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War Funding Fight; Tornadoes at the Border; Trooper Shootings; Rosie O'Donnell Leaves "The View"; Soldiers Patrol on Foot in Iraq

Aired April 25, 2007 - 14:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

A manhunt turns deadly in upstate New York. One state trooper is killed, another wounded.

We'll have the latest from Margaretville, where hundreds of police have a rural farmhouse surrounded.

LEMON: Plus, scenes of destruction. We're live in Eagle Pass, Texas, for an update on damage from a killer tornado.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It is the top of the hour, and we start with this story unfolding in New York. State police in New York say they have a cop killer suspect surrounded at a rural farmhouse near the town of Margaretville.

This is live pictures. You're looking at it now from our affiliate there.

The man is identified at 23-year-old Travis Trim. Now, Trim allegedly began his shooting spree yesterday when an officer approached him as he sat in his car. Now, the trooper was wearing body armor, so he wasn't badly hurt. Well, today, as a manhunt closed in, police say Trim shot two more troopers, one them fatally.

A bystander talked about the scene just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Getting away from this scene here and going over to where the helicopters are, the silence that's in this town right now is -- it's eerie, and our hearts just go out to all the troopers who are doing what they do to protect us. And I just -- it's devastating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right.

Again, live pictures. This is a house they have surrounded in New York State. They believe that man is inside of there. Roads in the area are blocked off and surveillance choppers are watching the scene.

We're going to watch this story for you, watch it unfold and see what happens. And we'll get more to you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

MALVEAUX: And more than four years after a nightclub hostess and B movie actress named Lana Clarkson was killed, the murder trial of big name record producer Phil Spector is finally under way. Opening statements just started in Los Angeles.

Now, Spector had met Clarkson just hours before she died of a gunshot wound in the foyer of his home. He says he believes it was an accidental suicide. If he's convicted of second-degree murder, he could get 15 years to life.

LEMON: The general in charge of winning the war in Iraq is fighting an uphill battle in Washington. General David Petraeus is looking for Iraq war funding, and lots of it, with no strings attached. But Democrats are dead set on a deadline for troops to start pulling out. Republicans are saying back off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN CARTER (R), TEXAS: We don't need 535 generals in Washington commanding our troops. We need the professionals. It's past time for the Democrats to do the right thing and pass a bill which funds our troops in harm's way.

Their final drop-dead date deadline that they have set is very interesting, April 1, 2008. April Fools' Day. Who are they trying to fool?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, let's go straight to Capitol Hill now and CNN's Dana Bash -- Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, what you just heard is the classic Republican argument during this incredibly heated debate, which is it is not incumbent upon the U.S. Congress politicians in Washington to decide what happens militarily on the ground in Iraq. And that is exactly why President Bush and the administration called back the top military commander in Iraq to do what he's doing as we speak, which is to brief members of Congress about what is going on, on the ground, about his somewhat new strategy, the so-called surge, or escalation in troops, to talk about the fact that as he has said publicly, we expect him to say privately, that he believes it is beginning to work, and that he needs more time. Essentially, to ask for patience, especially and almost singularly from the Democrats.

And this is coming at a critical time. This briefing in the House and then afterwards in the Senate just hours before the House votes on a plan to bring troops home starting for sure in October, and with a goal of bringing combat troops home this time next year. So what he is trying to do is just basically engage in the political debate. This is a military commander engaging in the political debate at a very important time here in the United States. And we're also told -- actually, the president himself said at the beginning of this week, Don, that he is going to make clear to members of Congress that that so-called timetable for withdrawal is a mistake for him as a commander in the field -- Don.

LEMON: Dana Bash on Capitol Hill.

Thank you so much for that.

BASH: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: And twisted metal, collapsed buildings, shattered dreams. A tornado ripped through the border city of Eagle Pass, Texas, overnight, killing at least seven people. Five were from one family whose mobile home was picked up and slammed into a nearby school.

