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Urban Brushfire Chars 15 Percent of Famed L.A. Park; Levees Give Way, Flooding Town of Big Lake, Missouri; Cheney in Baghdad
Aired May 09, 2007 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
Watch news come in to the NEWSROOM live on this Wednesday morning, May 9th.
Here's what's on the rundown.
L.A. feels the heat. Fire races across the city's Griffith Park, quickly scorching hundreds of acres. Crews making headway today, and we are on the scene.
HARRIS: The swollen Missouri River busts its banks. Major levee breaks put a small town in big trouble.
COLLINS: Attacks by armor-penetrating bombs surge to an all-time high in Iraq. The U.S. linking those weapons to Iran. Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, breaks this story in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: And at the top this morning, the stuff of Hollywood legend. James Dean got star billing, but Griffith Park, a prominent co-star in "Rebel Without a Cause," today the Los Angeles landmark scene of a real-life fire drama.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is there.
Thelma, good morning to you.
Some good news to report this morning. I understand at least 300 residents who were evacuated yesterday allowed to return to their homes?
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's correct, Tony. In fact, I just talked to a fire captain a short time ago and he told me that yesterday they had to evacuate about 300 residents out of the area, but they were very glad that overnight they did get the break they critically needed.
They had low -- the temperatures dipped down, and also it wasn't very windy out here. And so they were able to get a handle on it, and they are going to allow those residents to return home today. Now, one of the problems that they still have, Tony, is right behind me. You can see this tinder-dry brush. And firefighters have been keeping an eye on this hillside. They want to make sure that these tall pine trees do not end up getting torched, because then they're going to have a big problem to contend with.
All morning long, we've been seeing this river of embers pour down this hillside and onto the street. And firefighters have been concerned that today the winds would pick up and that, again, that would spread the embers, and then we'd have these hot spots all over the place.
Now, first light, we're able to see what the damage is out here. All along this hillside here in Griffith Park, you can see that it is charred. Six hundred acres are charred in this 4,000-acre park.
Right now, we're told, however, that that fire is moving west. There are no homes in the path of that fire right now. There are no landmarks that are in jeopardy.
There had been concern about the amphitheater, also about the observatory, and also the zoo out here. But firefighters are very happy that that does not seem to be a big concern right now.
You can see all the embers that are sliding off of that hillside right now. It's been like this all morning long, and this is an area that they are monitoring. They're hoping that those winds don't pick up later on today.
However, there is some concern, because temperatures are expected to reach 97 degrees today, and those winds are expected to blow about 20 miles an hour. So, they're really staying on top of this, hoping to knock it down before those winds kick up -- Tony.
HARRIS: Very good. Thelma Gutierrez for us in Los Angeles.
Thelma, thank you.
COLLINS: Rising water and high anxiety in the Midwest. Rain- choked rivers and streams spilling their banks in northwest Missouri. The tiny town of Big Lake inundated when river levees give way.
CNN's Sean Callebs is joining us now from Big Lake.
Sean, it looks a little bit deeper than where we saw you yesterday.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes, without question. We're actually about an hour and a half north, Heidi, of where we were yesterday, now in the town of Big Lake, north of Kansas City.
I'm standing, believe it or not, on Highway 159. If I can get Ken Tillerst (ph), our cameraman, to pan down just a bit, amid all the debris there, all the remnants of cornfields past, you can see a white line. That white line is actually marking the area of the shoulder on Highway 159. If you could pan over a little bit more, you can hear in the background a freight train, the sound of commerce continues, churning away here in Missouri. We were able to talk to one of the major rail lines yesterday, and they say they are only able to operate on a very limited service right now in this area because of all the flooding.
What happened is seven and a half inches of rain a couple of days ago simply saturated the Missouri River. That's what I'm standing in now, as well as all of its tributaries.
If you look out over this way, it looks like a beautiful lake. Well, that's actually somebody's cornfield. It got swamped last night after some of the earthen levees in and around this area simply gave way.
And really, people in this area gauge everything looking back to 1993. That's the year of the horrific Midwest flood.
