich Little left them laughing and so did "Late Show" host David Letterman who made a videotaped appearance with the top ten list of the funniest presidential flubs. Here's his top five.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LETTERMAN: Number five.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I like to fish.
LETTERMAN: Number four.
(SHOWING VIDEO)
LETTERMAN: Number three.
(SHOWING VIDEO)
LETTERMAN: Number two. BUSH: Doing a better job of talking to each other. The left hand now knows what the right hand is doing.
LETTERMAN: And the number one favorite George W. Bush moment.
(SHOWING VIDEO)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Oh, all right. Caught. Well, more Republicans now, this is not funny actually, seem to be eager to show Alberto Gonzales the door. Senator Arlen Specter says Gonzales is harming the Justice Department by staying on this after the attorney general's widely criticized Senate testimony. CNN's Jeanne Moos looks at three words Gonzales said over and over and over and over and over.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was a long day for a guy with a short memory.
ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Senator. I don't recall. Senator, I don't recall. I do not recall. I don't recall remembering.
MOOS: To help Alberto Gonzales recall what he doesn't remember was this guy keeping score, a member of veterans Against the War he and a handful of protesters made themselves hard to forget during breaks in the hearing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fire Gonzales now!
MOOS: Yelling sarcastic comments about the attorney general's legal positions. Also keeping tabs on Gonzales' memory was "The Daily Show."
GONZALES: I can only testify as to what I recall. Senator, I don't recall. I don't recall. I firmly believe that nothing improper occurred.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But he assures you what he doesn't remember was handled properly.
MOOS: Now Gonzales didn't invent I don't recall. It's a time- dishonored tradition.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have to say I don't recall that at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just don't recall that.
GONZALES: I recall making the decision.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When?
GONZALES: Sir, I don't recall when the decision was made.
MOOS: Ha, ha, go ahead and laugh but I've personally made plenty of decisions that I recall making but I don't recall when I made them, not that I recall any examples. See, right there, two I don't recalls. So that's nowhere near Gonzales' total for the daylong hearing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seventy four times I don't recall. How did you get through law school?
MOOS: How did she get into the Senate with that getup? Free speech --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fire Gonzales right now.
MOOS: As for the guy keeping score he sure was a hit on the liberal blogs, "The man with the digits is making me swoon" and "that guy is totally hot. He can count past 50. Why the "yeah he got past 74 I don't recalls.
ADAM KOKESH, IRAQ VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR: It was actually a lot more than that, if you include the I don't knows and I'm not aware of it would have been close to 400.
MOOS: Just to refresh your memory.
GONZALES: Senator I don't recall. I have forgotten.
MOOS: Maybe it would have been less work to count these.
GONZALES: I do recall.
MOOS: At least the sign is --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unforgettable.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, and we will be getting back to the top stories in a moment, including the crash of one of the Navy's Blue Angels. We're learning more about what caused this high-flying stunt to go so horribly wrong and a different kind of crash. Do you know how safe your car would be in a collision? We've got the list of the best and the worst, and the list and much, much more coming up when THE NEWSROOM rolls on right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to walk past Norris. There's no other option and I can't even imagine what that's going to be like but I feel like I owe it to the students to go back and just finish the year out.
WHITFIELD: Next in THE NEWSROOM Virginia Tech students prepare to return to class for the first time since last week's massacre.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In light of this week's tragedy at Virginia Tech, I decided not to be funny.
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