Across the Mexican border, in Piedras Negras, more deaths, more destruction. Three people were killed by the same storm. Almost 90 others hurt. Three hundred homes damaged.

More stormy times are in the forecast today. Folks from Houston to St. Louis are bracing for everything from downpours to possible tornadoes. In southwest Texas, Border Patrol agents and National Guard troops are helping search and rescue.

CNN's Ed Lavandera joining us from Eagle Pass.

Ed, we hear the Texas governor will also be there shortly -- Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we understand he's on his way here to tour the damage here just outside of Eagle Pass. City officials here in this area asking for this county in south Texas to be declared a disaster area.

You mentioned that a family of five picked up in their mobile home, blown across the street right here, and they were blown into this elementary school which has been completely destroyed, leveled, essentially, by this tornado that whipped through here about 7:00 last night, knocking over and blowing apart this wrought iron fence that outlined the extension of the school here. So it was a devastating storm.

Many of the families in this area didn't get much time to prepare for this storm. They were warned about 15 minutes before the storm struck over cable television. There aren't any sirens that go off in this particular area of Eagle Pass. And as the tornado made its way through here, it also went -- it cut across the Rio Grande and killed three people, injuring 80 others on the Mexican side of the border here.

About 20 homes in this area were destroyed last night, about 80 people here on the U.S. side were injured and had to be treated in local hospitals. Four of those people we understand remain in critical condition.

And right now the dozens and dozens of crews that are out here working this scene are trying to go through some of the homes. There are several homes that they just haven't been able to locate yet, so they're still working on that situation, trying to make sure that there isn't anybody trapped or dead in the rubble at this point.

So, there's still a lot of work to do here. And the cleanup just now beginning. But this was a devastating storm that whipped through here with quite a bit of fury last night -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Ed, obviously a lot of people are going to be looking for assistance from the governor.

Thanks.

LEMON: And you know what? Sometimes you don't find out about this until hours and hours later, because it's in rural areas many times. Jacqui Jeras knows where all the dangerous weather is now. But it is true. I mean, hours later, our cameras will get there and we'll go, oh, my gosh, we didn't realize all this destruction.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: Of course this story developing, another one as well in upstate New York, where a trooper is dead, a state trooper is dead, believed to be killed by a gunman who's holed up in a house right now in upstate New York.

Let's take you there live. And reporter Kaitlyn Ross from our affiliate News 10 Now joins us from the scene.

What can you tell us, Kaitlyn?

KAITLYN ROSS, REPORTER, NEWS 10 NOW: Right now the house is completely surrounded. There are at least 40 troopers that are going up the Hill and then around the entire house right now.

Ambulance and medical personnel have also been at the scene all day. We've seen helicopters circling, and the entire road is completely blockaded. Absolutely no one on foot or in cars is going to be allowed to get up that Hill.

Right now we're going to speak with a resident who lives four houses down from the house that's currently being holed up right now.

What can you tell us about the house?

PAUL GARFOLO, LIVES NEAR STANDOFF: It's the second homeowners. I know they're troopers from the city. And that's all I really know. I see their kids all the time riding their four-wheelers around the lawn. But I don't really know them all that well.

ROSS: And so they won't let you back into your own house right now?

GARFOLO: No, you can't get back up Route 30. It's blocked on both ends, just for safety precautions, I would assume.

ROSS: So, as soon as that road does open back up, we'll let you know, but it looks like it's a real serious situation right now. We had some troopers come up earlier and tell us that even this vantage point was a little bit dangerous, because they don't know what type of weapons Travis Trim has in that house right now.

As soon as we have more updates we'll be bringing them to you.

LEMON: Yes. And Kaitlyn, I just have a quick question for you, because I know you're there on the scene and you're watching it all unfold. These people, many weekend homes, or people who have bought homes here to get away from the city. So I imagine this is quite surprising and unnerving for them.