I spent some time here, several weeks in this area back during that time. And what really differentiates this flooding from that time, this was a flashflood, something that built up in a very short period of time. Granted, the river is cresting here in an area that really threatens the level back in '93, but 14 years ago, it was just rain day after day after day after day. So, those earthen levees were simply a mess.
They had -- their integrity had given way. They were sloppy, they were muddy. So it didn't take much to cause the levees to break. Residents here hope that's going to be different this time.
Heidi, we were in Leavenworth, Kansas, yesterday, as well as across the river in Winthrop, Missouri. And in those areas, people were sandbagging, trying to keep the rising river from jumping its banks there. And we've seen the area go down just a couple of inches today, Heidi, and that's good news. People here hope, indeed, it went up fast, and maybe if it can go down fast, maybe this one will be remembered as the one they almost got -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Sean Callebs watching this story for us at Big Lake, Missouri, this morning.
Sean, thanks so much.
HARRIS: And you know they say you have to see it to believe it. And this morning, President Bush gets a first-hand look at the tornado devastation in Greensburg, Kansas.
The president left Andrews Air Force base earlier this morning. He is expected to arrive in Greensburg in about two and a half hours from right now.
He will find a town nearly wiped away by a monster tornado but determined to recover. The mayor vows to rebuild a brand-new town with help from the federal government. As much as 97 percent of Greensburg was destroyed by the twister. The storm had winds estimated as high as 205 miles per hour. A roof over their heads, food and water. Getting the basics to residents in Greensburg, Kansas. A Red Cross representatives update the effort ahead in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Nowhere in Iraq is immune. This scene the latest evidence.
A suicide truck bomb ripping Interior Ministry headquarters in the Kurdish city of Irbil. At least 14 people were killed, dozens more wounded. Irbil and other Kurdish areas have been relatively calm. It's the first big attack there in more than three years.
HARRIS: Vice President Dick Cheney in the war zone, and armed with a terse message for Iraq's government.
Live to Baghdad now and CNN's Arwa Damon.
Arwa, good morning to you.
OK. Share that message. What is the vice president going to say?
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, to sum it all up, according to a senior White House official, the vice president's message is it's game time, meaning that it is time for the Iraqi government to pull itself together and actually start taking action, taking action in terms of fulfilling the numerous promises it has made to the Iraqi people, to the U.S. administration, and basically to the entire world. Among those efforts, a genuine reconciliation.
Now, Vice President Dick Cheney has already held a number of high-level meetings, including meeting with the Iraq president Jalal Talabani and the Iraq prime minister Nuri al-Maliki. Al-Maliki saying that the talks were successful and they had exchanged very serious promises once again to one another to actually take action.
Now, this is the vice president's second trip to Iraq. The first took place back in 2005. And back then, it was right after Iraq's elections. He had said that he believed that 2005 would be a watershed moment for this nation.
However, since then, it has been seen in the reality that does exist on the ground here, that U.S. casualties have only increased, that casualties amongst the Iraqi people have only drastically increased. And that highly-touted government, Nuri al-Maliki's government, has proven to be largely, in the eyes of the Iraqi people, ineffective.
The vice president right now is trying to really force the Iraqi government to move forward, put its differences aside, and make a genuine attempt at national reconciliation, at securing this country. But it is going to be very difficult.
At this point in time, Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki's government does appear to be on the verge of crumbling. Sunni politicians voicing their discontent, members of his own parliament voicing their discontent as well -- Tony.
HARRIS: OK. So, Arwa, with all that on the table, what is that you think -- how is this message likely to be received, and what can the prime minister really do?
DAMON: Well, that really is the question, what can Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki really do? That is an issue that has been brought up on a number of occasions by members of his own parliament who view him as being weak. They say that this is not necessarily his fault.
What they fault is the actual structure upon which the Iraqi government was initially formed, saying that that very structure has defined the Iraqi government along sectarian lines, and essentially allowed the political parties, each which have their own sectarian agenda, to maintain control. There has been, though, growing discontent amongst members of the U.S. administration with the way Nuri al-Maliki himself is reacting to certain issues, certain benchmarks he himself has laid out. For example, the issue of debaathification, that the Shias are largely opposed to, and that would allow Sunni players back into the political spectrum.
So, really, the -- what exactly the Iraqi prime minister can do, that is the big question. What he is actually willing to do is another very big question here -- Tony.