What about the manpower? I understand there was a robot that went up to the -- headed towards the house shortly after 1:30 Eastern. Tell us about the manpower on the scene, how many agencies there and what's going on.

ROSS: There are a lot of agencies cooperating right now. Just when we were standing down by the blockade earlier, we saw at least 60 troopers go up there, as well as sheriff's officers and Rangers. Everybody's really patrolling around.

You have a lot of people from the community that are also lending a helping hand, too. So it's really the entire community. Like you said, it's a small town, and everybody's really pulling together. You're getting people from all over the place that are coming in to Margaretville right now to help out in whatever way they can.

LEMON: All right. Thank you so much for that report from our affiliate there in New York.

Again, that house that we were looking at live, someone is holed up in that home, believed to have killed a state trooper.

This is the man. Take a look at him.

His name is Travis Trim. He is 23 years old, shot a trooper yesterday. That trooper saved by his vest. And then again today, police came upon him and then he shot one trooper and killed a trooper as well. We don't have his identity, but it's happening in Margaretville, New York.

We're going to stay on top of this developing story in the CNN NEWSROOM, and we'll bring you -- bring it to you as events unfold -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Another story.

The top commander in Iraq seeking a war chest with no strings attached. Democrats on Capitol Hill, they are dead set on a deadline for troops to begin pulling out.

So let's bring in our military analyst, retired Brigadier General David Grange.

Thank you so much for being with us.

First and foremost, we've heard from General Petraeus. We've heard as well from Secretary Gates. Both of them saying, look, give us until the end of the summer to see if this U.S. troop surge works.

What is the difference? What's wrong with what the Democrats are proposing here when they simply say, look, we're going to start pulling out troops in October, set some benchmarks for the Iraqis, and with the goal, the hope that they can get U.S. troops out sometime next year?

BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, I believe that is the goal of everybody, Republicans, Democrats, the administration. Everybody does want to get out, there's no doubt about that. But they want to get out with conditions that are agreed upon that need to be achieved to leave with a success with this mission at some level.

If you tie it to a timeline, the timeline becomes the mission, not the conditions that are trying to be achieved. And it's really a false sense of reality of what you're trying to do over there. And obviously it helps our adversaries quite a bit.

So, that's really -- I mean, the issue is, you know, are we going to agree on -- achieve a set of conditions that enable us to leave?

MALVEAUX: But aren't essentially the Democrats essentially saying the same thing here? You've got Secretary Gates, who says, look, this is not an unending compromise here, we are not going to go in and be there forever. You have got Petraeus who is talking about the end of the summer.

It looks like everybody is talking about the same time.

GRANGE: You know, that's true. I mean, I think that they're anticipating if things continue somewhat the way they are, that that could be achieved.

You know, Petraeus' job is to provide two main set of conditions for our country and for the Iraqi people -- a safe and secure environment, so quality of life can be established and the Iraqi government can success to some level, and also train the Iraqi army and police forces to a capability that's sufficient to transfer that authority to them, where U.S. forces can come out. And Petraeus is saying, to really see a benchmark of achievement is going to take at least to the summer to measure that, and then overall it's going to take the rest of this year and part of next year.

So, yes, throwing a mark on the wall, and what they're saying is probably very close to being the same. But I'm totally personally against setting that mark, because war does not go by time. MALVEAUX: So, General, so what does Petraeus need to say? What does he need to tell members of Congress today to say, look, hold off, be patient, take this timeline out of the bill, just go straight with funding? How can he convince them?

GRANGE: Look, this is probably the last chance. I think the will of the American people has gone its course much more than another year or two. I mean, it just -- I just -- I think most people feel that way.

And Petraeus knows those two conditions I just described, a safe and secure environment and training Iraqi forces, are preconditions to make this happen. And he's saying, look, we've committed a surge, I've only got part of the surge over there. It's being partly successful in different areas of Baghdad and Anbar province, it's being successful in training these forces. Give me now that time and those resources for success. If you cut me off at the knees now, there's no way, we just might as well go home tomorrow.

MALVEAUX: General Grange, let's take a quick listen to what Petraeus said just days ago.

GRANGE: All right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, MULTINATIONAL FORCE, IRAQ: Clearly, these sensational attacks can't be anything other than viewed as setbacks and challenges. And it does show that the enemy has a vote, and the enemy in this case, al Qaeda, clearly is intent on trying to re-ignite sectarian violence and on trying to derail the Baghdad security plan. And I think the Iraqi leaders and the coalition leaders have shown the determination to give back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So that's General Petraeus in Iraq giving the assessment there, but we've heard from the U.N., the human rights report saying that things are getting worse. And also, the Iraqi government now not releasing casualty figures.

So how do we really know what the situation is like on the ground, how bad it really is?

GRANGE: Yes. And we're not going to know everything, obviously. The reporting -- the Human Rights Watch is going to report stuff a little bit differently than our administration is going to report it, than a soldier is going to report it, than a State Department official, et cetera. What neighborhood you go in, you're going to get a different report.

I would say that the reason you're getting this push-back, especially al Qaeda, when you're talking about car bombs and that type of reaction, is because there are some successes. And actually, this is showing that some of that is working, because they have to respond. Now, the sectarian violence and some of the other problems are down, but the adversaries, like al Qaeda, are pushing back, because they don't want it to work. And that's a natural response from your enemy.

MALVEAUX: General David Grange, thanks for your insight.

GRANGE: My pleasure.

LEMON: Well, first it was Fido and Fluffy. And now the feds are worried about you, too. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, human food goes until the microscope.

MALVEAUX: Showbiz rumor becomes showbiz fact. Rosie is moving on, ahead in the NEWSROOM. Details on a big change for "The View".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: It's 19 after the hour. Here are three of the stories we are working on here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Devastation on the border. A tornado takes aim at southwest Texas, killing seven people there and three others in Mexico. More storms are in the forecast today.

A new mission for the top U.S. commander in Iraq. He is on Capitol Hill fighting for a war funding bill without a troop withdrawal deadline. He is expected to speak later, and we are monitoring that as well. House Democrats plan to pass a bill today with a deadline.

And Russians pay final respects to their country's first democratically-elected president. Boris Yeltsin received an elaborate funeral in a Moscow cathedral, with former U.S. presidents Clinton and Bush in attendance.

LEMON: All right. Well, this one may fall under the heading "better late than never". The FDA says it will start testing vegetable proteins imported for human consumption.

Investigators will be looking for melamine. Melamine is a chemical involved in the still expanding pet food recall. And our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is here with more on this.

So maybe -- it's kind of sad, but maybe the dogs were sort of -- I don't know, smoked everything out for us. Is it really going to be damaging to humans, melamine?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It might possibly. And what they found is that since they found melamine in pet food, they're saying, gosh, I wonder if possibly it could also be in human food. So the Food & Drug Administration has announced that they're going to be inspecting all sorts of different kinds of vegetable proteins to see if perhaps they have -- they contain the product.

Let's take a look at all of this list. It's a long list. What gluten, corn gluten, corn meal, soy protein, rice bran, and rice protein concentrate are going to be inspected by the FDA because of concerns about what happened to the animals. Now, those -- you know, pizza has this, protein bars have this, breads. All sorts of different things could possibly contain any of those items that you see up there on the screen.

And there are also concerns now that perhaps melamine has made it into hogs that were intended for human consumption. Melamine has been found in the urine of hogs in three different states, and now they're inspecting hogs in several -- those are the three states you see right there, California and North and South Carolina -- and now they're inspecting several other states, hogs in those states that you see outlined there, to see if they possibly also contain melamine, too.

And also, poultry is being investigated to see if those animals have it.

LEMON: OK. So, if there's a lot of it in there, and animals may be dying from it -- because they have smaller systems than we do, right?

COHEN: Right. Right.