HARRIS: And we remember General David Petraeus saying in congressional testimony recently that this is not a unity government.
Arwa Damon for us in Baghdad.
Arwa, thank you.
COLLINS: Plea from death row. A first look of its kind inside an Iraqi women's prison.
You'll see it right here in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Danger in the Delta. Militants make war over oil. Now Americans may be caught in the crossfire. U.S. workers kidnapped.
That story ahead in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: A Chinese company manager is detained in the tainted food scandal. CNN talks to one of them. His reaction in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: O.J. Simpson can't get service. A restaurant owner shows him the door.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody in Louisville was talking about who won the derby, who lost, what happened to the favorite, how come this -- the queen -- they were just talking about O.J. got thrown out of the place. HARRIS: More from a pretty colorful character straight ahead for you in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Want to get back to this now. A town reduced to rubble but vowing to rebuild.
President Bush visits Greensburg, Kansas, this morning. He'll see the tornado devastation and check on recovery efforts. But the immediate focus, people's basic needs -- housing, clothing, food and water.
An update on the relief effort now in Greensburg. Joining us by phone is Karyn Yaussy of the American Red Cross.
Karyn, thanks for being with us again.
You know, last time we spoke it was very, very early on. We've had at least a few days now for these folks to begin digging out from -- from what is just a catastrophic situation.
Tell us, if you would, where they're staying, and if they are talking to you at all about actually moving away from Greensburg.
KARYN YAUSSY, AMERICAN RED CROSS: Well, Heidi, at this point in time, generally people here, certainly the residents, are still just taking this hour by hour, day by day.
COLLINS: Sure.
YAUSSY: It's really only been a little over four days since this horrific event happened to them. And they're just really in the basic starting phases of what to do next.
They spent the last two days trying to salvage what's left of their belongings, what's left of their homes, their businesses. Their concerns are really basic.
Their concerns are simple things, like where to store their belongings when they have no home, no garage, no basement left to put things in. No friends or neighbors or relatives to store things with because their homes are gone also.
They're also into things -- I'm sorry, Heidi. Go ahead.
COLLINS: I was just going to say, how long can they stay in the shelters? I mean, at least most of them, I'm hoping, you know, have somewhere to rest their heads at night.
YAUSSY: They do. We still have approximately 100 people in two shelters here in the Greensburg area. There are quite a few of the residents that are with family, 40, 50, 70, 80 miles away, and they come back and stay in the shelter with their belongings. So, people have a place to sleep, and the Red Cross will be here providing shelter to them until everybody finds a comfortable, safe place to sleep. That's not ever going to be an issue.
COLLINS: OK. How are they getting some of those basics, though?
I mean, we see a lot of water being brought in. And we're looking at this video. And food and so forth. But what about clothing and money and that very frightening thing that we always talk about and warn against, at least if you have any time to get it together, replacing really important documentation?
YAUSSY: And that is probably their number one concern. Probably starting yesterday and today, you know, they've obviously been salvaging their belongings. But they need to have documentation like a driver's license, like a social security card.
COLLINS: Right.
YAUSSY: How do you get your mail moved to a new address? And the Red Cross and state and federal emergency management agencies are setting up location where the residents can come and kind of do one- stop shopping to get those things all done in the most convenient way possibility, which obviously is not a perfect solution.
There are bank officials wandering around town working with them so that they can have access to their bank accounts, because until you can settle some of those things, you can't move on to the bigger issues.
COLLINS: Yes.
YAUSSY: And some of those things are important, critically important to their emotional well-being.
COLLINS: Well, and that -- that certainly seems to be at the heart of it as well. You know, as you say, just four days in, still probably quite a few people, I would imagine, in shock that all of this has happened.
What about counseling? Are people looking for that right now, or are they just kind of trying to get through, as you say, day by day and worry about that later?
YAUSSY: It's still very day by day. The folks that I've talked to, most of the parents are worried about their young children and their elementary school aged children. And the Red Cross and some of the other human service agencies that are here have counselors, mental health professionals wandering around, just talking to people, just giving them the friendly hug and the warm handshake as the basic beginning steps of that emotional support and mental health recovery, but obviously that's a very long process.