LEMON: So that's -- so they may have been the ones that first figured it out. So, how harmful -- I mean, I don't know, does it have to be a bigger amount to be harmful to humans? How harmful potentially is it to humans?

COHEN: Right. You just made a very important point. We are not household pets.

LEMON: Right.

COHEN: So it's a very, very different situation that we're talking about.

LEMON: Right.

COHEN: And also, we don't eat exactly the same kinds of foods that pets eat. We may both be eating gluten, but different amounts of gluten.

And according to the Centers for Disease Control, they say that if melamine is consumed in very, very large amounts, it can possibly cause kidney stones or bladder stones. The CDC doesn't talk about death, like what happened with these animals. It doesn't talk about anything worse than kidney stones or bladder stones. But you also, you know, do have to say that there's not a lot of experience with humans consuming melamine.

LEMON: Right.

COHEN: It doesn't happen a lot. So they have a lot to learn in this area. LEMON: Yes. You know, and they do testings on animals. I mean, sadly, so -- and that's how you find out, and maybe found out that melamine in large doses potentially dangerous to humans.

So how does it get into our food, then?

COHEN: Well, that's a very good question. They're not sure about that, either.

What they do suspect, or what many people suspect, is that in this case, the Chinese manufacturers were possibly putting melamine into the food because it makes it look as if the gluten has more protein than it really does and makes it more economically valuable. That is just one theory. It's not known if that's really what happened.

It's really not known how it would get in. It's an industrial chemical. There's no reason it would get in there. It doesn't happen accidentally.

LEMON: All right. So is it just sort of cosmetic to make it look better or seem better? Is that what it is?

COHEN: Well, that's the concern.

LEMON: OK.

COHEN: I mean, it hasn't in the past -- you know, people don't -- you don't hear people talking about, oh, melamine accidentally got into food.

LEMON: Right. Right.

COHEN: That really hasn't been a big problem in the past, so this is really kind of curious.

LEMON: OK. You're working on a special, too. Tell us what you're working on for "PAULA ZAHN NOW".

COHEN: Yes, tonight, for "PAULA ZAHN NOW," we have a very different story. It's a story of a 17-month-old toddler named Emilio Gonzales (ph), who is dying in Austin Children's Hospital, and the question is, who gets to decide if this boy is going to die sooner or later?

His mother wants him to live as long as he can, which is probably about a month or two, but the hospital says let's pull the plug now. They feel like they're inflicting suffering on this little boy just by keeping him on a ventilator. So it is a court battle between the mother and between the hospital.

And that will be on "PAULA ZAHN NOW" tonight.

LEMON: Very interesting.

OK. Thank you very much. COHEN: Thanks. Thanks.

LEMON: Always valuable information.

MALVEAUX: And hitting the streets where the streets are likely to hit back. We will take you for a dangerous walk through Baghdad, coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

MALVEAUX: And I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

From war zone to political minefield, America's top general in Iraq visits Capitol Hill ahead of a crucial funding vote. Can David Petraeus sell the surge to lawmakers?

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Take a look at these pictures just in to CNN. You're looking at new video.

It's Eagle Pass. It's in Texas. It's where these -- this deadly tornado went through last night and just caused all sorts of damage there. These pictures from KSAT. That's our affiliate there in Texas.

Jacqui Jeras, are you standing by, you looking at these pictures, look at that -- the roof just ripped right off. That is -- I guess you can't say that's straight line ones -- that's a tornado right?

JACQUI JERAS, METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's hard to tell from an aerial view really, but one of the things that I know just by looking at this video is that those pieces of metal there don't just look set aside, they look twisted, as opposed to being kind of picked up and thrown off. It doesn't take a real strong wind to pick up a long-span roof up like that, but when I start to see some of these pictures here where you can see structures, depending on how well-built they are, some of those walls are knocked out, so that could indicate possibly what we would call a severe tornado or major tornado that could possibly be an EF3 or more.