COLLINS: Well, thank you for helping us to understand a little bit about what these folks are going through. It's just -- every time I look at this video, just the whole place is completely gone. HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: Karyn Yaussy of the American Red Cross, coming to us this morning from Greensburg, Kansas, with an update.
Karyn, thanks so much.
HARRIS: Boy. And Heidi, firefighters in Los Angeles...
COLLINS: Yes, what's with this now?
HARRIS: ... have a lot to contend with today. It's a story that we're going to be following throughout the morning here in the NEWSROOM and, look, let's face it, throughout the day here. A couple of elements that could be determinant of what kind of a day firefighters are going to have in dealing with this in Griffith Park.
First of all, you see the flames. It is going to be another very hot day in Los Angeles.
Thelma Gutierrez telling us a short time ago it could reach 100 degrees today in Los Angeles. And with that, we will be checking wind speeds as well. And those two factors will have a lot to say about the kind of work the firefighters can do in getting the upper hand on this.
A complete update on the Griffith Park fire coming up for you in minutes right here in the NEWSROOM.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Even bulls need a breather.
I'm Stephanie Elam in New York, and I will catch you up on the Dow's run. That's coming up in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Want to take you back to these incredible pictures coming to us from our affiliate, KABC, in Los Angeles. You are looking at Griffith Park, and this thing has been going now for a while, and still just only 15 percent contained because of -- my understanding, anyway -- the conditions.
We're talking about wind, we're talking about incredibly dry conditions, very, very tough to fight. And those flames just keep sparking up.
About 600 acres now has been scorched, and people have been evacuated from their homes, about 300 homes in this Los Filas (ph) neighborhood, in case you are familiar with that. Red flag warnings now issued because of this, as we said, low humidity and temperatures close to 100 degrees. Boy, absolutely the worst situation you can imagine when you are trying to douse a fire.
We're going to continue to follow this. We have reporters on the ground, and, of course, Rob Marciano with us today to keep talking us through this one. But pretty amazing pictures. HARRIS: And to business now. The Dow closed lower Tuesday, putting an end to its historic winning streak while tying an 80-year record. Wow.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
HARRIS: The bottom of the hour. Welcome back, everyone, and good morning.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins. Hi, everybody.
Want to get you straight to this story in California.
Dying winds, cooler temperatures and rising hopes for crews battling this blaze in a famous Los Angeles park. The fire sweeping across some 600 acres of Griffith Park, just outside Hollywood. Movie buffs know the observatory featured in key scenes of the James Dean classic "Rebel Without a Cause," of course.
In the southeastern U.S., one of two massive wildfires jumps from Georgia into Florida, forcing the evacuation of about 300 homes. Florida is already under a state of emergency -- 200-plus fires charring more than 43,000 acres. More than 100,000 acres are burned near Georgia's -- I can't say that...
HARRIS: Okefenokee.
COLLINS: Okefenokee.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
COLLINS: See, that's why I can't say it. The swamp there.
HARRIS: The swamp.
COLLINS: It's the largest fire, though, in the state's history, so of course we are watching this one for you as well.
HARRIS: And in Missouri, rain swollen rivers bursting through levees. The area hardest hit by those failures, the tiny town of Big Lake. No injuries reported, but the town is about 150 feet under water.
The Missouri River has also pushed out of its banks in neighboring Kansas. Farmers on alert in case they need to move livestock and equipment to higher ground. At least 19 Kansas counties have declared disaster emergencies.
COLLINS: Soaring gas prices.
What can you do to ease your pain at the pump?
Some tips coming up ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: The military tracking increased attacks in Iraq.
Live to the Pentagon, ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Danger in the Delta -- militants make war over oil. Now Americans may be caught in the crossfire. U.S. workers kidnapped, ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
COLLINS: Violence on the rise again in Iraq -- a growing number of attacks. Now CNN has specific details of what the military is tracking and how bad it is.
Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, joining us live -- Barbara, I know you've been talking with military officials.
What are they telling you?
BARBARA STARR, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Heidi, as you say, we hear almost every day now that the violence is up. But we rarely get specific measures of just how bad it is. Lieutenant General Ray Odierno, the number two ranking U.S. general in Iraq has confirmed some specific details to CNN, especially about the rising rate of attacks by explosively formed projectiles -- explosively formed penetrating weapons.
These are the armor penetrating bombs that the U.S. has long believed are coming in from Iran. General Odierno confirming April was the deadliest month ever on record for these EFP weapons.
Let's look at some of the details, Heidi. April of this year, 69 attacks by these specific types of weapons. It's way up from March, when it was 38. As you see from the numbers, it had been at a semi- steady state, if you will, for the latest couple of months. It had been up in December. But in April it spiked to the highest level ever, 69.
What has happened as a result of this?
Well, in the month of April 14 U.S. troops killed, 47 wounded, by these weapons.
Earlier today the spokesman in Baghdad talked about what they believe now is a new effort by the Iranians inside Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE, IRAQ: We do know that there is a direct awareness by Iranian intelligence officials that they are providing support to some select Sunni insurgent elements.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: So not only those EFPs that are killing U.S. troops, not only Iranian support for Shia elements, as one would expect inside Iraq, but General Caldwell now again saying very publicly that they have some evidence the Iranians are trying to expand and get their influence felt in the Sunni areas. And, also, those suicide car bomb attacks the general confirming about a 30 percent rise since the first of the year -- Heidi.
COLLINS: So it sounds like the intelligence is gathered, some of the evidence is gathered.
How does the military plan on dealing with this?
STARR: Well, what they are focusing on now, both for the bomb attacks that they believe are tied to some elements in Iran and the suicide car bombs, they're focusing on trying to find the weapons, of course, when they've been put out in the streets. But really focusing, they tell us, on trying to destroy the networks -- the networks of terrorists and operatives that are financing, training and organizing these attacks. Going back to the source. That's the way they think they'll begin to have some real success in reducing the attack rates -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Barbara Starr coming to us with this information this morning from the Pentagon.
Barbara, thanks for that.
And more insights on U.S. troops and the war in Iraq from the Army vice chief of staff, General Richard Cody.
We will talk with him live coming up in THE NEWSROOM.
That will be tomorrow morning, 11:30 Eastern, 8:30 Pacific.
It could be a very interesting discussion right here on CNN.
HARRIS: Boy, I can't wait.
Americans kidnapped overseas. Four U.S. oil workers abducted overnight when gunmen storm a construction barge off Nigeria. Militants in the oil rich Niger Delta have carried out a wave of kidnappings and pipeline attacks. The names of the four kidnapped Americans have not yet been released.
COLLINS: Sky high prices, wouldn't you say?
The average price of gas in the U.S. for unleaded now more than $3 a gallon. Drivers are not happy, but what can you do about it?
CNN consumer reporter Greg Hunter has some tips.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
GREG HUNTER, CNN CONSUMER CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can't give you one tip that will save you big bucks. But I can give you a lot of little ones that could really add up.
First of all, put regular gas in your car, not premium. Ninety percent of vehicles only need regular gas. You don't help yourself out buying the premium. You don't help yourself out buying the mid- grade if all your car needs is regular gas.
Also, your check engine light -- if it's on, you're definitely using more fuel. That's according to AAA.
Another good one is gas up when it's cool. That's because when it's cool, gas is denser. You get more bang for your buck.
Also, slow down. You can save up to 10 percent the difference between 55 and 65.
And if you're idling more than a minute, turn your engine off. You'll save money. Less than a minute, leave it run.
Tire pressure big, especially if you have an SUV. The bigger the vehicle, the more critical tire pressure is. You can save as much as 10 percent, especially on that SUV.
Also, if you have roof racks or weight in your truck, get rid of that and check gaspricewatch.com if you want to get the lowest price. All you have to do is put your zip code in and you'll get the lowest price.
Back to you guys in the studio.
HARRIS: And still to come in THE NEWSROOM this morning, plea from death row. A first of its kind look inside an Iraqi women's prison. See it right here in THE NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: A famous Los Angeles park undersea. Fire crews fighting back hard. See their progress, coming up in THE NEWSROOM.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Fires out West, fires out East, flooding in between and now an interesting storm setting up just off the Florida coastline. And an interesting statement from the National Hurricane Center.
I'm Rob Marciano.