Of course, the National Weather Service is going to be out today assessing the damage to get a better handle on the wind estimates on that one, but that looks very extensive. And of course, what we saw here on the radar picture last night showed that this was likely a very, very strong tornado that had gone through.

LEMON: Jacqui, if we can get those pictures back up, and I want you to talk about them with me, and I'm going -- just get people some information because -- just to remind people, in Eagle Pass overnight, seven people died, five from one family whose mobile home was picked up and slammed into a nearby school. And right near the Mexican border. Piedras Negras, (ph) more deaths and destruction, three people were killed there by this storm.

JERAS: And it was all the same system. That's why we tell you not to be in a mobile home, because it doesn't take but an F1 to pick something like that up and damage it.

LEMON: Real quick, the NOAA radio and what else?

JERAS: Have your NOAA weather radio on, let me grab it real quick. Go to amazon.com or your local Radio Shack. You can purchase one of these and set it to your actual county and only have it bother you when a tornado warning is in effect for you. The old kind used to wake you up for every kind of warning, but this one you can set to only do tornadoes or flash flooding. This also does Amber Alerts, by the way. You should have this in your home the same way you have a smoke detector or carbon monoxide detector.

LEMON: And Jacqui Jeras, we have some weather brewing today overnight, and we'll be checking in with in just a little bit.

MALVEAUX: Dollars without deadlines, that's what the top U.S. commander in Iraq is fighting for on Capitol Hill. General David Petraus is on a mission to persuade war-weary lawmakers to continue paying for the war without setting timetables for U.S. troops to pull out. But the House may be just hours away from passing a funding bill that calls for troops to start leaving Iraq by October at the latest. For now, more U.S. forces are headed in the other direction. Here's what the chief military spokesman in Baghdad told our Wolf Blitzer, earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, SPOKESMAN, MULTINATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ: Once all the reinforcing elements are here, which will be in early June. Clearly as General Petraeus has said, sometime in late August or early September, he plans to come back and talk to the political leadership in Washington and give them his honest assessment as to what is possible here in Iraq. And for us in the military side of the house, if in fact we're able to bring the levels of violence down, if we're able to help better equip and train the Iraqi security forces to take on more of the responsibilities, then we'll in fact find we're setting the conditions and allow that political process to take place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: General David Petraus may come out to speak this afternoon, we are following the story in the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Hitting the streets where the streets are likely to hit you right back. We'll take you for a dangerous walk right through Baghdad, coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Iraq's Diyala Province once again the target of suicide bombers. Four police officers were killed today and 16 other people wounded when a bomb set off his explosives-filled belt outside a police station in Balad. On Monday, nine U.S. soldiers were killed in Diyala, the deadliest attack on U.S. ground forces in Iraq since late 2005.

In Baghdad today, a roadside bomb went off near a U.S. convoy setting this humvee on fire. No word of casualties.

You could be attacked any minute from anywhere and no one you see is above suspicion. That's the reality for U.S. troops in Baghdad, where being on foot means risking one's neck. Our Hugh Riminton saw firsthand.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have enough personnel here to bring the casualties back if we have any.

HUGH RIMINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): To defend their Baghdad patrol base, ten soldiers and their interpreter are about to go out on foot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not going to take that long, but guess what? Black Hawk down, right? We don't know what to expect, we don't know what will happen.

RIMINTON: It is the most exposed an American soldier can be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The main thing is, you want a distance separated, spread out, all right? Anybody have any questions? No? All right. Let's do this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're heading toward east.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Copy, over.

RIMINTON: They call this work, checking the atmospherics. Trying to get a feel for the surrounding neighborhood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little quiet today, not too much traffic.

RIMINTON: They're looking for any hint that insurgents have infiltrated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's waiting for his daughter. She's in school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. That's fine. Thank you.

RIMINTON: Here, nothing and no one seems entirely innocent. He says he's just trying to get home. Part of the tactic is to buy loyalty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've already been to all of these houses here, passed out generators, passed out some clothes, food. About once a month we do that again.