We'll have -- we'll talk about what's going on with that storm, when the CNN NEWSROOM returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: They're not pictures that are good, certainly, but they are pretty unbelievable. Look at the smoke coming out of the area here near Los Angeles. Griffith Park is what we're talking about. The pictures are coming in from KABC. You see the helicopters flying ahead, which is good news. It's not too windy for them to go up there and try to help fight things from the skies.
About 500 fire crews on the ground trying to battle these flames. But those conditions are -- that Mother Nature is putting out, anyway, are really presenting a problem. Temperatures near 100 degrees today.
I cannot imagine...
HARRIS: Oh, boy.
COLLINS: .. the extreme heat for the firefighters themselves down there in the mix amongst those -- those natural temperatures that are coming out of it, as well.
So we are continuing to watch this. We know people are evacuated from the area -- 300 homes, in fact, and about 600 acres now gone from historic Griffith Park.
We, of course, will watch this one for you all day long.
HARRIS: As we send it up to Rob Marciano in New York City -- Rob, as we've heard several times in covering these wildfires, it is -- boy, if you can get a handle on the winds -- if the winds would just die down, it would give the firefighters an opportunity to get the upper hand on the situation.
What are you seeing in terms of the winds in Los Angeles today?
MARCIANO: Well, the winds won't be as bad today, Tony.
But the problem is, as you mentioned, the heat is -- is unbelievable, well over 90 degrees in many spots. And the other thing is that they haven't had any rainfall at all. I mean it's -- it's -- they've had like just over three inches in the last nine months. And in the next couple months, you know, we're heading into the dry season for them. So this is likely going to be the driest year that the L.A. Basin has ever seen. So heat and drought not helping, even though the winds are dying down today. It's still a -- still a struggle.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Rob, thanks so much for watching that for us.
We'll check back with you later on.
Meanwhile, death row in Iraq.
CNN's Arwa Damon is the first American journalist allowed inside Kadhimiya. That's a women's prison there. She talked with one woman sentenced to die.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Death row in the Kadhimiya women's prison in Baghdad. Samar Saad Abdullah has been here two years.
SAMAR ABDULLAH (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I don't sleep at all on Wednesdays. I stay up from morning to the night, because that's the day they pick for executions. So I stay scared all day. DAMON: The warden initially tells Samar to hide her face before talking to us. She was sentenced to death by hanging for being an accessory to the murder of three members of her uncle's family. She swears she's innocent -- terrified of being executed.
ABDULLAH (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Give me life in prison, even 20 years. I don't care. Anything but this.
DAMON: What Samar doesn't know is that the appeal against her sentence has already failed. Her family hasn't had the courage to tell her.
"I couldn't tell her. I was afraid that she would do something to herself."
Her father sold everything he had to defend her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): If I thought she was guilty, I swear, I wouldn't go see her. I swear I have nothing left that I didn't sell -- my house, my car, my belongings.
Her mother, Hanat (ph), shows us pictures of Samar with the cousin she's accused of helping to kill. Hanat tells us Samar had become involved in a relationship with a young man. At first the family didn't approve of the romance, but eventually relented.
Then one night three months later, Sayeef duped Samar, the family says, into taking him to her wealthy uncle's house. According to her mother, Sayeef locked Samar in the kitchen and killed her uncle, aunt and cousin. Then he came looking for Samar.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): He came in and dragged her from here, from her collar, and hit her. She had marks here. He put a gun to her head and said, "Take me to your uncle's room and get me the money and the gold."
DAMON: He took off with less than $1,000 after allegedly threatening to kill Samar and her family if she went to the authorities. Samar was arrested by the Iraqi police the next day.
Her mother says she was brutally abused.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): She didn't confess. It was from the beating they gave her. She was bleeding. She finally said, "Write what you want, just stop."
DAMON: In court documents provided by Samar's lawyer, Ali Al- Zawi (ph), she admits going to her uncle's house to steal. but she told the court she only confessed after being tortured.
Samar's testimony in court mirrors what her mother told us that she was duped by her husband.
The court file says in reaching a verdict, the judges disregarded Samar's court testimony.
SAMAR (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The judge did not hear me out. He refused to hear anything I had to say.