RIMINTON: The signs today are good. There are even games in the schoolyard as the U.S. troops link up with a Kurdish unit at a small base of their own. It's a warm welcome, but the atmospherics are changing.

(on camera) Just in the few minutes these troops were in the patrol base, they've come out to discover that all the people have abandoned the streets. The kids playing football have disappeared and gone off somewhere else. That's what soldiers call a combat indicator. It's the kind of thing that puts them on their guard.

(voice over) Why this sudden silence? What do the locals know? Is there a sniper or perhaps some other attack brewing? Slowly, though, life returns to the street, and the troops relax a little.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Bethel, we're good? You're sure?

RIMINTON: Walking allows contact impossible from an armored patrol. But it multiplies the vulnerability in a land where death can come in an instant from anywhere.

Hugh Riminton, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: And we are just getting some new video and pictures now of this from Eagle Pass, Texas. A tornado that ripped through the border city there overnight, a deadly, deadly tornado, new video now.

This is a tornado that killed at least seven people, five tragically being from the same family. Their mobile home was picked up and just slammed into a nearby school, but new video coming in, the first aerial images of the damage and the assessment. And you can see some of the people just walking through areas and homes where it looks like roofs were just completely picked up and removed. So we'll be following that story.

LEMON: When it happens the next morning, you come out and see the destruction and people realize, this is what's left. You can see the cars and all debris on top of it. It's heartbreaking when you look at these pictures, even we do this all the time, it's terrible to see this.

MALVEAUX: It's very, very difficult.

LEMON: And eight weeks after the DOW Jones Industrial average sustained their biggest one-day drop in 5 1/2 years, the blue chips hit a millennium milestone. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange. She's not on the floor anymore. It's still big news, 13,000. That's not a bad number anymore?

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

LEMON: We're going to talk about floating, forecasters, hurricane trackers, send buoys doing a meteorologist's job. Where are the buoys? Coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM, maybe we'll tell you.

MALVEAUX: And the showbiz rumor that becomes showbiz fact, Rosie in fact is moving on, ahead in the NEWSROOM. Details on a big change for "The View."

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LEMON: That's a new video, new pictures of just the devastation in Eagle Pass, Texas, happening overnight. At least seven people have died there. And today they're waking up and trying to dig out and dig through all of this mess. Joining us by telephone, a councilman in Eagle Pass. His name is Ramsey English Cantu, sir, sorry this happened to your town.

VOICE OF RAMSEY ENGLISH CANTU, EAGLE PASS CITY COUNCIL: Yes, Don, thank you very much.

LEMON: What are you guys dealing with right now?

CANTU: Well, right now we've been here in our post, more than anything. We have an actual information post that's located on site in the Rosita Valley area. We're at City Hall, have been here since 7:00 p.m. of last night, after the tornado hit and touched ground at around 6:51 p.m.

We are looking at a total of seven fatalities. One entire family as mentioned in prior interviews, a number of five individuals that have been totally, they have all been killed in this tornado. There's been two other individuals in separate locations of the community that were killed as well.

LEMON: This one family that you're talking about, all five members of the family, this is the one whose mobile home was picked up and slammed into a school?

CANTU: Correct. This was a mobile home that was slammed into a school. This was also an individual, there was a young child involved in this that was killed. Local law enforcement is informing us that she had to of been around the age of four and six. This is a young individual that did suffer this fatality.

LEMON: And Mr. Cantu, as we're looking at the devastating pictures, have you been able to go out in the community and take a look at this?

CANTU: Yes.

LEMON: Tell us what you saw.

CANTU: Actually this afternoon -- not this afternoon, I'm sorry, I actually had the opportunity at around 3:30 this morning to take a visit over yonder in the Rosita Valley area. And it was a very devastating sight to see, very heartbreaking, being that in our community of Eagle Pass, we can date back to not really having anything this catastrophic in this community, and we date it back to about 1974. So, it's been a while since this community has experienced such drastic weather in this community and we're just trying to pick up the pieces.

LEMON: Yes, and such devastation as well. CANTU: Yes.

LEMON: Councilman Ramsey English Cantu from Eagle Pass, Texas, sorry about your loss and we thank you for joining us today right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

MALVEAUX: And Don, another story that we're following developments, this is a bus collision, two buses colliding here in Boston. Authorities saying that it happened about 1:48 this afternoon. It doesn't -- the information -- we don't know whether or not they were coming or going from which schools, but it is reported that there were 12 children and one adult who suffered minor injuries. They have been taken to area hospitals.

You're seeing the latest video from WHDH. There is no further information at this time, but obviously we're working on the details to see just where those students were from, and what -- the extent of their injuries are.

LEMON: It should be interesting. Make sure that all of them were students. And anytime you have a bus crash, let alone two buses, it's a very serious incident. Of course we're going to continue to follow this developing story as well as all the weather news happening in Texas and across the U.S. You're watching the CNN NEWSROOM, we're back after a quick break.

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MALVEAUX: She's been good for ratings, and she is always good for controversy, but it seems Rosie O'Donnell and ABC could not reach a good enough deal to keep her on "The View." Ro announced this morning that she won't be back next season.

Our CNN Entertainment Correspondent Brooke Anderson joining us from New York with the latest. Who calls her Ro, by the way?

BROOKE ANDERSON, ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: A lot of people call her Ro, you know, everybody has a nickname for everybody, I mean, they've got to shorten those names. But Ro did make it official this morning, confirming that her first season as host of "The View" will be her last.

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ROSIE O'DONNELL, CO-HOST: I've decided that we couldn't come to terms with my deal with ABC, so next year I'm not going to be on "The View." However, I will be coming back and guest hosting, I will be doing one-hour specials on autism and depression and stuff that I'm interested in, I'm just not going to do the everyday thing, because we couldn't -- you know, they wanted me three years, I wanted one year, and then they were like, OK, well, what if we -- and I was look -- and it just didn't work.

And that's showbiz, but it's not sad, because I've loved it here and I love you guys and I'm not going away. I'm just not going to be here every day. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Barbara Walters made it clear that she had nothing to do with the contract negotiation, she said that was between Rosie and ABC. Barbara said that she is very sad that Rosie's leaving and that Rosie will be missed.

Now, just a few moments ago, I was able to speak with Rosie's arch rival, Donald Trump, about her departure, and Donald told me basically that he didn't believe Barbara, and he thinks that ABC wanted Rosie out. Listen to what he told me.

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DONALD TRUMP: Well, I wasn't surprised, I've been predicting this for a long time. Rosie is a very self-destructive person, Rosie's basically a loser. I believe ABC wanted her out, and they wanted her out badly and fast. She made statements the other day at the Waldorf Historia that were absolutely outrageous, the way she grabbed her crotch and said things that were just terrible. I mean, she's a slob, everybody knows it, and they wanted her out, and the one that wanted her our the most was Barbara Walters.

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ANDERSON: And despite what Trump said, Rosie has been good for ratings, as you say, Suzanne, since she joined "The View," the ratings have been up on average, up to about 17 percent.

Interestingly, another person who's been in the headlines a lot recently, Alec Baldwin was here today as well. He was on "The View" in a taping for a show that is set to air on Friday, and he said that he wants out of his NBC sitcom "30 Rock" if NBC will let him leave out of his contract, because he wants to devote more time to his family, to his daughter Ireland, and to that custody battle with his ex-wife.

Back to you.

MALVEAUX: Oh Brooke, I believe Rosie when she says she'll be back in whatever form. So, thank you, Brooke.

LEMON: All right, at least ten people are sadly dead already. Will today bring more casualties? Ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, a killer storm barrels east. We're tracking it in the severe weather center.

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