DAMON: Under Iraqi law, the court should have investigated her claim to confession under torture. The higher judicial council in Iraq did not answer CNN's multiple attempts to get a response.
She may not know it, but with her appeal rejected Samar is out of legal options.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The judiciary is no longer involved and nothing can be done unless new evidence comes to light, which is unlikely.
DAMON: But some are not giving up on Samar Abdullah. In a rundown building in Baghdad, the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq is fighting for her life. Dallar Ubai (ph) is leading the effort to save her. The organization has already had two successes.
Falti Mashwoud (ph) was sentenced to death, confessing to murder after she says she was tortured.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): She had her fingernails pulled out, hung from the ceiling. They took pictures of her naked while she was hanging. They cuffed her to a bed and raped her.
DAMON: Falti drafted a letter detailing her plight. The women delivered it to the government and made it public on the Internet. She is now awaiting a retrial.
Now Samar's parents are working with Dalar (ph) to fight for Samar's life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The judge said to her, "What are you a sheep or something?"
If I thought she was guilty...
DAMON: Samar's mother has written a letter to Iraq's president begging for a pardon, never knowing if the next Wednesday will be Samar's last.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.
HARRIS: And still to come this morning in THE NEWSROOM, now serving -- not O.J. Simpson. A restaurant owner tells the onetime murder suspect to eat elsewhere.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF RUBY, RESTAURANT OWNER: I'm not serving you.
And he looked at me just like you're looking at me now -- dumbfounded.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Notoriety not on the menu at one celebrity haunt. That story coming up for you in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Hey, you know, we want to be sure to direct you to the pod cast today. I'm just thinking about all the news that will likely be in the pod cast. Certainly, an update on the president's trip to Greensburg, Kansas; an update on the fires, Griffith Park in Los Angeles.
Take us with you anywhere right there on your iPod. Just download the CNN NEWSROOM pod cast, available anywhere 24/7 right there on your iPod.
Beautiful.
COLLINS: A wildfire takes a fast run through a famous Los Angeles park. Crews scramble with some fancy footwork.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The dance of the fire reminded me of how Mick Jagger dances on stage. It has gone all over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Hot day in L.A. coming up in THE NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: A suicide truck bomb ripped through one of Iraq's safest cities.
The toll and the terror in THE NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Vice President Dick Cheney in Iraq. A pointed message for the people in power.
Live to Baghdad, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: HARRIS: O.J. Simpson not welcome. A restaurant owner in Louisville, Kentucky gives Simpson the old heave-ho.
Jeff Ruby says he doesn't like the way Simpson has behaved since his murder trial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUBY: I came out and it's the first class he has shown, in my opinion, since the murders. He said, "I understand, Joe. Can I just have a few minutes to find the people that I came with so they know we've got to leave?"
I said yes.
And I almost shook his hand, because he was cool. But I didn't go there. And -- and then this blonde comes up to me -- I guess his date -- and started getting in my face in the middle of the restaurant, and said, "It's a free country. He should be able to eat wherever he wants."
I said, "Listen, now you're a blonde. You'd better be careful he don't slit your throat."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK.
Ruby says customers gave him a standing ovation after Simpson left.
Jurors acquitted Simpson of killing his ex-wife and her friend in 1995. A civil jury found him liable for those deaths.
COLLINS: Good morning once again, everybody.
I'm Heidi Collins.
HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris.
Stay informed in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Here's what's on the rundown for you this morning.
Progress on the front lines, but this wildfire has more fight in it. Los Angeles temps headed toward 100 today. We're watching the scene play out live.
COLLINS: Big Lake, Missouri a big lake today. Levees cannot hold back the swollen Missouri River. We'll show you the devastating floods in the Midwest.
HARRIS: He labels Islam "evil, cruel and dangerous." A preacher trying to stop a mosque in his neighborhood.
It is Wednesday, May 9th, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: The stuff of Hollywood legend. James Dean got star billing, but Griffith Park, of course, was a prominent costar in "Rebel Without A Cause."
Today, the Los Angeles landmark scene of real life fire drama.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is there.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, good morning.
I can tell you that -- you can see some firefighters right behind me. They are catching a much-needed break after working a very busy 24-hour shift.
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